Healthy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
on Aug 23, 2023, Updated Nov 15, 2023
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My Lemon Ricotta Pancakes 🥞 are fluffy, soft, sweet, and have a big secret: they’re some of the healthiest pancakes you’ll ever make. At 30g of protein, and gluten-free, these are pancakes I could eat every morning without worrying about a sugar crash. And the best part is the batter takes just seconds to make in a food processor.
Tips for The Perfect Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Ricotta cheese or cottage cheese (you pick, based on your preference) and eggs make this recipe super moist and protein-rich. Additionally, lemon zest 🍋 and lemon extract add the perfect brightness, which complements the ricotta so well.
A bit of oat flour binds everything together. But, before you add “oat flour” to your grocery list 📝, remember that you can make your own by pulsing dried oats in a food processor until a powder-like flour forms.
You can also replace the lemon extract with 1.5 tablespoons of fresh and delicious lemon juice. ☝️ Please be sure to increase the oat flour by one tablespoon when using fresh lemon juice, as it increases the moisture of the batter.
Why You’ll Love Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
These pancakes are the perfect blend of fluffy, soft, and sweet, and here’s the secret – they’re incredibly healthy too. Packed with a whopping 30 grams of protein and completely gluten-free 🤯, they’re the perfect guilt-free breakfast treat that will keep you feeling fuller for longer. What’s even better? Whipping up the batter is a breeze, taking mere moments in a food processor.
How to Prepare Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
🍋 Gather your ingredients: ricotta or cottage cheese, eggs, lemon zest, lemon extract (or lemon juice), and oat flour. First, in a food processor, blend ingredients until smooth.
👩🍳 Then, heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium-high heat, lightly grease it, and ladle the batter onto the hot surface to form pancakes. Next, cook until you see bubbles on the surface, then flip and cook until golden brown on both sides.
🥞 Serve your Lemon Ricotta Pancakes with your favorite toppings, like fresh berries, honey, maple syrup or powdered sugar, and enjoy!
Nonna’s Tip 🥞
You can purchase oat flour at your local health food store (or any grocery store) or simply make your own by blending organic rolled oats into flour in your blender.
Variations and Substitutions for Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Whether you’re looking to switch up the flavors or adapt the recipe to your dietary preferences, there are plenty of variations and substitutions to explore.
- You can replace the oat flour with ⅓ cup of quick-cooking rolled oats. The pancake texture will be crunchier, but I personally prefer the fluffy texture that oat flour lends.
- No oat flour? No problem. Simply make your own by blending organic rolled oats into flour in your blender.
- The lemon extract can be replaced with 1 ½ tablespoons of fresh lemon juice; be sure to increase the oat flour by 1 tablespoon when using fresh lemon juice, as it increases the moisture of the batter.
Best Served With
- These lemon ricotta pancakes are delicious alongside my Healthy Breakfast Skillet with Potatoes.
- Serve my Yogurt Chia Pudding alongside these pancakes for an even more filling breakfast.
- My High Protein Breakfast Casserole is a great option to add some additional protein to your morning meal.
- Try these pancakes alongside my Zucchini Egg Bake for some added veggies with your breakfast.
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This is a more affordable option for anyone that loves using a ceramic pan. Be mindful that ceramic pans are more fragile, require lower heat, and no metal utensils.
A great food processor is an essential appliance in my kitchen. This is one of my favorite brands.
Common Questions
Yes, these delicious pancakes can be cooked, cooled, and then stored in a freezer-safe container or plastic bag. Then, you can transfer them straight from the freezer into the toaster to be reheated.
These pancakes are perfect for meal prep: you can make the batter 2 days ahead of time and store in the fridge. Alternatively, you can cook and freeze the pancakes and reheat them individually in the microwave or on a pan over medium-high heat.
Yes, you can use ⅓ cup of quick-cooking rolled oats for this recipe instead of oat flour.
Yes, you can use all-purpose flour or a 1-to-1 gluten-free flour blend.
You can purchase oat flour at your local health food store (or any grocery store) or simply make your own by blending organic rolled oats into flour in your blender.
Healthy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- ¼ cup ricotta or cottage cheese, 55 grams
- zest of 1 lemon
- 1 teaspoon lemon extract
- pinch of salt
- ⅓ cup oat flour , 40 grams
- ½ teaspoon pure vanilla extract, optional
- avocado oil spray , or butter for the pan
- honey, maple syrup, berries, or powdered sugar for serving, optional
Instructions
- In a food processor or blender, add the eggs, ricotta, lemon zest, lemon extract, salt, oat flour, and vanilla (if using), and process until combined. I processed mine for about 20 to 30 seconds.
- In a pan over medium-high heat, add a touch of avocado oil and cook the pancakes for a few minutes on each side.
- Feel free to add a small drizzle of honey, maple syrup, berries, or enjoy them plain, as I often do as well.
- Tip: you can make the batter two days in advance and keep it in the fridge. You can also freeze the already cooked pancakes and pop them in the toaster straight from the freezer!
Video
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
love them. make them every Saturday am. spread some nice hazelnut low sugar chocolate spread. yum yum
That sounds like a delicious combination, Vanda! Thank you for sharing and for your rating! ❤️😊
Hi! Can real lemon juice be used instead of lemon extract and, if so, how much would I use? Thanks.
Hi Valerie, I prefer the lemon zest as you won’t taste the juice as much. Adding juice will also alter the measurements for the flour.
Hi!
I have one question that’s running around my mind: how many pancakes do you make with a 1 serving recipe? Because it seems to me that just one pancake with 3 eggs it’s a bit excessive, and I would like to know this with certainty in order to plan ahead, since I have almost no time to cook and I would love to make a couple batches of these to keep in the freezer.
Thank you so much!
Depends on how big/small you make them. I usually get 3 medium ones from this recipe or two large. You can even make mini pancakes too
Thanks so much!!! I will try them this summer (southern hemisphere) to freeze!
My pleasure
Love this recipe!
Love your site too! Not too many ads! Thank you!
Thank you 🙂
Hi! These are delicious but in the nutrition info is the whole recipe 452 cals or one pancake?
Hi Anna, the nutrition stats are for the entire recipe, not per pancake.
Do you have to use oat flour? Can I use AP flour?
Yes, you can use all-purpose flour instead of oat flour.
My batter seemed to runny so when I poured them it was hard to get them round they pooled all together. I used oat flour. Any suggestions?
Just add a bit more oat flour. The runniness could be due to the brand of ricotta or cottage cheese having a higher moisture content.