This recipe for easy buttermilk biscuits has just three ingredients and comes out flaky and perfect every time.
Basic buttermilk biscuits are a southern staple
We have some fun and unique biscuits here on our site. Sweet Potato Biscuits are a fall favorite, but really they’re good any time of year.
Asiago Cheese and Black Pepper Biscuits are another super easy recipe with a twist. They go perfectly with lots of soups and stews.
Mexican Style Biscuits will make you think of Mexican Cornbread, but in biscuit form. If you love a spicy kick you’ll love them. And then there are Pimento Cheese Biscuits, oh my!
But, we thought it was high time we had a recipe here for basic but easy buttermilk biscuits. We worked a while perfecting the recipe because we want you to be sure your biscuits will come out just right every time.
These biscuits are made with just 3 ingredients:
All you need to make buttermilk biscuits is self-rising flour, buttermilk and butter.
If you don’t have buttermilk you can make a substitute with plain milk and either lemon juice or white vinegar. Just put a Tablespoon of one of those acidics in a measuring cup and then fill it up with milk to make one cup. Stir and let it sit for 5-10 minutes before using.
If you don’t have self-rising flour you can make a substitute for that too. For every cup of all purpose flour add two teaspoons of baking powder and one-half teaspoon of salt. Stir well and then re-measure before adding to your recipe.
How to make easy 3 ingredient biscuits (be sure to watch the video):
The number one tip for making flaky biscuits every time is to keep your ingredients cold.
Follow these steps
- Freeze the butter.
- Chill the buttermilk in the measuring cup.
- Measure the flour into a bowl and chill the bowl.
- Lightly flour a surface for rolling and cutting the biscuits.
- Grate the butter with a box grater on the side with the larger holes.
- Add the butter to the flour a little at a time tossing after each addition.
- Stir in the buttermilk just until blended.
- Place the dough onto floured surface and pat down until it’s about 1/2 inch thick.
- Fold the dough over in half and pat down, repeating this step four times.
- Roll with a rolling pin or pat down until about 1/2 inch thick and then cut with biscuit cutter in desired size. Use a straight down and up motion with the cutter – do not twist.
- Place biscuits nearly touching on parchment paper lined baking sheet and bake for 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter if desired.
Why it’s so important to keep the ingredients cold:
The little grated pieces of butter are what creates the flakes in your biscuits. If it starts to get warm the butter will just sort of “melt” into the flour.
Keeping everything cold means the butter will remain intact. Then, when you pat down the dough you are flattening the butter bits. Your biscuits will then bake into flaky pillows of southern buttermilk goodness!
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Easy Buttermilk Biscuits: 3 Ingredients
Ingredients
- 2½ cups self-rising flour
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 stick butter 1 stick equals 1/2 cup
Instructions
- Freeze the stick of butter. Chill the measured flour and buttermilk.
- Grate the buttter, tossing it with the flour a little at a time.
- Stir in the buttermilk just until the ingredients are blended. If dough feels dry 1-2 Tablespoons additional buttermilk can be stirred in.
- Place dough on a lightly floured surface and pat down to about 1/2 inch thickness. Fold in half and pat to 1/2 inch again. Repeat the fold and pat step 4 times.
- Roll with a rolling pin or pat down with hands until about 1/2 inch thick.
- Cut with a biscuit cutter using a straight down and up motion (do not twist). Place biscuits on parchment lined baking sheet nearly touching.
- Bake at 450 degrees 12-14 minutes or until lightly browned. Brush with melted butter if desired.
Video
Notes
Items you may need for making biscuits:
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- Glass measuring cups
- Box grater for grating the butter
- Rolling pin (we love a traditional wooden one)
- Biscuit cutters
- Parchment paper
- Sweet Potato Butter for spreading on those biscuits
If you make this or any of our recipes we’d love for you to leave us a comment and star rating. If you’re into sharing your creations, snap a photo and tag us when you post it to Facebook or Instagram.
