These Healthy Biscuits are fluffy, tender, and almost fat-free, making them the ideal low-calorie biscuits for your healthy diet. Made with only non-fat yogurt and self-rising flour, these low-fat yogurt biscuits contain only 0.5 grams of fat and 137 calories each.
🥣Ingredients
Nonfat yogurt—regular or Greek
Self-rising flour—or flour, salt, and baking powder
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Featured Comment by Linda in Boston:
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
"This was a great recipe, and easy. I have struggled for years with butter-based recipes and was never satisfied. But these are great - soft and slightly chewy... "
I surprised my wife with these low-calorie biscuits, but they were cuts instead of drop biscuits (my usual). Besides being cut biscuits, she could not tell the difference even after being told.
These yogurt biscuits have an excellent taste and a fluffy texture. Will almost zero fat, they make a great side dish for almost any meal and are the perfect guilt-free addition to a healthy, low-fat, low-calorie diet.
For other biscuit options, check out Cheddar Bay Biscuits, Cornbread Biscuits, or Grilled Biscuits.
👨🍳How to Make Healthy Biscuits—Step-by-Step Photo Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° regular. Make self-rising flour, if needed, with AP flour, baking powder, and salt.
2. Add yogurt to the flour mixture and mix until combined, but do not over-mix.
4. Make 8-drop or cut biscuits
5. Place your biscuits (dropped or cut) on a prepared baking pan.
6. Be sure the oven is fully preheated, then bake until golden brown—about 12-15 minutes.
For more details, keep reading. See the Recipe Card below for complete instructions and to print.
👨🍳Make them your way—ingredient options
Important! Always use a fully preheated oven for biscuits.
Bake on baking sheets or pans, such as cast-iron skillets. Leave a little space between the biscuits for crispy edges.
I generally make my own "self-rising" flour. For years, baking powder and soda were both included in the recipe—a throwback to many years ago. Baking soda is no longer considered necessary, so I have removed it.
Whole wheat flour will require some milk or more yogurt for hydration and will have a poorer rise.
Use aluminum-free baking powder. The aluminum caused a bitter aftertaste for many people.
To cut biscuits, pat the dough about ¾ inch thick on a floured surface. Cut 8 biscuits with a floured 2-inch cutter, pressing straight down; do not twist. Rework scraps and continue until all the dough is used. A 2 ½ cutter will make 6 biscuits and take a minute or two longer to cook.
Unflavored yogurt is recommended. You can use regular, non-fat yogurt or Greek yogurt. Greek yogurt tends to be a bit dryer so that you may need more or a splash of milk.
Like any biscuit recipe, almost any herb or spice can be added—garlic is my favorite.
🤔Variations
Add a bit of sugar to make a sweet biscuit, and top it with fresh fruit for a sweet and low-calorie dessert.
Biscuits are great, but can we take them further? For a low-fat American classic, try my almost famous Healthier Sausage Gravy and Biscuits, which uses these biscuits with low-fat turkey sausage gravy. For dessert, check out my Low-Fat Blueberry Scones.
🤔How are yogurt biscuits different?
There is a slight yogurt tang, which is not very noticeable except if you know it has yogurt. It is a little more with Greek yogurt, but it is not bad, and many people won't notice.
Second, they are soft and fluffy but not flaky. If you want flaky, you must cut in some butter. I miss the flaky a little, but I will live with it for zero fat.
Third, the outside is a little firmer.
↕️How to adjust the number of biscuits
This recipe is easy to adjust to the number of biscuits you want.
- Use the recipe card and adjust the number of servings to the number of biscuits you want.
- Use the amount of ingredients in the ingredient list, not the instructions—those do not adjust.
- Cook for the same amount of time.
🍽️Serving suggestions
Serve with low-fat meat recipes like Seared and Bake Chicken Breasts, Turkey Tenderloin, or Seared Pork Tenderloin.
They are also delicious with healthy chili recipes, such as Healthy White Chicken Chili, Texas Style Chili, or Crock Pot Turkey Chili.
❄️Storage
Stores well-sealed airtight at room temperature for 2-3 days. You can extend that to a week if you store them in the refrigerator.
You can also freeze them tightly sealed individually for 3-4 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator.
❓FAQs
There is a trace of fat per serving. Flour has about 1.2 grams of fat per cup (who would have known?), and there is a touch from the zero-fat yogurt (depending on the brand).
With my ingredients, the total recipe weighs 540 grams and contains 4.1 grams of fat or 0.76 grams per 100 grams. FDA rules say 0.65 grams of fat per 100 grams can be zero, so officially, there is almost but not quite zero fat. There are about 0.5 grams of fat and 137 calories per biscuit.
