Southern-Style Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits are tall, ultra flaky and buttery! They have so many layers, and are easy to make in just 30 minutes.
These are the best dang biscuits I’ve ever had, vegan or not! They have layers upon layers of tender, flaky, buttery goodness and they bake up nice and tall. Just like my soft Vegan Dinner Rolls, these biscuits are easy to make and even easier to eat.
I love to eat a warm homemade biscuit with a bit of vegan butter and jam, but I’ve also made an awesome breakfast sandwich using a vegan sausage patty and a slice of vegan cheese.
Or serve them with some coleslaw and vegan baked beans for a delicious meal. You can have amazing homemade vegan biscuits in just 30 minutes!
Ingredients needed (with substitutions)
- Unsweetened soy milk + apple cider vinegar – This is your vegan buttermilk. I like unsweetened soy milk best here, but almond milk or another non-dairy milk will work fine. Just make sure it’s unsweetened and not vanilla flavored.
- Flour – Use regular all purpose flour for the very best results. You can substitute a quality gluten free flour mix (such as King Arthur Measure for Measure flour), but results will vary.
- Baking powder – Necessary for making them rise nice and tall!
- Sugar – Just a little bit is needed. Leave it out if needed, or replace with coconut sugar.
- Salt
- Vegan butter – This is an essential ingredient for these buttery biscuits. Use vegan butter sticks if possible, as the tub butter can be greasy and not as firm. The vegan butter should be very cold, in fact you will place it in the freezer for a few minutes before using. My favorite brands? I like Earth Balance, Miyoko’s and Country Crock.
How to make vegan biscuits
(This is a visual overview, please see recipe card below for full amounts and instructions)
First, preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a pan with parchment paper. Place the vegan butter in the freeze for a few minutes. Combine the dry ingredients either in a large bowl OR food processor.
- Add cold vegan butter to dry ingredients, either in the food processor or a large bowl.
- Pulse or cut with a pastry cutter until crumbs form.
- If you used a food processor, dump the mixture into a bowl. Pour the vegan buttermilk into the bowl, saving a few tablespoons for brushing the tops.
- Mix until a shaggy dough forms.
- Scoop it onto a lightly floured surface and gently form into a rectangle shape.
- Fold one side into the center, then the other.
- Turn it a half turn, and flatten again gently into a rectangle. Repeat two more times. This is what makes all those flaky layers!
- On the last turn, flatten to about 1 inch thick and cut into circles using a biscuit cutter.
Place on the prepared pan, touching each other. This helps them bake up nice and tall.
Brush a little extra vegan buttermilk on the tops, and bake for 15-20 minutes until tall and golden. Enjoy warm!
Tips for perfect vegan biscuits
- Use cold vegan butter sticks, not margarine or tubbed butter. And make sure it’s truly very cold (don’t skip the freezer step). If not, the biscuits won’t be flaky.
- Be careful not to over mix the dough. Over mixing means the biscuits won’t rise much.
- Do not over bake! Trust me, I’ve done this and ended up with hockey pucks. Bake until just slightly golden brown, any more and they will get very hard as they cool.
How to store and freeze biscuits
Keep leftover biscuits covered at room temperature for 3-4 days, or a few days longer in the refrigerator.
They also freeze well. Place them in a freezer safe ziplock bag and freeze. Simply thaw or warm in the microwave for a minute whenever you want a fresh biscuit!
What to serve with buttermilk biscuits?
- Vegan Chicken (as a vegan chicken biscuit sandwich!)
- Easy Vegan Gravy
- Biscuits and Gravy – My absolute FAVORITE way to enjoy these delicious biscuits!
- Vegan Butter and jam or Vegan Nutella
- Tempeh Bacon or Tofu Bacon
- The Best Tofu Scramble
- Alongside a hearty soup or stew, such as Vegan Stew or Lentil Soup.
Southern-Style Vegan Buttermilk Biscuits
Ingredients
Vegan Buttermilk
- 1 cup unsweetened soy milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
The Rest
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour, plus more as needed
- 2 tablespoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 cup (8 tbs) cold vegan butter
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper (or lightly spray with oil). Measure 1/2 cup (8 tbs) vegan butter, cut into small pieces and place in the freezer for 5 minutes. You want the butter to be very cold for flaky, tall biscuits.
