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.

Ricotta Pancakes stacked on plate with fruit and drizzled with maple syrup

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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.

Ingredients for ricotta pancakes with ricotta cheese, buttermilk, flour, eggs, sugar, lemon, salt, sugar, and baking powder

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.

Process of making pancake batter in bowl

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.

Bubbles on pancake indicating it's time to flip

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.

Cooked lemon ricotta pancakes on a serving platter

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

Fluffy Ricotta Cheese pancakes topped with berries and maple syrup

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.

Pancake slices on a fork

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.

Here’s my sweet girl making these ricotta pancakes. This is one of those easy recipes the whole family can help with.

girl making pancake batter

Natasha's Kitchen Cookbook

Fluffy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes (VIDEO)

4.98 from 80 votes
Author: Natasha Kravchuk
Ricotta Pancakes stacked on plate with fruit and drizzled with maple syrup
Light and fluffy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are sure to become a new family favorite breakfast! These puff up beautifully and have wonderful lemon zest flavor. This recipe makes 18 (4-inch) pancakes.
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Total Time: 25 minutes

Ingredients 

Servings: 6 people
  • 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

245kcal Calories28g Carbs12g Protein9g Fat5g Saturated Fat109mg Cholesterol205mg Sodium359mg Potassium1g Fiber6g Sugar361IU Vitamin A1mg Vitamin C244mg Calcium2mg Iron
Nutrition Facts
Fluffy Lemon Ricotta Pancakes (VIDEO)
Amount per Serving
Calories
245
% Daily Value*
Fat
 
9
g
14
%
Saturated Fat
 
5
g
31
%
Cholesterol
 
109
mg
36
%
Sodium
 
205
mg
9
%
Potassium
 
359
mg
10
%
Carbohydrates
 
28
g
9
%
Fiber
 
1
g
4
%
Sugar
 
6
g
7
%
Protein
 
12
g
24
%
Vitamin A
 
361
IU
7
%
Vitamin C
 
1
mg
1
%
Calcium
 
244
mg
24
%
Iron
 
2
mg
11
%
* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: lemon ricotta pancakes, ricotta pancakes
Skill Level: Easy
Cost to Make: $
Calories: 245

If you make this recipe, I’d love to see pics of your creations on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter! Hashtag them #natashaskitchen

Natasha Kravchuk

Welcome to my kitchen! I am Natasha, the blogger behind Natasha's Kitchen (since 2009). My husband and I run this blog together and share only our best, family approved and tested recipes with YOU. Thanks for stopping by! We are so happy you're here.

Read more posts by Natasha

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Recipe Rating




Comments

  • Karen Valdez
    March 18, 2024

    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 !!

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      March 18, 2024

      Those are per serving, Karen. I’m so glad you loved them!

      Reply

  • Michelle Skill
    March 9, 2024

    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.

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      March 9, 2024

      That’s wonderful, Michelle! Thank you for sharing.

      Reply

  • Sarah
    December 30, 2023

    Hi Natashas,i do not have buttermilk on hand. What can i use in place of this? Thanks

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      December 30, 2023

      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.

      Reply

  • Ann
    November 6, 2023

    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.

    Reply

    • Natasha
      November 7, 2023

      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.

      Reply

  • Bogdan
    August 9, 2023

    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.

    Reply

    • Natashas Kitchen
      August 9, 2023

      Hi Bogdan, I haven’t tried baking this recipe to advise. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.

      Reply

  • Jane
    March 29, 2023

    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.

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      March 29, 2023

      That’s great, Jane! So glad you enjoy this recipe. Thank you for your feedback.

      Reply

  • Stephen
    March 5, 2023

    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!

    Reply

    • NatashasKitchen.com
      March 5, 2023

      Thank you for sharing, Stephen! I’m so glad you found a new favorite.

      Reply

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