These Old Fashioned Lard Biscuits have a unique flavor and texture thanks to the lard in the recipe.
Y’all, there’s just something special about biting into a warm, flaky biscuit that takes you right back to Grandma’s kitchen. And when it comes to making those melt-in-your-mouth, perfect biscuits, the secret ingredient you need is lard. Yep, good ol’ lard. It’s what folks used long before butter or shortening took over, and once you’ve had a biscuit made with it, there’s no going back.
So let’s talk all things lard biscuits, and I’ll answer some of the questions you might have about bringing this old-school Southern favorite into your kitchen.
Many thanks to Kathy Lackey for sharing this recipe with me all the way back in 2010.
Why use lard in biscuits?
Here’s the deal—when you’re making biscuits, the texture is everything. And lard? It gives you that ideal combo of a crispy, golden outside and a soft, tender inside that almost melts in your mouth. Butter biscuits are great (and my fav), but they tend to be a little denser. Lard is where you’ll find those perfect, flaky layers that pull apart so easily, they practically beg for a pat of butter or a spoonful of jam.
Back in the day, folks used lard because, well, it’s what they had! But even today, lard can really level up your biscuits. If you’re after that old-fashioned taste and texture, you’ve gotta give it a try.
Is lard healthier than butter?
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Lard? Isn’t that bad for you? Well, believe it or not, lard’s not as unhealthy as it’s been made out to be. It’s actually less processed than most shortenings, and good-quality lard doesn’t have any trans fats or weird additives.
Lard is also higher in monounsaturated fats—the same kind you find in olive oil—which makes it a better choice than you might think. So, while it’s still a fat (let’s not get carried away!), it’s not the villain some folks make it out to be. And trust me, your taste buds will agree.
Can I substitute lard with another fat?
You can absolutely swap lard with butter or shortening, but the results won’t be quite the same. Butter will give your biscuits a richer flavor, but they might be a little heavier. Shortening will give you some of that flakiness but won’t pack the same flavor punch.
If you’re after that authentic, grandma-approved biscuit, lard’s the way to go. But hey, if you’re in a pinch, butter or shortening will do—you just won’t get quite the same magic.
Where can I find lard?
Good news—lard isn’t as hard to find as it used to be! Most grocery stores carry it, usually over in the baking section. Just make sure you’re looking for high-quality, non-hydrogenated lard.
For the freshest lard, check your local butcher or farmers’ market—sometimes they make small batches that are even better than what you can get in the store. And if you’re feeling adventurous, you can even render your own at home. It’s surprisingly easy and gives your biscuits an extra homemade touch.
Do lard biscuits taste different from butter biscuits?
Oh, yes, they do! Lard biscuits are all about that texture—they have a more neutral flavor than butter biscuits. That’s not a bad thing, though. It just means they’re perfect for loading up with whatever toppings you like, whether that’s honey, sausage gravy, strawberry freezer jam, or a big ol’ smear of butter.
If you’re all about the texture—those flaky layers, that soft interior—lard is what you want. Butter biscuits have a richer flavor, but they just don’t give you that same melt-in-your-mouth feel.
What’s the best way to store biscuits made with lard?
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers (which honestly doesn’t happen much around here), you’ll want to store them right to keep them fresh. Just pop them in an airtight container or wrap them up tightly in foil, and they’ll stay good on the counter for a couple of days.
For longer storage, you can freeze them! Let the biscuits cool completely, then wrap them individually in plastic wrap and throw them in a freezer bag. When you’re ready to eat them, just let them thaw out at room temp or heat them back up in the oven to get them all warm and toasty again.
Can I make these biscuits ahead of time?
You can freeze these biscuits before baking! After cutting the biscuits, lay them on a baking sheet and freeze them solid. Then toss them in a freezer bag. When you’re ready, just bake them straight from the freezer—just add a couple of extra minutes to the baking time. Easy peasy!
