Ricotta Pancakes are so tender, light and fluffy. This breakfast is so great when you want something special but they are really easy to make.
These pancakes are like a combination of pancakes and Russian Sirniki (farmer's cheese pancakes). The ricotta gives these pancakes a creamy texture and the whipped egg whites give it a lift and prevent them from being dense. These melt-in-your-mouth little cakes are a great way to celebrate the weekend.
There are so many wonderful options to serve them, simply with maple syrup, fresh fruit, berries or jam, but you can also make a sour cream sauce by combining sour cream, vanilla extract and powdered sugar. Another option is to blend up some fresh berries or fruit with sugar for a really refreshing sauce.
Lemon pairs so well with ricotta pancakes, simply by adding some lemon zest and a bit of juice to the batter. You can even serve it with some lemon curd - that would be delicious. (I'll include instructions for making Lemon Ricotta Pancakes below.)
Ingredients For Ricotta Pancakes
- Eggs (the eggs need to be separated) whipping up the egg whites separately will give the ricotta pancakes an unbelievably tender and airy texture.
- Ricotta cheese - I prefer using whole milk ricotta cheese, but you can use reduced fat or fat free ricotta as well.
- Granulated Sugar - add the sugar depending on how sweet you want the pancakes to be, anywhere from 4-6 Tablespoons. I have not tried using sugar substitutes, but I imagine you can use anything that you like to sweeten the pancakes to your liking.
- Milk - any milk will work for this recipe, we use whole milk in our family, but you can use reduced fat milk or even dairy free alternatives.
- Vanilla Extract
- All Purpose Flour
- Baking Powder
- Salt
How To Make Ricotta Pancakes
- Separate the eggs, putting the egg whites in one bowl and the egg yolks in another.
- Whip the egg whites on medium speed with a whisk attachment until airy, increase speed to high, beat until stiff peaks form.
- Meanwhile in the other bowl, combine the egg yolks with the ricotta cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth. (I use a whisk for this step.)
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt and mix to combine, just until incorporated, taking care not to overtax the batter.
- Gently fold in the egg whites. If there are a few streaks of egg whites left, that 's ok. You want to keep as much volume as possible to have light and fluffy pancakes.
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, pour the batter onto a lightly buttered or oiled skillet or griddle. Cook on medium heat until golden on each side.
How To Make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes:
By simply adding some lemon zest and lemon juice to this recipe, you'll have the most incredibly delicious Lemon Ricotta Pancakes.
Add ½ - 1 teaspoon of grated lemon zest and 1 Tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice to the batter, in the step where you mix the egg yolks with the ricotta and other ingredients.
For an extra lemony flavor, serve these pancakes with lemon curd.
Serving, Storing and Reheating Ricotta Pancakes:
Delicious options to serve with the Ricotta Pancakes:
- fresh fruit or berries
- jam
- maple syrup or honey
- Blend fresh fruit or berries in a blender with a bit of sugar or syrup to taste. You can also add a splash of water or juice to thin it out.
- You can also add berries or fresh fruit to the pancakes when you are cooking them! When you pour the batter onto the griddle, disperse the berries or cut up fruit over the surface of the pancakes (peaches, pears, mangos work great) or even add chocolate chips or nuts. You can add a small amount of batter on top of the add ins and then flip when small holes are seen evenly over the surface of the pancakes.
- Lemon curd or other curd, such as strawberry
- Whipped Cream
- Sour Cream with powdered sugar to taste and vanilla extract
Store leftover pancakes, covered, in the refrigerator for up to 5 days. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months, very well sealed.
Reheat in the microwave, in a skillet on low heat or oven until warm. My favorite way to reheat pancakes is to put them in the toaster.
Ricotta Pancakes
Ricotta Pancakes are so tender, light and fluffy. This breakfast is so great when you want something special but they are really easy to make.
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 25 mins
- Yield: about 20 pancakes
- Category: Breakfast
Ingredients
- 4 eggs, separated
- 1 ⅓ cup ricotta cheese
- 4-6 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- ¾ cup milk
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- oil or butter to cook the pancakes
Instructions
- Separate the eggs and put the egg whites in one large bowl and the egg yolks into a another large bowl.
- Whip the egg whites on medium speed with a whisk attachment until airy, increase speed to high, beat until stiff peaks form.
- Meanwhile in the other bowl, combine the egg yolks with the ricotta cheese, sugar, milk and vanilla extract, mixing until smooth.
