This post may include affiliate links; for details, see our disclosure policy.
These lemon ricotta pancakes are light, fluffy and citrus-scented! They’re an easy breakfast that tastes luxurious.
Need a show-stopping pancakes recipe? Look no further than these Lemon Ricotta Pancakes! They’re impossibly fluffy and light, with a pop citrus flavor on the finish. Even better: they’re packed with protein and made with half the flour of a normal pancake! They might sound fancy, but they’re so easy to whip up and perfect for impressing friends and family at a lazy breakfast or brunch. (Our 4 year old adores them!) Ready for all our secrets?
Ingredients in lemon ricotta pancakes
This lemon ricotta pancakes recipe follows a formula that’s similar to our Cottage Cheese Pancakes. The base is mainly this high-protein cheese and eggs, and you need only half the all-purpose flour that’s called for in a standard pancake. This not only loads the pancake with protein, but it makes it impossibly fluffy. You’ve got to try this trick! Here’s what you’ll need:
- Eggs
- Ricotta cheese
- Maple syrup
- Vanilla
- All-purpose flour
- Baking powder and salt
- Lemon juice and lemon zest
Makes for high protein pancakes
These lemon ricotta pancakes are irresistibly tasty, elegant and protein-packed, which makes them a win-win-win in our book. The protein helps turn them into a filling breakfast where you’re not hungry an hour later (which happens to us with standard pancakes). Here’s the breakdown for this ricotta pancake:
- Lemon Ricotta Pancake has 9.6 grams protein! That’s 20% of your daily protein: in one pancake.
- 1 Standard Pancake has approximately 4 grams protein. So the ricotta pancake is almost double the protein!
Best toppings for lemon ricotta pancakes
Lemon ricotta pancakes are great with any toppings, but there’s a natural choice that fits more than any other: blueberries! Use either fresh blueberries or make a quick sauce (see below). Here are some of our other favorite toppings:
- Pure maple syrup and powdered sugar: they taste incredible dressed simply
- Blueberry sauce or compote: Try these recipes for quick stovetop Blueberry Sauce or Blueberry Compote
- Peach compote: Try this simple peach compote!
- Fresh berries like raspberries, blackberries or blueberries
- Crushed nuts like pecans, walnuts, pistachios, hazelnuts or slivered almonds
- Nut butter like peanut, almond, pecan, pistachio, or walnut butter
More ricotta recipes
Ricotta is a high-protein soft Italian cheese that’s ultra versatile! There are so many ways to use it in recipes both savory and sweet. Once you’ve used it in these pancakes, try these ricotta recipes for using up the leftovers:
- Go for Ricotta Pancakes
- Try Whipped Ricotta, topped with honey and dipped with warm pita triangles
- Go for easy breakfast or lunch with Ricotta Toast
- Go simple with Lemon Ricotta Pasta
- Bake up a Lasagna with Ricotta, the Italian way
- Use it as pizza sauce for a Ricotta Pizza
- Make this cozy and tasty Ricotta Dumpling Soup
This lemon ricotta pancakes recipe is…
Vegetarian.
PrintLemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 8 to 9 medium pancakes 1x
Description
These lemon ricotta pancakes are light, fluffy and citrus-scented! They’re an easy breakfast that tastes luxurious.
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1 ½ cups ricotta cheese
- 3 tablespoons maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
- 1 tablespoon grated lemon zest
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs, ricotta, maple syrup and vanilla.
- In another bowl, whisk the flour, baking powder and salt. Add it to the bowl with the wet ingredients, then add the lemon juice and lemon zest and mix until a smooth batter forms.
- Heat a non-stick skillet or griddle over medium heat, then add a bit of butter to coat. Scoop out ¼ cup portions of batter and cook the pancakes until golden brown on one side, adjusting the heat so it doesn’t brown too fast. Flip and cook until cooked through and no longer gooey at the edges (the batter will ooze out a bit at the sides; just keep cooking until it is fully cooked, adjusting the heat as necessary so it doesn’t brown too fast). Place the pancakes in a stack under an overturned bowl, and cook the second batch of pancakes.
- Serve immediately, topped with pure maple syrup.
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegetarian
Keywords: Lemon ricotta pancakes
Can cottage cheese be substituted? You actually mention it in step one.
Yes, cottage cheese can be substituted! We removed reference to it in the steps — thank you!
To make your lemon ricotta pancakes gluten free, don’t you need to use gluten free flour? Your recipe just says all-purpose flour.
You are correct — removed the incorrect reference to gluten-free! But you can test gluten free flour to make it gluten-free!