"In the vast library of Southern foods, cathead biscuits are large and in charge. While the recipe for Southern biscuits can vary wildly from one family's cast-iron skillet to the next, if you call it a cathead, that biscuit's gotta be big. The phrase traces back to the 19th century. Passed down through generations by word of mouth, the term "cathead" comes from an old Appalachian saying about the food being the size of a cat's head."
"Similar to tender drop biscuits, the kind you make by scooping the dough off a big spoon with another big spoon, these sandwich-sized biscuits were often patted out by hand, too. Some, however, used soup cans to cut out the biscuits, which also accounted for their oversized nature. There's a lot of flexibility here in how cathead biscuits are made, as long as they are so large and soft that they could anchor a plate of gravy or hold together a thick slice of salt-cured ham."
"Apart from the way in which the biscuits were formed, the type of fat used in cathead biscuits has evolved with time, too. Bacon grease would have been a popular choice in the 19th century, and that's probably why a lot of biscuit lovers associate catheads with shortening. Now, butter is commonly used to make these biscuits - and is served alongside them."
Cathead biscuits are large, sandwich-sized Southern biscuits traditionally named for being as big as a cat's head. They can be formed by hand, dropped from spoons, or cut with cans, resulting in oversized, tender rounds. Fats have varied historically from bacon grease and shortening to butter and buttermilk, affecting flavor and texture. Catheads commonly anchor sausage or white gravy and serve as hearty breakfast sandwiches with egg, bacon, and cheese. They also appear in sweet contexts, paired with chocolate gravy or fruit during holidays. Cheeses like cheddar and Parmesan are often folded into the dough for savory variations.
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