More recipes you’ll want to try:
Southern Style Vegetable Beef Soup 
Shrimp and Grits 
Skillet Potatoes 
Pimento Cheese Grits 
Southern Appetizer Board 
Blueberry Crumb Cake with Cream Cheese 
Mini Strawberry Shortcakes 
Spicy Chicken Sandwich with Yogurt Sauce
WOW, those biscuits look so flaky, buttery and inviting. With just 3 ingredients – this is such an easy to make recipe. Thank you for the detailed tips – will try these out for my family.
Hope everyone loves them as much as we do!
I have been making biscuits for nearly 40 years because my husband loves biscuits and sausage gravy. However, mine have never come out as high and flaky as every recipe I’ve tried has claimed…UNTIL NOW!!! This simple recipe is PERFECT. I made them tonight and they came out flaky, tender, and so, so, high! And they were delicious! Thank you so much! My husband will never have to suffer another biscuit fail again!
Yay! So happy to hear this, Alicia! Thank you for coming back to let us know. Happy Biscuit Making!
These biscuits were so good! And the recipe is really easy to follow!
Awesome! Thanks for letting us know, Toni.
A nice easy to follow recipe for buttermilk biscuits.
Thanks, Beth!
These look so light and fluffy. I am definetly going to try these with a little sausage and gravy this weekend.
That sounds wonderful!
I didn’t know you could make them eggless..will try this for sure.
Well, that’s a new one on us as we have never heard of putting eggs in biscuits. Hope you’ll enjoy this recipe.
Saw a chef on TV who’s specializes in biscuits and gravy but prior to starting he takes his measured flour and the bowl and puts both in the freezer. When he’s ready to make them just pulls it and the butter out, which has been cut and frozen and makes the biscuits. I’ve thought what a neat idea but I’m only cooking for one now and it takes a real special occasion to make these but always thought I would try his method.
Interesting… same concept except we just chill the bowl and flour.
what temperature do you bake these at ? i did’nt see that in the instruction s!?
Hi Harold, Yes, please check the recipe card for step #7. It starts out “Bake at 450 degrees…”
Enjoy those biscuits!
I made these today. Total time including baking, 20min. They are beautiful , light , flaky, and delicious !
Brushed butter, and honey on top, and shared with the neighbors . A hit all around. Sorry l could not take picture. Thank you, for this simple easy to follow recipe…
You are making me hungry, PJ! Thanks for your kind comment.
DELICIOUS! The first words out of my grandsons mouth when he bit into the biscuit was “MMMMMMMM” They were great I had to agree. I folded them too many times so they didn’t rise as much as the could have but they looked and tasted great!
That’s great to hear! Thanks for letting us know Joe!
I tried this biscuit recipe this morning I didn’t have buttermilk but I had powdered buttermilk so I use milk and powdered buttermilk I didn’t have self rising flour so I added 1 tablespoon of baking powder and a teaspoon of salt because my butter was unsalted the biscuits were light fluffy airy and a I got rave reviews. I will definitely try it again. I served it with agave and my family ate it with strawberry jelly
So happy to hear it, Hansel! Be sure to note that we have included substitutes for buttermilk and self-rising flour, but it sounds like your workarounds turned out fine.
Buttermilk biscuits are one of my favorite foods! But, I’ve always been intimidated to make them. Love these helpful tips and the recipe looks gorgeous!
Thanks so much, Jessie! They’re really easy – give it a try.
These were so light and flaky and were the perfect addition to my sausage gravy.
Yay! Glad you loved them Shanna.
These biscuits are gorgeous! They baked up so light and fluffy! Using the self-rising flour really helped!
Super simple, huh? Thank you Alison.
3 ingredients! It doesn’t get easier then that. So flaky and delicious.
Exactly right. Thanks, Angela!
There are few more delicious food treats on the planet! We just loved them with chicken fried steak!
Agreed! Thanks, Beth!
I can’t believe how easy they were to make and how soft and fluffy they turned out! It was my daughter’s first baking on her own project and long may it last! Thank you for a great recipe!
Yay! We love seeing new cooks emerge! Thanks for letting us know.
These were so light and buttery… heaven!
Awww…. thanks Alisa!
These are the BEST biscuits for any meal! I love how they are only made with 3 ingredients. I will be making these again next week. Thank you!
