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Lobster Drop Biscuits

USA

Copycat Cheddar Bay Biscuits

SUBMITTED BY

Lisa

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Lisa’s recipe gives you all the satisfaction of a Red Lobster biscuit with the convenience of not having to leave your house!

Few restaurant freebies have earned the cult following of Red Lobster’s Cheddar Bay Biscuits. The garlicky, cheesy biscuits were invented in 1992 by Kurt Hankins, then head of Red Lobster’s culinary development team, who was reportedly inspired by Texas Toast and French bread. Hankins reworked a traditional biscuit recipe, swapping the usual sugar for garlic and folding in shredded cheese. The result wasn’t just a side dish — it became the reason people booked a table in the first place.

From Hush Puppies to Biscuit Obsession

Red Lobster’s biscuit didn’t start as the star of the show. Before Cheddar Bay Biscuits existed, the chain served hush puppies, which never quite won customers over. When the new cheese-and-garlic biscuit debuted, it was originally offered on trays in the waiting area to keep hungry guests happy before their tables were ready. The tactic worked almost too well — demand overwhelmed the lobby servers, forcing the biscuit-eating experience to move to the dining tables themselves. Decades later, the biscuits remain so beloved that Red Lobster has noted selling close to a million of them a day.

A Homemade Riff: Lobster Drop Biscuits

While the original recipe stays locked up in corporate headquarters, home bakers have spent years chasing that same warm, savory, cheddar-and-garlic flavor in their own kitchens. Lobster Drop Biscuits are one such tribute — a simplified, no-fuss take built for a home oven and a couple of soup spoons instead of a piping bag or biscuit cutter.

This version leans into the “drop biscuit” tradition of American baking, where a wetter, shaggier dough is spooned directly onto the pan rather than rolled and cut. It’s a technique that dates back to early American biscuit-making, when cooks favored quick, rustic breads that came together with minimal equipment. Pairing that method with garlic powder, onion powder, a whisper of smoked paprika, and a generous handful of cheddar gives home cooks the familiar Cheddar Bay flavor profile without needing a restaurant-grade kitchen.

Why the Drop Method Works

Using cold butter cut into the dry ingredients creates small pockets of fat that melt during baking, producing flaky, tender layers even without rolling or folding the dough. Buttermilk (or a quick vinegar-soured milk substitute) adds tang and reacts with the baking soda for extra lift. Because the dough is meant to be thick, sturdy, and slightly shaggy, there’s no risk of overworking it — a common pitfall with rolled biscuits.

A Modern Classic in Progress

Finished with a brush of herb butter, Lobster Drop Biscuits capture the same comforting, savory bite that made the original famous, while keeping the process approachable for a weeknight kitchen. As Cheddar Bay Biscuits continue to inspire copycat recipes across food blogs and home kitchens alike, drop-style versions like this one carry that legacy forward — proof that a 1990s seafood-restaurant freebie has become a lasting part of American comfort food history.

Lobster Drop Biscuits

Servings 8
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Ingredients
  

Dry

  • 1 cup AP flour
  • ⅛ tsp baking soda
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1 pinch salt
  • ¼ tsp garlic powder
  • ¼ tsp onion powder
  • ⅛ tsp smoked paprika or other smoked chili powder

Wet

  • 3 Tbsp cold salted butter if using unsalted, add ⅛ Tbsp salt to recipe
  • ½ cup shredded cheese something cheddar-forward is best
  • ½ cup buttermilk

For finishing (optional)

  • 2 Tbsp melted butter
  • chopped fresh parsley and/or chives

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 375℉. Mix together dry ingredients.
  • Cut cold butter and shredded cheese into flour, until it forms small pea-sized lumps of fat covered in flour.
  • Add buttermilk, mix until all flour is incorporated. Should form a very thick shaggy sturdy paste. Use dough within 10-15 minutes of mixing.
  • Use 2 soup spoons to scoop and drop biscuit lumps onto a greased baking pan. Should make 6 or 7 biscuits. They will rise and spread slightly. Bake at 375℉ on the middle rack for 12 minutes, or until golden brown and a probe thermometer reads 180℉ when inserted into the middle.
  • If desired, finely chop desired herbs and add to 2 tablespoons melted butter.
  • Brush over hot biscuits.
  • Allow to cool slightly and serve warm.
Course: Snack
Region: North America

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About Beryl

I have been in the film and media industry for the past 12 years and have worked for companies including Great Big Story, ABC, CNN, Martha Stewart, News Corporation, Harper Collins and Fast Company.