There’s a reason folks have been using lard for biscuits for generations—it just works. Whether you’re craving that nostalgic taste of Grandma’s kitchen or just want to try something new, biscuits made with lard are a must-try. They’re flaky, tender, and packed with that classic Southern charm.
So, grab some lard and give it a whirl. And when those biscuits come out of the oven, hot and golden brown, make sure you call the family to the table. There’s nothing better than sharing a meal made with love (and lard). 😂
Recipe Card
Old Fashioned Lard Biscuits
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/3 cup lard (or shortening)
- 2/3 cup whole milk (I like to use buttermilk.)
Instructions
- Preheat oven 450°F. Make sure the rack is in the center.
- In a large bowl whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in lard until it resembles small peas.
- Stirring with a fork, gently add milk to make a soft dough. With floured hands knead dough gently 4 times in bowl.
- Put dough on lightly floured surface. Roll or pat the dough to about 1/4″ to 1/2″ thick.
- Cut with a floured 2″ cutter. Place the cut-out biscuits about 1″ apart on ungreased baking sheet.
- Bake until biscuits are golden brown, about 12 minutes.
- Serve biscuits piping hot.
Nutrition
* If nutritional values are provided, they are an estimate and will vary depending on the brands used. The values do not include optional ingredients or when ingredients are added to taste. If calorie count and other nutritional values are important to you, I recommend grabbing your favorite brands and plugging those ingredients into an online nutritional calculator.
Kerry Harrison
Very tasty and easy to make. Did not rise. I read the comments and knew it would be a 50/50 shot. Did not use buttermilk, maybe the bp wasn’t “fresh”. All my other baking things rise 🤷♀️. I think this would make a great pie crust!
Buttermilk provides some needed acid to help the leaving work.
Tina Gosnell
easy and delicious!
Thanks!!
Michael Howard
I tried this recipe using buttermilk and there wasn’t enough liquid to make a dough. I did double everything as I was serving more people. Because I had to handle it more they were flat and harder than they should have been.
Hi Michael! Some buttermilk is thicker than others and might call for a little more. Did you happen to use whole buttermilk?
Danny
Awesome thank you
You’re so welcome!
Diane
My family loves these biscuits. Easy and fast to make.
Glad y’all have enjoyed them!
Bkhuna
If you lucky, there might be a Hispanic grocery or Mexican carnicería nearby. They often have tubs tubs of lard.
Great tip! Thanks for sharing!
Marsha Waggoner
This makes the best biscuits ever. It’s my favorite biscuit recipe, and I’ve passed it along to friends and family.
Thanks so much, Marsha! So glad you’ve enjoyed these!
YS
Our family loves this easy child-friendly recipe! Delicious!
Thanks, YS!
Matthew
Having a problem with these rising at all. Whatever thickness I form the dough they simply bake at that height. Or it’s that they rise so little that it can’t be noticed.
Have you tested the freshness of your baking powder?
Babycak3s
Good quick biscuit recipe… only thing would add a pinch of sugar and fold twice then cut but overall amazing 🤩
Happy to hear it! Thanks for those tips!
Mary OBrien
If you use buttermilk you need to adjust/ reduce the baking powder to .50 tsp and replace that portion by adding .50 tsp of baking soda.
The acidity in the buttermilk reduces the effectiveness of the phosphate and will also leave a bitter aftertaste.
Also, make sure to use a double acting baking powder & best that it does not contain aluminum (SALP).
Look at you getting all food-sciency! Thanks for the tips.
Debbie
Great biscuits. Reminded me of my aunties. I use self rising flour, lard and milk. They tasted fantastic. Just did not rise very much. Will definitely make them again.
Glad you enjoyed them!
Candice Goodyear
Oh my, this recipe is the best I have found just like my grandmother’s biscuits minus the fact she used a wood burning stove and a cast iron dutch oven and hers rose a little higher. Going to use this recipe from now on. They were so flaky and yummy.
