Cryo-EM of large, macromolecular assemblies has seen a significant increase in the numbers of high-resolution structures since the arrival of direct electron detectors. However, sub-nanometre resolution cryo-EM structures are rare compared with crystal structure depositions, particularly for relatively small particles (<400 kDa). Here we demonstrate the benefits of Volta phase plates for single-particle analysis by time-efficient cryo-EM structure determination of 257 kDa human peroxiredoxin-3 dodecamers at 4.4 Å resolution. The Volta phase plate improves the applicability of cryo-EM for small molecules and accelerates structure determination.