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These easy homemade hoagie rolls are soft, chewy, and sturdy enough to hold all your favorite sandwich fillings — yet simple enough for even beginner bakers. With just a handful of pantry staples and straightforward steps, you can skip the store-bought rolls and bake bakery-style hoagies right at home.
Made with just 9 simple ingredients, these easy Hoagie Rolls are the perfect base for French dip sandwiches, meatball sliders, pesto meatball sandwich and more!
Why Make Fresh Hoagie Rolls?
BECAUSE YOU WILL BE A HERO.
We make our own hoagie rolls because it goes so fast, it’s easier for me than to remember to run to the store. The only problem is, I didn’t think everyone else would want to make them too, but boy was I wrong!
We received a comment on our french dip sandwiches post saying they would like the recipe for the hoagies and I had stated I would post it, but I forgot and got busy aka side tracked with the gazillion recipes always floating around in my head. And then that recipe has gotten really popular and I not only started getting more comments, but emails too!
One night, we were eating french dip for dinner when, BAM! I remembered that I was going to photograph them. I had hardly any light left and we were literally eating them so I quickly threw the hoagies on a board, snapped a few shots and now here we are.
What’s Needed for Hoagie Rolls?
To make this hoagie bread recipe, you need 9 simple ingredients:
- Warm Water: Activates the yeast and hydrates the flour, helping the dough come together smoothly.
- Instant Yeast: Leavens the dough, allowing the rolls to rise and develop a light, airy texture.
- Granulated Sugar: Feeds the yeast to encourage rising and adds a subtle sweetness to the rolls.
- Honey: Enhances flavor, adds gentle sweetness, and helps create a softer crumb and lightly golden crust.
- Flour: Provides structure and strength while keeping the rolls soft and tender.
- Salt: Balances sweetness and enhances flavor while strengthening the dough’s structure.
- Butter: Adds richness and tenderness, creating soft, fluffy hoagie rolls.
- Egg: Used for brushing the rolls before baking to promote a shiny, golden finish.
- Milk: Combined with the egg white to thin the wash and help create an evenly browned crust.
The measurements for all the ingredients are listed in the recipe card at the end of the post.
How to Make Hoagie Buns
This sub roll recipe is incredibly easy, but it does require some patience as the dough goes through two separate rises.
- Make the Dough: Using a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, make the dough (**see section below for tips on making the dough).
- First Rise: Transfer the dough to an oiled bowl, cover with a towel, and let rise until doubled.
- Shape the Dough: Line a baking sheet with a silpat or parchment paper and shape the dough into 4-8 hoagies.
- Second Rise: Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rise another 1 to 2 hours.
- Slash: Slash the top of each roll with a really sharp knife or blade and brush with egg and milk mixture.
- Bake: Bake until golden and sound hard when you gently tap the outside. Brush with butter.
The complete instructions are listed in the recipe card. You can also print or save the recipe there.
Tips for Finishing Hoagie Rolls
- I highly recommend brushing the hoagie bread with butter before serving it.
- If you like a little crunch and an added flavor, sprinkle some sesame seeds on the top right after brushing with butter.
- The bread is hard upon removal but quickly softens, so don’t worry that you over baked.
- Let the sub rolls cool for 15 or so minutes before cutting them.
Hoagie Roll FAQs
A hoagie roll is a type of long flat roll used to prepare hoagie sandwiches. A Hoagie is the same thing as a Sub sandwich, hero sandwich, or grinder.
There is no difference. They are the same thing, but they just are called a variety of names depending on where you are from.
In all my research, it’s a little hard to say where the word “hoagie” comes from. There’s a consensus that it comes from the Philadelphia area in the mid 1900s, but where it exactly originates is debatable.
Wrap the rolls well, or place in a zip lock bag. Hoagie rolls will keep for 5-7 days at room temperature.
Yes! To freeze hoagie rolls and buns, place them inside a freezer bag and seal tightly. Hoagie rolls will keep 3 months in the freezer.
Tips for Making the Dough
- Since posting this recipe, we have received several comments about the recipe being wrong, the dough is too wet, the ratios are off, etc. I started to wonder if somehow the recipe had been changed without my knowing it. So I made the recipe again exactly how it is written, and they came out perfectly!
- In fact, they were so good, I re-photographed them and those pictures are the ones you see now.
