Soft, fluffy and loaded with cheese, this easy Cheese Bread tastes just like Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits! No kneading required. Perfect served as a side with a nice pat of butter or even for sandwiches.
Love everything cheesy? Don’t miss these Cheese Zombies!
Cheddar Bay Biscuit Cheese Bread
This bread tastes exactly like Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuits but in loaf form. Extremely moist and flavorful with tons of cheese flavor, each bite practically melts in your mouth.
Bonus, this bread can be served with almost anything. You can make the most epic sandwiches between two slices of this cheesy quick bread or serve it as a side dish with soup or pasta. Or just enjoy a slice with some melted butter for a snack. It’s so good!
What is Cheese Bread?
Cheese bread is a quick bread – that means no kneading and no rise time – that’s loaded with, you guessed it…lots of cheese. In this case, we’re using a lot of cheddar cheese to get the flavor of Cheddar Bay biscuits but you can also use parmesan, Swiss, pepperjack, or a combination of your favorite cheeses.
What You’ll Need
This cheesy quick bread is made with lots of cheese and pantry staples.
(Scroll below to the printable recipe card for details and measurements.)
- Flour: Just regular, all-purpose flour. Make sure it’s spooned and leveled, not scooped.
- Sugar: A small amount of sugar balances the savory flavors.
- Baking powder: A leavening agent to help give the bread lift.
- Sea salt: Just a pinch for flavor.
- Shredded cheddar cheese: Use fresh cheddar cheese off the block, not pre-shredded.
- Milk: We recommend whole milk for optimal moisture.
- Egg: This helps bind the bread and hold it all together.
- Unsalted butter: I prefer unsalted butter to control the level of saltiness of the bread.
- Seasonings for the topping: A combination of garlic powder, sea salt, onion powder, and dried parsley help recreate the Cheddar Bay flavor.
How to Make Cheese Bread
Making this cheese bread, like most quick bread, is beyond easy. Just mix together the dough ingredients, bake, and serve! Here’s a brief summary:
(Don’t miss the printable recipe card below for all the details.)
- Preheat the oven. Preheat the oven to 350°F and coat a standard loaf pan with nonstick spray.
- Prepare the dough. Whisk together the dry ingredients then stir in the cheese to coat in the mixture. Whisk the milk and egg then stir into the dry mixture. Mix in the melted butter and pour the mixture into the loaf pan.
- Bake. Bake until a toothpick inserted comes out clean. Remove from oven to cool.
- Add the topping. Whisk together all the topping ingredients and brush over the bread.
- Serve. Allow the bread to cool. Slice and serve.
Tips for Success
For the best cheesy quick bread, keep these tips in mind.
- Spoon and level the flour: Too much flour will make the bread dry, so spoon and level, don’t scoop.
- Avoid pre-shredded cheese: Shred the cheese fresh off the block. Packaged shredded cheese doesn’t have as much flavor and is also coated in cellulose, which doesn’t allow it to melt properly.
- Don’t overmix the dough. Mix the ingredients until just combined, but avoid overmixing. Overmixing can result in less tender bread.
- Add the butter topping immediately. For best results, add the butter topping just after removing the bread from the oven. It will absorb into the bread better than if you wait for it to cool.
- Alter the add-ins. While we love this bread as is, you can get creative with different cheeses, or add in jalapenos or bacon bits for a new flavor profile.
- Enjoy warm. For the best experience, enjoy this bread while still warm from the oven.
Serving Suggestions
Cheese bread can be served as a side dish to soup, salads, and pasta – the cheesy goodness combined with any of those is fantastic. And you simply can’t beat a warm slice with a pat of butter melted on top.
Or try it as sandwich bread – picture those melt-in-your-mouth Cheddar Bay biscuits filled with your favorite sandwich toppings. That’s essentially what using this cheese loaf as sandwich bread is. If you’re a cheese lover, try making a grilled cheese sandwich with this bread. Amazing!
How to Store
Storing leftovers: You can store this bread on the counter or in the fridge, in a well-sealed ziploc bag or airtight container. It will last for up to 4 days. If you keep it on the counter, be sure to keep it cool and out of humidity.
