Ricotta Pancakes
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Breakfast just got a whole lot better with these creamy, dreamy ricotta pancakes.
Ricotta pancakes are a sophisticated take on my go-to breakfast pancake recipe and a fantastic way to use up leftover ricotta cheese. The creamy, mildly sweet cheese replaces a significant portion of the flour found in traditional pancake recipes, creating a unique texture that is simultaneously crispy, creamy, fluffy, and just incredibly delicious. Make sure to maintain a consistent medium-low heat on your skillet/griddle, ensuring that the pancakes cook evenly and don’t burn on the outside before they’re fully cooked inside.
While ricotta pancakes are wonderful with maple syrup, they truly shine when served with blueberry syrup. For a variation, consider adding the zest of a lemon or a few drops of almond extract to the batter. Breakfast just got a whole lot better!
Table of Contents
“Great texture, light, more protein than most pancakes, incredible flavor – this recipe is FANTASTIC.”
What You’ll Need To Make Ricotta Pancakes
Step-by-Step Instructions
Heat a large nonstick pan or griddle over medium-low heat.
In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
In a large bowl, whisk the eggs vigorously until foamy, about 30 seconds.
Add the ricotta, milk, vanilla and melted butter.
Whisk until evenly combined, then add the flour mixture.
Gently whisk just until evenly combined.
Generously oil the pan/griddle. Once the oil is hot, drop ¼-cup portions of batter onto the pan/griddle. Repeat, spacing the rounds at least an inch apart. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and the tops are bubbling, about 3 minutes.
Flip and cook until the other sides are golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute more. (It’s important that the pancakes don’t cook too slowly or too quickly, so adjust the heat according to the timing specified.)
Repeat with more oil and the remaining batter. Serve warm with maple or blueberry syrup.
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Ricotta Pancakes
Breakfast just got a whole lot better with these creamy, dreamy ricotta pancakes.
Ingredients
- 1 cup all-purpose flour, spooned into measuring cup and leveled off
- ¼ cup granulated sugar
- 1½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole-milk ricotta cheese (preferably Galbani brand)
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
- Vegetable oil, for cooking
- Maple syrup or blueberry syrup, for serving
Instructions
- Heat a large nonstick pan or griddle over medium-low heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs vigorously until foamy, about 30 seconds. Add the ricotta, milk, vanilla and melted butter and whisk until evenly combined. Add the flour mixture and gently whisk just until evenly combined.
- Generously oil the pan/griddle. Once the oil is hot and shimmering, drop ¼-cup portions of batter onto the pan/griddle. Repeat, spacing the rounds at least an inch apart. Cook until the bottoms are golden brown and the tops are bubbling, about 3 minutes. Flip and cook until the other sides are golden brown, 30 seconds to 1 minute more. (It's important that the pancakes don't cook too slowly or too quickly, so adjust the heat according to the timing specified.) Repeat with more oil and the remaining batter. Serve warm with maple or blueberry syrup.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The pancakes can be frozen for up to 3 months. After they are completely cooled, place a sheet of parchment or wax paper between each pancake and stack together. Wrap the stack of pancakes tightly in aluminum foil or place inside a heavy-duty freezer bag. To reheat, place them in a single layer on a baking sheet and cover with foil. Bake in a 375°F oven for about 8 to 10 minutes, or until hot.
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (9 servings)
- Calories: 177
- Fat: 9 g
- Saturated fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 18 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 6 g
- Sodium: 164 mg
- Cholesterol: 80 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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These were unreal! I don’t usually enjoy thick, cakey pancakes but these were so light and fluffy. With a layer of lemon curd and some maple blueberry syrup, this was the perfect weekend breakfast.
Great recipe! I was scant on ricotta and it still worked out well. I also added some fresh blueberries which tasted great. I’ve tried other recipes before but this one is a keeper! Thank you!
Really loved these! If we want to double up the recipe, do all the measurements stay the same just doubled? I know sometimes it’s not always a straightforward 2x. ☺️
Glad you liked these! Yes, it’s fine to double all the ingredients here.
And here I was fretting because I ran out of Bisquick! I don’t like “fat” pancakes as they’re usually so heavy, but omg, the ricotta made these oh so light. I passed on the blueberry syrup (I wasn’t gonna do all that so early on a weekday morning) and instead served with maple syrup and Harry & David lemon curd. Hands down the best pancakes I’ve ever made. Goodbye Bisquick!
Amazing recipe! The pancakes are light, flavourful, and our new favourites. They taste great alone or with lemon juice (or lemon curd for the win!). I always make a triple batch and freeze the leftovers for fast breakfasts.
These are the only pancakes that I make nowadays. We love them.