Self-rising flour is a standard combination of all-purpose flour, baking powder, and salt. Originally, baking soda was included. However, modern commercial versions have adjusted the baking powder to compensate for the lack of baking soda. I have eliminated baking soda from this recipe.
Self-rising flour is very "old-school" and was a way for home cooks to speed up the preparation of biscuits, scones, pancakes, and other quick-bread recipes. Bisquik™ is similar but contains some fats to replace the oil/butter component in most recipes.
📖 Recipe
Healthy Biscuits
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Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cup non-fat regular or Greek yogurt
- 2 cups self-rising flour
Substitute for self-rising flour.
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400° convection or 425° regular. Prepare a baking sheet with parchment paper, a silicon mat, or a light coat of PAM cooking spray.
- Use 2 cups of self-rising flour or combine 2 cups AP flour, 1 tablespoon baking powder, and ½ teaspoon salt.
- Add 1 ¼ cups of nonfat yogurt. Fold in until all the dry ingredients are incorporated. If you use Greek yogurt, you may need a tablespoon or so of milk or more yogurt.
- The easiest next step is to do 8-drop biscuits. If you want to cut biscuits, spread the dough on a floured surface about ¾ inches thick. Use a biscuit cutter and make six 2 ½ inch or eight 2-inch biscuits.
- Place your biscuits (dropped or cut) on the prepared baking pan.
- Be sure the oven is fully preheated for a good rise of the biscuits. Bake until golden brown—about 12-15 minutes.
Recipe Notes
Pro Tips
- The exact nutrition values depend entirely on the ingredients you choose. Different brands may have different nutritional values and change their product over time.
- Greek yogurt works fine. However, it will have a stronger yogurt flavor and need a touch of milk or more yogurt. It may vary by brand, but 1-2 tablespoons of milk is the probable range.
- Store sealed at room temperature for 2-3 days, refrigerate for a week, or freeze for 3 months.
Your Own Private Notes
To adjust the recipe size:
You may adjust the number of servings in this recipe card under servings. This does the math for the ingredients for you. BUT it does NOT adjust the text of the instructions. So you need to do that yourself.
Nutrition Estimate
© 101 Cooking for Two, LLC. All content and photographs are copyright protected by us or our vendors. While we appreciate your sharing our recipes, please realize copying, pasting, or duplicating full recipes to any social media, website, or electronic/printed media is strictly prohibited and a violation of our copyrights.
Editor's Note: This article was originally published on March 16, 2013. It has been updated with expanded options, refreshed photos, and a table of contents to help with navigation.
Debbie D says
Tried these tonight. Used SR Flour (yes I'm lazy) and plain Greek yogurt. Other than needing a touch more salt they were very good. My new go to. 😊
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Debbie,
Welcome to the blog.
I have both in the recipe because most people don't have self-rising flour. I also find the salt a little light in SR flour.
Thanks for the note and rating.
Dan
Gpearl says
Hi. This was a nice simple healthy biscuit recipe to follow. I tried this using low fat Almond vanilla yogurt. It was a hit with my family who are picky about their biscuits. They are used to butter in the dough. They told me these were good and they didn't miss it. Thank you!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Gpearl,
Welcome to the blog and thanks for the variations. Many readers enjoy them.
Thanks of the note and rating.
Dan
Mary Lou French says
I was trying to figure out the weight watchers point count for these biscuits! Do you know?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Mary Lou,
Welcome to the blog.
I gave up on calculating WW points over 10 years ago. They kept changing the formula, then hid the formula, etc. It made it impossible to keep the posts up to date and accurate. I haven't even looked at them for 7-8 years now.
Sorry.
Dan
Linda in Boston says
This was a great recipe, and easy. I have struggled for years with butter-based recipes and was never satisfied. But these are great - soft and slightly chewy but I cooked them long enough to get a bit of crisp on the outside. Nice.
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Linda,
Welcome to the blog and thanks for the note (and email) and the rating. Glad it was what you needed.
Dan
Timothy says
Hello! I'm interested in making these. If I wanted to add a bit of butter for more flavor (say... 4 tbsp max), would I sub out the equal amount of yogurt?
Thank you!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Timothy,
Welcome to the blog.
Cut back the yogurt and see how the texture is, you may need to add some back to get to the right biscuit texture.
Dan
Nellie says
Interested in this recipe but could I swap out the white flour for whole wheat or oat flour instead?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Nellie,
Welcome to the blog,
About alternative flour types. Most should probably work since the recipe does not depend on gluten formation. Whole wheat will need more liquid and probably won't rise as well. Oat flour... don't know but probably. If you try them, please come back and report the results for others.
