Biscuits
Quick Bite
Mississippi biscuits are tender, buttery Southern quick breads made for splitting, buttering, gravying, jamming, or dragging through whatever is left on the plate. A good one should be tall, soft, flaky, and gone before it cools.
History
Biscuits are a Southern staple, and Mississippi has long treated them as more than a breakfast side. They belong at morning tables with sausage gravy, at supper with fried chicken, beside tomato gravy, under country ham, or simply hot with butter and cane syrup.
The biscuit’s story is tied to practical Southern cooking. Early forms of biscuit were harder and plainer, but the fluffy buttermilk biscuit became possible as better flour, leaveners, and home ovens became more common. In Mississippi kitchens, biscuits became a way to turn basic pantry ingredients, flour, fat, buttermilk, and salt, into something that felt generous.
They also fit the rhythm of farm and family life. Biscuits were fast compared with yeast bread, could be made in batches, and worked with whatever was around: sorghum, molasses, preserves, redeye gravy, tomato gravy, or leftover ham.
Today, Mississippi biscuits show up in diners, bakeries, breakfast joints, gas-station counters, and home kitchens. The best versions are not fussy. They are soft in the middle, lightly crisp outside, and built for eating hot.
Fun Facts
- A hot biscuit can be breakfast, side dish, sandwich bread, or dessert depending on what you put on it.
- Tomato gravy over biscuits is a beloved Southern variation, especially in parts of Mississippi.
- Many biscuit makers swear by cold butter, soft flour, and not overworking the dough.
Where to Try
A Mississippi breakfast favorite known for biscuit plates, biscuit-based specials, and tomato gravy.
A local breakfast-and-blue-plate spot with the slogan “Biscuits Done Right Day and Night.”
A Mississippi café and bakery group serving Southern breakfast, baked goods, and buttermilk biscuit-style comfort.
About the Game
This recipe is part of Van Life Challenge, a travel-themed board game from Gray Dog Games where players explore the United States, discover regional foods, and collect memorable experiences along the way.
Each featured food celebrates a real place, a local flavor, and the kind of delicious roadside discovery that makes every trip feel like an adventure.
Recipe
Ingredients
Instructions
- Heat the oven: Heat the oven to 425°F.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and sugar if using.
- Cut in the butter: Cut in the cold butter with your fingers, a pastry cutter, or two forks until the mixture has pea-size pieces of butter.
- Add buttermilk: Pour in the buttermilk and stir gently until a shaggy dough forms.
- Shape the dough: Turn the dough onto a floured surface and pat it into a rectangle.
- Fold for layers: Fold the dough over itself 3 or 4 times to build layers.
- Cut the biscuits: Pat to about ¾ inch thick and cut with a biscuit cutter. Press straight down without twisting.
- Arrange: Place biscuits close together on a baking sheet or cast-iron skillet.
- Bake: Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until golden.
- Brush and serve: Brush with melted butter and serve hot.
