Well, it's here: the best Plantain Pancake Recipe on the internet.
These gluten free pancakes are dense but fluffy, soaking up maple syrup for a wonderful breakfast treat. Better yet? You only need 4 ingredients!
Quick Look: Plantain Pancakes
⏲️Ready In: 20 minutes
🍽Servings: 2
🥗Nutrition: 522 Calories
🥘Main Ingredients: Plantains, eggs, gluten free flour
📋Dietary Notes: Gluten free, Grain free, Dairy free, Nut free
⭐Why You'll Love It: Only 4 ingredients for dense, fluffy gluten free pancakes that are dairy free and nut free!
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Plantains have a special place in my heart as a versatile ingredient that can be used for all sorts of meals like Plantain & Olive Beef Bowls or Flourless Plantain Skillet Brownies!
If you've got yellow plantains to use, these fluffy gluten free plantain pancakes are an easy way to use them. You just need a blender and a skillet to make this breakfast treat!
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Key Ingredients
Plantains: You'll need yellow (ripe) plantains for these plantain pancakes. Because the starch and sugar contents of plantains vary so widely depending on how ripe they are, pay close attention to what a recipe calls for.
Eggs: To help bind the pancakes together and create structure.
Gluten Free Flour: Originally this recipe called for cassava flour, which you can still use, but any gluten free flour blend should work well! I prefer Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free 1 to 1 Flour.
Adding a bit of flour prevents the pancakes from being too dense.
See the recipe card for full information on ingredients and quantities.
How to Make Plantain Pancakes
Don't worry - if you've EVER made pancakes before, this is super easy!
Even if you haven't made pancakes before, I'm confident you can crush this.
Step 1: Peel the plantains and chop into 3-4 large chunks.
Step 2: In a large mixing bowl, combine the gluten free flour and baking soda.
Step 3: Blend the plantains with the eggs until smooth.
If the plantains aren't blending well, that's a sign that they're not ripe enough. You can add a little milk (dairy free or not - your choice) or a bit of water to help thin it - but avoid adding additional liquid if you can.
Step 4: Fold the blended plantain mixture with the gluten free flour and baking powder.
Step 5: Heat a tablespoon of oil or butter in a large skillet (I use a cast iron!) over medium heat. Add about ¼ cup of batter, using the bottom of the measuring cup or a spoon to spread the batter a bit. It'll be thick!
Step 6: Cook for 2-3 minutes, until bubbles start to form and pop around the edges of the pancake. Flip the pancakes and cook for another 2-3 minutes. Repeat with remaining batches as necessary.
How to Cook with Plantains
If you're curious about plantains, check out the article I wrote about how plantains differ from bananas. Head over and read that post if you want more plantain knowledge stuffed into your brain.
But here's the cliff notes version:
- You can eat plantains raw, but you're better off cooking them.
- Plantains are starchier than bananas, which makes them work SO well for this recipe. The sugars and starch provide the bulk and base for these fluffy, dense pancakes.
- Green plantains are less ripe (and have less sugars). Yellow plantains have a little more sugar but are still very starchy. Spotted or brown plantains are still good to use and have the most sugars.
- Ripe plantains tend to burn easily because of the sugars in the fruit. So watch the skillet and be sure to use an adequate amount of fat or oil!
Because the starch and sugar contents of plantains vary so widely depending on how ripe they are, pay close attention to what a recipe calls for.
Plantains a little too green for these plantain pancakes? Try making easy gluten free tostones!
Plantains a little too overripe? This flourless plantain skillet brownie is calling your name.
Top Tips from Chelsea
Mind the heat. Plantains tend to burn pretty easily in a hot skillet because of their high sugar content. Keep the skillet on medium and use the first pancake as a test before cooking batches of 2 or 3 at a time. Flip them after 2-3 minutes, and try not to make them too thick so they still cook through!
Make thinner pancakes. The batter is thick, so to make sure they cook through, I like to use a ¼ cup measuring cup to both scoop the batter and then spread them slightly. For best results, aim for ½"- to ¾"-thick pancakes.
The best plantains to use for plantain pancakes are yellow with maybe a few browned spots. If you're having trouble removing the peel, the plantains might be too starchy for these pancakes. You can use them for Plantain & Olive Beef Bowls, Flourless Plantain Empanadas, or Grilled Fish with Fried Plantains (Aloco)!
Follow those pointers, and you'll be devouring the best plantain pancakes in no time.
Plantain Pancakes FAQs
In my experience, for fluffy pancakes that more closely resemble traditional pancakes, you'll need to use some flour to avoid too-dense pancakes.