- The dough will seem a little wet and shaggy at first (known as slack dough which is like a blog and will not hold a shape), but you just have to keep mixing it. As you work the gluten, the dough become so smooth and silky. Patience is key and trust the process!
Homemade hoagie rolls might sound intimidating, but this easy recipe proves just how achievable they really are. Soft, chewy, and incredibly versatile, and homemade is always better. Make a batch for dinner, freeze extras for later, and enjoy fresh, bakery-quality bread whenever you need it.
More Easy Bread Recipes to Try:
- No-Knead Artisan Bread
- French Bread
- Herbed Focaccia Bread
- Classic Potato Rolls
- Homemade Naan
- 7 Up Biscuits
- All of our bread recipes!
Watch How Each Step of This Recipe Should Look…
Easy Hoagie Rolls
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups Warm Water
- 1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar
- 1 Tablespoon Honey
- 3 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Salt
- 3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter, cubed
- 1 Egg White
- 1 Tablespoon Milk
Instructions
- In the bowl of a standing mixer, add the warm water, yeast, sugar, and honey.1 ½ Cups Warm Water, 1 Tablespoon Instant Yeast, 1 Tablespoon Granulated Sugar, 1 Tablespoon Honey
- Allow to foam up for about 5 to 10 minutes.
- Add the flour and using a dough hook mix for 4 minutes on low.3 ¾ Cups All-Purpose Flour
- Increase the speed to medium and add the salt, mixing for another 3 minutes.1 Tablespoon Salt
- Finally, add the cold butter, one tablespoon at a time and mix for another minute or two after each addition. Continue to mix until no pieces of butter remain. This is going to be odd to see that butter slapping around in there, but trust me, as you mix, the dough will firm up and be silky and all butter will be incorporated.3 Tablespoons Unsalted Butter
- Place the dough in a lightly oiled (olive oil or vegetable oil is great) bowl, turning over to coat, cover with a towel and allow to rise for 1 to 2 hours.
- Place a silpat or parchment paper on a baking sheet and shape the dough into 4-8 hoagies depending on size preference. I like to flatten each piece into a rectangle, fold one end up like an envelope, turn 180 degrees and fold up the other end over the first. Repeat until you've formed a hoagie and pinch shut the seam and end seams.
- Place seam side down and repeat with remaining dough.
- Cover lightly with a towel and allow to rise another 1 to 2 hours.
- Whisk together the egg white and milk. Using a razor blade, make a slit down the top of each roll. Brush each top with the egg mixture.1 Egg White, 1 Tablespoon Milk
- Preheat the oven to 375ºF, place the hoagie rolls on the baking pan and bake for 16 to 22 minutes.
- Remove from the oven when they are lightly golden and feel hard when you tap the crust.
- Rub with a little butter if desired and allow to cool.
- The bread is hard upon removal but quickly softens, so don't worry that you over baked.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
I will never use another hoagie recipe again!
These were so delicious, and incredibly soft, yet hardy enough to stand up to the sloppy mess of Italian beef juices I piled onto it.
I honestly can’t even believe I made these, so, thank you for this recipe and helping me to impress myself. 🤣
Sarah!! You made my day! Thank you!!
Oh hey, don’t mind me, back again to make this recipe for the 47th time since discovering it.
It’s acceptable to eat only hoagie rolls for dinner, right? Asking for a friend…
This recipe is still 10/10.
You are my new best friend, Sarah!! Thank you so much for the feedback and support!
How do I use active dry yeast in this receipe. It is difficult to find instant.
Hi Kimberly! Follow the directions as written with active dry yeast, and it should be fine. Just make sure it is foaming and activated when it sits with the warm water and sugar mixture. Great question!
Like a lot of folks who are used to baking bread with weights instead of volumes, I struggled a lot with this recipe. I converted the ingredients to weights and even added 50g APF during the initial mix because the dough just wasn’t forming. Even after the first rise, it still was impossible to form and it was just a slack dough. There was no surface tension and at 75% hydration, this is a simply a very wet dough. Given the kneading and rising times in the recipe, it isn’t likely that the gluten will form enough to give you enough surface tension for shaping.
