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Homemade Cheddar Biscuits (Like Red Lobster)

Evelyn Wiley
By Evelyn Wiley
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Soft, flaky, and fantastically flavorful, these homemade cheddar biscuits practically fly off the table anytime they’re served. Good thing they’re so quick and easy to make!

One reader, Teri, says: “These are now sitting on the kitchen counter next to bacon so when the fam wakes up they can fix an egg and make a great breakfast sandwich—delicious!!! ★★★★★“

Another reader, Amanda, says: “These were UNBELIEVABLE! I will say that I made part of my batch in a round metal cake tin, and some in a cast iron skillet—both were good but the cast iron biscuits were magical! ★★★★★“

You’ll find many quick bread recipes on my website, like banana bread, no yeast bread, and Irish soda bread. They’re labeled quick breads because they don’t require any yeast or rise time… but loaves of bread still take a while to bake, and need time to cool before you slice into them. I love making biscuits because they also don’t require any yeast or rising, and they bake in just about 20 minutes and can be enjoyed warm—they’re really, truly quick!

If you’ve made my homemade buttermilk biscuits before, you’ll be familiar with the technique I use to make countless buttery, flaky layers. That’s my go-to biscuit recipe; it’s easy, quick, requires minimal ingredients, and produces beautifully tall biscuits. For today’s cheddar biscuits, we’re adding cheese, garlic, and even more butter. I also use the baking powder/baking soda combination detailed in those recipe notes.

Today’s biscuits taste remarkably similar to the popular cheddar bay biscuits served at Red Lobster. (By the way, if you enjoy adding flavor to plain biscuits, you’ll love my everything biscuits too.)

Grab these ingredients:

I have 2 quick tricks for flaky biscuits and 2 quick tricks for tall biscuits. First, the flakes!

Success Tip #1: Use Cold Fat

For flaky layers, use cold fat. This is very important. When little crumbs of butter melt as the cheddar biscuits bake, they release steam and create little pockets of air—this makes the biscuits flaky on the inside while remaining crisp on the outside. You don’t want the butter to melt BEFORE hitting the oven, because then there would be no steam. No steam means no pockets of air, and no pockets of air means no flakes.

It’s the same thing that happens when making pie crust, ham & cheese scones, and the topping for my cobbler recipe. Make sure your butter is COLD. Cut it into your dry ingredients by following the printable recipe below. You can use a food processor or pastry cutter for that step. You’re looking for coarse, flour-coated butter crumbles. Mix in your cheese, and then pour in the buttermilk/honey mixture and gently mix to combine:

Success Tip #2: Fold & Flatten

For the flakiest cheddar biscuits ever, flatten and fold the dough before cutting into biscuits. Flattening and folding creates layers, and you might remember this if you’ve ever tried my homemade puff pastry and croissant bread recipes. Tip the scrappy, crumbly biscuit dough onto a work surface and work it together with your hands. Form into a rectangle:

Flatten into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle, and then begin folding. Fold one end of the rectangle in towards the center, and then the other end on top of that as if you were folding a business letter:

Turn the folded dough horizontal, and flatten again into a 3/4-inch-thick rectangle.

Repeat the folding process 2 more times before cutting into round biscuits.

Now let’s move on to the tricks for tall biscuits.

No Twisting = Super Tall Biscuits

When cutting the dough with a biscuit cutter, don’t twist the cutter. Twisting it will seal off the biscuit edges, preventing the biscuits from fully rising.

Snug as a Bug = Super Tall Biscuits

Biscuits rise up nice and tall when they’re pressed snuggly against one another. Arrange them tightly in a cast iron skillet or on a lined baking sheet/baking pan. A cast iron skillet helps produce a super crisp bottom, so I prefer it over a baking sheet or pan. I use this 10-inch cast iron skillet for biscuits.

Before baking, brush the biscuits with a little extra buttermilk. Why? This gives the biscuits a slightly crispier crust.

After baking, brush with melted garlic parsley butter. Why? Because yum. The garlic butter seeps down into all the crevices and, obviously, makes the tops extra buttery.

You brush finished breadsticks with something similar.

So let’s get all this straight. There are 2 things you need to remember for flaky biscuits and 2 things you need to remember for tall biscuits. You will (1) use cold butter in the dough and (2) fold the dough together a few times to help guarantee lots of flakes. Plus, you (3) won’t twist the biscuit cutter and (4) you’ll place the biscuits close together so they rise tall in the oven.

And 2 things to remember for deliciously flavored biscuits: cheddar + garlic. 🙂

These flavorful cheddar biscuits are such a versatile side. They’re as welcome with Thanksgiving recipes next to turkey and green bean casserole as they are at Easter brunch alongside bacon and eggs or quiche. And they can go from accompanying baked lemon herb salmon, cilantro lime chicken, or vegetarian pumpkin chili for dinner, to making a phenomenal breakfast sandwich the next morning.

If you enjoy savory baking recipes like this one, you’ll love these homemade ham & cheese pockets, this cheese bread, and these pull apart pizza rolls.

These deliciously simple homemade cheddar biscuits easily rival Red Lobster’s cheddar bay biscuits. Baked in only about 20 minutes, they’re a must-try for brunch or dinnertime.

Keywords: cheddar biscuits, cheese biscuits

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