In the United States, a biscuit is a soft baked bread and is a Southern food staple. They are often served for breakfast, or as a side dish with fried chicken or barbecue. Morning biscuits may be served with butter, jelly, or syrup. Dinner biscuits can be accompanied with gravy, slathered with butter, contain melted cheese, or hold a tomato slice. Popular fast food chains like Bojangles Chicken and Biscuits or Chic-Fil-a serve them with a chicken fillet, a slice of country ham, sausage or even country fried steak.

Variations in biscuit making include Drop Biscuits, Angel Biscuits, Buttermilk Biscuits, and for those with no time to make their own stores offer canned or frozen biscuits.

Biscuit dough can be used to make dumplings for Chicken and Dumplings, the crust of Bubble Pizza, Monkey Bread, and Biscuit Bites in addition to the actual piece of bread served individually. The individual piece of bread may be served plain, with butter, or have honey, syrup or jelly added.

Biscuits are made from flour with a baking powder addition (unless using self rising), a shortening or butter, and milk or buttermilk. In 1931, General Mills released a new form of pre-mixed baking mix now known as Bisquick. The easy means of making biscuits remains popular today.

Biscuits are an inexpensive bread to make using a skill which can be taught easily. Biscuit dough steps are basic baking steps which can help prepare a cook for later more complex recipes. Making a simple biscuit recipe consist of steps to cut shortening or butter into the flour making a crumb like mixture before adding the liquid. Biscuits made by kneading provide the opportunity to learn this skill on a bread which is more forgiving if over or under kneaded, than a regular loaf bread.

In the Southern United States, it is common to serve biscuits with a sausage gravy (a standard bechamel sauce with sausages added) for breakfast. Biscuits and gravy is served in many fast food restaurants like Hardees, in sit down style breakfast restaurants like IHOP, and is even available as a frozen food to heat as a microwave meal.

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