Chili Cheese Biscuits
Up your appetizer game by baking Chili Cheese Biscuits this season! A twist on classic sausage rolls, these biscuits are sure to be a hit whenever you serve them. Southern-style biscuits serve as the base for this recipe, then chili-spiced beef and cheddar cheese are added to the mix before the biscuits are formed and baked. Delightfully simple but incredibly flavorful, Chili Cheese Biscuits are destined to become a party or gameday favorite!
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You know those sausage balls you’ve enjoyed at a cocktail party?
The ones that are fluffy and sausage-y and hard to stop eating once you start?
(No? Just me? I’m THAT GUEST? Certainly not. C’mon, y’all. 😉 We’ve all been there…)
Well… I just accidentally upped the appetizer game with these Chili Cheese Biscuits, which I think would make an AWESOME party snack or a tailgate goodie. The possibilities are endless.
Love chili? Here are some of our favorites: Texas Chili | Chili Cornbread Pot Pies | Shiner Bock Chili | Beef and Buffalo Chili
About a year ago, I got the idea in my head that Chili Cheese Biscuits would be de-freaking-licious.
But I didn’t experiment with the idea until this fall, and OMG, y’all, WHY DID I NOT DO IT SOONER?
When I tell you these fluffy, light little biscuits, chock full of beef, cheddar cheese and chili goodness are my new favorite appetizer, believe me.
And then do yourself a favor and run out to the store, grab the ingredients and immediately bake these for yourself. And maybe your family or friends, too, if you want to share. (Honesty time: I could’ve eaten the entire pan of these beauties. And if we hadn’t had family in town, I would’ve devoured most of ‘em.)
Now, I know what you’re thinking.
“But biscuits are hard!”
I’m here to blow your minds because they’re not. And you can set yourself up for success with this one trick: freezing your stick of butter.
The reason we run into flat, sad biscuits a lot of the time is because the fat wasn’t cold enough to warm in the oven and create awesome pockets of deliciousness in the dough and infuse all that buttery goodness into it.
If you freeze your butter 1-2 hours before working on these biscuits, that’ll do the trick. And while you’re at it, pop your bowl into the freezer, too.
ALSO, make that chili meat in advance. If it’s warm when it goes into the biscuit batter, your biscuits might not get the beautiful fluff you want.
The trick to biscuits, other than the ingredients being cold, is working quickly.
The things that aren’t cold—the dry ingredients, specifically—are mixed together first. Then add in that cold butter, the straight-from-the-fridge cheddar cheese and the chilled chili beef. Stir ‘em together quickly, then add the milk. Once those are done, toss them onto a floured surface, and knead until the dough is shaggy and just combined. (It doesn’t have to be perfect. I like to form mine into a rectangle that’s about 1” thick so I can get as many biscuits on the first go ‘round of cutting.)
Then cut the biscuits with your biscuit cutter. Or form them with your hands. Whatever floats your boat.
Chili Cheese Biscuit Essentials
Get the look!
Loving this biscuit goodness and want some more? I highly recommend Vegan Pumpkin Biscuits, Quick Rosemary Drop Biscuits and Vegan Coconut Oil Southern-Style Biscuits.
And if you want to learn how to make these babies, scroll on down. You won’t be sorry!
Chili Cheese Biscuits
Ingredients
Chili Beef
- ¾ lbs. 90/10 ground beef
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon chili powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ cup simple red sauce or any other no sugar added store-bought Italian tomato sauce
Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 2 ½ teaspoons chili powder
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter frozen and grated
- 1 cup sharp cheddar cheese , shredded
- 1 ½ cups chili beef recipe above
- 1 cup milk whole, 2%, 1%, nonfat all OK
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Instructions
Chill the Ingredients!
- One to two hours before making the biscuits, place the stick of butter, the cheddar cheese and the bowl in the freezer.
- DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP, as your biscuits might not rise if your ingredients are not cold.
Make the Chili Beef
- In a skillet over medium-high heat, add the ground beef and season with salt, chili powder and oregano.
- Using a wooden spoon, break up the beef as it cooks.
- When the beef is almost completely cooked, add the simple red sauce.
- Cook for 5-10 more minutes, then remove from the heat. Refrigerate until chilled.
Make the Biscuits
- Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a nonstick baking sheet, and set aside.
- Grate the 6 tablespoons of butter using a cheese grater, and transfer back to the freezer until it’s time to use.
- In the chilled bowl, combine the dry ingredients—the flour, the sugar, the baking powder and the chili powder. Whisk until combined.
- Add the chilled butter, cheddar and chili beef. Using a plastic spatula, fold the ingredients into the dry ingredients.
- Pour in the milk, and stir using the spatula.
- Turn the biscuit batter out onto a floured surface, and knead until combined. (Unlike bread, you don’t want to knead this for a long time. Just press the dough together until no scraps remain, moving quickly so the ingredients don’t get warm, and shape into a 1” tall rectangle.)
- Using a biscuit cutter, cut the biscuits. (I like my 1 ½” biscuit cutter for these, as these biscuits are super savory, but you can use any size you’d like.)
- Place the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet. When the rectangle is just scraps, reshape the dough into another rectangle and cut more. Repeat until all the dough has been cut and placed on the baking sheet.
- Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until the biscuits have risen and are golden brown.
- Let cool, then enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Are you a biscuit lover?
Would you like to try one of these?
About the Author:
Erin Parker is a Southern gal living in Texas with her husband and two daughters. She started The Speckled Palate to share what she was cooking as a newlywed… and over the years, it’s evolved to capture her love for hosting. Specifically, the EASIEST, lowest key entertaining because everyone deserves to see their people and connect over good food. Learn more about her…
Holy mackerel, these are brilliant!! I’ve always loved the chili and cornbread/biscuit combo, and combining them into one lump of love is just MEGA! I need these e’eryday!
How much milk? There isn’t any milk printed in the recipe, only mentioned in the instructions.
Ack! Good catch, Randa! It should be 1 cup milk. Going back in and adding that. Thanks for bringing it to my attention!