The Simple Biscuit Recipe That Will Save Any Dinner

Lisa KaminskiUpdated: Mar. 10, 2022

Every editorial product is independently selected, though we may be compensated or receive an affiliate commission if you buy something through our links. Ratings and prices are accurate and items are in stock as of time of publication.

Taste of Home

This simple biscuit recipe requires just five ingredients.

You know it is when you get into a dinner rut: protein, veggie, starch over and over again. There’s nothing wrong with simple dinners, but sometimes you need a little something extra to liven it up. That’s where a great simple biscuit recipe comes in.

Everyone loves warm fluffy biscuits straight from the oven. While you can rely on refrigerated biscuit brands, you can make homemade biscuits from scratch with just a handful of ingredients, most of which you have right in your cupboard. That’s right—you’re never more than five ingredients and 30 minutes away from amazing homemade biscuits that can liven up any meal.

Simple Biscuit Recipe

Making biscuits from scratch is such a worthwhile endeavor, and it doesn’t need to be challenging. This simple biscuit recipe is a snap to put together and it uses ingredients you likely already have on hand.

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup cold butter, cubed
2/3 cup 2% milk

Directions

Step 1: Get the Dough Going

The first step to making great simple biscuits is to whisk together your dry ingredients. Use the biggest mixing bowl you got and just give the flour, baking powder and salt a quick whisk—just to get them incorporated.

Then grab your cold butter and cut it into cubes. Cut these butter bits into your dry ingredients with a pastry blender until the mixture looks like coarse crumbs. The last step of creating the dough is adding the milk. Stir it in until the dough is just moistened—no need to overwork it.

Step 2: Knead the Biscuit Dough

Next up, you’ll give the biscuits a quick knead. Sprinkle your clean work surface with a bit of flour (just so it doesn’t stick) and turn the dough out. Knead the biscuits gently eight to ten times. Then press the dough with your hands until it’s a half-inch thick. Grab a 2-1/2-inch biscuit cutter and cut out your biscuits.

Editor’s tip: If you don’t have a biscuit cutter or round cookie cutter, just use a glass or cup with a thin rim. Dip the edge into some flour and use that as a cutter. It works just as well.

Step 3: Bake

Finally, place your biscuits onto an ungreased baking sheet. Give them a little room—about an inch between each. Bake at 450ºF for 10 to 15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve them warm.

Biscuit FAQs

These simple biscuits are a breeze to make once you’ve got a hang of the recipe. Here are some answers to your most common biscuit questions and some tips to make sure you bake the fluffiest biscuits possible. They’ll be so good you won’t have leftovers!

How do you keep biscuits fresh?

Biscuits are best served fresh from the oven. Who doesn’t love a warm biscuit anyway?

However, you can store biscuits, too. Pop them in an airtight container and they’ll keep on the countertop for two to three days. You can also store them in the freezer for up to three months. You can put them in a warm oven for a few minutes to revive them.

How do you make homemade biscuits fluffy?

The key to making fluffy homemade biscuits is not to overwork the dough. The more you stir or knead the dough, the tougher the biscuits will be. The trick is to stir the milk in until just combined and kneading the biscuits very gently.

Also, be sure that you’re measuring flour correctly. If you add too much flour, you can make the biscuits heavy and dense.

Are biscuits better with butter or shortening?

There are some recipes out there that call for shortening (like these fluffy biscuits), however, most call for butter. Butter provides more flavor than shortening and can create more flaky layers the way butter creates a flakier pie crust.

What should you serve with biscuits?

Biscuits make a great side with any dinner. As we said, these biscuits can make even simple weekday suppers special.

But you don’t need to save biscuits just for dinnertime. They’re great served up at breakfast with country gravy or topped with good honey, homemade jam or even a little more butter.

Try More Biscuit Recipes from Our Recipe Box

1 / 25

Easy Cheesy Biscuits

I'm a big fan of homemade biscuits, but not the rolling and cutting that goes into making them. The drop biscuit method solves everything! —Christina Addison, Blanchester, Ohio