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A delicious reason to brunch at home, these ricotta pancakes are easy to make and are always a hit.
Simple Ricotta Pancakes
Ricotta pancakes might sound fancy, but they're one of the easiest upgrades you can give when making pancakes from scratch. I started making them after my family went nuts for my ricotta waffles, and their soft, pillowy texture quickly won everyone over. If you have a lemon, make lemon ricotta pancakes.
Benefits
Adding ricotta cheese to pancake batter makes the pancakes tender and fluffy, almost cake-like. It adds a subtle creamy flavor without being heavy, and its protein-rich content makes these pancakes more filling, although not quite as high in protein as my cottage cheese pancakes.
Ingredients
The base for the batter is all-purpose flour, baking powder for a fluffy texture, a little sugar for sweetness, and a pinch of salt. Part-skim or traditional ricotta cheese and your favorite milk (whole or low-fat) work for this recipe. Eggs help bind the batter, and vanilla gives it a nice flavor.
How to Make Ricotta Pancakes
If you’ve made pancakes before, this recipe won’t spring any surprises. Measure the dry ingredients first, then whisk the wet ingredients, and slowly combine the two. These are best cooked over medium heat, for about 2 minutes per side.
Best Ways to Top Them
In 10 minutes, you can take your ricotta pancake stack to another level by making this strawberry pancake syrup, an incredible blueberry syrup, or, as a treat, this chocolate syrup for pancakes. And if you have blueberries on hand, add them to the batter to make blueberry ricotta pancakes.
Fluffy Ricotta Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- Pinch salt
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 eggs
- ½ teaspoon vanilla
Instructions
Make the batter
- In a medium bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, add the ricotta cheese, milk, eggs, and vanilla. Use a fork or a whisk to combine these wet ingredients and mix them until a cohesive liquid mixture, without clumps of ricotta cheese. If you want a smooth texture, you can use a blender and mix these on low speed.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients bowl and mix until they’re just combined and there’s no visible flour left.
Cook:
- Heat a non-stick griddle or large pan over medium heat. Once hot, grease, spray, or melt butter on the hot surface. When using an electric griddle, heat it somewhere between 300 and 350F.
- Immediately, pour ¼ cup of pancake batter onto the greased pan. Cook the pancakes for 2 minutes, until the edges begin to look defined and bubbles form. Flip the pancakes over and cook for another 2 minutes on the other side. The middle of the tops should feel puffy. Avoid pressing down on the pancake after flipping and only flip once. Remove the pancakes from the pan onto a plate and keep them warm while you cook the rest of the batter.
Serve:
- Plate a few pancakes on a plate, top with your favorite toppings and syrups.
Notes
- Aluminum is added to many brands of baking powder, and it often leaves a metallic taste behind in batters.
- This recipe works best with whole or 2% milk. Non-fat milk is thinner and yields a runnier batter, which doesn’t cook through (wet pancakes in the middle).
- Whole milk ricotta works best. If using part-skim ricotta, expect softer pancakes that feel a little custardy.
Lisa says
My daughter made these this morning and they were great!
Barb says
Does the ricotta have to be drained of liquid first?
Laura Fuentes says
Yes, especially if you use lower fat ricotta/part skim.
Elaine says
We enjoyed these ricotta pancakes very much.
Betty says
These ricotta pancakes were pillowy, cooked through, and super delicious.
Laura Fuentes says
Thank you for sharing how much you enjoyed these ricotta pancakes!
Jane says
WOW. Just WOW. This recipe for ricotta pancakes is a keeper. It made soft pancakes that hit the spot.