Lemon ricotta pancakes are a mouth-watering twist on the classic breakfast staple. These fluffy and tangy pancakes are made with a generous amount of ricotta cheese, which gives them a creamy texture and a slightly tangy flavor.
The addition of lemon zest and juice adds a refreshing citrusy note that complements the richness of the cheese.
Whether you’re looking for a luxurious weekend breakfast or a special brunch dish to impress your friends, lemon ricotta pancakes are a perfect choice that will surely satisfy your taste buds.

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What I Love About These Pancakes
One of the best things about making lemon ricotta pancakes is how easy they are to prepare, while still delivering a restaurant-worthy taste and texture. You can find them on the menu at Cheesecake Factory.
The batter comes together quickly and easily with just a few simple ingredients, and the result is a batch of fluffy and flavorful pancakes that are sure to impress. The addition of ricotta cheese and lemon zest gives the pancakes a unique and delicious taste, making them a perfect choice for a special breakfast or brunch.
Additionally, the versatile nature of these pancakes means they can be served in a variety of ways, such as with fresh berries, whipped cream, or maple syrup, making them a crowd-pleasing dish that everyone will love.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour: Sifted
- Fresh Baking Powder which makes the pancakes extra fluffy
- Buttermilk: If you don’t have Buttermilk, add 1 Teaspoon of Lemon Juice to a cup of milk and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Large Eggs: Room Temp
- Real Vanilla Extract
- Vegetable Oil or flavorless oil
- Fresh Ricotta cheese to make the pancakes fluffy
- Granulated Sugar
- Fresh lemon zest
- Optional Fruit
Instructions
- Place the flour, baking powder, and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients together until combined. Set aside.
- Pour the buttermilk into another mixing bowl. Add eggs, vanilla, and oil to the bowl. (I did add a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice also but that is a preference)
- Add the ricotta cheese, sugar, and lemon zest into the bowl with the buttermilk. Using a whisk. gently still the ingredients together.
- Add the flour mix into the bowl with the buttermilk and ricotta cheese. continue to fold the ingredients together until evenly combined with a few small lumps remaining in the batter. Do not over-mix the batter.
- Heat 1/4 tsp of vegetable oil on a griddle or in a large nonstick pan. Ladle the batter on the griddle until the pancake is nice and golden on each side.
- Add syrup or fresh berries on top.
- Sprinkle with a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Recipe FAQs
You can add fresh berries on top with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar. Or you can add maple syrup, blueberry syrup or agave.
Ricotta is an Italian whey cheese made from sheep, cow, goat, or Italian water buffalo milk whey left over from the production of other cheeses. Like other whey cheeses, it is made by coagulating the proteins that remain after the casein has been used to make cheese, notably albumin, and globulin.
Baking Powder makes the pancakes extra fluffy along with the sugar.
Expert Tips
- Use fresh ricotta cheese with your pancakes.
- Use fresh lemon zest from washed clean lemons. (I like a lot of lemon zest)
- You can add a teaspoon of lemon juice inside the pancakes as well.
- Make sure you always use fresh baking powder to get those pancakes extra fluffy.
- The pancake batter will be lumpy from the Ricotta Cheese, do no overmix the batter.
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Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1-3/4 Cups All Purpose Flour
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- 1 1/2 Cups Buttermilk
- 2 large Eggs Room Temperature
- 1 teaspoon Real Vanilla Extract
- 2 Tablespoons Vegetable Oil
- 2 cups Fresh Ricotta cheese
- 4 Tablespoons granulated sugar
- 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
- Fruit of choice for top
- 2 1/2 teaspoons oil for griddle
Instructions
- Place the flour, baking powder and salt into a mixing bowl. Stir the ingredients together until combined. Set aside.
- Pour the buttermilk into another mixing bowl. Add eggs, vanilla and oil into the bowl. (I did add a 1/2 teaspoon of lemon juice also but that is preference)
- Add the ricotta cheese, sugar and lemon zest into the bowl with the buttermilk. Using a whisk. gently still the ingredients together.
- Add the flour mix into the bowl with the buttermilk and ricotta cheese. continue to fold the ingredients together until evenly combined with a few small lumps remaining in the batter. Do not over mix the batter.
- Heat 1/4 tsp of vegetable oil on a griddle or in a large non stick pan. Ladle the batter on the griddle until the pancake is nice and golden on each side.
Dorothy Boucher says
this looks so yummy 🙂 thanks for share
Miguel says
This looks delicious! On a scale from 1 to 10 (1 being easy), how difficult is it to make this?
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Nice answer back in return of this matter with solid arguments and explaining the whole thing about that.|
Andrew Hopkins says
Excellent idea, I think I am going to make one large one for my girl birthday.
I hope she likt it!!
Thank you.