7 Fast Food Biscuits, Ranked Worst To Best

The beloved biscuit is an iconic carb that can be used as a foundation, side, or topping in all kinds of dishes. Whether baked on top of a casserole or cobbler, plated underneath a thick sausage cream gravy, or served as an accompaniment to eggs and bacon, there's honestly nothing it can't do with just a smear of culinary creativity ... or butter. This pillowy puck of flour, fat, and dairy has earned a top spot among the baked goods elite as a simple yet substantial comfort food classic.

A home-baked biscuit, whether made completely from scratch or with a canned brand (which our taster tried and ranked), is an ideal choice when lounging in the cozy comforts of your home on a day off, but when you're dealing with the hustle and bustle of a crazy-busy schedule, you can rely on plenty of fast-food places to do biscuits justice. After testing several different fast-food chain biscuits and ranking them from worst to best, it was clear that some were so good on their own that they didn't need to hide behind a sausage patty or piece of fried chicken to shine. Many others, however, lingered in their own mediocre complacency of simply being the bland base for something that would taste far better.

I didn't understand the Sheetz biscuit, and its major identity crisis dropped it to the bottom of my list. It was more like a mound of pale, soft bread in a round shape, with a texture more similar to a doughy, undercooked pancake or English muffin rather than a buttery, flaky, and well-structured biscuit. It was weird, flabby, and flavorless, and lacked any memorable traits, making it one item I would recommend avoiding at Sheetz.

Toasting added some slight brown depth and added a hint of crispness to the top and the bottom, though the thick smears of margarine applied to both cut sides were detrimental to the texture. The interior crumb, which was already too soft and doughy, became extremely soggy and nearly disintegrated underneath the heavy layer of melted margarine. The next time I order it — if there will ever be a next time, because that's highly doubtful — I would try it toasted without the margarine.

Based on first impressions alone, I figured the Burger King biscuit would be a big disappointment. It lacked any significant height and was the thinnest baked good I tried. And given how thick and browned the exterior looked, I could tell it would be mostly composed of a dried, crunchy crust with no real interior crumb. On a positive note, I could see that the top was brushed with butter and sprinkled with some salt flakes, which I knew would contribute to a bolder flavor.

Tasting confirmed my initial assumptions. It did indeed have a lovely buttery flavor and enough salt, though it was mildly greasy. The flavor alone kept it from sinking to last place, but it didn't climb any further up the placement due to how badly the thick, crusty exterior overtook the flat, poorly risen interior. I'd recommend eating it right away and not letting it sit for too long; it dried into a solid rock within an hour.

Whether treating a hangover or getting a quick bite on a busy morning, I've eaten many breakfast sandwiches from McDonald's over the years — mostly in combos that included a mishmash of sausage, cheese, eggs, bacon, or chicken. But I had yet to try the McDonald's buttermilk biscuit all on its own until this ranking. After tasting it without any other accompaniments, I realized that it should stay in sandwich form.

This was a very pretty biscuit, with a plump and fluffy shape and perfectly golden-brown color. Out of all of them, this had the most perfect look and it photographed well. But the taste? It was a far cry from the appearance. It was spongy and bouncy with a drier crumb, and I found it bland and lacking any noticeable butter or salt flavor. I appreciated that its texture was lighter than the Sheetz biscuit and that it didn't have as thick of a crust as Burger King, but it definitely was not meant to be eaten on its own. Given its overall blah-ness and blandness, it really should remain as part of a breakfast sandwich as a simple vessel for transporting deliciously savory, greasy items into my belly.

The buttermilk-based biscuit from Popeyes was slightly underwhelming. The reason why it ranked higher than the previous three was its impressive salty-buttery flavor, which lacked greasiness, and its balance between crust and crumb. The interior had some classic biscuit-y heft to it, so the texture was superior to Sheetz's bizarre pancake puck, McDonald's spongier iteration, and Burger King's thin and crunchy version.