- In a glass measuring cup, combine the soy milk and apple cider vinegar. Set aside to curdle. This is your vegan buttermilk.
- Add the flour, baking powder, sugar and salt to a large mixing bowl or food processor. Whisk or pulse to combine. Now add the vegan butter pieces to the dry and either cut into the dry ingredients using a pastry cutter OR pulse several times in the processor until coarse crumbs form. If you used a food processor, dump the mixture into a large bowl.
- Pour the vegan buttermilk into the bowl with the rest of the ingredients, saving a little bit for brushing on the tops (about 2 tablespoons). Gently stir until almost combined, but do not over mix. It will not be a clean ball of dough at this point, and it will be quite moist and sticky. See photos above in post for a visual reference.
- Scoop the dough onto a lightly floured surface and gently work it together with your hands, shaping it into a rectangle. Flour your hands to prevent sticking, and sprinkle a little flour on the dough if it's very sticky. Just do not add too much, or the biscuits will be dry.
- Gently flatten the dough into a rectangle, then fold one side into the center, then the other side. Turn the dough a half turn, and flatten again into a rectangle shape. Repeat the process two more times. This is what makes all those wonderful layers!
- On the last folding, gently flatten the dough until it's about 1 inch thick. Cut into circles using a biscuit cutter, and do not twist the cutters. Try to get as many biscuits the first time. Re roll any scraps until you have 10-12 biscuits.
- Arrange them so they are touching on the pan, this helps them bake up tall. Brush the tops with the remaining buttermilk and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown on top and tall. Serve warm with a dab of vegan butter and jam.
- Cover any leftover biscuits and keep at room temperature for 3-4 days, or a bit longer in the refrigerator. They freeze well, too.
Notes
- You can substitute almond milk, coconut milk, cashew milk or possibly even oat milk for the soy if desired. Make sure the milk is unsweetened and unflavored.
- I have not tested these with gluten free flour, but it might work okay with a quality gluten free blend. Almond flour will not work.
- I used Earth Balance sticks for the vegan butter, but other brands work just as well (such as Melt or Miyokos).
I’m looking to bake these on top of a casserole (individually, not covering the whole casserole). Do you think they’d bake ok like that?
Or do you recommend I bake them first, then just add them on top of the casserole?
I think they will bake up just fine on top of a casserole. I do this a lot with pot pie. Enjoy!
Nora, your recipes never fail to impress. These biscuits are amazing! They genuinely taste like Cracker Barrel-style biscuits. I didn’t have hard butter sticks; I had vegan margarine (Becel) and still followed the instructions for popping it in the freezer, and I had no issues. Other than that, I followed your recipe exactly. They turned out tall, moist, and flaky. I pulsed the dry mix and butter in a food processor, which turned out perfectly crumbly. Then, I was delighted to find this perfectly sticky biscuit dough after stirring in the curdled vegan buttermilk. I didn’t have a biscuit cutter, so I used the mouth of a mason jar. 🙂 Thank you for this recipe!
Just made your vegan biscuit recipe. Turned out awesome. It was so flaky and tall. I will definently add this to my keeper recipes. I have never been disappointed with your recipes.
Thank you for sharing your recipes.
These are superb, every bit as good as non vegan versions. I followed the recipe as is and they were simply delicious. Next time I will cut into 9 squares as per another reviewer to make them even easier to put together.
Hi Diane. How wonderful that you loved the biscuits! Thank you for taking time to share your wonderful review and feedback! Wishing you happy cooking!
Would it be okay to use bread flour?
I don’t think it’s ideal; your biscuits will likely turn out dense and rather hard instead of flaky.
Perfect vegan biscuits. They are so beautiful and so tasty! Thank you!
You are welcome, Carolyn! I’m so glad you enjoyed the biscuits! Thank you for your wonderful review and feedback!
I’m a southern girl living in the desert and I can’t find any vegan biscuits here!! Gotta get my fix.. Can’t wait to try these!! One question.. Is the butter you used salted or unsalted??
Hi Shaina. Making some biscuits sounds like a great idea! I prefer to use unsalted butter. Enjoy, and happy baking!