- Add the flour, baking powder and salt to the ricotta mixture, and mix just until the flour is incorporated. Don't over mix.
- Gently fold in egg whites. If there are a few streaks of egg whites left, that 's ok. You want to keep as much volume as possible to have light and fluffy pancakes.
- Heat a large nonstick skillet or griddle and add some butter or oil to it. Heat until hot.
- Using a ¼ measuring cup, pour the batter onto the skillet or griddle.
- Cook on medium heat until golden on each side.
- Serve right away. Store leftovers in the refrigerator, covered, for up to 5 days or freeze, in an airtight container or freezer bag for up to 3 months.
This recipe was originally published on January 7, 2012. I updated the photos and clarified the instructions, to make this recipe even better.
Hands down the best pancakes I have tried! This will be my go to recipe from now onwards. I cannot wait to make them for my family and explore the rest of your website.
Thank you.
Amazing!!!!!!!!!! Husband and 3 year old daughter absolutely devoured this and requested I make more!! Will be tripling the batch and freezing some as a postpartum breakfast and so unbelievably excited! Personally, I used 4 tablespoons of sugar and I thought they were so sweet that I didn’t even serve them with maple syrup so if you like adding maple syrup then I would advise either adding 1-2 tablespoons of sugar or omit it completely! 😉 thank you Olga for this INCREDIBLE recipe!
Thank you so much for taking the time to share your feedback. I am so glad that you and your family enjoyed the ricotta pancakes:).
Thank you for the recipe, Olga. These were delicious and easy to make. My 3 year old asked for seconds and thirds😅
That's wonderful! I'm so happy to hear that, Natasha. Thank you for taking the time to write.
Wow! These are the fluffiest tastiest pancakes I’ve ever eaten! I was blown away by how good they tasted!
I had ricotta left over for a while and came across this recipe. My nephew who doesn't eat anything it seems like gobbled them up, and my children also loves loved them. Definitely will be making them again. Thank you! 😋
How wonderful, Inna. I am so happy that you enjoyed the pancakes.
I made these pancakes already twice. And they can be reheated the follow day. Very tasty! Thank you!
Question: do you have the weight measurement of the 1 and 1/3 cup ricotta?
I'm so glad you enjoy them, Marina. I don't have the weight measurement for the ricotta.
This is the best pancake recipe I’ve tried!
These were amazing! Keep up the great work, Olga! 🙂
These were so yummy! My kids who are kinda meh when it comes to pancakes kept asking for more!
Wow! these pancakes, are literally the best pancakes I've ever had. I recently decided I don't like pancakes anymore, i don't feel good after eating pancakes I always feel like I ate junk. But I had ricotta cheese at home was looking around what can I make with ricotta cheese and found these pancakes decided to give pancakes another chance and I was amazed of how light and fluffy my new favorite pancakes recipe thank u so much
Thank you for the yummy recipe! Made those pancakes a few days ago, and my hubby and i loved it! He kept on steeling them as soon as i moved them from the skillet to the plate lol This recipe is keeper! =)Thank you! The only thing is i am not sure why it happened to me, but when for the first batch i used a little of unsalted butter, and it browned my pancakes so quickly (the heat was not high, but i had it on low to med) so wiped the skillet with the dry paper towel and used coconut oil instead of butter and the color was perfect! =) maybe its the skillet, but i often use organic coconut oil for blinchiki and pancakes and for me i found out it works the best =)
Thank you so much for taking the time to write, Nina.
My husband likes to sneak away food, especially pancakes, while I'm cooking too:).
Made these today and they were soooooooo good! The kids who are very picky eaters kept after for more. So fluffy and delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
That's awesome, Lily! We made them this morning too:).
ok here is an update ... my kids loved them. asked for additional pancakes... My husband loved too and he approved them...
and as I said previously they are delicious
That's awesome! I'm so glad to hear that you all enjoyed it.
Breakfast for dinner is so much fun. We like to do that too:). Thank you for taking the time to write.
lol it sounds maybe too funny but I will be making this recipe in an hour (which is 7-8 pm) what? yes, this is going to be our dinner 🙂 we like to make something breakfast style on Sunday after evening church service. This is fast and will keep this evening sweet and parent with children time...
thanks for sharing. By the way I have tried this recipe long time ago when my sister in law made them and they were extremely delicious. Thanks for sharing.
Definitely, have to make it...
It is on my list to make it either on Saturday or for Sunday morning.
Thankyou