BISQUICK - FAR FROM HOMEMADE™

Information updated May 2024

This is the genesis of the Bisquick product, created by a food scientist at General Mills in the 1930’s . . .

How Bisquick got its start (Source: General Mills Web site)

It was late in the evening in 1930. The dining car was closed on the train to San Francisco and hard-working General Mills salesman Carl Smith was hungry.

He asked the train’s chef if he might make something quickly.

The train’s chef served Smith a plate full of piping hot biscuits. When Carl asked how the chef produced them so quickly, the chef revealed his secret – a pre-mixed blend of lard, baking powder, flour and salt that he stored in an ice chest.

When he returned to General Mills, Smith took the idea to a food scientist who had to work through the challenges to get to a shelf-stable product that produced baked goods as good as (or better than) homemade.

Once upon a time, Bisquick from General Mills contained only six ingredients . . .

Bisquick once contained 6 ingredients; today it has three ingredients banned at Whole Foods

Here’s what’s in General Mills Bisquick today . . .

Bisquick contains multiple ingredients Not In Kitchen™ including Soybean Oil, Palm Oil, Monoglycerides and Dextrose plus two ingredients which are banned at Whole Foods >> Enriched Bleached Flour and Sodium Aluminum Phosphate.

(Source for Bisquick ingredients: General Mills Betty Crocker Web site 5/24; Source for banned ingredients: Amazon Whole Foods Web site 8/24)

Prompted by one of our curious readers, here is a Then vs. Now comparison for Bisquick ingredients >> Bisquick is not what it used to be decades ago.

There are multiple iterations of Bisquick so here’s a quick comparison of three, all of which are banned at Whole Foods for 1-3 ingredients which Whole Foods cites as “Unacceptable in food”.

GENERAL MILLS OWNS BOTH BISQUICK AND ANNIE’S BRANDS >> HERE’S A COMPARISON OF BISQUICK TO ANNIE’S PANCAKE & WAFFLE MIX: The same company makes a product which is Far From Homemade — Bisquick — and one which is closer to homemade — Annie’s. Although not exactly the same, Annie’s ingredients are more like what Bisquick was decades ago before General Mills began changing the Bisquick formula. (Source for Annie’s ingredients: General Mills Annie’s Web site 8/24)

Below are several national brands of Pancake Mix which are banned at Whole Foods for 2-7 ingredients each; they all contain Bleached Flour and Sodium Aluminum Phosphate and the Betty Crocker also contains DATEM. (Sources for ingredients: Brand Web sites 8/24)

CLOSEST TO HOMEMADE BUTTERMILK PANCAKE & WAFFLE MIXES: As always, the Ingredient Inspector provides a solution when possible, so here are some Pancake & Waffle Mixes — with Gluten-Free options broken out below — which are Closest To Homemade® with no Artificial Colors, Flavors, Chemical Preservatives, DATEM, Glycerides, Bleached Flour, added Oils or Soy. (Sources: Brand Web sites 8/24)

Bob’s Red Mill with Organic Whole Wheat Flour and Cane Sugar; Organic and Non-GMO Project verified Arrowhead Mills with Organic Whole Grain Wheat Flour and Organic Cane Sugar; Organic Hidden Maple Springs from Vermont with Organic Wheat + Corn Flours and Organic Evaporated Cane Sugar; Stonewall Kitchen with Enriched Wheat Flour and Sugar, and Whole Foods 365 Organic with Organic Wheat Flour and Organic Cane Sugar.

*Neither money nor products are ever accepted to appear on the Closest To Homemade list*

GLUTEN-FREE PANCAKE & WAFFLE MIXES: Below left, Non-GMO Project Verified and Certified Gluten-Free Simple Mills made with Almond Flour + Organic Coconut Flour and Organic Coconut Sugar, and Snacktivist Pancake & Waffle Mixes made with regeneratively-farmed Ancient Grains which are free from the top 9 allergens and are certified Vegan, Gluten-Free, Kosher and Non-GMO Project verified >> there are two options made with Organic Cane Sugar: Plant Protein version — below middle — with protein from Proso Millet and Peas, and — below right — Ivory Teff, an ancient gluten-free grain originating in East Africa with a nutty flavor.

GLUTEN-FREE PANCAKE MIXES: Below left, Certified Gluten-Free and Kosher Pamela’s made with Almond Meal plus 3 Flours, and certified Kosher Bob’s Red Mill made with four different Flours.