Thank you for your kind works, Kathryn!
I love these!! It was a hit at my house!
Awesome! Thanks, Toni!
You had me at 3 ingredients! these are so light & fluffy! yum
Thank you, Rebecca!
Can you make the biscuits and freeze before baking so you can cook them later? If yes, would you cook them from frozen or would you have to thaw before baking?
Hi Carol,
The only way we have tested freezing them is after they’re baked and then thaw before warming up. To freeze them unbaked my suggestion would be to thaw before baking, but again, we haven’t tested that. If you do them we would love it if you would come back and leave a comment on how they turn out.
Hi Pam,
I tried freezing the biscuits before baking and then cooking at 450 for 14 minutes from frozen. They rose good and tasted good. The only thing I noticed was that the tops were a little crunchy. I also tried freezing before baking, thawing an hour or so and baking. That didn’t work – they came out like hockey pucks. So, while it kind of worked, there is nothing like making and baking right away.
Thank you for reporting back Carol. It’s so great when readers can share their experiences with each other and with us.
I gave up making biscuits years ago. But I saw your recipe and thought I’d try one more time and boy am I glad I did was so easy and tasted absolutely wonderful flaky and so buttery. Thank you for posting this recipe I will be making these very often.
Thank you so much for letting us know Debbie! Hopefully your comments with encourage others to give them a try too!
These look so yummy and easy! I can’t wait to make these! My family is going to love them!
They really are simple. Thanks, Beth!
These look so fluffy and soft! What great tips for making the perfect biscuits!
Thanks much, Patty!
I am a HUGE fan of biscuits, and the fact that these are just 3 ingredients is so convenient!
Can’t believe how easy these are to make and how fluffy they come out! Perfect!
Thanks so much, Suzy!
These look fabulous and I love how they’re made with just three ingredients! Saving to make later this week!
Thanks, Jamie! Bet they’ll be awesome!
I’ve never baked biscuits before, but these turned out great! Thanks for creating such a detailed recipe and explaining not only how to make my own buttermilk and self-rising flour (can’t get either where I live) but also explaining why the ingredients need to be chilled (otherwise I probably would have skipped those steps to the detriment of the biscuits)!
Really delicious and easy to make!
So happy they turned out great Rachel! Thanks for coming back to let us know.
Sorry, I forgot to rate the recipe!
Thank you so much!
Thank you. I have made these these several times and they are delicious! Question… any tricks for grating the butter? It’s always very time consuming and really hard on my wrist and hands using my standard cheese grater.
Donna, have you looked for a rotary grater that makes larger pieces? Most of them have small holes for grating, but possibly you could find one with larger holes and that would be easier on your wrists. I always grate it pretty fast for a few seconds and then take a break to toss the butter in the flour. Another idea is trying the frozen butter in a food processor, but I’ve not tested that.
These look so delicious and yummy! I can’t wait to give these a try! My family is going to love this!
Freezing the butter is genius! Definitely trying this recipe soon. 🙂
Delicious light and fluffy biscuits! I didn’t have self rising flour so I used your alternative. Came out great.
Awesome! Thank you Angela!
Seriously the BEST biscuits! So flaky and buttery! Easy to make!
We love them, too. Thank you, Ashley!
I was always really intimidated by biscuits but your simple recipe and helpful tips got me over my hurdle! Now I’m a biscuit pro and the kids come running when they smell them baking!
Yay! So happy to hear that.
You had me with those 3 ingredients, everyone loves biscuits and mine are always dry trying these tonight!
You won’t be disappointed!
These are perfect for a quick and easy meal! My boyfriend and I love them! I will definitely be making these again!
Thanks so much!
Oh my goodness! These are divine. It’s three ingredient perfection… yum!!
You got that right! Thanks, Angela!
My family loves homemade buttermilk biscuits. I love that these are easy to make with just 3 ingredients. Ideal for biscuits and gravy.
Yes, they are. Thanks so much.
I’ve been looking for a biscuit recipe for awhile since my family has been requesting them. Can’t wait to try these biscuits!
You and your family will love them.