Nora, hi!!! I’ve been eating mostly plant-based for the last 8 years and have loved your recipes since I found you! 🙂
Can we replace some of the flour with protein powder? My little kids love biscuits but we are trying to keep their tummy’s full for longer, they’re iffy on eating the gravy. Thanks for your feedback! 🙂
I’ve honestly never tried it, but you might be able to. Hopefully the protein powder is not sweetened, but I’m sure you will still be able to taste it. I’m so glad you have been loving my recipes, thank you so much!
We made these with King Arthur’s measure for measure gluten-free flour. They turned out great. We will definitely make them again.
Perfect! I did use oat milk and it worked just fine! So many layers! So tall! So easy! Tip: I cut these into 9 squares so I didn’t have to worry about re-rolling.
Made these biscuits this week – another great recipe. The biscuits turned out great and were just as good the next day warmed up in my air fryer. Thanks!
Hi Teresa. Thanks for your fabulous review! I’m thrilled you loved the biscuits! Leftover biscuits are always a plus! Happy cooking!
Perfect recipe. Super easy to follow, simple ingredients, and biscuits turn out beautiful, fluffy, and moist.
Hi Maddy. I’m so glad the biscuit recipe was easy and delicious for you! Thank for you awesome feedback and review!
I’ve made and tried these they’re delicious! Trying to have some prepped at all times, can I freeze them before I cook them?
Yes, you can! I’m so glad you enjoy the biscuits.
Wicked! Added dried fennel and rosemary (chopped) and came out crisp on the outside and flaky and tender on the inside. Thank you!
You bet, Andy! Your biscuits sounds delicious! Thanks for your yummy comments and awesome review!
Thank you, Mrs. Nora! I made this for work at 530am when my other biscuits failed the night before. It had to be easy and it had to be fast because I was exhausted and in a hurry! Easy to follow recipe with things already in my larder so no panicking if I had something or not. My cutter is about 2.5 inches in diameter so I got 8 good biscuits and one not so pretty one (more for me). I was able to make a double batch with ease. Taking them out of the oven was a pleasure! They were so tall and fluffy, and great with butter and jam as well as began sausage gravy. This will be the only recipe I use from now on!
Wonderful Jeannette! 🙂 Thank you for sharing, I’m so glad these came through for you!
Hi, I am interested to know if anyone has (or could) comment on the success of the this recipe using regular unsalted butter. I did read comments back to about August of 2023 and did not see any comments relating to this question. I DID see a tremendous response though! Can’t wait to work with this recipe…. just don’t have that one ingredient in the house tonight. Thank you
I haven’t tried it but it should work just fine. I’d probably add a little extra salt though. Hope you enjoy the biscuits!
So half my family is vegan and half are not. So I was planning on making both types of buttermilk biscuits. After making both vegan and non vegan, I have to say that the vegan ones are so much better. They are flakier and have so much better flavor. So it will be all vegan biscuits for Easter. I guarantee you no one will know the difference. These are a five star for sure. Followed recipe exactly. Highly recommend.
Thanks Elaine, I’m so glad to hear that these vegan biscuits rival the non-vegan ones!
What if you do not have a food processor but a stand up mixer, can I just use a stand up mixer instead? If I am able to
use the stand up mixer, I take it
I can just add in the cold vegan butter right into the mixer?? Also, which piece
Would I need to use to mix up everything altogether in the stand up mixer?
I think you could, I haven’t tried it myself though. Here’s what looks like a helpful general guide on making biscuits using a stand mixer.
Use a cheese grater! I just grate the butter into the flour mix and then mix the grated butter around in the flour. It doesn’t matter if the butter isn’t mixed completely. I haven’t had any issues! They come out great! Nora’s recipe is the bomb!
The Best biscuits I have ever tasted! Your instructions were spot on which made them fluffy and full of delicious layers. I did use 1 1/2 cups whole wheat plus the 1 cup all purpose flour. Thank you for this recipe.
Best vegan biscuits! I have tried many over the years and this recipe is by far the best. The ingredients are similar to some others I have tried but the difference is the instructions. So clear and easy to follow so that you get the exact same result as what is pictured. Every recipe I try from Nora is always spot on. Thank you for being a reliable source!
Hi Mallory. I really appreciate your feedback on the recipe instructions and am so encouraged you find them clear and easy! Thanks for sharing your fabulous review and feedback! I’m thrilled you are enjoying my recipes! Lots of happy cooking to you!