Dan
Shar k says
Absolutely amazed that the biscuits turned out the way they did ! So… so… good :)
I found your recipe an within an hour had made the biscuits , I decided to double the recipe and made the biscuits and also made your biscuit crust pizza on your site using this crust instead of the one posted . Both turned out just amazing ,
I don’t miss the butter in this at all .
My husband has wanted sausage gravy and biscuits for a bit , but i stick to a 1,200 cal daily diet , so this fits perfectly for both of us .
The biscuits rose beautifully & the pizza looks like deep dish ~ I wish I could post a pic .
I used Greek yogurt so I did add milk , the batter was so sticky to work with so floured hands often , I like to cut my biscuits rather than drop ~ probably just for the beauty of it if I’m being honest;)
Thanks so much for posting such wonderful low fat / cal recipes that taste great . I’ve never seen this site before ~ but sure will come here often from now on !
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Shar,
Welcome to the blog and glad it worked well for you. For your husband, check out this recipe that is low cal and low fat biscuit and gravy. https://www.101cookingfortwo.com/healthier-sausage-gravy-biscuits/
Dan
Reina Alfonso says
Excellent recipe will make them this week, thank you
Linda says
These are wonderful. Thank you so much for this recipe. I used Greek yogurt and real buttermilk. Patted them out and cut with biscuit cutter handling the dough as little as possible I’m from the south and learned how to make biscuits as a child without a recipe. I am passing this one in to my friends and family. It’s a winner.
Laura says
I love this recipe. I like biscuits very much, but high fat foods don't agree with me - this recipe as listed is a winner for me. Often, I make the recipe as written, but I don't have to have them completely fat free, so sometimes I make them with a tablespoon of butter (in the whole recipe), the greek yogurt, and bit of milk so that all those ingredients combined equal 1 1/4 c. They are still light, with a little flakiness to them. I generally get 10 biscuits from the recipe, which means there's just over 1 g. added fat per biscuit. Thank you for this recipe!
Cheryl says
Hello
Has anyone use self rising flour instead of AP flour?
Thanks
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Cheryl,
Welcome to the blog.
Self-rising flour should be fine to replace the other ingredients except for the yogurt. Self-rising flour is flour, baking powder, and salt. It does not have baking soda but has more baking powder than the recipe. It will be fine.
Self-rising flour is very "old school," so I only have a few recipes that use it and I explain how to substitute. I don't keep it around most of the time so I usually list exactly what I use.
Dan
Karen says
Wow! I've made the 2 ingredient dough before, but this takes that to another level. I did them as drop biscuits and they were so flavorful and the texture was great. Thank You!
Vivian says
I was looking for a recipe for lower fat chicken pot pie and the recipes either sacrificed the crust(my favorite part), or we’re still high in calories. I found your almost no fat biscuit recipe and decided to try it for my topping. It worked beautifully. I adjusted for some previous comments by amping up the flavor with more salt, garlic powder and one finely chopped scallion. With the sauce, any dryness in the biscuits was overcome. My husband loved it too. Thanks for this new take on biscuits.
Angela Brumm says
Can I used vegan flour ? Which one?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Angela,
Most flour is vegan, although the bleaching agents used in white flour (only used to make it whiter) is questioned by some. I always use unbleached flour anyways because is consider it is total stupid to bleach flour. I assume you have a vegan yogurt.
Dan
Peter says
Hi Vivian. Using this as a non-fat topping for pot pie is exactly the idea I was looking for. Did you simply float the biscuit dough on the pie filling? What baking temperature and time did you use? I’m making individual servings in ramekins. Thanks.
Marion says
Excellent recipe! I decided to use Nonfat plain Greek yogurt and added water instead of milk. I just added enough water to make the dough come together. I served with some margarine to offset the slight dry taste and the margarine added just enough flavor for the family. I imagine if the calories are not an issue you can add some blueberries or jam. We had them with a low fat chicken recipe that used light mayo.
Certainly made the dinner special!
Nicole says
Hi, I was wanting to use this biscuit recipe for a chicken and biscuits recipe where you drop canned biscuit dough into hot/boiling broth. Would this dough hold up for something like that? I would use fat free greek yogurt for this recipe.I really like your recipe because they're low calorie and low fat. Thank you!
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Nicole,
Welcome to the blog.
The answer is probably but I have never done it.
You know already to use small size, drop it is gently and don/t stir. If you try it, please report back.
Dan
Jen says
I only had vanilla Greek yogurt and sour cream in the fridge. I used 1/4 cup vanilla Greek yogurt and 1 cup sour cream. They were very good.
Christine says
Hello,
I am allergic to dairy and was wondering if I could use coconut alternative yogurt instead?
Dan Mikesell AKA DrDan says
Hi Christine,
Welcome to the blog.
The answer is I don't know but I'm 90% sure it will work. If you give it a try, please report back.
Dan