Kaiser Roll substitute

Best substitute

Hard Roll, Vienna Roll or Bolillo

1 roll for 1 roll

Best for sandwiches

Close match

It depends which job the roll is doing. For a sandwich, any sturdy crusty roll works one for one: a ciabatta roll, a Portuguese roll, a bolillo or a plain hard roll. A brioche or potato bun will hold a burger but it is softer and sweeter, so a juicy filling squashes it. For Semmelknodel or a bread dumpling the roll is structural, not flavour, so use any plain lean crusty white bread with an open crumb, such as baguette or ciabatta, dried until genuinely hard. Do not use enriched, sweet or seeded bread for dumplings; the fat stops the crumb drinking the milk and the dumplings fall apart in the pot.

Other kaiser roll substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Ciabatta or Panini Roll
Different texture
1 roll for 1 roll
A more open, hole-filled crumb and a slightly tougher crust, which makes for a chewier sandwich that holds oily fillings well.
What changes
That open crumb is a real advantage for dumplings, because it dries fast and soaks up the milk and egg evenly.
Best for
sandwiches, pressed sandwiches, bread dumplings, bread salad
Prep. For sandwiches, split and griddle cut side down. For dumplings, cube and dry in the oven.
Ciabatta is often flatter than a Kaiser roll, so a sandwich sits lower and eats more easily.
3Baguette or French Bread
Close match
Use 6 inch length, or 55 to 70 g, for every roll
The best swap of all for dumplings, since the crumb is lean, open and dries beautifully.
What changes
For a sandwich it works too, though you lose the round shape and the roll-shaped bite, and the crust can be tough enough to push the filling out the far end.
Best for
Semmelknodel, Serviettenknodel, bread stuffing, sandwiches at a push
Prep. Cut a length and split lengthwise for a sandwich, or cube and dry at 300F/150C for dumplings.
One Kaiser roll weighs roughly 55 to 70 g, which is a handy way to convert any bread by weight.
4Brioche Bun, Potato Roll or Soft Hamburger Bun
Taste and texture differ
1 bun for 1 roll, sandwiches only
Softer, sweeter and much richer, so it makes a good burger or slider and a poor schnitzel sandwich, where the sweetness fights the meat.
What changes
Completely wrong for dumplings: the butter and egg in the dough stop the crumb absorbing the milk mixture, which is the single most common reason home-made bread dumplings disintegrate.
Best for
burgers, sliders, pulled pork, breakfast sandwiches
Prep. Toast the cut faces in butter. Do not use for dumplings.
If it is all you have for a savoury sandwich, skip any sweet condiment; the bun is already supplying sugar.
5English Muffin or Bagel
Taste and texture differ
1 for 1, sandwiches only
Both hold a wet filling far better than soft bread.
What changes
A bagel is denser and chewier and makes a substantial sandwich; an English muffin is smaller and gives you nooks that catch butter and sauce. Neither tastes remotely Austrian, and neither is any use for dumplings.
Best for
breakfast sandwiches, egg sandwiches, deli fillings
Prep. Split and toast. Butter while hot.
A plain bagel is closer in chew than a sweet or seeded one.
6Plain White Sandwich Bread, Dried
Different texture
Use 4 to 5 slices for every 2 rolls, about 130 g
For dumplings only, and it does work.
What changes
Because the crumb is fine and closed it absorbs quickly and can turn gummy, so dry it harder than you think necessary and hold back a splash of the milk. Add a tablespoon of coarse breadcrumbs to open the texture back up.
Best for
Semmelknodel, bread stuffing, when there is no crusty bread
Prep. Cut into 1 cm cubes, crusts on, and dry at 300F/150C for 15 to 20 minutes until hard and still pale.
Avoid anything labelled brioche, milk bread or buttertoast; the fat content is the problem, not the shape.

What is Kaiser Roll?

Kaiser Roll is A Kaiser roll is a round Austrian white bread roll with a five-point pinwheel stamped on top, a thin crisp crust and a light, slightly chewy crumb, known at home as a Kaisersemmel or simply a Semmel.

Cooking tips

For Semmelknodel the bread should be two or three days old and genuinely hard, or cut into 1 cm cubes and dried at 300F/150C for 15 to 20 minutes. Fresh bread has too much moisture and its crumb collapses, which is exactly why dumplings dissolve in the water.
Weigh the bread rather than counting rolls. Kaiser rolls run anywhere from 50 to 90 g, and a dumpling recipe is really a ratio: roughly 250 g of dried bread cubes to 250 ml of warm milk and 2 eggs, plus an onion softened in butter.
Always test one dumpling before shaping the rest. If it breaks up, work a tablespoon of flour or fine breadcrumbs into the mix; if it comes out heavy and tight, add a splash more milk next time.
Simmer dumplings, never boil them. A rolling boil tears them apart no matter how good the bread was. Hold the water at a bare tremble, lid off, 15 to 20 minutes, and they float when done.
For sandwiches, warm any substitute roll for 3 to 4 minutes at 350F/175C. That reawakened crackle in the crust is most of what makes a roll feel like a Kaiser roll rather than a bun.
The pinwheel top is purely visual. You can hand-knot a round of dough or press it with a Kaiser stamp, but it changes nothing about the crumb, so skip it without worry.

Frequently asked questions

Is a Kaiser roll the same as a Semmel?

Yes for practical purposes. Kaisersemmel, Semmel, Vienna roll and hard roll all describe the same style of round crusty white roll, and Kaiser roll is the American name. Note that in parts of Germany Semmel or Brotchen is used loosely to mean any bread roll, so a German recipe may not mean the stamped Austrian one specifically.

Can I just leave it out?

No, in both of its uses. If it is the sandwich bread, you need bread, so use any roll from the list. If it is for dumplings or a stuffing, the bread is the structure that holds the whole thing together, so it has to be replaced rather than omitted.

Can I use Brotchen instead?

Yes, and often it is the same thing. A plain German Brotchen is a lean crusty white roll of the same size and behaves identically in a sandwich or in a dumpling mix. Avoid seeded, rye or wholemeal versions if you are making dumplings.

Why did my bread dumplings fall apart?

Almost always one of three things: the bread was too fresh, the bread was enriched with butter or egg, or the water was at a hard boil. Dry the bread properly, use a lean crusty white loaf, add a tablespoon of flour if the mix feels loose, and hold the pot at a bare simmer.

Are Kaiser rolls sweet?

No, and this matters when choosing a substitute. The dough is lean, just flour, water, yeast, salt and often a little malt, so the roll tastes of bread and nothing else. Anything sweet, such as a brioche or Hawaiian roll, tastes plainly wrong under a schnitzel or a slice of Leberkase.

Related substitutes

More grains & starches substitutes

Kaiser Roll substitute

Other kaiser roll substitutes

2Ciabatta or Panini Roll

3Baguette or French Bread

4Brioche Bun, Potato Roll or Soft Hamburger Bun

5English Muffin or Bagel

6Plain White Sandwich Bread, Dried