Red Lobster Biscuits are a copycat of the famous drop biscuits sold at Red Lobster restaurant! These biscuits are famous for good reason — they’re fluffy, cheesy, and slathered in the most delicious garlic butter. With this copycat recipe, you can have hot and cheesy biscuits ready in a flash, in the comfort of your own home!
Check out our original (plain) Drop Biscuits recipe here or check out this American (rolled) Biscuit Recipe.
Red Lobster Biscuits
It’s no surprise Red Lobster is famous for their biscuits — they’re cheesy, fluffy, warm and smothered in an irresistible garlic butter. No meal is complete without them!
I was completely hooked on these biscuits throughout college, but with a very limited budget, Red Lobster dining didn’t happen all that often. Luckily for me, in my sophomore year of college I had a roommate that made Red Lobster Biscuits with Bisquick® mix. Every time she’d pull them out of the oven, we’d all run to the kitchen. Between those warm biscuits and her “famous” Oreo balls she’d make every few weeks, we felt very fortunate to be rooming with her!
And all these years later, I still crave these biscuits. But over the years I’ve created my own without the Red Lobster Biscuit Mix or the package of Bisquick. No shame in using either, because both can make a crazy delicious biscuit. But with how easy they are to make from scratch, I say why not?!
What Are Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits?
A rolled or American-style biscuit recipe typically involves a biscuit that rises about twice the original hight with a crusty exterior and a flat top with straight sides. In contrast a drop biscuit typically has more liquid to create a wetter dough. The dough is so wet that it is too hard to knead or roll so instead you “drop” it onto a baking sheet and bake!
Red Lobster Cheddar Biscuits are a form of drop biscuits with melty pockets of sharp Cheddar throughout. The fresh-from-the-oven biscuits are dredged in a fragrant garlic-herb butter sauce which makes them even that much tastier!
Red Lobster Biscuit Ingredients
The ingredients in these biscuits are similar to my plain drop biscuits recipe: butter, flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, and buttermilk. Here are the ingredients that set these biscuits apart from a regular drop biscuit:
OldBay®seasoning. This is a key ingredient for biscuit flavor. It’s a blend of herbs and spices including pepper, paprika, celery salt, red pepper flakes, and more. If you aren’t able to access this seasoning, try making your own.
Garlicpowder. This goes in the biscuits and in the topping — these biscuits are known for having a present garlic flavor.
Driedparsley. If you’d prefer, use fresh instead — 1 tablespoon minced.
Ground cayenne pepper. The amount of cayenne is very small but gives these biscuits a touch of heat. If you are very sensitive to spice, leave it out!
SharpCheddarcheese. We love using sharp or extra-sharp Cheddar. The more aged the cheese is, the more cheesy the flavor.
QUICK TIP
This Red Lobster biscuit recipe is intended to be simple, but the one thing we recommend is grating your own cheese. This ensures a great melt and ultra cheesy biscuits. Pre-grated cheese contains preservatives that keep the shreds from clumping together in the bag, but they also keep the cheese from melting smoothly.
How To Make Red Lobster Biscuits
For this recipe, we employ a secret that keeps the process super simple! Most drop biscuits use cold cubed butter and a food processor or pastry blender to cut the butter into the biscuits. But instead of doing this, we actually melt the butter. This would typically be bad for the texture, but we form new butter clumps by mixing in coldbuttermilk. When the cold buttermilk hits the melted butter, it forms small clumps. Those clumps will imbue the wonderful flaky biscuit texture that results from pockets of butter without the extra work. Thanks, Cooks Illustrated, for this inventive trick!
QUICK TIP
Fat (butter) forms small pockets throughout the biscuit dough. As it melts in the oven, the CO2 from the baking powder takes the place of the fat so the biscuits will rise. Without butter clumps in the biscuit dough, the biscuits will end up hard and flat — there is no place for the CO2 to go except out!
Red Lobster Biscuit Recipe Tips
Use buttermilk straight from the fridge — the colder the better. We want the buttermilk cold enough that it will form clumps when it hits the melted butter!
Lightly spritz a measuring cupwith nonstick spray for an easy biscuit release to the sheet pan.