To freeze cheese bread: Allow to cool completely before freezing. You can freeze either the entire loaf or slices so you can grab what you need at any time. Store tightly wrapped to avoid freezer burn and thaw on the counter.
More Easy Bread Recipes:
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Cheese Bread
Ingredients
For the Bread:
- 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour , spooned and leveled
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 3 cups freshly shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 large egg
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter , melted
For the Topping:
- 1/4 cup unsalted butter , melted
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon fine sea salt
- pinch of onion powder
- pinch of dried parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Coat a 9×5 loaf pan with nonstick spray. Using a pastry brush, brush the spray all over the loaf pan to make sure it is covered up the sides and in the corners. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt until combined. Add the cheddar cheese and stir it together so the cheese is coated in the flour mixture. Set aside.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the milk and egg; pour into the dry mixture and stir it until just combined (a few dry spots are okay.) Add in the melted butter and mix it in until everything is combined and there are no dry patches.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared loaf pan and smooth out the top.
- Bake for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
- While the bread is baking, make the topping: whisk together the butter, garlic powder, salt, onion powder, and dried parsley.
- Remove loaf pan from the oven and set on a wire rack to cool slightly. Immediately brush the bread with the butter topping.
- Let the bread cool for 5 minutes in the pan then take it out of the pan and cool completely on the wire rack.
- Slice and serve.
Nutrition
Other Notes
The flavour is great, but both times I’ve made it, it has sunk in the middle. It only asks for baking powder and my baking powder was fresh. What could I be doing wrong?
Hi Micki. I’m so sorry you’re having trouble with this bread. I’ve made it countless times and never have issues. Quick breads typically sink in the middle because they are underbaked and the batter’s structure hasn’t set properly, causing the air bubbles created by leavening to collapse in the center as it cools. It could also be due to using too much liquid, overmixing the batter, using an incorrect pan size, or having an oven temperature that is not accurate enough.
I’d like to make this in smaller loaf pans.. do you know cooki g time for smaller loaves?
I haven’t ever tested making smaller loaves. It would depend on their size, but you could try cutting the bake time in half and continuing in 5 minute intervals until a tester comes out clean.
I don’t post comments often but I had to for this recipe. My family loves cheese and loved this bread. We ate it with the spaghetti I made for dinner. Thus bread is a keeper and I highly recommend this recipe. It will pair great with almost everything.
Can one use recipe for muffins? What baking time and temp for muffins?
made the cheese bread loaf EXCELLANT!
Oh my gosh was this bread DELISH!! Served it with tomato soup and we finished off the entire loaf – there’s only 4 of us! I’m making it again today. Thank you so much for sharing!
This was SO GOOD. No changes. Served with tomato soup and we all loved it so much.
Made this with all purpose gluten flour but exact amounts as rest of recipe.. we all loved this recipe. If your thinking about making it… don’t hesitate! It’s delicious .thank u!
Just wondering if you had to add xantham gum since you used gluten free flour? Thanks!
This is an excellent cheese bread! Definitely my family’s go to now! Thank you so much for creating and sharing this recipe!
I haven’t made yet but wondered if this toasts well. I don’t want the cheese melting in the toaster.
I haven’t toasted this but I do love to pan grill leftover slices of this and it’s absolutely divine!
Made this tonight, to go with dinner. Absolutely delicious! Tastes exactly like the biscuits at RL. I sliced it while still pretty warm and added another coat of the butter, so it would seep in between the slices. Oh lord have mercy. There’s hardly any left, for 3 people chowing down. This will be in heavy rotation.
I saw this recipe on Pinterest and decided to make it since it looked so easy. After starting the recipe I realized I was out of milk & sharp cheddar. Lol! So I substituted with half & half and Colby Jack cheese. The subb’d version was amazing so I can only imagine how good the original recipe is!
Hi i want to try this, what does it mean by 1 3/4 cuos flour apoon level? Do i use a cuo or a spoon? And how much flour exactly i dont get it.
Hi Georgia – your question is a bit jumbled, so I don’t quite understand what you’re asking. It’s 1 & 3/4 cups all-purpose flour. Spoon and level when measuring, don’t just scoop it.
