Any self respecting South African would immediately start salivating if you mention a prego roll. Prego I hear you say? A prego roll is simply marinated fried meat on a soft Portuguese roll and drenched in sauce. Sound yummy? Recipe coming soon!
South Africa has a long deep history with Portuguese cuisine, with a lot of food being heavily influenced by Mozambican and Portuguese immigrants. One very famous and delicious recipe, my personal favourite is Trinchado and these easy Portuguese bread rolls are perfect for sopping up all that delicious sauce.
So how do you make these easy Portuguese rolls or papo secos? Easy, let me step you through it!
PrintEasy Portuguese Rolls
(144 votes, average: 3.63 out of 5)
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Beautifully soft Portuguese rolls that pair perfectly with just about anything. My personal favourites being a juicy prego roll or to simply dunk in a spicy stew such as a traditional trinchado.
- Prep Time: 2 hours 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 to 20 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 12 rolls
- Category: Baking
- Cuisine: Portuguese
Ingredients
180g (6 oz) warm water
140g (5 oz) milk
20g (1 oz) butter
7g (1/4 oz or 1 packet) dried yeast
7g (1/4 oz) sugar
500g (1 lbs 2 oz) bread flour
7g (1/4 oz) salt
Instructions
Add the milk, water, sugar and yeast to your mixing bowl and let stand for 5 minutes for the the yeast to activate.
Add flour, butter and salt and mix in your stand mixer for 5 to 10 minutes until you have a soft dough. This dough is going to have a smoother softer texture than normal bread dough because of the addition of milk and butter.
Tip dough out into a oiled bowl and cover with cling film or a clean tea towel. Let stand in a warm spot for 1 hour.
After 1 hour split dough into 12 equal peices and roll them into balls. Pinch each side for that traditional look and place them on to a lined baking sheet.
Slash each piece of dough with a sharp knife and cover with a clean tea towel for another hour. Meanwhile pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees f (190 degrees c).
Once rolls have doubled in size sprinkle with flour and bake in the centre of the oven for 15 to 20 minutes until brown.
Transfer to a cooling rack. Best served warm or cool completely for storage.
Keywords: portuguese rolls, easy portuguese rolls, papo secos
Hi, can you convert measurements to us measurements please
Hi Janet,
Sure, let me test the recipe with US measurements and then I’ll add the US measurements to my recipe.
Daryl
Can i freeze the uncooked dough for another time?
Yes of course. When you want to use the dough just leave it out until defrosted, shape the rolls and then let them proof.
Hi Janet,
I have tested the recipe and updated my recipe card to show the US measurements as well. Happy baking.
Daryl
Very good flavor especially with butter!!!!!
What if the dough is sticky after mixing
Hi Nikki,
If the dough is really sticky after mixing it is ok to add a bit more flour. This dough won’t be a really dry dough so I recommend when forming the balls that you use a well floured surface to form them. Don’t panic about sticky dough, it is really forgiving and you will have great rolls at the end.
Very nice
When you just say “butter,” do you mean salted butter or unsalted? Thanks!
Laura I always use salted butter for all my baking. I find it gives a certain richness that I like. Feel free to use unsalted though. It will taste just as delicious!
Can use regular flour?
Yes of course you can use regular flour.
Are there any changes that need to be made of using regular flour? Adding anything? Looking forward to trying these this week!
No changes needed. Continue with the recipe as normal.
What state should the butter be in for this recipe? Softened? Thanks!
Hi Kelly,
Softened room temperature butter is best to ensure it mixes through the dough.
Please let me know how you get on.
Daryl
Hi I used regular flour and when mixing it was extremely dry , I’m not sure what went wrong.
Never be too scared to add additional water if the dough is too dry. There are many factors that will determine how dry or wet the dough is including the humidity in the air and even the brand of flour used. The dough should not be too dry but should not stick to your hands either once you have kneaded the dough for a while.
I was following the liquid oz. for the 2X recipe and realized when I had extremely dry dough that the oz. measurements are the same for 1X 2X and 3X I can now smell my stand mixer motor because it’s been working extra to correct my liquid mistake.
Hi Melissa,
I’m sorry to hear that and thank you for letting me know. I’m working on getting my recipe plugin to show the correct amounts in all measurements.
Daryl
Hi
Is the sugar for taste?
Would it be a bad idea to leave out the sugar?
Hi Tari,
The sugar is mainly to feed the yeast so that it does its job quicker but you can leave the sugar out by all means and just increase the proofing time by another 30 minutes. It does also provide a slightly sweet taste to the roll but not very much because of the low amount.
Daryl
Tried the recipe with 3g salt. These turned out amazingly. Thanks for sharing.
I’m glad to hear that. thanks for trying the recipe!
If I make natural yeast how much yeast do you have to use for this recepi?
Are you wanting to use a sourdough starter instead of a commercial dried or fresh yeast block?
Made these for my family 2 days in a row. They are absolutely delicious! 2nd proving was too long on my first batch (the proving setting on my oven is really good). Today’s rolls are perfect! Thanks for a great recipe.
Why is the liquid in grams. Is it the same as mls
I use grams because it is more accurate of a measurement. Cups vary from country to country so the best way is to measure by weight.
1ml liquid ( ie water)= 1gram.
Like Daryl says imperial measurements differ between countries.
Metric measurements are best for across the board accuracy.
Hi Daryl
Could i substitute the milk for soya milk and the butter fir margerine? To make the recipe vegan.
I don’t see why not. I would have to test the recipe but if you want to try please let me know the outcome.
Followed the directions exactly and they turned out fantastic! Thank you so much for the recipe! Will be saving for future use 😁
These rolls are just like we remembered them! Thanks so much. Please please post your Prego recipe soon! 😀
Good and easy.
Bread turned out very nice 👍.
Hi Daryl, thanks for sharing this. I love the taste!
I ran into a bit of trouble with my proofing. They rose outward instead of up. Any tips or idea of what I could do differently?
I used regular cake flour
Hi Rafeeqah,
How close were they when you did the proof?
Daryl
Can I use self raising flour instead of normal flour? Or maybe half and half
No, you would ideally need bread of plain flour for this recipe.
Hi Daryl. I’m really excited to try this recipe. Could you explain what you mean by pinch each side?
Hey Tara,
I’m sure you will love the recipe! By pinch I mean that once you have rolled each dough ball out pull each side out and pinch so that the roll has less of a round shape and more of a point on each side. You don’t need to do this but it just makes the rolls look more traditional.
Hi. Can I use honey instead of sugar?
Yes of course. Enjoy!
Do i need to flour the tea towel/ flour the dough so it doesnt stick to the tea towel??? Last time i used a tea towel in this manner it stuck to the bread and pulled it all out of shape when tried to remove the tea towel
I would flour the top of the rolls before placing the towel on top.
Hi Daryl,
Thank you very much for the recipe, I have tried different sort of bread, but definitely I will try yours, I think the best flour for bread it’s strong bread flour, I read all the comments, I can answer generally,if you use honey its even better some of the comment about less salt its is good too, I will let you the results once I will try this bread 🍞
I just made these to have with our peri peri chicken (totally homemade and not a bottle in sight lockdown nandos!). They were so good and all 12 demolished and we’re only a family of 4! Recipe was super simple and worked perfectly. I didn’t use a mixer and just did by hand but they turned out great!
Hi, can you double the recipe or best to make in batches?
Rather make in batches.
To make 6 rolls should i just half the recipe? when you say 12 rolls for this recipe are those 12 normal sized portuguese rolls that’s are served in south africa at restaurants?
Yes, you can halve the recipe. These make standard size rolls.