Trust me when I say, these vegan pancakes are the best pancakes I’ve ever tasted. We tested this recipe 30 times and with countless variations so they would be perfect.
The precise blend of baking powder, vegan sour cream, and soy milk, transforms into a thick yet airy batter bursting with buttery flavor. When cooked, the pancakes become perfectly crispy and golden brown, and yes, they even have that classic golden ring around the edges. But the interior remains pillowy and soft, with an incomparable fluffiness.
If you’ve ever felt underwhelmed by flat, soggy, flavorless vegan pancakes, this is the recipe you’ve been waiting for. Classic American diner-style pancakes, but made vegan.
Looking for classic French toast? You gotta try this my Vegan French Toast recipe!
Table of Contents
1. Why this recipe works
2. Ingredient notes
3. Step-by-step instructions
4. Tips for making this recipe
5. Variations
6. Frequently Asked Questions
7. Recipe card
Why this recipe works
Not your average pancake.
These pancakes involve a tad more work than your average vegan pancake recipe. They are, however, anything but average.
A mix of vegan butter, vegan “buttermilk,” sour cream, and vanilla fills them with rich, buttery flavors. The flavor is so good that I sometimes just eat them plain with my hands like the animal I secretly am.
Fluffy. Crispy. Buttery.
You get the best of all worlds here: a pancake with a fluffy interior, a crispy exterior, and incredible buttery flavor.
Baking powder, lemon juice, and protein-rich soy milk work together to create serious air bubbles in the thick batter. And a bit of sugar aids in caramelization.
Once a scoop hits the hot oiled pan, the pancakes rise, fluff up, and crisp around the edges.
They’re filling, too.
It’s likely you’ll be quite full after only one or two pancakes. They’re the fluffiest pancakes ever and, with the addition of vegan sour cream and soy milk, very filling. I’m happy with just one pancake but even Max never eats more than two.
Tested meticulously.
We take pride in being thorough at RPL, and we tested this recipe at least 30 times (no exaggeration).
We tried 4 different sour creams, 3 different yogurts as substitutes, tested without sour cream, tried whole wheat flour, used a nonstick pan and a stovetop griddle, and more variations than I can count.
I’m confident if you follow the instructions and tips, you will be treated to WORLD CLASS PANCAKES!
Ingredient notes
Soy milk + lemon juice. When mixed with an acid like lemon juice or vinegar, soy milk curdles a lot due to its high protein content, yielding a super yeasty pancake batter that fluffs up fantastically when it hits the hot pan.
And the acidity in the lemon juice helps break down the gluten strands in flour, lending a more tender crumb.
Substitute: If you can tolerate soy, please use soy milk. If you have a soy allergy, creamy, full-fat oat milk is a pretty good alternative (we like Oatly and Califia Farms extra creamy oat milk).
Vegan sour cream. The idea to add sour cream to the batter came after flipping through J. Kenji Alt López’s seminal book The Food Lab. The vegan sour cream plays a few roles:
- Adds rich flavor and a very subtle tang, very much needed in a standard vegan pancake.
- Yields pancakes that are tender and moist on the inside and crisp and golden on the outside.
- The fat coats the flour, limiting gluten development and lending a tender crumb.
We tried this recipe with four different sour creams: Follow Your Heart, Tofutti, and Kite Hill Foods, and Forager.
The first 3 produced excellent results: fluffy interior, crispy edges (Tofutti was the absolute best). Forager was good but didn’t fluff quite as well. Some readers have also made this with Trader Joe’s sour cream, which may not be the best flavor on its own but seems to work great here (and is usually more budget-friendly).
Substitute: Check out the FAQ section below.
All purpose flour. The standard flour for almost any pancake recipe.
Substitute: You can use 100% whole wheat flour. See the FAQ section for details.
Baking powder. A generous amount is key for a light and fluffy pancake. Double-acting baking powder starts reacting once it’s mixed with the liquid ingredients and acid, and again as it hits the hot pan.
