Super light and fluffy Ricotta Pancakes with lemon are sure to become a new family favorite breakfast! These puff up beautifully and have wonderful flavor with the zest of an entire lemon.
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Why We Love these Lemon Ricotta Pancakes:
These breakfast pancakes are satisfying and keep you full because they are high in protein – there’s a surprising amount of ricotta cheese in this recipe and you get to use the entire 15 oz container without wondering what to do with the rest of it.
Most ricotta pancakes that I’ve come across have about half the amount of ricotta which is basically a pancake with a little ricotta mixed in, but not these! Just like our Cottage Cheese Pancakes, the main ingredient here is Ricotta which keeps them super light and they go down easy in a melt-in-your-mouth kind of way.
Watch Ricotta Cheese Pancakes Video:
Watch how to make these EASY Ricotta Pancakes. The pancake batter is quick and easy to make and comes together in one bowl. All you need is a bowl and a whisk. You’ll feel so good about what’s in this recipe.
When to Flip Ricotta Cheese Pancakes:
Pancakes are ready to flip when you see bubbles pop and remain open on the surface. This is true for these Ricotta Pancakes and ALL pancakes.
Keep pancakes over medium heat so they don’t brown too quickly before they have a chance to cook through. We set to medium heat on the skillet or 325˚F on the griddle.
The Best Oil for Cooking Pancakes:
- Coconut Oil – We love coconut oil because it’s slightly healthier fat and if using unrefined coconut oil it is good for high heat cooking and adds a pleasant coconut sweetness.
- Cooking Oils – A flavorless high heat cooking oil like light olive oil or canola oil will work.
- Butter – If using butter that isn’t clarified, wipe the pan clean between every 2 batches to get rid of any browned butter. You can also do a combination of butter and oil which will increase your smoke point so the butter doesn’t burn as quickly.
Our Favorite Toppings for Ricotta Pancakes:
My personal go-to toppings for pancakes are sour cream, honey, and fresh berries. I find the combination of sweet and tangy irresistible. For company and special mornings, we love to elevate pancakes with these toppings:
- Raspberry Maple Syrup – a blended combination of real maple syrup with raspberries for the ultimate breakfast syrup
- Strawberry Sauce – our homemade topping is quick and easy to whip up and can’t be beaten.
- Cherry Sauce – filled with juicy plump cherries; this tastes like cherry pie filling.
- Fresh Fruit – we love a variety of berries and stone fruit depending on what is in season.
- Real Maple Syrup (from Vermont) – REAL maple syrup makes all the difference.
- Jams and Jellies – our homemade plum jam is a must-try – no pectin needed!
- Fruit Preserves – we love homemade peach preserves where you can see the texture of the fruit
Brilliant Ways to Reheat Pancakes:
If you’re lucky enough to have leftovers of these pancakes, you can cover and refrigerate them for up to 3 days then reheat when you’re ready for pancakes again.
- Toaster – put pancakes individually into the slots of a toaster and toast as you would a slice of bread until they are heated through.
- Air Fryer – put cold pancakes into the air fryer basket and air fry at 350˚F for about 3 minutes or just until heated through.
- Frying Pan – set the burner to medium heat. Brush skillet with a little butter if desired and flip pancakes until warm.
More Pancake Recipes You’ll Make Over and Over:
These Ricotta Pancakes will make a breakfast person out of you! Below are our top-rated pancake recipes (all tested and approved by our family). You can explore all of our breakfast recipes here.
- Sour Cream Pancakes – with blueberries in the batter
- Buttermilk Pancakes – a quick and easy recipe with pantry staples
- Greek Yogurt Pancakes – super fluffy with more protein than traditional pancakes
- Pumpkin Pancakes – for pumpkin lovers! We always keep pumpkin puree in the pantry for these.
Here’s my sweet girl making these ricotta pancakes. This is one of those easy recipes the whole family can help with.
Fluffy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes (VIDEO)
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cup ricotta cheese, (14-15 oz will work)
- 3/4 cup low fat buttermilk, (or kefir)
- 3 large eggs
- 2 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, (5 1/2 oz)
- 1 Tbsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp sea salt
- Zest of 1 lemon
- Olive oil or coconut oil to cook
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar until well blended.
- Mix in ricotta cheese, buttermilk and salt and whisk until blended.
- In a separate bowl, sift together flour and baking powder then whisk the flour mixture into the cheese mixture.
- Stir in the zest of 1 lemon. If you let the batter rest for 10-30 minutes, the pancakes will be even fluffier.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat and melt in your oil. Spoon batter into the pan (about 2 Tbsp per pancake) and sautee 2-3 min per side. Repeat with remaining batter, adding more oil as needed.
Nutrition Per Serving
Filed Under
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Would love to try these but I don’t eat much sugar. Can I cut down to 1 TVs and if so, will that make the batter off. Would prefer no sugar.
Hi Nancy! It should be fine to use just 1 tbsp sugar.
Can I make these as waffles? Looks delicious and excited to try!
Hi Mary! Some of my viewers make these as waffles.
Could you make these gluten free? Maybe use a gluten flour substitute such as rice flour and still get fluffy pancakes? Thanks!
Hi Carol! If you’re using a 1:1 ratio GF flour blend that should work fine.
We used King Arthur’s “Gluten-Free Measure for Measure Flour” (that you can use as a 1:1 substitute for wheat flour, so that’s what we did).
They were DELICIOUS!!! Probably some of the yummiest pancakes I’ve ever made.
Note: We used plain Kefir (Lifeway brand).
A few minor tweaks:
– added 1/3 cup water to the batter (it was very thick)
– added some salt to the batter
– used probably 1.5x the average amount for lemon zest (our lemon was huge). It didn’t come out too lemony to me so don’t be shy to add more zest if you want.
This recipe is a keeper – hubby, 5 kids and me all give a huge thumbs up. Thank you Natasha! <3