Say hello to Spinach Pancakes – a vibrant, nutritious breakfast that’s as tasty as it is fun! These fluffy buttermilk pancakes get a healthy twist from fresh spinach, adding nutrients without altering the classic flavor.
Table of Contents
Why Make Spinach Pancakes?
- Nutritious Boost: Spinach is loaded with iron, vitamins A, C, and K, and essential minerals. It’s an easy way to sneak extra greens into your diet without changing the flavor of your favorite breakfast. Just like Spinach Ricotta Bites or these Spinach Cake Muffins!
- Fun and Colorful: These pancakes get their gorgeous green hue from fresh baby spinach—no artificial dyes needed! They’re perfect for themed breakfasts, whether it’s St. Patrick’s Day, Earth Day, or a fun superhero meal for kids.
- Kid-Friendly: The fun bright color of these pancakes makes them an exciting switch up! They taste just like regular pancakes because fresh spinach has such a mild flavor. Once you blend it in with the milk, you get that gorgeous green color, and you don’t even know there’s a vegetable inside.
- Kids in the Kitchen: This is a great recipe to get the kids in on the cooking action, too. They love to toss ingredients into the blender and watch it whizz up before their eyes.
The Ingredients:
- Fresh spinach: Adds a nutritional boost and natural color.
- Buttermilk: Creates tender pancakes with a slight tang.
- Egg: Provides structure and richness.
- Oil: Keeps pancakes moist and prevents sticking.
- All-purpose flour: The base for fluffy pancakes.
- Sugar: A touch of sweetness to balance the flavors.
- Baking powder & baking soda: Helps the pancakes rise.
- Salt: Enhances overall flavor.
Substitutions and Variations
- Eggless Spinach Pancakes: Skip the eggs by using a flax egg—mix 1 tbsp ground flaxseed with 3 tbsp water and let it thicken before adding to the batter. Or try my Green Vegan Pancakes recipe!
- Gluten-Free: Swap all-purpose flour with a 1:1 gluten-free blend to keep these pancakes fluffy and gluten-free.
- Banana Spinach Pancakes: For an extra dose of sweetness and potassium to your already healthy spinach pancakes, add a banana! Just fold mashed ripe bananas into the pancake batter before cooking.
How To Make Green Spinach Pancakes
Step 1: In a blender, combine the spinach, buttermilk, egg, and oil and blend until smooth.
Step 2: In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Step 3: Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
Step 4: Heat a large pan or griddle over medium heat and grease with butter or oil. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the pancake mixture onto the griddle, making as many pancakes as will fit and cook for 2 minutes. Flip the pancakes and cook for one minute longer. Serve warm with favorite toppings.
Tips and Tricks
- Make Spinach Waffles using the same batter! Just follow the waffle iron manufacturer’s directions for cook time.
- Perfect for fun food themes! Call them Leprechaun Pancakes for St. Patrick’s Day, Hulk Pancakes for a superhero breakfast or serve alongside these red beet pancakes for a festive Christmas treat!
- Topping Ideas for Spinach Pancakes:
- Fresh Fruit: Sliced strawberries, blueberries, or bananas.
- Nut Butter: Spread peanut or almond butter for extra protein.
- Greek Yogurt: A creamy, protein-rich addition.
- Maple Syrup: A classic topping for added sweetness.
- Whipped Cream: A fun treat with a sprinkle of cinnamon.
FAQs
Frozen spinach can be used for this recipe in a pinch. You’ll need to thaw the spinach and then squeeze out any excess liquid before blending with the other wet ingredients.
Make your own buttermilk by adding 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for about 10 minutes. You could also replace the buttermilk with any milk you prefer whether it’s dairy milk, almond milk, soy milk, or oat milk.
For sure! You can make the batter and refrigerate overnight. Just give the batter a good mix before you cook them. The texture will change slightly because the gluten will further develop as the batter sits, but they’ll still taste absolutely delicious. Alternately, you can blend the wet ingredients and combine the dry ingredients and store them separately in the refrigerator. Then make the batter right before you cook.
Storage/Freezing Instructions:
- To Store: Store leftover spinach pancakes in an airtight container or resealable bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Place cooled pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- To Reheat: To reheat, simply warm the frozen pancakes in the toaster, microwave, or oven until heated through.
More Delicious Naturally Green Recipes
With this fun twist on traditional pancakes you can get in an extra veggie while making breakfast a little more fun! Plus, Spinach Pancakes are super tasty! Let me know in the comments if you have any questions and leave a rating below!
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Spinach Pancakes
Equipment
- blender
- large sauté pan
Ingredients
- 1 cup packed fresh spinach
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 cup all purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
Instructions
- In a blender, combine the spinach, buttermilk, egg, and oil and blend until smooth.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Whisk the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until just combined. Be careful not to overmix.
- Heat a large pan or griddle over medium heat and grease with butter or oil. Pour about 1 tablespoon of the pancake mixture onto the griddle, making as many pancakes as will fit and cook for 2 minutes.
- Flip the pancakes and cook for one minute longer.
- Serve warm with favorite toppings.
Notes
- To Store: Store leftover spinach pancakes in an airtight container or resealable bag in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
- To Freeze: Place cooled pancakes in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Once frozen, transfer them to a freezer-safe bag or container. Freeze for up to 3 months.
- To Reheat: To reheat, simply warm the frozen pancakes in the toaster, microwave, or oven until heated through.
- Make Spinach Waffles using the same batter! Just follow the waffle iron manufacturer’s directions for cook time.
- See more answers to FAQs in the post above!
- Tools for This Recipe (affiliate links): Blender
I have been making these for almost 8 years and they are a hit with my picky eaters. I often serve them for dinner with quiche. Since we eat these a lot I quadruple the recipe and freeze the leftovers. I find that I can use the 5 oz container of baby spinach and it comes out great – no need to measure the spinach and no leftover spinach. If you think your children will be skeptical introduce them on a green holiday such as St. Patrick’s Day or Earth Day when they might be more accepting of things green.
Thanks for sharing, Lisa! Our family loves these too 🙂
5 stars! This recipe is delicious and easy to make.
So so so good! They just taste like buttermilk pancakes and even my sister ate them!
I made this today for my one year old, who is a very good eater, and she threw it on the ground. I had a taste, and I didn’t blame her. This was VERY bland and all I could taste was the flour. I added shredded apple, flax meal, chia seeds, and rolled oats to thicken the batter and use in the waffle iron. After all that, I thought they were just “okay.” My daughter ate them up after the second round, but I wouldn’t make these again. However, I will be adding spinach to the recipe I use for healthier oat pancakes as I did learn that the spinach really does add a nice green color without changing the flavor at all. Good idea, but not to my taste.
Delicious, great recipe! I made these for my 7 month old and just cut them into french-fry like strips so she could handle them and feed herself. Are these okay to freeze? And how long approx should they keep if I do? Thank you!
This was too salty. I would cut the salt down to half next time.
Great recipe! I just came from LA to India and my 1.5 years old was eating only fruits and smoothies! I made these for lunch and he loved those! Healthy and delicious! Thanks !
Yes! I did but kept the wet and dry ingredients separate. Then in the morning I just stirred to combine them and we had pancakes in minutes!
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I make my vegan verdion.
You can use regular milk, or any milk substitute!
What would you substitute for the buttermilk in this recipe?
[…] Spinach Pancakes […]
Nice!
My kids gobbled these up…and so did my husband and I! I did substitute honey for the sugar and used coconut oil for the oil.
Glad they like the pancakes!