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Take your breakfast game up a notch with my gorgeous red velvet pancake recipe. They’re light, fluffy, and look incredible!
Need more pancake inspiration? Try my chocolate pancakes, zucchini pancakes, and lemon ricotta pancakes next.
Nothing screams luxury quite like a heaping stack of my red velvet pancakes.
As good as these pancakes look, they taste even better. The best part? They’re no more work to make than regular pancakes…they just look more impressive.
Table of Contents
Why I love this recipe
- Deceptively easy to make. Like most of my pancake recipes, they’re made in minutes and need minimal prep time.
- Perfect texture and flavor. The buttermilk gives the pancakes extra height and a subtle tang that matches its red velvet flavor.
- Satisfy your red velvet cake cravings. I’ve got nothing against baking an entire red velvet cake on a whim, but boy are making pancakes much easier.
- Easy to customize. They’re perfect as is, or you can add a little cocoa powder, fold in some red berries, or top them with a signature cream cheese frosting.
Ingredients needed
- Flour. White all-purpose flour is preferred, but you can use wholewheat if you’d like.
- Sugar. Use either white sugar, brown sugar, or coconut sugar.
- Baking soda and baking powder. To make the pancake batter light and fluffy.
- Buttermilk. To react with the baking soda and make thick and airy pancakes. If you don’t have buttermilk, use whole milk with one tablespoon of apple cider vinegar.
- Eggs. Room temperature eggs are best.
- Vanilla extract. A must for pancakes!
- Red food coloring. To achieve the perfect red color for the pancakes.
- Salt. To balance all flavors.
- Cocoa. Optional, but adds to the red velvet flavor. Note that adding cocoa powder will affect their bright red color.
How to make red velvet pancakes
I’ve included step-by-step photos below to make this recipe easy to follow at home. For the full printable recipe instructions and ingredient quantities, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
Step 1- Make the pancake batter. Combine the dry ingredients in a large bowl. Make a well and add the buttermilk and eggs. Whisk until a thick batter remains. Stir in the vanilla and red food coloring.
Step 2- Cook. Add oil to a non-stick griddle over medium heat. Once hot, pour ¼ cup portions of the batter mixture into the pan and cover it. Cook pancakes for 2-3 minutes, flipping once bubbles form. Repeat with the remaining batter.
Arman’s recipe tips
- Don’t overmix the batter. Mix the pancake batter just until no lumps remain. Over-mixing results in chewy and rubbery pancakes.
- Whip the egg whites separately. This is my secret weapon for guaranteeing ultra-fluffy pancakes. Whip the egg whites until you have stiff peaks, then gently fold them into the batter.
- Experiment with mix-ins. Add chocolate chips or red berries to intensify the red color, or sprinkle them on top.
- Drizzle with cream cheese icing. Make a cream cheese glaze by beating softened cream cheese with powdered sugar and vanilla. Add a dash of milk as needed to thin out the glaze.
Storage instructions
To store: Leftover pancakes can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to one week.
To freeze: Wrap leftover pancakes in parchment paper and freeze in a shallow container for up to three months.
Reheating: Reheat in the microwave or in a large skillet over medium heat, flipping often until warm.
More pancake favorites to try
- Eggless pancakes
- Cottage cheese pancakes
- Banana protein pancakes
- Protein pancakes
- Or any of my pancake recipes
Red Velvet Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour sifted
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1/2 teaspoon red food coloring
- 2 tablespoons cocoa powder optional
Instructions
- Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt. Make a well and add the buttermilk and eggs. Whisk until a thick batter remains. Stir through the vanilla and red food coloring.
- Let the batter sit for 2-3 minutes to thicken.
- Add oil to a non-stick pan and place over medium heat. Once hot, drop ¼ cup portions of the pancake batter and cover the pan. Cook pancakes for 2-3 minutes, flipping halfway through.
- Repeat the process until all the pancakes are cooked up.
Notes
Nutrition
Originally updated October 2022, updated and republished July 2024
This might be the ONLY way I can stomach (pun intended) beets! Well done.
Was wondering can I use beet powder instead of mashing the beets?
Hi there Heb! You most certainly can- Several other readers have! Just be sure to adjust the liquids 🙂
Thanks for linking up at our Gluten Free Fridays Party! I have tweeted and pinned your entry to our Gluten Free Fridays board on Pinterest! 🙂 I can’t wait to see what you share next time!
-Cindy
Thank you for hosting, Cindy!
I’m Polish and beets are big in Poland. The cooked kind, not the tinned. I love it that in UK I can buy ready-cooked beets. Saves so much work and hand scrubbing!
The recipe sounds delicious and pictures look great too xx
#recipeoftheweek
Joanna- Thank you SO much for your kind words! Don’t even get me STARTED on cleaning beets- mum made me do it once and they still were gritty!
an inspired idea and i love beetroot #Recipeoftheweek
Thank you so much 🙂
We can’t buy unprocessed beetroots here unfortunately 🙁 Would vacuum-packed ones be okay?
P.S. Your cream cheese icing recipe is amaze, my lactose intolerance is crying right now.
I have a lactose free alternative if you like 🙂 The vacuum packed ones would be EVEN better! (I remember seeing them at Costa and being jealous!)
Er, yes please to lactose-free cream cheese frosting??!!
Amazed that the vacuum-packed beetroot would work so well, this is exciting news!
I only started using beetroot last year. It still shocks me sometimes how it makes everything blood red. I am a bit sensitive but that’s a totally different story… I love the idea to make red velvet pancakes with beet root instead of using artificial food coloring. I should give it a try. Until now I mainly juice them. It gives such an earthy and rich flavor to any juice. I quite enjoy that. But I see that earthy pancaces might not be a win. But I see nothing bad in using a big big batch of cream cheese frosting. YUM 🙂
You are NOT a twat! Ever. At all. No. You mentioned white and Labor Day. The old fashioned saying is: “Never wear white between Labor Day and Easter Sunday.” I live in steamy Charleston, South Carolina. We disregard the white rule. We say: “No white after the first freeze.” We had a freeze this past weekend. So no white til Easter! Street food…I’m not a big street food fan (we have some food trucks but not many street carts), but when I traveled in France, Paris had crépe carts on every corner. It was seriously like hotdog stands in New York. Everywhere you turned, there was a crépe cart. During my 2 weeks in Paris, I frequented a special crépe cart….daily….and ordered a plain crépe, slathered in Nutella, with an Orangina on the side. It was amazing. I loved watching the vendor make my crépe in front of me. It’s a small personal touch. But I loved it!
Haha thanks Mary! Oh wow. I LOVED the crepe van in Paris- I think I OD’d on the sugar and lemon ones!
Thanks to Irish friends I actually know beetroot and beets are the same. Otherwise, I would be confused. I LOVE beets!! And I would never think to have put them in pancakes. The only thing I do with beets is roast them. We don’t travel much so weird street foods aren’t something we encounter. Would you consider the hot dog truck in NYC weird or questionable? Possibly!
I will get a hot dog from those trucks next week and let you know…they do smell good though!
I love beets, they’re one of my favorite root vegetables, but my mom bought WAYYY too many last week and she is notorious for not eating 90% of what she buys. This is ok because I just do the clean up with my tornado appetite, but that also means I’ve been peeing (and…the other one I’ll spare you) red all week. I find it quite amusing. I think I am still 12.
Pass the pancakes, please.
LOL. You are 12. Inside. Maybe out.
we ate beet root every day in NZ. and uhh, we turned red, if you get my drift. Do they have burger fuel over there? if so, try the beet root burger. And then send me some pancakes.
Ohhh I don’t think we do- We have Grill’d which is pretty delicious!