I do have an Easy Pan-Fried Plantain Patties recipe that creates pancake-like patties that could be a stand-in!
The pancakes themselves should be slightly sweet because of the sugar content in the plantains. That said, maple syrup is still the go-to topping here! Toasted nuts and fresh fruit go wonderfully with these gluten free plantain pancakes.
For protein with breakfast, serve with bacon and eggs or Southwest Chorizo Breakfast Casserole.
No. Bananas aren't starchy enough to get similar results.
Instead, check out Strawberry Protein Powder Pancakes with Banana or Gluten Free Banana Waffles to use bananas for breakfast!
Did you try plantain pancakes? I'd love to hear what you think! Please leave a comment and rating or tag me on Instagram - I appreciate your feedback.
Print📖 Recipe
Best Gluten Free Plantain Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 2 servings 1x
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Gluten Free
Description
Fluffy and dense with only 4 ingredients, this plantain pancake recipe makes the perfect filling gluten free breakfast! Serve with fresh fruit, nuts, and maple syrup.
Ingredients
- 2 yellow plantains
- 2 eggs (see notes for AIP)
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon gluten free flour blend or cassava flour
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 tablespoons butter, olive oil, or ghee, divided
Instructions
- Blend plantains: Peel the plantains by cutting off both ends, then slicing lengthwise down the peel and removing it. Add the plantains and eggs to a high-powered blender. Blend on medium, increasing in speed, until the mixture is smooth.
- Mix batter: Combine cassava flour and baking soda in a medium bowl. Pour the plantain mixture into the dry ingredients and stir until completely combined.
- Cook pancakes: Heat 1 tablespoon ghee, butter, or olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Once heated, add about ¼ cup of batter to the skillet. You may have to spread the batter out a bit to make a thinner, ½" to ¾" pancake - this batter is thick! Flip after 2-3 minutes or once bubbles start to appear on the edges of the pancake. Cook for another 2-3 minutes, then transfer to a plate. Repeat with remaining pancakes, using additional ghee, butter, or olive oil as necessary to oil the skillet between batches.
- Top and serve: Serve pancakes immediately with fresh fruit, toasted nuts, or a drizzle of pure maple syrup.
Notes
- Substitute the eggs by dissolving 2 tablespoons gelatin in 6 tablespoons water before blending with the plantain.
- Ripe plantains can burn easily in a hot skillet due to their sugar content. Keep the skillet on medium heat and carefully lift the bottom of that first pancake to check how quickly it's cooking.
- Use the bottom of a measuring cup to spread the pancake batter once you drop it into the skillet to prevent too-thick pancakes that don't fully cook through.
Bern says
Great recipe. I didn’t have cassava flour so used unsweetened coconut. I used my food processor, which worked fine, and added a bit of almond milk as suggested by another commenter. I fried them in an electric skillet at 275 for four minutes on each side. Came out great!
Anon says
These are decidedly not vegan. Eggs aren't vegan. I don't think I should need to point that out
Chelsea Joy says
You are absolutely right, and I'm sorry about that! When I last updated the post, I must have mistakenly slipped "vegan" into the description instead of "vegetarian". I've updated the post - thank you for pointing that out!
You could use an egg replacement, such as a flax egg, with good results.
Anonymous says
Chelsea Joy says
Michael says
The recipe has just the combinations to get an ideal consistency! I didn't have cassava, so I ground some rolled quinoa into coarse flour - and it worked perfectly.
Chelsea Joy says
Olivia says
Why do you fold the dry ingredients into the plantain mixture manually? Can one put all the ingredients into a high speed blender without disturbing the texture of the batter, Chelsea?
Chelsea says
Hi Olivia! I've tried it before and wasn't as pleased with the results. The batter is pretty thick, so blending everything in the blender makes it a little hard to get the batter out! You can certainly give it a try though and make your own judgement!
Carol says
Made these this morning and they have a lovely light texture and are so delicious ? I used my Nutribullet to mix the egg, plantains and oil (easier to clean than my blender). Also added a little almond milk to the batter to get it more spreadable in the pan. This recipe is a keeper!
Chelsea says
Perfect! Glad they worked out for you! 🙂
Ryan says
Cooked a half batch because I only had one plantain, was enough for my girlfriend and I.
I used half green banana flour and half all-purpose flour. Tasted deliciously banana-y.
The first tester pancake we made was very thick but also still light and fluffy, but my girlfriend likes thinner pancakes so I thinned it out with almond milk which worked great.
Make sure you cook them low and slow because the plantains burn very easily, I also found the less oil you use the better, if I had one I would try cooking them in a dry non-profit pan.