But the reason it still ranked right in the middle was that it had some flaws, and it didn't blow me away like my top three choices did. The crust was very chewy and deeply golden brown around the entire exterior circumference, suggesting that it may have been overbaked and staled from sitting out for too long before serving. While I enjoyed the doughy interior, it did become more concrete-like the more I chewed. There was also a noticeable aftertaste of a leavening ingredient like baking soda or baking powder. What helped alleviate that chemical taste was the side of honey sauce, which offered a refreshing sweetness.

I recently discovered (literally while I was researching fast food places for this article) that Wendy's was open for breakfast and not just lunch and dinner. I wish I knew that sooner, but I'll be sure to make up for lost time. Wendy's buttermilk biscuit secured the third-place spot, possessing qualities that all the previous contenders didn't quite achieve with their bakes. It was impressively tall and showcased a thick yet fluffy interior crumb. Its subtly golden crust and light white sides weren't overbaked and were instead soft and fresh. I could also taste butter and salt on the top, which I loved.

Overall, it was a fantastic choice that I would enjoy again soon for breakfast, either on its own or in a sandwich. The main reason why it didn't rank any higher was that the top two choices were such unique standouts in both taste and texture. Wendy's menu item, though 100% delicious and adequate, simply paled in comparison to what my top picks offered.

The Chick-fil-A buttermilk biscuit, which had a texture unlike any others in this lineup, was a tender, cake-like success that won both my heart and second place. It was as soft and pillowy as a cloud and tasted similar to a freshly baked, light-as-air cornbread. The exterior crust was also thin and feathery and the biscuit didn't have the same heaviness as many of the others.

Despite how delicate it tasted, it maintained its structural integrity and did not fall apart in millions of tiny crumbs as I ate it. It also had a subtly sweeter taste, which was another quality unique to this particular baked good. While I adored eating it on its own, I could see how the texture and sweeter flavor would be well-balanced counterparts to Chick-fil-A's famous fried chicken — specifically, Chick-fil-A's chicken, egg, and cheese biscuit, which one of our reviewers ranked as one of the best breakfast items at the chain. Even though Chick-fil-A earned my high praise, there was still one other option that trumped it.

It sure didn't look the prettiest, but KFC's buttermilk biscuit was the yummiest of them all. It was hilariously big and distorted compared to many of the other cookie-cutter biscuits, and its rustic appearance only helped its case rather than harmed it. There was a loving, homemade charm to its look that the others didn't have. Even though KFC is one among the many massive fast-food chains with standard operating procedures and recipes, it was a delight to see that this specific menu item, at least at my location, marched to the beat of its own chicken drumsticks, much like Colonel Sanders himself — the man, the myth, the legend — with his own wild history.

It was the ultimate flavor bomb. The saltiness and buttery flavor were both loud and proud, but not overwhelming. As for the texture, this was the only one that had pronounced layers and feathery flakiness. It was perfectly balanced: thick and hearty, yet light and tender, with just the right amount of density that wasn't simply a heavy mound of underbaked dough. It was beautifully baked, with no flaws to report. It was simply the best biscuit based on my standards. With or without the "finger lickin' good" chicken, I would buy this one again and again.

I bought two biscuits from each location for a thorough tasting. Since all of the traditional fast-food chains served their biscuits warm, I decided to keep everything on the same, level playing field by ordering the biscuits from Sheetz warm, even though they could have been purchased untoasted and served at a warm temperature. I ate each biscuit plain unless it came with a condiment like butter or honey.

I judged each of these biscuits based on taste and texture and whether they met my biscuit standards. I was looking for a tender interior that wasn't extremely overbaked and dry or dense and doughy, and ranked biscuits with a pleasing thickness and hearty structure higher. I wanted a thin crust, ideally with a lightly golden-brown color. I was hoping to taste a buttery flavor with a good salt content, without any odd aftertastes or fatty films that coated my mouth. Most importantly, though, I was looking for a tasty biscuit that I would go back for a second helping of.