I’m not sure if many of you remember, but I used to have a recipe that was very similar to this on my site. I decided to retest the recipe to ensure they were flavorful, fluffy and had the perfect amount sweetness.
My old recipe used to use egg whites and regular flour, but on Ambitious Kitchen we are all about encouraging real food to provide you optimal nutrition so this time I opted for whole eggs to include the vitamins from the yolk and also whole wheat flour to add additional fiber and protein.
Ingredients in quinoa pancakes
While lemon blueberry quinoa pancakes sound a little fancy, you’ll actually use plenty of pantry staples to make these delicious pancakes.
- Cooked quinoa: this recipe calls for cooked quinoa, not quinoa flour. See how to make the perfect fluffy quinoa here!
- Flour: you can use either all purpose or whole wheat pastry flour in this recipe. If you want to make them gluten free, I think an all purpose gluten free flour or oat flour should work well but please note that I have not tried it.
- Baking powder & salt: to help the pancakes bake up correctly (use baking powder, not soda!) and bring out the flavors.
- Egg: you’ll just need 1 egg in this recipe. I also think a flax egg would work out well to make these vegan – see the notes section for how to make it.
- Lemon juice & zest: you’ll use both parts of the lemon for delicious, bright flavor.
- Milk: I love using almond or coconut milk, but you can use any milk you have on-hand.
- Coconut sugar or honey: you’ll just need 2 tablespoons of either coconut sugar or honey to sweeten the pancakes.
- Vanilla extract: to give the pancakes a naturally sweet flavor. You can also use almond extract for that traditional lemon poppyseed muffin flavor!
- Olive oil: just a bit of olive oil to add moisture to the pancakes.
- Blueberries: feel free to use fresh or frozen blueberries for the inside of the pancakes + on top.
One of the reasons I love these lemon blueberry quinoa pancakes is because they’re packed with protein and fiber thanks to the quinoa. Each serving provides nearly 9g of protein packed with all of the nine amino acids that your body needs. Therefore these just happen to make an excellent post workout breakfast.
Make the perfect quinoa for pancakes
- Use a 1:2 ratio for quinoa to liquid. I typically cook 1 cup quinoa in 2 cups of water, which will make about 3 cups of cooked quinoa. Then you’ll have some leftovers from this recipe for lunches and dinners!
- Bring the water to a boil then stir in quinoa. Reduce heat to low, cover, and let simmer for exactly 15 minutes. Remove the saucepan from heat and let stand covered for another 5-10 minutes.
- Quinoa will pop upon cooking and expand. To help separate the grains, use a fork and fluff the quinoa.
How to make quinoa pancakes
- In a medium bowl, whisk together cooked and cooled quinoa, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together egg, lemon juice and zest, milk, honey, vanilla (or almond extract) and olive oil until smooth.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk to combine, then gently fold in blueberries. If batter is way too thick, add a splash of milk.
- Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with olive oil and place over medium heat. Drop batter by 1/4 cup onto skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on top, about 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes.
- Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more melted butter and remaining batter. You may need to lower the heat to medium low after the second round to prevent burning. Makes 9 lemon blueberry quinoa pancakes.
How to keep pancakes warm
You can absolutely make these lemon blueberry quinoa pancakes ahead of time and keep them warm in the oven. Simply place oven at 200 degrees F, then add pancakes to a platter or oven-safe plate and place in the oven until ready to serve.
How to freeze quinoa pancakes
If you really want to make your pancakes ahead of time and serve them at a later date, you can place the pancakes on a baking sheet so they aren’t touching and place in the freezer for 30 minutes, then place them in freezer safe containers and freeze for up to 3 months. Once ready to reheat, simply add pancakes to a plate and microwave for 30-60 seconds or until warm.
I hope you get a chance to make these soon. They’re easy, delicious and actually filling. Top them with extra berries and a drizzle of honey or pure maple syrup. Enjoy!
If you make these lemon blueberry quinoa pancakes, be sure to leave a comment below and rate the recipe! You can also snap and picture and post it on Instagram using the hashtag #ambitiouskitchen.
Ambitious Kitchen
Cookbook
125 Ridiculously Good For You, Sometimes Indulgent, and Absolutely Never Boring Recipes for Every Meal of the Day
Lemon Blueberry Quinoa Pancakes
Ingredients
- Dry ingredients
- 1 cup cooked and cooled quinoa
- 3/4 cup all purpose flour or whole wheat pastry flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- Wet ingredients
- 1 large egg
- 1/3 cup fresh lemon juice
- zest of 1 large lemon
- 1/4 cup unsweetened vanilla almond milk or coconut milk
- 2 tablespoons coconut sugar or honey
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (or sub almond extract)
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 3/4 cup fresh or frozen blueberries
Instructions
- In a medium bowl, whisk together cooked and cooled quinoa, flour, baking powder, and salt.
- In another medium bowl, whisk together egg, lemon juice and zest, milk, honey, vanilla (or almond extract) and olive oil until smooth.
