Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are a soft and fluffy pancake recipe, perfect for Sunday brunch or any random day of the week. Do you know what makes them even better? Blueberries!
Why You’ll Love These Love These Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Fluffy pancakes full of fruity flavor- what’s not to love!
- Gourmet flavor – These aren’t your traditional buttermilk pancakes! They’re taken up a notch with sophisticated flavors and ingredients.
- Quick to make – With a prep time of only 10 minutes and total time of 25, you can have these pancakes on the breakfast table in no time.
- Fun topping options – I love pairing these pancakes with a blueberry syrup, but the topping options are really endless. Worth the calories for sure.
Ingredients
You will be able to find all of these simple lemon ricotta pancake ingredients at your local grocery store.
- Flour – No fancy flour here, all purpose flour is what will give these pancakes the best texture. I’ve never tried gluten-free flour, but let me know if you do!
- Leaveners – We use both baking powder and baking soda to help with rise and fluffiness of these pancakes.
- Sugar – Although blueberries add a touch of sweetness to these pancakes, we do need a little sugar too.
- Ricotta cheese – Ricotta is full of calcium, protein and potassium while also being low in carbohydrates and cholesterol. So these are basically healthy pancakes right? I like using whole milk ricotta cheese.
- Egg – Always assume a recipe is calling for a large egg. It’s always best to use eggs when they are room temperature.
- Milk – I prefer to use whole milk, but any milk that you have on hand will do. I have never used a milk alternative in these pancakes, but I’m sure you can.
- Vanilla extract – I like to use a good quality vanilla extract to these pancakes to add both warmth and flavor.
- Lemon – We will be using both the lemon zest and fresh lemon juice for these pancakes. The more lemon flavor the better!
- Blueberries – You can use either fresh or frozen here, just make sure if using frozen that they are thawed.
Variations
There are plenty of ways for you to make these lemon ricotta pancakes your own. Here are a few suggestions.
- Berries – Instead of using blueberries, you could use strawberries, raspberries or blackberries. All pair well with lemon.
- Citrus – Instead of using lemon zest and juice, try using orange instead! Orange and blueberry pair well together.
- Toppings – You can top these pancakes with just about anything you’d like to! Whipped cream, fresh berries or a flavored syrup are some of my favorites.
How to Make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Making these fruity pancakes is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
- Dry ingredients. Whisk all dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, in a large mixing bowl.
- Wet ingredients. In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk wet ingredients, ricotta cheese, milk, egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Combine wet and dry. Combine flour mixture to wet ingredients, whisking until just moistened and combined. Do not over mix. Gently, fold in blueberries.
- Prepare griddle. Heat griddle to 350 degrees or a large skillet or pan to medium-high heat. Grease with butter or cooking spray.
- Add batter to pan. Measure out approximately 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake. Or make them however large or small you want. Cook 2-3 minutes or until bottoms are brown and tops begin to bubble. Flip and repeat, being careful not to overcook.
- Repeat with remaining batter. Remove and, if desired, place in a single layer on baking sheet in a warm oven until the remainder are finished. Continue with remaining pancake batter.
How to Serve Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes can be served for breakfast, lunch or dinner. They make a great brunch meal and the homemade pancake batter can be made ahead of time. What makes ricotta hotcakes even better?
Homemade blueberry syrup! This easy homemade syrup recipe is based off my award winning Vanilla Butter Syrup, but with a blueberry compote. They also taste great with maple syrup or lemon syrup. Cranberry Syrup is also fun for the holidays. And coconut syrup gives them a tropical flavor.
Tips for Fluffy Pancakes
Check out these tips for the fluffiest lemon ricotta pancakes every single time!
- Do not overmix the batter. This is the #1 tip for fluffy pancakes and the #1 mistake people make when making pancakes. Only mix until all batter is wet. Over mixing leads to tough pancakes.
- Let the batter rest. This isn’t 100% necessary, but will help slightly. It allows the wet ingredients with dry ingredients. Sometimes when you try not to over mix, some lumps don’t totally come out resulting in little flour pockets. However, if you whisk the dry ingredients to begin with or even sift the dry ingredients, this shouldn’t be an issue.
