Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes are super light and fluffy ricotta pancakes filled with fresh blueberries and a little bit of lemon zest!
These blueberry lemon ricotta pancakes are awesome! The pancakes are super tender and light and fluffy.
The pancakes also have plenty of blueberries, and the little bit of lemon juice and lemon zest helps to brighten up that blueberry flavor.
Check out the step-by-step photos and tips below to make perfect pancakes!
What makes these pancakes light and fluffy?
These pancakes start off like most pancakes with the dry ingredients mixed together in one bowl and the wet ingredients mixed together in another bowl.
One big difference is that the egg whites are whipped to soft peaks and then folded in. The beaten egg white, along with the buttermilk and ricotta, gives the pancakes a lighter, fluffier texture.
How to make blueberry lemon ricotta pancakes
In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
Add the buttermilk, egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Mix until evenly moistened.
Gently stir in ricotta cheese.
In a separate bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
With a flexible spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are incorporated.
Next, add the blueberries. Gently stir in to combine.
Place a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat; when hot, coat lightly with oil or butter and adjust heat to maintain temperature. Drop batter onto the pan and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes.
Flip pancakes with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.
What are soft peaks?
Soft peaks are when the egg whites just begin to hold a shape when you lift the beaters out of the egg whites.
Tips
- Flour: To keep the pancakes light and fluffy, it’s important to properly measure the flour. To measure either weigh or stir or sift to break the flour up. Lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level. Avoid packing flour in.
- Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat will work. If you don’t have buttermilk, you can make an easy substitute with this recipe.
- Lemon juice/zest: You should only need 1 lemon for the juice and the zest.
- Ricotta cheese: You can use full-fat or part-skim. I don’t recommend using fat-free in this recipe.
- Blueberries: If you can’t get fresh blueberries, you can use frozen blueberries. Use the blueberries frozen. Thawing them can give you mushy blueberries that bleed into the pancakes.
Serving suggestions
I serve them with buttermilk syrup or with maple syrup.
Storage
The pancakes are best eaten fresh. If you have leftover pancakes, I recommend freezing them.
Can I freeze the pancakes?
You can! To freeze the pancakes, cook the pancakes as directed.
Let the pancakes cool to room temperature on a wire cooling rack. This helps to avoid soggy pancakes.
Once the pancakes have cooled, place them in a single layer in a freezer-safe baggie. If you want to place more than one layer in a bag, separate the layers with a piece of waxed paper.
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Blueberry Lemon Ricotta Pancakes
Equipment
- Mixer
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 3 tablespoons granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ cups buttermilk
- 2 large eggs separated
- 2 tablespoons grated lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- 1/3 cup ricotta cheese
- 1 ½ cups fresh blueberries
- Oil or butter
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Add the buttermilk, egg yolks, lemon juice, and lemon peel. Mix until evenly moistened.
- Gently stir in ricotta cheese.
- In a separate bowl, with a mixer on high speed, beat the egg whites until soft peaks form.
- With a flexible spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter just until they are incorporated.
- Next, add the blueberries. Gently stir in to combine.
- Place a large, nonstick frying pan over medium heat; when hot, coat lightly with oil or butter and adjust heat to maintain temperature.
- Drop batter onto the pan and cook until pancakes are browned on the bottom and edges begin to look dry, about 2 minutes.
- Flip pancakes with a wide spatula and brown other sides, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes longer. Coat pan with more oil as necessary to cook remaining pancakes.
Notes
- Flour: To keep the pancakes light and fluffy, it's important to properly measure the flour. To measure either weigh or stir or sift to break the flour up. Lightly spoon into the measuring cup and level. Avoid packing flour in.
- Buttermilk: Regular or low-fat will work. If you don't have buttermilk, you can make an easy substitute with this recipe.
- Lemon juice/zest: You should only need 1 lemon for the juice and the zest.
- Ricotta cheese: You can use full-fat or part-skim. I don't recommend using fat-free in this recipe.
- Blueberries: If you can't get fresh blueberries, you can use frozen blueberries. Use the blueberries frozen. Thawing them can give you mushy blueberries that bleed into the pancakes.
- Nutrition values are estimates.
Nutrition
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Originally published
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Comments & Reviews
Wallace says
Can I use a gluten-free flour?
Kate says
Hi – I haven’t tried using gluten-free flour in this recipe to say for certain.
Caroline says
These were delicious!
Kate says
Thank you! So glad you liked them! =)
Becca says
Hi Kate
These look delicious! My girls love love love pancakes! But my oldest is allergic to ricotta cheese… Can I substitute cottage cheese in its place? :)
Kate says
Hi Becca,
I am not sure! I’ve substituted cottage cheese for ricotta in pasta recipes, but I’m not sure how the texture would be. I wish I had a better answer!
Amy @ Chew Out Loud says
Love the combo of lemon and ricotta…and blueberries…and buttermilk! YUMMO! These are my idea of a perfect breakfast :)
Kate says
Thank you! =)