Elevate Canned Biscuits By Transforming Them Into Fry Bread

Buying a can of biscuits from the store can be a quick and easy way to add a side to your dinner's main course. Each tube comes packed with ready-to-bake dough, pre-sliced into perfectly portioned biscuits. And if you feel like getting creative, you can use those biscuits in a few different creative ways. One food that you can make using the biscuits is fry bread.

Fry bread's name is pretty self-explanatory. It's similar to flatbread, but it's fried in oil instead of baked in an oven. The bread was invented by the Navajo, and it holds a heavy history. The food became a symbol of survival, according to Smithsonian Magazine, as the recipe came about when many Native Americans were forcibly moved from Arizona to New Mexico during a journey called the "Long Walk." Fry bread was created from the provided rations of flour, sugar, and lard.

Today, the bread is a symbol of the tribe's perseverance. It is also a delicious and filling food. Using a can of biscuit dough can help speed up the process of making fry bread.

To make the fry bread from a can, pop open the can and take the biscuits out. Take a rolling pin and spread the dough of each biscuit out a little flatter. On the stovetop, heat up some of your oil of choice — just make sure it's one that's good for deep frying. You'll know the oil is ready when you insert a wooden skewer and see bubbles form around it.

Carefully place the rolled-out dough into the oil and allow it to fry up. When the underside is golden brown — which generally takes about 10 to 20 seconds — flip it over using a pair of tongs. Once both sides have fried up, remove the bread from the oil and allow it to cool.

Once it's cooled down a little, the fry bread can be eaten. On its own, pieces can be torn off to scoop up some black bean salsa or honey butter. But if you want to enhance it even more, there are two main ways to serve the bread: sweet or savory.

When you're craving something sweet and you want to enjoy the bread as a dessert, you can simply sprinkle on a little bit of cinnamon and sugar to mimic fried sopapillas, drizzle on some honey, or dip it into a sweet sauce. The bread might wind up tasting similar to donuts.

If you want to make a full meal out of the bread, it is often the base for Navajo tacos. The dish starts with a slice of fry bread on a plate, which is then piled with cheese, lettuce, meat, and beans.

The fry bread can also be transformed to resemble other dishes made with flatbread, too. You can spread some marinara sauce on top and add your favorite pizza toppings, then bake just long enough for the cheese to melt. It could also be used in place of pita bread alongside some creamy hummus, garlic dip, and falafel. However you choose to serve your fry bread after it's cooked, using a can of biscuit dough can make the cooking process quick and easy.