Niki Harrison says
Do you think this could work with overly ripe plantains (almost black) I let them go too long and can't find an appropriate recipe!
Chelsea says
Hey Niki! Sorry it's taken a while for me to respond. I do think overly ripe plantains would work for these, but they won't be as fluffy. I wrote a whole post about plantains and it has some suggested uses for overly ripe plantains, too! https://www.doyouevenpaleo.net/plantains-nutrition-benefits-use/
Niki Harrison says
No worries! Thanks so much 🙂
Morgan says
Ever since I started AIP I've been craving something starchy and have tried 1000 different pancake recipes. Every time I used cassava flour, my pancakes would come out wet and chewy, and it doesn't help that I have to substitute the egg (which is never perfect). But this one is by far the best recipe I've tried!! They actually came out fluffy and have SUCH a nice flavor.
I used semi-sweet plantains, subbed the eggs for arrowroot starch and hemp milk mixture, and added a boat load of cinnamon to the batter. It came out perfect. Thank you SO much for posting this. It's so nice to find a recipe you would actually choose to eat regardless of dietary restrictions. New favorite <3
Chelsea says
Glad to hear that, Morgan! 🙂
Angela Preston says
Any plantain pancake I try seems to burn so easily. Not sure if its because I'm using cast iron. I try to turn the heat down after I get the griddle hot but that doesn't seem to help. Any ideas?
Chelsea says
Hey Angela! I also find that plantains tend to burn pretty readily. I covered my tip for that in the post, but here's the excerpt: "Plantains tend to burn pretty easily in a hot skillet. So keep the skillet on medium and use the first pancake as a test before cooking batches of 2 or 3 at a time. Flip them after two to three minutes, and try not to make them too thick!"
I find that I cook plantain pancakes on lower heat than I would normal pancakes. I use cast iron, too — the reason turning the heat down doesn't work is because cast iron is great at retaining heat, so even after turning the heat down or off the skillet stays very hot. So my best tip would be to only turn it up to medium and no higher.
CHRISTI S says
Do you have the nutritional info for this recipe? It is delicious and I am keeping a food log...
Chelsea says
Hi, Christi! At this time, I don’t post nutritional information for my recipes. I’m a one-woman show over here and I simply don’t have the time for it! There are awesome websites like myfitnesspal that allow you to plug in a recipe to find that stuff out for yourself, though!
Melonie Klay says
Do you think I could leave the eggs out or replace with something else?
I'm following AIP and need to take out eggs.
Chelsea says
I wouldn't leave them out - the pancakes definitely wouldn't get fluffy without them! You could potentially replace them with a gelatin egg replacement (1 tablespoon gelatin dissolved in 3 tablespoons water) or an arrowroot egg replacement (1 tablespoon arrowroot + 1 tablespoon olive oil + 1/4 cup water whisked together = 1 egg), but I haven't tried either myself so I don't know if it would work.
Jessica says
This makes me love breakfast more, Chelsea! 🙂 This looks really yummy!
Thanks for sharing.
Cheers,
Jessica
Chelsea says
Thanks, Jessica! <3
Stephanie says
These look amazing!
Chelsea says
Thanks, Stephanie!
tanya says
What can be used instead of cassava flour? Coconut? Tapioca? ?????
Chelsea says
Hi Tanya! I haven't tried this recipe with any other flour, so I can't conclusively say what would make a good substitute for cassava. However, my first picks would be arrowroot or almond flour. Coconut flour can't be subbed 1:1 with any other flour because it's too absorbent, but if you want to try it out start with 1/4 of what the recipe calls for. Hope that helps!
tanya says
Just caught your reply. Thank you.
Chelsea says
Your welcome, Tanya! Did you end up trying any substitutes?
tanya says
Not yet but am thinking on it. I tend to stay away from grains and starches. But these look great. I do make plantain bread which is a basic 3 ingredient recipe with a bit of vanilla flavoring. It comes out differently depending on how ripe/unripe the plantain. A very easy recipe and a favorite that I do big and freeze part of for later use.
Chelsea says
Yes, plantains are definitely pretty easy to cook with! Since they're pretty much all starch, you don't need much flour to bake with them.
Laura Young says
There are eggs, so not AIP friendly. Rats! looks good.
Chelsea says
Laura, thanks for pointing that out! I often try to include substitutes but I must have forgotten for this recipe. You can try using the "gelatin" egg substitute and dissolve 1 tablespoon gelatin in 3 tablespoons water per egg.
At any rate, I'm removing the "AIP-friendly" distinction on this recipe to be clearer. So sorry about that!