Don’t over-mix. Biscuit dough is delicate — the less mixing, the better the biscuits will turn out!
Watchthebaketime. Keep an eye on these biscuits while they’re in the oven so they don’t over-bake.
Let baked biscuits stand. Once you pull them from the oven, allow time for the biscuits to stand for about 5-10 minutes without breaking into them. The residual heat and steam ensure the insides are fully baked through.
Nutrition
How many carbs are in a Red Lobster biscuit? There are 32 grams of carbohydrates in one biscuit.
How many calories are in a Red Lobster biscuit? There are 308 calories in a biscuit.
STORAGE
Red Lobster Biscuit Storage
Biscuits are always best right out of the oven (the same day they are made), but they do store fine. Keep leftovers in an airtight container or bag and refrigerate or freeze them for up to 3 days or in the freezer for 2-3 months.
How to reheat Red Lobster Biscuits: Here is a great resource for how to store and reheat Red Lobster biscuits in the microwave, stove, or air fryer.
Freezing: Wrap the completely cooled biscuits individually in plastic wrap, place in a freezer-safe bag or container, and then freeze. To thaw, place in the fridge overnight.
Serve these biscuits alongside:
Red Lobster Biscuits
Red Lobster Biscuits are a copycat of the famous drop biscuits sold at Red Lobster. These biscuits are famous for good reason — they’re fluffy, cheesy, and slathered in the most delicious garlic butter. With this copycat recipe, you can have hot and cheesy biscuits ready in a flash– in the comfort of your own home!
Red Lobster Biscuits
Red Lobster Biscuits are a copycat of the famous drop biscuits sold at Red Lobster. These biscuits are famous for good reason — they’re fluffy, cheesy, and slathered in the most delicious garlic butter. With this copycat recipe, you can have hot and cheesy biscuits ready in a flash– in the comfort of your own home!
Instructions
PREP: Adjust the rack to the middle position in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees F (232 degrees C). Line a large sheet pan with parchment paper or a Silpat liner. Or generously butter a large cast-iron (oven-safe) skillet. Melt butter in the microwave and set aside to cool for 3-4 minutes.
BUTTER AND BUTTERMILK: Pour the cold, straight from the fridge buttermilk into the melted butter. Stir with a spoon until small clumps of butter form. Set aside for now.
DRY INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, sugar, salt, Old Bay seasoning, garlic powder, dried parsley, and cayenne if using. Make a well in the center and use a spatula to scrape every bit of the butter-and-buttermilk mixture from the spoon and bowl into the dry ingredients. Use a wooden spoon to mix the dough together just until ingredients are incorporated. Don’t over mix. Gently fold in the grated cheese.
DROP BISCUITS: Lightly spritz a 1/4 cup (66g) measuring cup and scoop the batter into the measuring cup and then drop onto the prepared sheet pan. Repeat with all the batter, leaving 1-1/2 inches of space in between each biscuit. Place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
BAKE: Bake biscuits for 12-15 minutes or until tops and bottoms are a light golden brown and when tapped on the top it sounds hollow.
GARLIC BUTTER TOPPING: While biscuits are baking, mix together all the ingredients for the topping. Remove biscuits from the oven and let cool on the pan for 5 minutes. Transfer to a wire cooling rack and brush the melted butter on the biscuits. (Note 2) Enjoy warm — these are best the same day they’re made, right out of the oven!
Recipe Notes
Note 1:Measuring flour: If you press a measuring cup into a bag of flour, you will pack in way too much flour (which creates denser/drier biscuits). To accurately measure the flour, spoon the flour into the measuring cup until it’s overfilled. Then use the back of a table knife to level the measuring cup at the top. You’ll have a perfect flour measurement now! Note 2: Cooling: Once you pull them from the oven, allow time for the biscuits to stand for about 5-10 minutes without breaking into them. The residual heat and steam ensure the insides are fully baked through.
We do our best to provide accurate nutritional analysis for our recipes. Our nutritional data is calculated using a third-party algorithm and may vary, based on individual cooking styles, measurements, and ingredient sizes. Please use this information for comparison purposes and consult a health professional for nutrition guidance as needed.