SS
I made these and they tasted like dry piles of raw flour. They definitely needed sugar or some spices added to them. Husband asked me not to make them again. 🙁
James Egnor
And only White Lily self-rising flour. Period.
I agree!! 🙂
Johanna
Oh my gosh, these are amazing! My first time making biscuits with lard, and the best biscuits I’ve ever made. They rose beautifully in the oven, and they were flaky and fluffy and just delicious. Thank you!
I am SO excited to hear that you enjoyed these biscuits!
Gloria
I’m 76 and bought into the “lard is bad for you” crap years ago because it’s an animal product, but trendy olive oil and coconut oil are worse because they have more saturated fat than lard. We need to face facts: manufactured food is just not good for us–that’s really where all the saturated and trans fats (the “bad fats”) are located for the most part.
My mother, aunt, and grandmother all made biscuits from scratch using both lard and buttermilk and never measured anything and they were always perfect–high and delicious! I don’t remember them using any more than a small ball, maybe a rounded tablespoon, of lard, and later Crisco which became all purpose in the 1960s. but was awful itself–full of saturated fat, trans fats and so on. They also never precisely “mixed” the dry ingredients and worked all of them at once with their hands, then the buttermilk, turning the dough out onto a floured table and shaping each to place in a round cake pan, allowing them to touch.
BTW, buttermilk is what’s left after the butter is made at dairies, so it’s lowfat unless butter is added back in, which is seldom.
You can find self-rising flour in the south which already contains baking powder–just make sure it’s fresh, too. Easy on the butter, though! It has more saturated fat than lard. https://tendergrass.com/lard-vs-coconut-oil/
Melinda Kohn
I used this recipe to make the dough for pigs in the blanket. FABULOUS!!!! thank you so much for this easy quick recipe using lard!!!
So glad it turned out well for you, Melinda!
Shaun
Reduce to 3/4 of a tsp of salt, add 1 tablespoon of salted butter. 🙂
Emma
Hi I would like to try to make these biscuits, however I have trouble with milk. I was wondering if I could substitute water for milk in this recipe?
I’m just not sure about the taste, Emma. I know they’ll work, just not sure how they’ll taste.
LarryC
Hi – I’ve tried so many recipes over the years: the biscuits always come out flat! I don’t hv a cookie cutter tho I do use a plastic tumbler to make the rounds. Perhaps they’re too large across (3″) or…the plastic tumbler smooshes/seals the outside of the biscuit dough? Thanks for any advice…heading out to Fred Meyer’s now for the lard, etc. My chicken soup never fails, tho! But…missing the biscuits.
There are a variety of things that can affect the rise of the biscuits. I would definitely go for a smaller, thicker biscuit and make sure to use a sharp edge when cutting them.
Kellie Parish
use a glass.
Melissa Moseley
Best biscuits ever! I’ve used Belgian Buttermilk, 2% milk with a little heavy cream and whole fresh milk straight from dairy. My favorite are with whole fresh milk. Perfect rise, taste and texture.
That’s awesome to hear! They look perfect, Melissa!
Martha
I just made them with all ingredients that I just bough at the store, substituted buttermilk, and they came out flat. I cut them straight down, patted instead of rolled, and only kneaded four times.
Bob
This is the same as my mothers recipe you can not knead the dough its just mixed together if you knead or over mix the baking powder will not work because the c02 that makes the biscuits rise escapes during the process. mix all dry ingredients together well add milk and melted lard stir a few times to mix it together and drop biscuits in a cast iron skillet bake for about 15 minutes
Perry Skates
I made these biscuits tonight…..This is a good recipe, they almost tasted as good as my Grandmothers were lang ago. I used Buttermilk, and followed your directions perfectly.
So glad they turned out well for you, Perry!
Debra Elliott
If I substitute buttermilk instead of reg milk. Same results?
Melissa Haydon
Buttermilk will work perfectly for this recipe.
Brenda
I made these last night they have a awesome flavor but seem to be a little dry any suggestions? I used the tallow I rendered.
