6 Ways to Make Pancakes Healthier—and Even More Delicious

Boosting the nutrition can also give you a major flavor boost.

There aren't too many people who would say no to a big stack of pancakes for breakfast. But if you're looking for a nutritious start to your day, making a few tweaks to pancakes to make them healthier makes a whole lot of sense. You can boost the protein, fiber, and nutrient profile of your pancakes by swapping out (or adding in) a few ingredients—without sacrificing the flavor.

There are several different routes you can go to supercharge your pancakes. "That all depends on how a person is choosing to eat in the first place," says Kim Shapira, M.S., R.D., celebrity dietitian and author of This Is What You're Really Hungry For . You can opt to make a single swap to boost the protein profile or make your pancakes vegan-friendly, or make several swaps to change up your pancake game and really boost the nutrition.

Related: How to Make Pancakes from Scratch—Plus Other Quick Pancake Recipes

Experiment with these tactics to change up your everyday pancake recipe and turn it into your perfect nutritional powerhouse to start the day.

Meet the Expert

• Kim Shapira , M.S., R.D., celebrity dietitian and author of This Is What You're Really Hungry For

Try a Different Flour

Swap out part of the flour in your recipe with a whole grain or other more nutritious flour, whether you prefer whole wheat, buckwheat, almond, quinoa, spelt, or other types of flour.

These flours will offer more fiber, more omega-3s, more protein, and more antioxidants than all-purpose flour.

Related: Give Your Baking an Upgrade With One of These Healthy White Flour Alternatives

In most cases, you should replace about a third of the flour in the recipe with the more nutritious flour. Many of the flours can be substituted for an equal amount of all-purpose flour, but others, like quinoa, may require using less. (You'd use 1/2 cup of quinoa flour to replace a cup of all-purpose flour.)

Tips

Using a different flour may make your batter a little drier and thicker than using all-purpose flour, so you can add a few more tablespoons of the liquid (milk or water) to get the right consistency.

Swap Out the Butter

Butter can be high in saturated fat, and it's a commonly subbed out ingredient in healthier baking recipes. Shapira recommends subbing in applesauce, pumpkin, or Greek yogurt for the butter or oil to boost the nutrition of the pancake. That way, you'll add more fiber and nutrients—in the case of applesauce or pumpkin—and more protein in the case of Greek yogurt.

Tips

Make sure you're using unsweetened applesauce or pumpkin puree to avoid increasing the amount of sugar in your recipe.

Consider a Plant-Based Milk

Most pancake recipes call for a cup or more of milk in the batter. But if you're looking to make your pancakes vegan-friendly, a little lower in saturated fats, or even higher in fiber, using a plant-based milk may make a difference in the nutritional profile of your pancakes.

Related: Are Plant-Based Milks Better for You? We Asked a Nutrition Expert

You will want to look at the nutrition information on the carton of the plant-based milk, and choose unsweetened varieties to avoid increasing the amount of sugar in your pancakes.

While you might want to avoid adding extra sugar in your plant-based milk, you don't want to get rid of the sugar altogether in your pancake recipe. The tablespoon of sugar used in traditional pancake recipes helps give the pancakes structure and allows them to brown and crisp up.

Opt for Nutritious Add-Ins

While plain pancakes are always delicious, mixing in fruits, nuts, or other delicious goodies is another tasty way to make your pancakes healthier. "I'm a big fan of flaxseed, chia seed, or hemp seed as a way to increase fiber and omega-3s, which are both great for brain, heart, and gut health," Shapira says.

Try a few of these potential add-ins—feel free to mix and match to create your perfect pancake!

• Berries
• Diced fruit (such as apples, peaches, pears, pitted cherries)
• Lemon zest (perfect with berries!)
• Dried fruit (raisins, apricots, cherries)
• Chopped nuts (walnuts, almonds, pecans, and more)
• Peanut or almond butter
• Seeds (including flax, chia, hemp, and pumpkin)
• Matcha or cocoa powder (a tablespoon or two)
• Vegetables (cabbage, grated carrots or zucchini, mushrooms, tomatoes, kimchi)

Get Creative With Your Toppings

Topping off your pancakes is where things can get a little nutritionally messy.

For instance, pancake syrup is generally made with a combination of high fructose corn syrup or corn syrup with colorings and artificial flavorings—which means it offers nothing nutritionally. And the same goes for confectioner's sugar.

Related: Maple Syrup vs Imitations and How to Tell the Difference

Of the traditional toppers, pure maple syrup is nutritionally superior, but there are plenty of other, more nutritious ways to finish off your pancakes.

Think a dollop of peanut butter or Greek yogurt, fresh or gently warmed applesauce or berries, tropical fruit, granola or nuts, and dried coconut.

Or follow Shapira's advice: "Sometimes not having a topping is a better choice. Do we need to enhance the flavor of a pancake? Keeping it simple is sometimes the better way."

Give Your Pancakes a Supporting Role on the Plate

While pancakes are delicious, they don't have to be the main attraction in a healthy breakfast. "I would recommend having pancakes as a side dish, not a whole meal, and adding other things to the side of your plate that are going to boost up the nutrition content of your meal," Shapira says. Think eggs, fresh fruit, and yogurt, just to name a few.

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