These protein pancakes have 22 grams of protein per serving and are ready in under 10 minutes. It doesn’t get easier or healthier than that! Pancakes are always awesome, and adding protein powder pushes them right into the “greatest thing ever!” category.
Who doesn’t like a healthy pancake in the morning?
These easy protein pancakes aren’t just simple to make and super healthy, they are also some of the best-looking pancakes if I may say so myself. They are really moist and fluffy, and the blended blueberries give them a great color.
You can use all kinds of different berries (or even fruits) to add flavor to the pancakes. I usually make them with blueberries or raspberries because I like a little bit of tartness to balance out the sweet pancakes.
How to make protein pancakes
It’s incredibly easy and only takes about 10 minutes. You can see how I do it in this quick video or read the instructions below.
The trick to making the perfect protein pancakes is to have the right ingredients, especially protein powder (see below). As long as your protein powder has a good vanilla (or chocolate) taste and can mix with the liquid ingredients, you really can’t go wrong.
Cooking with protein powder
There are many different ways to make high-protein pancakes (like our High Protein Cottage Cheese Pancakes) but the easiest way is to use protein powder. I generally prefer to only use raw or minimally processed ingredients, but I will make an exception for whey protein powder. It’s just such an easy way to add protein and flavor to recipes that that otherwise would be almost all carbs.
Of course, the egg whites also help a bit, but they don’t add enough protein by themselves to make this a balanced and nutritious breakfast or snack.
This recipe calls for vanilla protein powder because the vanilla adds sweetness and flavor to the pancakes, and tastes great with the berries. Because protein powder comes in so many flavors, you can experiment like crazy with protein powder pancakes. An obvious idea to try is chocolate protein powder pancakes, which can taste AMAZING as well.
Sweet but without added sugar!
Let’s be real; pancakes aren’t really pancakes without syrup on top, right?
A little bit of sweet drizzle makes a big difference, and this sugar-free pancake syrup from Walden Farms does the trick! It’s the product I know that comes closest to real syrup (my hubby can’t tell the difference) without having any sugar or calories.
I often drizzle the syrup on top of my pancakes and then add a sprinkle of Stevia In The Raw to give even more sweetness, but I also like my pancakes very sweet. Both syrup and Stevia are optional extras — the pancakes taste great with just some fresh (or blended) berries on top.
How many calories are there in a protein pancake?
Each serving (2 pancakes) has:
- 182 calories
- 22 g protein
- 16 g carbs
- 2 g fat
I think these are perfect macronutrients for a healthy breakfast or snack, but if you prefer more low-carb pancakes, you can reduce the oats by up to a third. Any more than that and the pancake batter becomes too thin to cook.
When should I eat protein pancakes?
The correct answer is: Whenever you like!
You can eat them for breakfast, as a pre-workout snack, or before bedtime to fill up your energy reserves for the night. Because they are mainly protein and slowly digested carbs, they provide energy to your muscles for several hours after you eat them without spiking your blood sugar.
Can you store protein pancakes overnight?
Yes, absolutely! You can make a large batch and store them in the fridge for up to 24 hours before reheating them in the microwave. Make sure to let them cool before putting them in the fridge, or they will get soggy from condensation.
I think this is the best protein pancake recipe out there, but I can also highly recommend these Pumpkin Pancakes. They use the same basic ingredients (oats, protein powder, egg whites) but add pumpkin puree and cinnamon for very comforting and delicious flavor. They are my go-to “winter pancakes”.
UPDATE: I just put together a roundup of my favorite Diabetes-Friendly Pancake Recipes. Check it out!
When you’ve tried this easy protein pancake recipe, please don’t forget to let me know how you liked it and rate the recipe in the comments below!
These protein pancakes have 22 grams of protein per serving and are ready in under 10 minutes. It doesn't get easier or healthier than that!
- ½ cup uncooked oats
- 3 egg whites (130 g)
- 1 scoop vanilla protein powder
- 1 oz. blueberries
- ½ tsp. baking powder
- 1 tbsp. Stevia in the raw
- ¼ cup water
- Cooking spray
- Sugar-free syrup (optional)
- Blend together all the ingredients except the cooking spray and sugar-free syrup (I use a NutriBullet).
Put a pan on the stove (medium heat) and coat it with a little cooking spray.
When the pan is hot, pour in the pancake batter until it covers the pan in a thin layer. The batter is a little thicker than regular pancake batter, so make sure to spread it evenly.
Cook the pancakes for about 1 minute on each side until they are fully cooked.
Drizzle a little sugar-free syrup on top and serve with fresh berries.
Will a plant-based protein powder work in this recipe?
I would think so. I don’t have a lot of experience baking with plant-based protein, so my only concern would be that the consistency would be off
I tried these this morning. I substituted Splenda for Stevia. The batter was very thick like you said it would be, but I just spread it out with a spoon on the griddle. They were very good. I’m not sure why all the confusion about the servings and macros – it’s just 2 servings per recipe, 182 calories each. I entered all my ingredients in MyFitnessPal app and got slightly higher number per serving – 202 calories. But I used 1/2 cup of berries, so that probably bumped it up a bit. And I used skim milk instead of water. They were very good. I’ve tried 3 or 4 other protein pancakes, and I think I like these best, so I will definitely make them again. Thanks for posting, Christel!