I made this for the first time after having ricotta pancakes at a local restaurant. Most first-time recipes for me, anyway, are a bit harder to follow… but this was pretty straight-forward. Next time I will bump up the heat a bit. They were a hit! And will join my rotation with Jenn’s Banana Pancakes and Blueberry. All are so yum!
We returned from a recent trip to upstate NY with real maple syrup … so, pancakes of course!
I also made the amazingly great Lemon Curd to accompany the pancakes! Reviewed separately, and I am so in love!
Thank you for this!
My version of these pancakes came out great. Possibly the best pancakes I’ve ever made. Like others, I had ricotta and heavy cream that needed to be used. This recipe was my blueprint. I started with a kodiak pancake mix. Pretty much followed the mixing directions, but altered the ingredients slightly to accommodate the pancakes mix and ingredients on hand. This is a very forgiving recipe.
What did you add to the kodiak mix or tweek the recipe?
Another perfect recipe! Fluffy and delicious! Thanks for the best recipes ever!
These were so good and simple to make! Yum!
Let me preface this by saying I’m not a pancake fan…at all. I would much rather have waffles because, for whatever reason, they seem lighter and fluffier to me. However, last week I had some buttermilk that needed to be used so I made Jen’s Buttermilk Pancakes from her cookbook. They were phenomenal and were just right! I also had some ricotta that desperately needed to be used, so I made this recipe this morning. This was soo good! They were perfectly sweet and both of Jenn’s pancake recipes were fluffy. The taste of ricotta in this recipe reminded me of Jenn’s Cherry Ricotta Cake (another winner). My husband said they were the best pancakes he has ever ate. Paired with the Blueberry Maple Syrup to get rid of some frozen blueberries that needed to be used. I love finding recipes on this website that can actually use up ingredients because I hate wasting food! Another stellar recipe.
Hi Jenn,
How long ahead can I make the batter before cooking? Would it be ok for half an hour in the fridge?
Hi Marilyn, I think 30 min in the fridge should be okay.
Just made these a few days ago. They were so delicious. Thank you!
Another outstanding winner from Jenn! My husband makes pancakes for our 5 kiddos every Saturday. He usually uses Jenn’s Banana Pancakes, Best Pancakes, or Pumpkin Pancakes. BUT after he tried these ricotta pancakes, they might take the top pick! Great texture, light, more protein than most pancakes, incredible flavor – this recipe is FANTASTIC. We topped with a little maple syrup and fresh strawberries, but honestly, these were great plain. Try them!
Tried this recipe and loved it .
Will definitely make again!
I will try freezing a batch,hope just as good.
Thank you🙂
Hi Jen,
I just made your ricotta pancakes (delicious) but I do have a couple of questions that might seem silly … When you say generously oil pan how much oil? Then you said to cook for 3 minutes is that per side or overall ? Im not a pancake eater or maker so Im just making sure I don’t mess them up next time.
Hi Grace, Glad you liked them! I’d estimate you’d need a total of 2 to 3 tablespoons of oil. And you’ll want to cook the first side for about 3 minutes and after you flip them, 30 seconds to 1 minute more. Hope that clarifies. 🙂
This recipe for Ricotta pancakes is the best! I made mine with only half the sugar since my husband has Type 1 diabetes. Simply delicious. Thanks, Jen!
I would love these pancakes but I live alone and can’t eat that many pancakes-I know-freeze them but it’s not the same
I made these last night for a special breakfast for dinner – yet another keeper from your recipe collection and my new pancake “go to”! They were perfectly fluffy and as always, the directions were spot on. I appreciate your attention to detail, which makes cooking a joy. Thank you!
I made the batter exactly as the recipe indicated. They are fluffy and delicious! However, I did find cooking them a challenge. I used my new nonstick GreenPan and a small amount of canola oil on a gas stove. The first two batches browned to the point of looking burned way too quickly even with the heat turned way down. The bottoms got very dark and the top way too raw to flip. I switched to unsalted butter and the subsequent pancakes came out perfect but it I didn’t take my eyes off them for a second. We really enjoyed them with maple syrup and fresh blackberries and raspberries.
At last I have the Ricotta Pancake recipe that I knew was out there. A tender, moist pancake, packed with protein. While I have various pancake recipes that use some ricotta as an ingredient, these pancakes are now the holy grail. Standout’s in this recipe (for our taste), are the generous amount of Ricotta, egg, and vanilla. I also found the higher amount of sugar in a pancake, to be necessary as well as delish. Thank you Jenn for our Monday morning breakfast.
Do you think frozen ricotta will work in this?
Hi Allise, I’ve never cooked with frozen ricotta, but I think it would work. Please LMK how the pancakes come out if you try it!
These pancakes were so fluffy and delicious! I added a little lemon juice and zest and reduced the sugar by half and they were perfect. This recipe is definitely a keeper!