Dryness can be caused by too much flour or not enough fat. So many things, including how you measure flour and in what type of vessel your measuring can affect the flour amounts. I always spoon flour into a DRY measure measuring cup and level it off with the back of a butter knife.
don
ive seen some people add a tablesppon or two of sugar,,will that work in your recipe too
It will certainly work to add a bit of sugar, if that’s what you like.
connie Morsher
i use sugar for the strawberry shortcake recipe.
Katrina
Everyone in the south knows you bake biscuits in a cast iron skillet. Love this recipe. It’s just like my Grandmother used to make except for the skillet.
🙂 We do use a skillet at our house, too!
Kim
Do you oil the skillet?
You can if it’s not well seasoned.
Nancy W
I’m confused–your directions say add salt AND PEPPER. I didn’t see pepper in your ingredient list. Do you really use pepper and if so, how much?
No pepper. Not sure where that came from. This recipe is from a reader, but I’m pretty sure there’s no pepper in these.
Ray W
My Mom always used cakepans and melted a bit of Crisco (or lard) in the pans instead of a baking sheet. Touching sides helped them rise I guess. What do you think about that option? Hers were also made with buttermilk.
Kacey
I made these tonight, made them a little too thin thinking they would rise too big. Maybe I shouldn’t of used confect on my oven, they didn’t get golden brown, just the edges. Could I brush a small amount of butter next time on top to make them brown up? They are delicious though!
Over working the dough and not cutting the straight up and down (twisting the cutter) can cause them not to raise. Also, folding the dough over several times will increase the layers. I do like to brush mine with a little melted butter to get them to brown up nicely!
steve b
I love this recipe. I also have eaten light, flakey but layered biscuits. Can this recipe be adapted to that end by rolling out the dough much thinner and folding it over several times before either cutting or forming dough balls?
More folding generally leads to more layers, the problem is that you can overwork the dough.
Nancy Smith
They will turn out tough
shannon Smith
I just made this recipe. I followed the directions but mine came out flat! Any idea as to what I did wrong?
Hi Shannon! Are you sure that your baking powder is fresh? If it is, what did you use to cut the biscuits out?
phil
these are in the oven baking at the moment. i’ll leave another comment if they’re delicious. i just wanted to say that these are so much easier than biscuits made with butter. for some reason, barely any kneading is required with this recipe. i suspect science is at play…
I hope you’ll enjoy them!
Nichole
How many biscuits does this make?
Depending on the size of the cutter between 8 and 10.
Jorge
Can I make this biscuit dough ahead of time and refrigerate overnight?
I wouldn’t recommend that.
Steve
What about for a couple hours.? I have a ham going right now
Sure! Sounds great!
Gina F.
I’ve been on a mission the past few weeks to make the perfect biscuit. I have many flops and so-so biscuits until last night with this recipe. They tasted wonderful. I’m sad that I didn’t double the recipe, next time I will for sure. Thank you.
Wonderful! I’m so glad that you enjoyed the recipe!
Susan
Stacey, I’ve been using lard for my biscuits for ever, but was always complaining about the biscuits being crumbly. At the same time, I’ve been using a recipe that calls for shortening or butter–1/4 cup. I decided my biscuits were crumbly because there wasn’t enough lard in them, so I google it just to make sure, and this was my first stop. I’ll make sure I’m putting 1/3 cup in rather than 1/4. They’re in the oven now, and I can’t wait to slap some butter on one! 🙂
And I form my biscuits by hand–my aunt, grandmother and mama always made them that way. <3
I hope they turned out great!!
Sharon R.
I love buttermilk biscuits. Could I substitute buttermilk in place of regular milk or would that totally mess it up?
No, I think using the buttermilk would be just fine. 🙂
Jodie Mantooth
Wow, just made these and I was instantly taken back to my grandmother’s breakfast table 25 yrs ago! YUM!!
So glad this brought back wonderful memories for you!