Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuit: Price, Calories and Nutrition (2026)

Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuits are the most famous biscuits in fast food, and they have been since the chain opened. They are baked fresh in every restaurant, tall and golden, flaky in layers, with a buttery crisp crust. In 2026 a single biscuit starts from $0.99 and carries 230 calories, making it the cheapest item on the menu and one of its most iconic. People who do not even like biscuits like Popeyes biscuits. Here is the current price, the calorie count, the full nutrition breakdown, and the famous copycat recipe.

Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuit price: from $0.99. Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuit calories: 230. Prices vary by location because Popeyes restaurants are franchised and set their own menu prices, with most markets landing between $0.99 and $1.49 for a single biscuit. The 230 calorie figure covers one biscuit as served.

Last updated: July 30, 2026

Table of contents

• What is a Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuit
• Buttermilk Biscuit nutrition facts
• Biscuit vs Buttermilk Biscuit
• Copycat recipe
• Allergens
• Getting the best value on biscuits
• Frequently asked questions

What is a Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuit

The Popeyes biscuit is a buttermilk biscuit in the Southern tradition: flour, fat, and buttermilk, mixed gently, folded for layers, and baked hot until tall and golden. What sets it apart is execution. Every Popeyes bakes its biscuits fresh in the restaurant, throughout the day, which is why a Popeyes biscuit eaten within an hour of baking is a different and better thing than a biscuit that has been sitting. The crust is buttery and crisp, the inside is layered and tender, and it pulls apart in sheets.

This is the item that built the chain’s reputation before the chicken sandwich existed. Ask longtime customers what Popeyes means and many of them will name the biscuit first. It is the default side in most combos, the thing people order extra of, and the item most associated with the brand’s Louisiana identity. Other chains have biscuits. Popeyes has the biscuit.

The biscuit’s role in a meal is worth understanding. At 230 calories, it is not a light side, but it is the classic companion to fried chicken in a way that fries are not. The traditional plate, chicken and a biscuit, is a Southern institution, and the biscuit’s job is to be the vehicle for honey, for gravy, for sopping up everything else on the tray.

Buttermilk Biscuit nutrition facts

Full nutrition breakdown for one Buttermilk Biscuit, based on Popeyes’ official US nutrition data as reported by 2026-updated nutrition databases.

Nutrient	Amount per Buttermilk Biscuit
Calories	230
Total fat	15g
Total carbohydrates	22g
Protein	4g
Sodium	330mg

The biscuit is a fat-forward food, as biscuits are: 15 grams of fat in 230 calories, most of it from the butter and shortening that create the flaky layers. Sodium at 330 mg is actually the lowest of any side on the menu, lower even than the coleslaw. Protein at 4 grams is modest but real.

Compared to the other sides, the biscuit sits in the middle on calories: lighter than fries at 270 and red beans at 260, heavier than Cajun rice at 170 and mashed potatoes at 110. It is the lowest-sodium side on the board, which is a genuine distinction at Popeyes. Nobody orders a biscuit for its nutrition, but the panel is more reasonable than the biscuit’s indulgent reputation suggests.

Biscuit vs Buttermilk Biscuit

There is no separate product here; the Popeyes biscuit is the buttermilk biscuit. The name is the recipe. Buttermilk is what makes the biscuit tender: its acidity reacts with the leavening to create lift, and its flavor gives the biscuit the characteristic tang that distinguishes a Southern biscuit from a plain baking-powder one. When people say “Popeyes biscuit” and “Popeyes buttermilk biscuit,” they are naming the same item.

The comparison that matters is with other chains’ biscuits. Popeyes’ are taller, flakier, and baked fresh in-store, where many competitors’ biscuits are smaller, denser, and held longer. The difference is most obvious in the layers. A Popeyes biscuit splits into sheets. That is the mark of a biscuit made with cold fat, folded dough, and a hot oven, and it is why the copycat recipes all emphasize the folding technique.

Copycat recipe

The copycat Popeyes biscuit is one of the most attempted fast food recipes, and the consensus version is straightforward. The ingredients: self-rising flour, granulated sugar, cold butter cut into cubes, cold buttermilk, and melted butter for brushing. The method matters more than the ingredient list.

The technique: cut the cold butter into the flour until pea-sized, stir in cold buttermilk just until the dough comes together, then pat out, fold in thirds like a letter, and repeat the fold twice more. This lamination is what creates the layers. Cut straight down without twisting the cutter, which seals the edges and prevents rising. Bake at 425°F until tall and golden, about 12 to 15 minutes, and brush with melted butter the moment they come out.

The two rules the copycat community agrees on: keep everything cold, and do not overwork the dough. Warm butter melts into the flour instead of forming the pockets that become layers, and overmixed dough makes tough biscuits. Chill the cut biscuits for 15 minutes before baking if your kitchen is warm. The result will not be identical to the restaurant’s, no home oven matches a commercial one, but it will be recognizably in the family.

Allergens

Popeyes Buttermilk Biscuits contain wheat, milk, and egg. They do not contain meat, so vegetarians can enjoy them, but they are not vegan. Soy is possible from the shortening, so check with the restaurant if you have a soy allergy. As with everything at Popeyes, they are prepared in shared kitchens, so cross-contact is possible. Always check with the restaurant if you have a serious allergy.

Getting the best value on biscuits

• At from $0.99, the biscuit is the cheapest item on the Popeyes menu. Nothing else comes close on price.
• Most combos include a biscuit already. Check before ordering an extra; you may already have one coming.
• Biscuits are often part of bundle and family meal deals, where the per-biscuit cost drops further. The family meals are the cheapest way to feed a group.
• Ask for honey. The honey packets are free, and a honeyed biscuit is the classic Popeyes dessert-that-is-not-dessert.
• For the freshest biscuit, order during peak hours when turnover is highest. A biscuit eaten within the hour is a different food from one that has been sitting.
• In the Popeyes app, biscuits appear in sides customization and in breakfast combos where available. App-exclusive offers sometimes include free biscuits with purchase.

Frequently asked questions

ManuBite Team. We track fast food prices and nutrition across the USA so you always know what your meal really costs, in dollars and in calories.

Craving more Popeyes favorites? Read our Cinnamon Apple Pie guide, Mashed Potatoes with Cajun Gravy guide and our Cajun Rice guide for prices, calories and nutrition facts.