How Texas Roadhouse's Iconic Rolls Go From The Kitchen To Your Table

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Texas Roadhouse has built its brand identity on its kitsch Western decor and juicy steaks, but there's a more iconic item that tends to dominate consumers' attention at the chain: The basket of free sweet rolls that arrives at your table, accompanied by honey cinnamon butter.

The rolls are uniform, with very little discrepancy in size and flavor. With quality assurance like that, you'd expect that these rolls are frozen beforehand and heated up in stores, but that is far from the truth. On a Reddit thread, a person who claimed to work in Texas Roadhouse's bakery said that the ingredients — including the powdered dough mix, sugar, and yeast — are mixed into 50-pound balls before being rolled out by hand into sheets, then cut into rolls. "It is a time consuming process that would be so much easier and faster if it was frozen dough," they said, noting that most of Texas Roadhouse's food is made from scratch. Another user on the thread said that they cut 6,000 rolls for Father's Day and lamented how much it made their arms hurt. This checks out with the brand's claim that it churns out bread fresh every five minutes. 

That's not to say that you'll never find frozen rolls at Texas Roadhouse. The chain runs a notable Thanksgiving deal in which customers can pre-order frozen rolls and cinnamon butter and pick it up before their holiday celebrations. At around $4.99 per dozen, with $1.99 for the butter, it's a steal of a deal for anyone who doesn't want to try their hand at a copycat recipe. While this frozen deal is only offered around Thanksgiving, you can also get your hands on freshly baked rolls at your local Roadhouse without having to order any other food. Simply order a half-dozen or dozen rolls online and pick them up at your nearest location (we won't blame you if you go just to grab them). 

If you don't live anywhere near a Texas Roadhouse, you could also try to find a bag of its frozen rolls, available at Walmart. When our taster tried them, they didn't think they tasted like an exact ringer for this iconic Roadhouse side, but desperate times call for desperate (and doughy) measures.