- Add wet ingredients to dry ingredients and whisk to combine, then gently fold in blueberries. If batter is way too thick, add a splash of milk.
- Lightly coat a large nonstick skillet or griddle with olive oil and place over medium heat. Drop batter by 1/4 cup onto skillet. Cook until bubbles appear on top, about 2 minutes. Flip cakes and cook until golden brown on underside, 2 minutes. Wipe skillet clean and repeat with more melted butter and remaining batter. You may need to lower the heat to medium low after the second round to prevent burning.
- Makes about 9 pancakes, 3 pancakes each. Top with fruit preserves, honey, nut butter and/or maple syrup.
Recipe Notes
Nutrition
Recipe by Monique Volz // Ambitious Kitchen
Photography by Sarah Fennel // Broma Bakery
More ways to use quinoa
Toasted Quinoa, Dried Fig & Dark Chocolate Nut Free Granola Bars
Crispy Toasted Quinoa Chocolate Peanut Butter Truffles
Avocado Blueberry Quinoa Salad
I made these very modified due to needing gluten free and because I didn’t have lemons. I used oat flour instead of all purpose and used coconut milk and shredded coconut with the blueberries. I also used two eggs for more protein. We LOVED having this recipe as a jumping off point and it was so so delicious. Thank you for sharing it!!
I’m glad those swaps worked out well!
I really wanted a quinoa breakfast recipe for my son, so I tried these knowing I would need to make several substitutions and they came out great. I used gluten free oat flour and a few tablespoons of 1 to 1 GF flour substitute. I used applesauce instead of lemon juice. Maple syrup and almond extract rounded it out. They were delicious and had a great texture to them. I hope my GF substitutions helps another reader with the recipe. Thank you!
Absolutely excellent!! Perfect fluffy pancakes with do much flavour!!! I made the flax egg version. I added 1 TBSP egg white to boost protein a bit higher. Definitely making again!!!!
Amazing! So glad you loved these!
These have been a staple at our house for the past 3 years! My husband found your recipe and usually makes them for us. Today’s our youngest son’s 2nd birthday and I’m making them 🙂 love giving them something delicious that seems like a treat but has some great healthy elements! Also, I think the texture with the quinoa in them is so great.
Aw YAY happy birthday to him!! So glad you guys are loving these 🙂
This was amazing. Made with frozen blueberries, Fresh lemon juice. Topped with almond butter and maple syrup. Super easy to make.
Hi . I did the Quinoa pancakes but I did not blend the quinoa . I cooked the quinoa as mentioned here and the pancakes did not come out as pancake they were consistant but when I put it to the pan to fry it , the batter was not fluffly enough. Something was not right . I am not sure what it was.
I made a big batch of quinoa recently – and came across this recipe while searching for quinoa pancakes. It turned out great! I used limes instead of lemons since that’s what I had on hand. This does not make a ton of food – I’d say if you were feeding two it would be about right. If you want to have some extra to freeze or reheat or you’re feeding a crowd – I’d double/triple the amounts.
Hi, Kate! So glad to hear you enjoyed these. Such a great idea to use lime, and to double the recipe! 🙂
One of my favorites to make and eat. I modified the recipe a little bit this time, using agave nectar. Thank you!
Perfect! Glad you love them 🙂
I am SO glad I found this recipe! I bought 10lbs on quinoa on a whim that was on super clearance only to find out nobody in my house enjoys quinoa. These pancakes are so delicious, can’t even taste the quinoa, plus the quinoa adds a nice nutritional punch! I had to add a bit more sugar for our taste, but otherwise super delicious!
I’m so glad you found these, too! Perfect breakfast 🙂
Those pancakes look absolutely fantastic! I plan to make them tomorrow for breakfast, can I prepare the batter tonight and store it in the fridge? Thanks!!
I haven’t tried doing this, but let us know if you give it a shot!
They had amazing flavor and I don’t doubt they would be perfect if followed correctly, however I modified and added coconut flour, it made the batter really thick and so I tried to add more milk. The batter didn’t have a great consistency or cook together and ended up very crumbly.
I’d recommend sticking with the recipe so that they have the right texture 🙂 you could also try my coconut flour pancakes here!
One of my favourite recipes I’ve tried. I adapted it by using gluten-free flour and raspberries instead of blueberries. Delicious!
I’m glad that worked out well! Love the idea of adding raspberries 🙂
When you say whisk together cooked and cooled quinoa. Does that mean a cup of each ?
Just one cup of cooked quinoa that has been cooled 🙂
Wow! These are incredible. I had a wild hair and used oat flour. I used a little over a cup and i think it worked out pretty well. They stayed together well while cooking and taste delicious! Love the lemon blueberry combo and with the quinoa, it’s a hardy pancake! After leg day, this was the best breakfast with hash browns and eggs. Thanks Monique!
I’m glad that worked out! Perfect post-workout breakfast 🙂
Hi, just wondering how much self raising flour should i use to substitute the whole wheat flour? that’s the only flour i’ve in the pantry at the moment 😂 gotta stock em up soon!