My wife and daughter love this recipe. I added pickled jalapenos as well.
Sooooo good!! Made it to have with dinner tonight. Let’s just say several of us won’t need dinner. I should have made two loaves!!
I’ve not had the pleasure of tasting the bread but, I have made the biscuits many times over. They are really amazing if the recipe is followed.
Perfect timing for me to find this recipe today ! I’m making homemade Mac n cheese and pressure cooked baby back ribs ! This will be perfect for my menu ! Thanks a Bunch !
This bread is my family’s latest obsession. I’ve made it 4 times in the past week!!
Fantastic recipe!!! The whole family loves it! The buttery topping tastes just like the one on the Red Lobster biscuits!! This is a great bread to serve with a hearty soup, which is exactly what I did tonight! Yum!!!
Omg! So good!!
So easy and so tasty
We have visitors coming next week so I “test drove” this recipe for breakfast this morning. All I can say is, “Why have I never seen this recipe before?!” So good! I added a dash of Old Bay to the topping and might use only 1 tsp of sugar next time but this was delicious!
Do you have to use whole milk?
This might be my new favorite bread!
It was easy and tastes delicious! I added some green onions for extra flavor yum! I just thought the butter topping was too much. I’d use less next time.
This is a great easy recipe. The taste is what you make it. We love it!
My family LOVES this recipe! I made these in muffin tins with gluten free flour. Followed the recipe exactly as it is, just baked for about 25 minutes. Delicious!!!
Which GF flour did you use??
This bread is ridiculously delicious!! The batter seemed dry, temped to add more liquid, glad I didn’t. Turned out so soft! Perfect
Outstanding!
Holy cheese bread…this is delicious. It smelled so good coming out of the oven that I had to test a warm piece. Delicious and so very EASY to make. This is a winner and will be made in the house over and over again!
So easy and delicious. Great recipe.
I made this recipe and I thought the bread was so good. even my 2 yr old liked it so much. Thanks for sharing. I think I will use this one for when company is coming bread.
Omg was this ever good! Might be my new favorite recipe – thank you so much for sharing!!
My husband and I love this bread. So good!!!
My family’s new favorite bread! I made it THREE TIMES in one week!!
My family LOVED this recipe!
I love this recipe.
This bread is amazing! Easy to make, moist and delicious!
This is amazing. Very similar to the biscuits at Red Lobster!! One of my new favorite recipes. Thank you!
made it and everyone loved it. Only thing I found I had to bake it for about 45 mins. But still amazing
Served this with soup tonight and we polished off the entire loaf – so good!
This was very good – thank you! Used salted butter and packaged cheese because that was on hand, and it was fine. Definitely will make it again!
Just made it for the first time. I had to hide it before gaining 20 pounds. Had no parsley, so I used chives. Added cayenne to the topping for some zing. Next time I will try using extra sharp Vermont white cheddar.
Wonderful! Served this with breakfast and we all gobbled it up. Can’t wait to make it again this fall/winter with all of our favorite soups.
OMG…so I made this cheese bread last Sunday, and it is absolutely fabulous! Where was this recipe all this time?? I made it without the butter topping, and it is just divine…I also made the morning glory muffins as well that same day…those muffins are to die for! I will definately be trying out more yummy recipes from here! Thanks Amy!
I’ve made this 4x now. My entire family loves it!
Made this bread yesterday and the entire loaf was devoured within an hour. Kids and husband already asked me to make it again today. So good!
This bread is amazing and tastes just like Red Lobster Cheddar Bay biscuits! Definitely take the time to shred the cheese, I think it makes a difference! I’ll be making this many times and sharing with my friends!! It’s amazing!!! (And super easy!)
Could not wait to make this the second I saw it and it did not disappoint!! If you love Red Lobster’s biscuits, you will love this bread. Even if you’ve never had their biscuits, you will love this bread. LOL. SO GOOD. Thank you so much for sharing this. Have made so many of your recipes. Love your site so much.
Loved this bread! Tasted just like Red Lobster’s biscuits. I’ll be making it often as it was easy and so tasty! It will be a great side to a bowl of chili or soup come this fall!