How many times have you stood at the stove for half an hour making pancakes for your family and realizing you will have just one or two?! I know, it sucks. That’s why protein pancakes for mamas. Tender, moist and packed with 4 g of protein and only 48 calories each.
5 years ago, I originally started experimenting with so popular 3 ingredient banana protein pancakes – banana, whey protein powder and egg whites. They are not bad but their texture reminds me more of a sweet omelette. After about at least 10 different variations of ingredients, I have settled on these protein pancakes without banana. The fact that you don’t have frantically search for a ripe banana or dirty a blender on Saturday morning, makes these protein pancakes THE BEST!
Warning: kids love these! They can’t taste the protein powder (that’s why I love whey), so hide them in a freezer as soon as they are cool. I usually have 4-5 pancakes and am good till lunch. My favourite toppings are Greek yogurt, maple syrup and strawberry jam.
Protein Pancakes Ingredients
- Eggs: You can replace 3 eggs with 1/3 cup egg whites.
- Greek Yogurt: I recommend yogurt with fat content of 2% and higher. I have used 0% in the past, protein pancakes come out good. It’s just the higher the fat, more moist the pancakes are.
- Oat Flour: Make your own by grinding old fashioned or quick cooking oats in a blender. Saves a ton of money and time.
- Protein Powder: You have to use whey protein powder, not plant-based. Simply because it behaves differently and that’s what this protein pancakes recipe was developed with. I used unflavoured 17 Whey. You can use vanilla whey protein powder but look at its sugar content. You might have to skip the maple syrup if it’s 5g+.
How to Make Protein Pancakes
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add yogurt and maple syrup, whisk well to combine.
- Add oat flour and protein powder; stir until combined.
- Preheat skillet on medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and pour the batter depending on a desired size of a pancake (2-3 tbsp for a medium size like on a photo).
- Cook for less than a minute and flip when bubbles appear but batter is still wet. Don’t wait for brown edges either. Then cook literally for 10 seconds more and pancakes are ready. Any further cooking will dry out the whey.
Enjoy these low carb protein pancakes and if you are looking for more healthy pancake recipes check out below.
More Healthy Pancake Recipes to Try:
- Almond flour pancakes – low carb pancakes with only 5 ingredients.
- Whole wheat pancakes – grandma’s fluffy pancakes made healthier.
- Peanut butter protein pancakes with banana, oatmeal and plant based protein powder.
- Cottage cheese protein pancakes with egg whites, banana, oats and plant based protein powder.
Protein Pancakes
Simple Protein Pancakes Recipe with oats, whey protein powder, Greek yogurt, and without banana. Moist, packed with protein, 5 ingredients, no blender.
- Prep Time: 5 minutes
- Cook Time: 10 minutes
- Total Time: 15 minutes
- Yield: 15 pancakes 1x
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs or 1/3 cup egg whites
- 1/3 cup plain Greek yogurt
- 2 tbsp maple syrup
- 1/2 cup + 1 tbsp oat flour
- 1 scoop (30 g) whey protein powder, unflavoured or vanilla*
Instructions
- In a mixing bowl, whisk the eggs. Add yogurt and maple syrup, whisk well to combine. Add oat flour and protein powder; stir until combined.
- Preheat skillet on medium heat. Spray with cooking spray and pour the batter depending on a desired size of a pancake (2-3 tbsp for a medium size like on a photo).
- Cook for less than a minute and flip when bubbles appear but batter is still wet. Don’t wait for brown edges either. Then cook literally for 10 seconds more and pancakes are ready. Any further cooking will dry out the whey.
Notes
*Plant based protein powder WON’T work. If using sweetened vanilla protein powder, add less maple syrup.
Did you make this recipe? Please give it a star rating in the comments.
I’d run out of bananas and found this recipe. Quick and easy. I had them with nectarines and berries, delicious!
★★★★★
Fresh nectarines and berries sound delicious. Thanks for sharing Emma!
Amazing! I am just the typical stoopid gym going male who wanted a high protein pancake and this exceeded my expectations by far. Truly delicious! I substituted the maple syrup with 3 sweetener tablets (stevia) mixed in 3 tablespoons of water. Also added a pinch of salt. They came out perfect. I enjoyed them with cinnamon and sugar-free caramel syrup. The trick to have them fluffy and moist is the short cooking time. Many thanks for your crystal clear instructions!
★★★★★
You are so welcome!
Help my batter is too thick
Thin it out a bit with milk to pancake batter consistency.
Delicious, fluffy I like them better than regular pancakes and I think they do make you feel Fuller. Saying thanks to you in for all your hard work
★★★★★
Thanks Stephanie!
