Taryn Pire has been writing for BuzzFeed Tasty since 2026.

Restaurant Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits: If you dine at Red Lobster, a gratis basket of biscuits will be the first item you're served. They also come with every entrée. You can also order six or 12 at a time and pay for them instead, if you’re ordering to go without staying for a meal. 

Red Lobster Frozen Cheddar Bay Biscuits: To get a taste without going to the restaurant, there are frozen, ready-to-bake biscuits available in stores. All you have to do is bake them and brush them with garlic-herb butter (you provide the butter; the seasoning is included). 

Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix: For the extra-ambitious, you can mix and scoop the biscuits yourself. The mix requires adding your own cheese in addition to mixing the butter topping. 

I’ll start by saying that I love that this mix exists. That said, DIY biscuits inherently allow more room for human error and disparities versus the restaurant version. Even so, the instructions were simple: stir water, cheese, and the dry mix until it forms a dough, scoop the biscuits onto a lined baking sheet, and bake until golden and crisp. Finally, I spooned on a mixture of melted butter and the chain’s garlic-herb seasoning.

I followed the box’s instructions exactly, but ended up adding a splash more water to fully incorporate the dry mix. I used a quarter-cup measuring cup to scoop the dough, as suggested on the box. It made eight biscuits total, not 10 as the package claimed. For the butter, I simply microwaved half a stick of salted butter (the box didn’t specify unsalted, but I’m sure either would work), whisked in the seasoning with a fork, then drizzled it over the finished biscuits.

These turned out much craggier and asymmetrical because they were scooped by hand, but I didn’t see that as a con; it brought dimension, a rustic appearance, and appetizing browning. The amount of butter for the number of biscuits initially seemed excessive, but less so once it dried.

The mix's biscuits definitely tasted the most unique; flavor-wise, they were my favorite. The cheese shone through strongest, imparting aged-yet-mild funk to each bite. That said, I’d suggest shredding the cheese by hand to ensure it melts completely; the anti-caking agents in pre-shredded cheese allow each piece to keep its shape, barring the cheese from fully incorporating into the crumb. I felt the salty notes of the garlic-herb butter came through most here as well.

As for price, the mix costs $3 to $4, depending on location and store, but keep in mind you need to provide your own butter and cheese, so the total cost is likely more than double that of the mix. Due to the extra work and ingredients, as well as the mix's biscuits turning out the most different compared to the restaurant’s biscuits, they’re at the bottom of my ranking. That said, they were the best-tasting and had a homestyle look that I appreciated.

The frozen biscuits cost nearly double the mix for the same number of biscuits. Of course, you’re paying for the privilege of not having to mix dough or buy additional cheese. However, the biscuits were notably smaller and more uniform in size and shape than those I made from the mix. The instructions were about the same, minus making the dough: line a baking sheet, bake the biscuits, and brush them with garlic-herb butter.

Even though they cost more ($7.69 in my area), I think the frozen biscuits are a better deal because you’ll likely end up spending at least that to make the mix, since you'll need both shredded cheese and butter. You also get more garlic-herb seasoning with the frozen biscuits; the mix provides one packet for a quarter-cup of butter to coat eight to 10 biscuits, while the frozen biscuits have two (although it’s possible that the packets, despite being the same size, contain half the amount of seasoning, since the instructions explain how to coat either four or eight frozen biscuits).

They had a true exterior “crust” that the others didn’t; its flavor reminded me of Extra Toasty Cheez-It crackers. The inside was very moist and not as crumbly as the restaurant biscuits. The garlic topping tasted more rounded for some reason without that intensely salty high note I’ve come to expect in-house. I loved the texture, but these were a touch blander than the others.

Get this, reader: I went to the closest Red Lobster to me and asked the host for six biscuits to go. In less than a minute, a server brought me a warm paper bag filled with biscuits and told me it was on the house. I don’t know if that’s protocol or if I just got lucky, but I did not expect the in-restaurant biscuits to be the cheapest. Even if I'd paid for them, they’d be $6 for six biscuits at the same location. One dollar per biscuit is still technically cheaper than the frozen or mix options when you account for the additional ingredients required to make them. And of course, these don’t require any work besides reheating.

The biscuits were ready to warm and came with handy step-by-step instructions. They didn’t take as long to heat as the frozen biscuits (5 minutes versus 30), and they came with garlic-herb butter already on top. The main con was their appearance; compared to the others, especially those from the mix, they looked small and a bit short. They also had a crumblier texture than I remember. Maybe I’m imagining it, but they taste a little denser and less buttery when reheated compared to fresh. The cheese was also more muted in both appearance and flavor.

They each have their own strengths, but all three will satisfy your craving for a Cheddar Bay Biscuit. If you want to riff on the original with quality cheddar cheese (ideally hand-shredded) or a larger size, the mix allows for experimentation. Of the at-home options, though, the frozen mix is closer to the restaurant's biscuits. It's also lower lift and likely less cumulatively expensive than the mix.