- Separate eggs. Some pancakes aficionados recommend separating egg whites and yolks. Blend in the egg yolks like normal, then white egg whites until frothy and fluffy, folding in last. This introduces air into the mix, making them fluffier.
- Heat the griddle and then add butter. Melted butter burns quickly, so if you add it while the griddle is heating, you’ll run the risk of burning it and missing the perfect golden brown.
- Wait to flip your pancakes until you see bubbles. Only flip your pancakes once. Make sure you aren’t preparing them on too high of heat so they have time to cook all the way through.
- Serve fresh and hot. Fluffy pancakes are best served fresh and hot. Reheated pancakes, especially microwaved, get chewy and tough.
- Add more eggs! This recipe only calls for one egg, but some will request up to 4. For pancakes, you can add more for even fluffier height.
Storage and Freezing
These lemon ricotta pancakes can be easily stored so you can reheat them throughout the week for an easy breakfast. Or you can make breakfast for dinner!
Avoid making the batter ahead of time — your pancakes will not be fluffy. Instead, make the pancakes, and then refrigerate or freeze them and just reheat when you’re ready to serve them. Or, you can mix the dry ingredients together and store them in a mason jar so that you always have pancake mix ready to make — who needs a box mix?
How Do You Store Leftover Pancakes?
Store leftover pancakes in an airtight container or resealable plastic bag in the fridge for up to 3 days. They can be reheated on a griddle or skillet at low to medium-low heat or in a toaster.
Can You Freeze Cooked Pancakes?
Freeze cooked pancakes in a freezer bag for up to 3 months. Place parchment paper or wax paper between them so that they do not stick together and so that they can be removed individually if needed.
More Breakfast Ideas
Breakfast might just be my favorite meal of the day! Here are some of our best breakfast recipes.
Lemon Blueberry Ricotta Pancake Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 1/2 cups ricotta cheese
- 1 egg
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 2 tablespoons vanilla
- 1 teaspoon lemon zest
- Juice of 1 lemon
- 1 1/2 cups blueberries fresh or frozen and thawed
- Cooking spray or butter for griddle
- Homemade Blueberry Syrup
Instructions
- Whisk all dry ingredients, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar, in a medium mixing bowl.
- In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk wet ingredients, ricotta cheese, milk, egg, vanilla, lemon zest and lemon juice.
- Combine dry ingredients to wet ingredients, whisking until just moistened and combined. Do not over mix.
- Gently, fold in blueberries.
- Heat griddle to 350 degrees or a large skillet to medium-high heat. Grease with butter or cooking spray.
- Measure out approximately 1/2 cup of batter for each pancake. Or make them however large or small you want. Cook 2-3 minutes or until bottoms are brown and tops begin to bubble. Flip and repeat, being careful not to overcook.
- Remove and, if desired, place into a warm oven until the remainder are finished. Continue with remaining pancake batter.
- Serve hot with Homemade Blueberry Syrup.
- If you’ve tried this recipe, come back and let us know how it was!
Notes
Nutrition
Very good- light and fluffy with good flavor!
This is my go-to recipe for making pancakes for myself when a craving hits! I’ve also used crushed raspberries when I didn’t have blueberries on hand…definitely works also!
I saved the egg whites to whisk and fold in at the end (also placed the blueberries into the batter on the pan instead)… THE BEST PANCAKE RECIPE EVER! So good! Fully intend on making these again and again!
Woohoo! We love to hear that!
It was my first time making this recipe. I did one cup coconut flour and one cup regular flour. I had to add a little bit more milk, and I ended up using three eggs. I also use five tablespoons of lemon. It turned out great. It was pretty thick, so it was hard to see when the pancakes were bubbling. But in the end they were fluffy and wonderful my family enjoyed them.
I had some leftover ricotta I didn’t know what to do with and I came across this recipe. It was a huge hit with the family! It was requested to go into the breakfast rotation. They aren’t heavy feeling like most pancakes. Thanks for sharing a great recipe!
Awesome! And thank you for coming back to let us know.
Super delicious! Had with regular syrup but still so yummy!
Thank you for coming back to let us know!
Great , skipped lemon juice used zest only
Yay! Glad you loved it!
Love these and so did my husband the only thing I’d change is that they’d not be fluffy I personally like thin pancakes otherwise there there the best!!