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
If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
Love this recipe! Made them multiple times and always a great success!
This time made too many… Natasha! Have you ever frozen them? Thank you!
I’m glad to hear that! I have not tried freeze them, it’s usually best to make and eat them right away.
Made them for my wife and kids, they loved them. I’ve made them 3 times now. Think I’m going to use this recipe as a cake batter for a future date.
Great idea! Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
Could I substitute 4% cottage cheese and/or full fat yogurt for the ricotta? If so, is there an adjustment to the amounts?
Hi, I haven’t tested that but I think it could work. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe
These were great! I made them for my family and they were a hit for everyone. The ricotta gives them a very nice, soft texture and the lemon keeps the flavor bright. I will definitely be making them again.
I have only 8 oz of Ricotta Cheese, can I add some cream cheese also? I’m wondering how much I should add with the ricotta cheese. Have any ideas? Would love to make this tonight for dinner. We’ve had it before, we live it!
Hi Vickie! Without testing that, I can’t advise. I’m sorry. You can decrease or cut the recipe in half if that’s all you have, but not sure how many pancakes you’ll need.
Thank you for your response. I’ll just try to wing it! Wish me luck!!
I didn’t use the cream cheese with the ricotta cheese.I had but only used the 8oz. ricotta cheese that I had leftover and the pancakes turned out pretty good, probably not as fluffy as using the whole 16 oz., but hey I was happy with the results. Added some maple syrup and a few blueberries on top!!
Hi Vickie! That’s good to know. Thank you for sharing.
These were amazing! We added blueberries and used GF flour. Quick question, the nutrition facts are per pancake or per serving (3 pancakes)?thank you so much !!
Those are per serving, Karen. I’m so glad you loved them!
These pancakes are divine! So light and fluffy. I’ve made them into waffles as well and they are just as good. As a substitute for buttermilk, I used milk with the juice of 1/2 a small lemon and let it sit for 10 minutes or so.
That’s wonderful, Michelle! Thank you for sharing.
Hi Natashas,i do not have buttermilk on hand. What can i use in place of this? Thanks
Hi Sarah! I have not tested a substitute but you can make your own buttermilk with 1 cup of regular milk and 1 tbsp white vinegar or lemon juice. Stir and let curdle for 5-10 mins until ready to use.
We found these tasty but had a difficult time getting them to cook through no matter how low medium we went. We ended up trying covering the pans to increase the ambient heat – this helped a little. The recipe called for 2 Tbl of batter. The size of those did not at all compare to the pictures. Nor did they cook any better.
HI Ann, I haven’t had that problem. I suspect maybe your batter was too thick? Did you change anything in the recipe? It sounds like the dry ingredients to wet ingredients were off. I hope that helps for next time. This is one of our families personal favorite breakfasts.
Fantastic when pan-fried, but I was wondering whether its possible to bake for the convenience and to minimize fat. How long and what temp in a 9×13 baking dish for example?
Thanks.
Hi Bogdan, I haven’t tried baking this recipe to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
These ricotta pancakes come out perfect EVERY time. This time, I used plain kefir. I topped them with crushed fresh strawberries, sweetened with a bit of honey plus rosettes of whipped cream. They looked mouth watering and tasted sinfully delicious. We had half of them them for supper and will be having the rest for breakfast.
That’s great, Jane! So glad you enjoy this recipe. Thank you for your feedback.
These ricotta pancakes are delectable and will be added to my “breakfast favourites”. The lemon explodes with flavour. We used maple syrup from Quebec as we live in Canada, eh!
Thank you for sharing, Stephen! I’m so glad you found a new favorite.