I think the fundamental issue with this recipe is the volume measurements, and those who pack their measuring cups tightly will have a lot more success since they are lowering the dough hydration. I picked this recipe because I wanted to try the cold butter step but I think next time I’ll go with my normal roll recipe and just substitute the cold butter during kneading for the melted butter in the wet ingredients instead.
I’ve made this recipe five times now. It always comes out perfect, and I am new to making bread. This is my go to recipe. I want to try to adapt it to make loaf bread and other things soon. Thank you for sharing this really easy to follow recipe!
Yay! Thank you so much Nikki! We get so many readers that have problems with this recipe so it’s always so reassuring when we get positive feedback. If there is any part of the instructions or ingredients that could be confusing, we would love to know!
As another comment above, I wish this recipe included measures by weight. That said, I love this recipe.
NOTES:
I use a dough whisk to blend, then kneed. I don’t have or want a mixer.
After making the dough and putting it in the bowl, I cover with plastic wrap and store it in the fridge for a couple days until I’m ready to form and bake. Steps I learned from Atisan Bread in 5 minutes per day.
Hi Brenda! Thank you so much for the feedback! There is actually a button on the recipe card where you can change the measurements to metric so you get the weight measurements.
I’ve always had trouble working with yeast. Could never figure out why. I found this recipe after making our family recipe meatballs and wanted some fresh rolls for hoagies. THIS WAS DELICIOUS! Recipe and instructions were easy to navigate and understand. Making another batch today for cheesesteak hoagies for tonight!
You’ve made my day Renee! Thank you so much for taking time to leave a comment!
I love this recipe! I have used all purpose flour or bread flour. I have made hoagies without the egg wash, 8 large hamburger buns, 16 slider rolls, 24 dinner rolls, 2 loaves of white bread and 16 cinnamon rolls! I proof the first rise at 2 hrs and the second for 1.5 hours. Every batch has come out wonderful. Thank you!
This is amazing feedback! Thank you so much Angie!
I read through this thoroughly. Even the part where the author said that a blob of dough is normal and to keep kneading until a smooth dough forms. I watched the video. I had my mixer going for probably 15 minutes in total. My dough never looked like hers. I personally think the issue is that the recipe is in cups and no one ever measures cups correctly. The metric system is much more accurate and there is a converter for the metric system, but I don’t think it’s accurate to this recipe. The measurements are odd. Overall, I made do with what I had achieved because that’s what was for dinner and the rolls were tasty, although I’m unsure the way they turned out would’ve been the same if the recipe was tweaked slightly.
Thank you so much for feedback Janie! I haven’t ever been able to figure out why people have problems with this recipe. I’ve made it dozens of times exactly as written and never had an issue. I’ll take a look at the metric measurements. You’re right, measuring by weight is much more accurate. I’m glad they turned out for you!
I had a similar difficulty. I always convert from volume to weight for bread and I’m wondering if OP packs her cups tightly or something. I ended up adding 50g APF (for a total of 500g) during the first kneading because the dough wasn’t forming and it still was practically impossible to form after the first rise. I wanted to try this recipe for the cold butter step, but I think I’ll go back to my normal roll recipe proportions and just do the cold butter step next time.
Hi Kate! I’m so sorry for the struggle! I definitely recommend measuring appropriately for this recipe. We have a post about how to measure flour (https://ohsweetbasil.com/how-to-measure-flour-plus-giveaway/).
These came out perfectly for me! (Well, a tiny bit overproofed but that’s on me; so they were a tiny bit flat but not enough to make a bad sandwich!) I made 2 large and 4 small rolls.
I left off the egg wash at the end and I would prefer less salt but will definitely use this recipe again.
Thank you so much Odette! I appreciate the feedback so much!
The ads on your site make this recipe so hard to use. An ad between every step in the video, twice in a row the page reset and I had to start the video over. The page resets every few minutes, then skips to the wrong place when it loads again (three times while writing this review!).
The bread was great.
Thank you so much for the feedback Katy! My ad partner is Raptive, and they care about reader experience and would value hearing from you. Please go here (https://raptive.formstack.com/forms/reader_feedback_form_06) to fill out a quick one-question survey. So sorry for the frustration but I’m glad you enjoyed the hoagies!
Love this recipe! I have made it a few times now. I have noticed the metric measurements lead to a stickier dough, but that could be an issue with my scale. In the end, the dough always comes together. Love using this recipe for Philly Cheesesteaks!