Hi! This article might be helpful https://www.kingarthurflour.com/blog/2015/09/09/substitute-self-rising-flour-purpose-flour
Hey Monique,
These look absolutely delicious. I was a little confused about the serving size though. It says Servings: 9 pancakes
Serving size: 3 pancakes
So is it 9 pancakes in total or 3×9 pancakes?
Hi Haylee! Apologies for the confusion – the recipe makes 9 pancakes total, and the serving size is 3 pancakes each (so 3 total servings or 3 people). I’ll update 🙂
Can you cook a batch and freeze them for later?
Yes that should work! Just cool them completely and freeze them in airtight bags. I recommend toasting them to reheat 🙂
Hi! It’s Roz again. Unlike the first time I tried the recipe with quinoa that I cooked myself, this time I made the pancakes withTrader Joe’s organic frozen, pre-cooked quinoa and the batter was perfect and not too thick like the first time I tried the recipe. I think it was because the pre-cooked quinoa was more moist than the quinoa I cooked from scratch. This recipe is definitely a keeper!
Hi Roz! So glad the pre-cooked quinoa worked out well. Let me know if you do try these again with homemade quinoa!
I also discovered these pancakes at a restaurant and loved them! So I was excited to find the recipe on this site. I am gluten sensitive so I used a 1:1 gluten free flour in the recipe. The batter was extremely thick so I added another 1/4 cup of almond milk. After trying just one pancake, I added more sweetener to the remaining batter which was much better. I topped the pancakes with fresh raspberry sauce and maple syrup. The family loved them and I will be sure to make them again. Thanks Monique!
I’m glad those swaps worked out for you! The raspberry sauce + maple syrup sound amazing, too.
Had this at a restaurant then found your recipe here. Loved them!!
I didn’t have fresh lemon, used lemon juice from a bottle, next time will cut that ingredient in half.
Will be a staple!!
Perfect timing! The lemon juice from a bottle is usually more concentrated, so next time I’d recommend fresh 🙂 Glad you enjoyed!
I made these couple of weeks ago and loved them, so we tried them on family that stayed overnight for breakfast which they loved. A hit once again. Thankyou for such a great recipe. So healthy too.
Amazing! So happy to hear that 🙂
These are incredible and super filling – my bottomless pit of a boyfriend even filled up on them!
The first time I made them, I found the lemon flavor to be a little overpowering, so I tried 1/4 cup lemon juice instead and it was perfect. These will definitely be a breakfast staple! Thanks for another great recipe!
Perfect! The lemon flavor is great for customizing, too. Glad you both loved them!
These are delicious, thank you!
I found that mine came out a little course – too much quinoa? – what did I do wrong or what ingredients would you recommend increasing to make the batter a little closer to the consistency of pancake batter?
Also – does the recipe intend for you to use both the lemon zest and juice? Or is it either/or? I used the zest but held back on all but a little lemon juice for fear of overpowering the flavor.
I’m glad you liked them! The cooked quinoa should keep these nice and fluffy (just like normal pancakes) so I’m not sure how they came out course. Maybe double-check your liquid:dry ratios here? I make these with both lemon zest + juice for a fresh, lemony flavor and don’t find them overpowering!
These were just ok. Definitely different texture with the quinoa, obviously. They were a little thick and next time I’ll add more almond milk.
I did not have lemon or blueberries on hand but wanted to try a quinoa pancake recipe. These were great!
Instead of the lemon juice I added extra milk in its place
I also added mini chocolate chips
Kids absolutely loved them!
I’m glad that worked out well!
Made these, except I substituted a mixed berry blend (raspberries, strawberries, blueberries) for the blueberries. I think that was a mistake as these pancakes tasted very sour and earthy and there were pockets of mushy berry in the pancakes. I would like to try to make this again as I really would like to have a healthier go to pancake option and I love your other recipes!
Very strange! You could try using less lemon juice (or zest) next time, and adding some more coconut sugar or honey if you prefer them a bit sweeter!
Stacks of GLORY. I love lemon blueberry pancakes! Now I’m inspired to make some myself!
SO good! Hope you love these 🙂
These pancakes are just what I need to get through the storm! :))
Yes! The perfect fluffy stack for a rainy day 🙂
Do you think these could be baked as muffins?
Hi Erica! I haven’t tried it, so I’m not sure! Let me know if you give it a shot 🙂
These are SO good!!
I’m so glad you like them!
I’ve been craving ALL the lemon things lately, so I’m into these! 100% making these during that crazy snow we are getting today!
YES lemon in everything, please! I hope you loved these 🙂
We’re getting a huge snowstorm tomorrow. These pancakes are just what I need to get through the storm!
Yes! The perfect cure to a snowstorm 🙂
The lemon and blueberry combination sounds fantastic! Pancakes are always a hit!
It’s amazing! A little sweet and a little zesty 🙂 Love pancakes!
They look so fluffy and delicious! Send me some! Ya te quiero mi amor