I made this recipe this morning and did try steel cut oats as that was all that I had in the house and used tablespoon of honey and cinnamon and they were delicious. I am a newly diagnosed LADA type 1 at age 58 😩 very athletic and conciencious of everything that I eat & make. This was a great help but I am still so friggen confused about insulin. Christel could you please clarify how many carbs are in this recipe with my slight modification eating 2 pancakes?
Keep up the good work, I need all the healthy role models that I can get!
Hi Jill – I’m impressed you could make these with steel cut oats! I didn’t think that was doable.
If you scroll all the way down in the recipe the macros are listed (including the carb count), you can adjust the serving size to whatever you desire. It’s currently set to 2 pancakes, but you can, of course, make smaller or larger ones.
If you want to make changes to the recipes you could “create” a recipe in MyFinessPal by importing the recipe from the site and changing the ingredients (it’s one of the free features of the app)
Do you cook the oats before you add them
To the mix?
No, I blend them in as they are. Just be sure to use regular oats and not “steel cut” oats. Steel cut oats are very hard and won’t work for this recipe.
I am a bit confused out the calories are 182 per pancake. I added the calories up and are landing at a total of 467 for the whole batch! I addtionally subsituted the water with almond milk. Please help
Thank you!
Hi Jacob – I’m glad you like them.
Here are how the calories are calculated:
½ cup oats = 150 cal / 3 g Fat / 27 g Carbs / 5 g Protein
3 egg whites (130 g) = 98 cal / 0 g Fat / 0 g Carbs / 16 g Protein
1 scoop vanilla protein powder = 100 cal / 0.5 g Fat / 2 g Carbs / 23 g Protein
1 oz. blueberries = 16 cal / 0 g Fat / 4 g Carbs / 0.2 g Protein
= 364 cal / 3.6 g Fat / 33 g Carbs / 44.5 g Protein for the whole batch. Split into two servings (4 servings was incorrect) and you have 182 cal/pancake.
Your choice of liquid and protein powder can be somewhat of a variant.
Hope that helps
All of the reference sites I’ve looked at show oats as about 600 calories per cup, so 1/2 cup would be 300 calories. Are you sure 150 calories for 1/2 cup of oats is correct?
I just checked on the packaging and 150 calories for 1/2 cup is correct. But I understand the confusion. When I looked it up on Google, 9 of the first 10 results said 150 calories and the last said 300. So at least one database has the higher (incorrect) number.
Made these and they are delish!! Good way to help me get my protein. First time I made them added half a banana and it made them taste like banana bread????didn’t have a banana 2nd time but still delish. Thanks for the recipe.
Hi Christel. Great recipe!
But can I ask are the carbs listed (16.6g) per one pancake?
Thank you.
Thank you!
The recipe makes 4 servings and the carbs are for 1 serving. How many pancakes that is depends on the size of your pan :-). For me, the recipe makes 5-6 pancakes, so a serving is slightly less than 1.5 pancakes.
Hi,
nice recipe, thanks for sharing, keep up the good work
Hi
Is there a substitute for the oats? Something gluten free ?
Hi Maxine,
I am pretty sure that oats are gluten free (http://www.cureceliacdisease.org/faq/do-oats-contain-gluten/).
I think that eating protein pancakes before bedtime or late in the evening isn’t really good idea… I usually eat pancakes before workout or instead of breakfast
Μegg82 pancakes are like medicine- they heal broken hearts! 😛 hahaha And these are A-MA-ZI-NG
(aaand guilt free 😀 )
The calories are incorrect. 1/2 cup oats all alone is 150 calories. The 1 scoop of protein is 120 cals. So you are looking more like 350-400 calories for this meal with the eggs and blueberries. would have got 5 stars if the macros were correct.
Hi Jason,
The calories are actually correct because the recipe is for 2 servings (2 pancakes). But I agree that this is a little confusing so I will update it to be 1 serving instead.
Just made these for breakfast! Used Steel Cut Oats and Honey as the sweetener. May use old-fashioned oats next time, as the steel-cut are still a little crunchy. Still delicious though!!
Glad you liked them. Using old-fashioned oats will for sure make them softer. Glad to know that it worked with the steel-cut as well. Thanks for sharing
Do you have a protein powder you prefer to use?
Thanks!!
Hi Cheryl,
We use Met-RX vanilla protein. It’s great for baking but most other vanilla protein powders should work as well.
Is there a liquid ingredient missing here? I added almond milk because without it, this just blends into a clump, not pancake batter
Hi Katie,
When we make it, the egg whites and berries provide enough moisture to make it a (very thick) pancake batter. Perhaps your protein powder absorbs more of the liquid?
If the batter is too dry, adding almond milk like you did (or just water) should do the trick. I have added a note about it in the recipe. Thanks for pointing it out 🙂