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. Don’t forget to try these other delicious lemon recipes.
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.
Quick Look
- 🕒 Prep Time: 15 minutes
- 🌡️ Cook Time: 5 minutes
- ⏳ Total Time: 20 minutes
- 🍽️ Serving: 4 servings
- ⚡ Calories: 446kcal per serving
- 🌶️ Flavor Profile: Bright lemon zest against creamy ricotta and the tang of buttermilk
- ✋ Difficulty: Easy, two bowls and a griddle, the same as my red velvet pancakes
Quick Answer
Stir the flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bowl and set it aside. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, eggs, vanilla and oil, then add the ricotta cheese, sugar and lemon zest and whisk gently. Fold the flour mixture into the wet ingredients until evenly combined with a few small lumps still in the batter, and do not overmix. Heat a quarter teaspoon of oil on a griddle or large nonstick pan, ladle on the batter, and cook until golden on each side. Top with fresh berries, syrup and a dusting of powdered sugar.
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Why This Recipe Works
Click to see the technique science
- Ricotta is what makes them creamy, not just fluffy. Two cups of it means the interior stays soft and almost custardy where a plain pancake would go dry.
- The lumps are the point. Pancake batter should not be smooth. Believe it or not, mixing until just combined and still lumpy creates fluffy pancakes. Every extra stir develops gluten and tightens the crumb.
- Buttermilk and baking powder together. The acid in the buttermilk gives the baking powder something to react with, which is where the lift comes from.
- Fresh baking powder matters more than you would think. It loses strength on the shelf, and old powder is the most common reason pancakes come out flat.
- Zest, not juice, carries the lemon. The oils live in the peel. Zest goes into the batter for aroma, and a half teaspoon of juice is optional if you want the tartness too.
- Room temperature eggs blend evenly. Cold eggs seize the ricotta and leave you overmixing to smooth it out.
- A quarter teaspoon of oil per batch. Enough to keep them from sticking, not so much that the edges fry and go crisp.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Restaurant worthy at home. You can find them on the menu at Cheesecake Factory, and these take 20 minutes in your own kitchen.
- They come together fast. A few simple ingredients and one fold, and the batter is done.
- Versatile. Serve them with fresh berries, whipped cream, or maple syrup, making them a crowd pleasing dish that everyone will love.
- Lemon all the way through. If lemon is your flavor, they belong with my lemon bars and lemon bundt cake.
- Special occasion, everyday effort. A luxurious weekend breakfast or a brunch dish to impress your friends, without a project attached.
- The batter is forgiving. Lumpy is correct, so there is nothing to get wrong by underworking it.
Key Ingredients
Ten ingredients, and two of them are doing all the work: the ricotta and the zest. Quantities are in the recipe card below.
- 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 it sit for 5 minutes.
- Large Eggs. Room temperature.
- Real Vanilla Extract. Homemade if you have it.
- Vegetable Oil or another flavorless oil.
- Fresh Ricotta Cheese, to make the pancakes fluffy. Fresh, not the dry grainy kind that has been open a week.
- Granulated Sugar. Four tablespoons, which also helps them brown.
- Fresh Lemon Zest. Two tablespoons, and here is how I zest a lemon without getting the bitter white pith.
- Optional Fruit for the top.
See the recipe card below for exact quantities and full instructions.
Variations & Substitutions
Small changes, all of them ones I have made.
- Add lemon juice to the batter. I did add a half teaspoon of lemon juice also, but that is preference.
- No buttermilk? A teaspoon of lemon juice in a cup of milk, left to sit five minutes, does the job.
- Change the fruit. Blueberries folded in, or strawberries on top, both work with the lemon.
- Finish them differently. Maple syrup, blueberry syrup, agave, whipped cream or just powdered sugar.
- Make a lemon morning of it. Serve them with lemon curd on the side the way I do with my lemon cupcakes.
- Want a different pancake? My red velvet pancakes, pumpkin oatmeal pancakes and gluten free pumpkin pancakes use the same method.
How to Make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
- Place the flour into a mixing bowl.
- Add the baking powder and salt, stir the dry ingredients together until combined, and set aside.
- Pour the buttermilk into another mixing bowl and add the eggs, vanilla and oil. I did add a half teaspoon of lemon juice also, but that is a preference.
- Whisk the wet ingredients together until smooth, then gently stir in the ricotta cheese, sugar and lemon zest.
- Add the flour mix into the bowl with the buttermilk and ricotta.
- Fold the ingredients together until evenly combined with a few small lumps remaining in the batter. Do not overmix the batter.
- Heat a quarter teaspoon of vegetable oil on a griddle or in a large nonstick pan and ladle on the batter.
- Cook until the pancake is nice and golden on each side, then add syrup or fresh berries on top and a light dusting of powdered sugar.
Recipe Tips & Tricks
- 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 batter will be lumpy from the ricotta cheese. Do not overmix the batter.
- Keep finished pancakes warm on a rack in a 200 degree oven so the whole batch goes out at once.
Serving Ideas & Suggestions
Fresh berries on top with a light sprinkling of powdered sugar is how I serve them most often. For a full brunch, add my crustless spinach and feta quiche for something savory, my red velvet pancakes for the sweet tooths, french toast recipes for a crowd, a basket of breakfast scones, or keto egg muffins for anyone eating low carb. There is more in my breakfast collection.
If lemon is your flavor the way it is mine, keep going with my lemon bars, lemon bundt cake, lemon curd cupcakes, lemon blueberry swirl cheesecake, instant pot lemon curd cheesecake and lemon shortbread cookies. There are more ideas in my what to do with lemons post, and a stack of these on a tiered tray works at an afternoon tea too.
Lemon Ricotta Pancake 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. Fresh baking powder matters, and so does leaving the batter lumpy instead of mixing it smooth.
Yes. Add 1 teaspoon of lemon juice to a cup of milk and let it sit for 5 minutes until it thickens, then use it the same way.
Because it should be. The ricotta will not fully disappear into the batter and it is not supposed to. Fold until the flour is combined with a few small lumps left and stop there.
It is best cooked right away, since the baking powder starts working as soon as it hits the buttermilk. If you need a head start, mix the dry bowl and the wet bowl separately the night before and combine them in the morning.
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.
Phyllis says
these were a delight and super easy. I had almost 2 cups of homemade ricotta that needed to he utilized. all the recipes called for 1/2 or 3/4 cup. then I came across yours and the angel chorus let out a hallelujah! this will be my go to, unless of course I only have a little ricotta leftover…