The Best Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are my favorite summer breakfast treat! Soft and fluffy homemade pancakes are made unbelievably moist from ricotta cheese and zesty from fresh lemon juice. These pancakes are so easy to make from scratch in no time at all.
When it comes to pancakes, I can never used the box mixes. Sure, maybe in my teens and twenties they got the job done, but now I can never look back! Homemade pancakes take just about the same amount of time and effort to whip up and they taste SO much better. Ingredients like buttermilk and ricotta create the best texture here and the lemon juice seals the deal on that summery flavor.
To make these summery Lemon Ricotta Pancakes, you just have to mix the dry and wet ingredients in two separate bowls, combine them to make the batter, then fry up a stack of pancakes. It’s so easy! On a warm, lazy spring or summer morning, these pancakes always hit the spot. They’re also always a pretty huge hit at brunch parties with friends!
Ricotta cheese adds an incredible amount of moisture to the batter without making the pancakes too dense. They practically melt in your mouth with the best buttery quality! Plus, the ricotta itself is pretty mild in flavor so it won’t clash with anything else. If anything, it compliments the fresh lemon juice beautifully.
How to Make Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Lemon ricotta pancakes are so easy to make from scratch! For full details about the process, just scroll down to the recipe card at the bottom of the page.
- Whisk the dry ingredients. Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
- Stir the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk together the ricotta, eggs, buttermilk, vanilla, lemon juice and butter.
- Make the batter. Stir the dry ingredients together with the wet ingredients until combined but not smooth! Lumpy batter is what you need to make fluffy pancakes.
- Cook the pancakes. Melt butter in a pan over medium-high heat. Drop 1/4 cup batter at a time onto a skillet to make 4 separate pancakes. You may need to cook just one at a time if your skillet is on the smaller side.
- Flip. You can tell when it’s time to flip by looking at the center of the pancakes. Once bubbles begin to form there and the edges of the pancakes look dry, flip the pancakes and continue cooking for another 1-2 minutes.
Serving Suggestions
Top off your lemon ricotta pancakes with berries (blueberries are my favorite) and lots of maple syrup! They’re also wonderful with powdered sugar and whipped cream.
Of course, you can always get a little fancy with something like blueberry compote or stabilized whipped cream.
Tips for the Best Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Before you start cooking, take a quick look at these nifty tips and tricks:
- Homemade ricotta – I love using homemade ricotta whenever I can! It’s a lot easier to make than you may think.
- Don’t flip too soon – Wait for bubbles to form in the center of the pancakes and the edges to look dry. If you try to flip them too soon, you’ll end up with a big mess.
- Don’t over-mix the batter – You want pancake batter to be a bit lumpy. That’s how you know it’ll be nice and fluffy!
- Use buttermilk – Buttermilk makes the fluffiest pancakes. You can even make your own buttermilk if you won’t want to add it to your shopping list.
- Spoon the flour – If you dunk the cup straight into the bag, you’ll pack it in there. Spoon the flour into the measuring cup for the best results.
Check out more of my favorite breakfast recipes!
- The Best Buttermilk Pancakes
- Pancake Mix
- Blueberry Pancakes
- Banana Pancakes
- The Best Belgian Waffle
- Best French Toast
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Get the Recipe: Lemon Ricotta Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1 cup milk
- 1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice, and zest
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons butter, melted
Equipment
- 1 griddle
Instructions
- Whisk together the flour, brown sugar, baking powder and salt.
- In a separate smaller bowl, whisk together the ricotta, eggs, milk, vanilla, lemon juice and butter.
- Slowly stir together the dry ingredients with the wet ingredients until well blended. Do not stir until smooth, the lumpier the batter, the fluffier the pancakes.
- Melt the remaining butter over medium high heat in a large skillet.
- Drop 1/4 cup batter onto the skillet to make four separate pancakes.
- Cook the pancakes until the edges look dry and bubbles begin to form in the center of the batter. Flip and continue cooking for 1-2 minutes longer until golden.
- Transfer to a platter and keep warm.
- Repeat with remaining batter.
- Serve the pancakes topped with fresh berries and syrup or powdered sugar.