Soft fluffy, and full of gooey cheese, these cheddar garlic biscuits will be your favorite dinner side dish. These easy drop biscuits are similar to the cheddar bay biscuits served at Red Lobster, but are easy to make right at home.

A tray of freshly baked cheddar biscuit stacked on a baking pan.

I grew up eating drop biscuits at home all the time, but have adapted them to be more savory like the Red Lobster biscuits so they work really well with dinner. I also make a sweet version of this drop biscuit recipe for breakfast, the sweet glazed blueberry biscuits that I know you’ll love too.

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Why We Love Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Family Favorite – Especially when warm, these soft and fluffy biscuits always disappear when they are part of our dinner and I know they will for your family too. You can smother them with butter or garlic butter, or just enjoy them as they are as they already taste buttery!
Great Savory Side Dish – Serve homemade cheesy garlic biscuits with soup, a main protein like chicken, or a cozy dinner like meatloaf. These biscuits are slightly salty and make a great side dish with any meal you’d enjoy a dinner roll with. Honestly, we just like to snack on these biscuits too, I often make a double batch.

Ingredients For Homemade Cheesy Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Ingredients for cheddar garlic biscuits in bowls on a counter with title text labels.

2 cups flour all purpose
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
1/3 cup vegetable oil canola oil can also be used
1 cup buttermilk
1 cup cheddar cheese shredded, I prefer sharp cheddar cheese or extra sharp cheddar cheese for more flavorful biscuits. <ild cheddar cheese can work too, but won’t have as much flavor.
1 tablespoon butter melted, I usually use salted butter.

How To Make Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray gently with spray oil.
In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt and garlic powder. Mix well together until combined with a silicone spatula or whisk together.

A large glass bowl filled with flour on a counter with other bowls full of ingredients for garlic cheddar biscuits in bowls nearby.

Add vegetable oil and buttermilk to the flour mixture. Mix with a silicone spatula until all the flour is just combined. The dough sometimes seems a little wet but don’t worry, that will just help make a more tender biscuit.

A clear bowl containing freshly mixed biscuit dough, with a cup of shredded cheese and a small bowl of melted butter nearby.

Fold cheddar cheese into the biscuit dough quickly, mixing until just combined so as not to overwork the dough.
Spray the inside of a ¼ cup measuring cup lightly with spray oil. Use the measuring cup to help you portion the dough more evenly into individual biscuit dough balls. Brush the biscuits with melted butter on the top before the biscuits bake.

A baking sheet with 12 unbaked garlic cheese biscuits on parchment paper. A small bowl of melted butter and a red pastry brush are in the top left corner.

Place the biscuits in the oven for 15-17 minutes. The edges will be a light golden brown and the biscuits should be light and fluffy. Let them cool on the pan for a minute or two, then enjoy!

A plate of garlic cheese drop biscuits with more biscuits on a pan, cheese in a bowl, butter and a napkin around the biscuits.

What To Serve With Homemade Cheesy Garlic Biscuits

Cheddar garlic biscuits are savory and cheesy, making this biscuit recipe the perfect addition any time you would serve a dinner roll. Try these biscuits with crispy oven baked chicken thighs, pistachio crusted salmon or baked bruschetta chicken.

I really like the taste of these garlic cheddar biscuits with a hearty dinner, which makes them a great side choice for crock pot bbq chicken thighs, classic meatloaf, or crock pot Mississippi pot roast.

These biscuits are really tasty with soup, make the biscuits as a side with turkey chili, lemon orzo soup, hamburger stew or crockpot cheesy potato soup.

Are These Biscuits Exactly The Same As Red Lobster Biscuits?

I actually think this copycat is better. My local Red Lobster had these biscuits and while the flavor was always amazing they were just a little on the dry side. Maybe it was just our location, but I tried more then one. This version of the infamous cheddar biscuits has all the flavor while still maintaining a soft and fluffy center.

Growing up we had a local chain restaurant called Cooker, I think it was just in Ohio. They had both cheddar drop biscuits and plain drop biscuits at our local location. These biscuits skew more towards the fluffy center I enjoyed when we went to Cooker, but have the cheddar garlic combo that everyone loves from Red Lobster.

Can I Swap Regular Milk For Buttermilk?

While you can use regular milk in these biscuits in place of buttermilk, expect that the result will be a biscuit that is just not as tender.

If you don’t have buttermilk you can swap with regular milk and lemon juice, here’s how.

Place a tablespoon of lemon juice in a two cup measuring cup. Fill the rest of the measuring cup with milk up to the one cup line and stir. Let the mixture sit for five minutes, and then it can be used as a buttermilk swap.

How Long Will Cheddar Garlic Biscuits Last?

Expect these cheddar garlic biscuits will taste their best if enjoyed within 3 days, but they usually are still able to be enjoyed for 4-5 days.

Store leftover biscuits in a covered airtight container on the counter.

A plate of garlic cheddar cheese drop biscuits on a counter.

Cheddar Garlic Biscuits

Author Kristy Richardson

Course Baking, bread, Side Dish

Cuisine American

Prep Time 10

Cook Time 15

Total Time 25

Cheddar garlic biscuits are cheesy, salty and the perfect side dish for dinner that everyone in the family will love! Enjoy these cheesy biscuits any time you would serve dinner rolls.

Ingredients

▢ 2 cups flour all purpose
▢ 2 teaspoons baking powder
▢ 1 teaspoon salt
▢ ½ teaspoon garlic powder
▢ 1/3 cup vegetable oil canola oil can also be used
▢ 1 cup buttermilk
▢ 1 cup cheddar cheese shredded, I prefer sharp cheddar cheese
▢ 1 tablespoon butter melted, salted

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or spray gently with spray oil.
In a large bowl add flour, baking powder, salt and garlic powder. Mix well together until combined with a silicone spatula.
Add vegetable oil and buttermilk to the flour mixture. Mix with a silicone spatula until all the flour is just combined. The dough sometimes seems a little wet but don’t worry, that will just help make a more tender biscuit.
Fold cheddar cheese into the biscuit dough quickly, mixing until just combined so as not to overwork the dough.
Spray the inside of a ¼ cup measuring cup lightly with spray oil. Use the measuring cup to help you portion the dough more evenly into individual biscuit dough balls. Brush the melted butter onto the top of the biscuits.
Place the biscuits in the oven for 15-17 minutes. The edges will be a light golden brown and the biscuits should be light and fluffy. Let them cool on the pan for a minute or two, then enjoy!

Notes

I usually portion this dough into 10 biscuits, but sometimes I’ll make larger biscuits and make 8 out of this dough. It usually means they need an extra minute in the oven. I do this most often when I double the recipe and make 16 larger biscuits.

If you don’t have buttermilk you can swap with regular milk and lemon juice. Place a tablespoon of lemon juice in a two cup measuring cup. Fill the rest of the measuring cup with milk up to the one cup line and stir. Let the mixture sit for five minutes, and then it can be used as a buttermilk swap.