Is there anything I can replace for the yogurt? For dairy free option. Thanks
Dairy free yogurt.
Hello! Thank you for the recipe
Is it possible to do it without whey?
Unfortunately not. These are protein pancakes. You can search for other pancakes on my website by entering “pancakes” into the Search field.
Hello, what a wonderful recipe, thank you so much, really enjoyable, and lovely.
KJ from Australia.😊
★★★★★
You’re welcome!
I’ve been looking for some good recipe, where the pancakes won’t be too dry, yet tasty without too many carbs and fats.
And dear god, these pancakes are AMAZING!!!!!
The only thing I have changed adding two tables of sweetener instead of maple syrup, for that sweetness.
But apart from that, they are PERFECT ?
Definitely recommend them to anyone!
★★★★★
I’m so glad you enjoyed it, Maks! Thank you for the wonderful review!
This is the first time I make a comment on a recipe I found online but I am just so satisfied with how these turned out that I have to thank you!
Probably the best healthy pancake recipe I ‘ve ever tried, their texture is heavenly – probably because of the oat flour- and they taste amazing even without toppings. I just a small drizzle of low calorie syrup and I must say they were quite filling!
★★★★★
Perfect!:)
These are a go to breakfast for me. When I want to switch it up, I spread nut butter on inside, or mix in pumpkin or dark chocolate chips.
Awesome!
Tried this recipe today – THANK YOU!!!! They taste great and definitely kept us full ( we had 5 each with a bit of nut butter and strawberries) for our 22km cycle this morning. Definitely a keeper!!
★★★★★
Awesome!:) That’s a long good cycle.:)
Plant based protein worked great!
Fantastic recipe . My daughter loves them. Perfect for an on the go breakfast!
★★★★★
Great tasting low calorie protein pancakes. My daughter loves them. Perfect for an on the go breakfast!
★★★★★
Great recipe! I ground some oatmeal in the coffee grinder for lack of oat flour and used 2,5% regular yogurt (I did not have any greek yogurt). My whey protein powder turned out to be strawberry cheesecake flavour when I opened it, but even that was not a problem. The pancakes turned out just perfect. Thank you!
★★★★★
Extremely delicious and moist which is rare for protein pancakes.
★★★★★
Will it compromise the taste if I substitute chocolate whey protein instead of vanilla?
I don’t think so.
Have you or anyone tried this as a waffle successfully?
I haven’t but I think it would work.
Hey Olena! You say you have used brown rice protein powder with this recipe… then later it says ***don’t use plant-based protein powder because it won’t work. A little confused… I consider brown rice protein a plant-based protein. Just wanting some clarification. These look great and sooo simple, can’t wait to try them.
Hi Brittany. Thank you for catching that. Long story short, it is an old recipe of mine, when I first started blogging. I used whey protein for this recipe and that is what you see in pictures. You should use only whey. I did a mistake assuming any protein powder would work without testing the recipe. As I became more experienced in kitchen I realized plant based and whey protein powders are not interchangeable. I forgot to delete that sentence but added a notation. Sorry, use only whey protein for this recipe.
Oh those look very tasty, i cant seem to find non fat greek yoghurt and i dont want to use the full fat version. Can I just substitute with normal yoghurt or maybe curd chees mixed with water?
I would use full fat Greek yogurt. Fat in moderation is good for us.
How does this make 10 pancakes?
10 medium size pancakes. Easy.
Some people might have a different idea of medium size. Coming from the restaurant industry, this recipe made 3 medium sized pancakes. Great recipe though, really enjoyed it!
American restaurant dinner meal is good enough for me and my husband.:) In Ukraine, we made these pancakes small not a size of my head.:) Glad you liked it!
Hi Olena, I am loving all your recipes!! I was just wondering what the serving size for this recipe is?
Keep up the great work!!
Thank you 🙂
1 pancake. Thank you very much!
Cool blog! Is your theme custom made or did you download it from
somewhere? A design like yours with a few simple tweeks would really make my blog
jump out. Please let me know where you got your theme.
Thank you
My theme is custom made.:)
Can I use old fashioned oatmeal or do I have to grind it down to flour?
Thanks!
It has to be an oat flour.
OK so i made these without the protein powder. Also, i substituted the agave nectar for nectresse which is a natural sweetener like stevia or truvia. Also, I topped them with some cinnamon. They were AMAZING. Tastes like actual pancakes but they are gluten free 🙂 Thanks!
Awesome. I like how tender these pancakes come out because of the oat flour.