Vegan butter. For excellent buttery flavor, a requirement in any excellent pancake.
Substitute: Melted refined coconut oil is a nice alternative; however, plain oil (e.g., canola oil) adds zero flavor so don’t do that.
Organic cane sugar. You don’t need much. It (1) gives the pancakes enough sweetness that you need just a tiny drizzle of maple syrup for serving; and (2) encourages browning, leaving you with pancakes with a crispy exterior.
Vanilla extract. Because a pancake recipe without vanilla is just sad.
Step-by-step instructions
Make sure the sour cream is at room temperature before you begin: measure it out and set on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes. If it’s too cold, it will be stiff and clumpy and won’t incorporate into the batter well.
Make the “buttermilk”. Pour the lemon juice into a mixing bowl. Pour the soy milk on top, stir, and leave it to curdle.
Start on the batter. Whisk the dry ingredients in a separate bowl.
Once the buttermilk has curdled, add the sour cream and vanilla. Use an electric mixer to mix on low until smooth.
Melt the vegan butter, and while it’s still hot, pour into the wet ingredients.
Pour the wet ingredients into the bowl with the dry ingredients.
Stir the batter with a wooden spoon until just combined (lots of lumps are fine). Don’t overmix!
Rest the batter for at least 5 minutes. It should feel almost like yeast bread dough when it’s done. Don’t stir after it’s done resting or else you’ll deflate the air bubbles!
Cook the pancakes. Heat some coconut oil in a nonstick pan over medium heat. You’ll know it’s hot enough when a small sprinkle of water sizzles in the pan.
Cook a heaping ⅓ cup of batter at a time. The thick texture makes it hard to get perfect circles, but who cares! Cook until bubbles form in the center and the edges begin to dry out, 2 to 2 ½ minutes. Flip and cook on the other side for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes.
Tip: Swirl the oil around in the pan after flipping to achieve super-crispy edges like this!
Tips for making the best vegan pancakes
The temperature of the ingredients matters. Stiff and cold vegan sour cream won’t incorporate into the batter as well as room temp sour cream. Measure it out and set on the kitchen counter for 30 minutes before you begin.
Hot melted butter will get rid of any clumps left in the batter. Melt it right before you drizzle it into the batter so it can remain warm.
Achieving the right batter texture. After resting for just 5 minutes, the pancake batter will have a thin top layer, but right underneath, it will look like a yeasty bread dough. This is the baking powder reacting with the acid (lemon juice) and the proteins from the soy milk.
Note: This batter is much thicker from your average pancake batter, but it’s this combo that results in a fabulously fluffy pancake.
Reminder: Do NOT stir the batter after resting—this deflates the air pockets >> the pancakes won’t be as fluffy (the spatula below is just to show you the texture).
For the crispiest edges. Use 1 teaspoon of oil per pancake and swirl it around in the pan.
Refined coconut oil and avocado oil are our top choices because they can withstand relatively high heat (vegan butter, like regular butter, tends to burn a bit). It also leaves the pancakes with a gorgeous golden ring around the edges and a crispy exterior.
If cooking two pancakes at once in a large skillet, use 1 ½ to 2 teaspoons of oil.
Keep the measuring cup on the side. If you let the cup rest in the batter, it will deflate the air pockets.
Use a nonstick frying pan if you can. A good nonstick pan will get you great pancakes. This nonstick frying pan (affiliate link) is our absolute favorite and works better than any nonstick pan I’ve ever had.
If you prefer to use a cast iron pan, just make sure it’s well seasoned; otherwise the pancakes will stick.
And if you are cooking for a crowd and want to move efficiently, you can use a griddle (though the texture is best in a frying pan). More details on using a griddle in the FAQ.
Every stove is different. I’ve tried to provide super detailed instructions, but as always, use your eyes too. You may need to lower the heat after the first pancake like I do, or after the second or third. We have a gas stove, so if you have an electric stove, you may need to monitor the heat level more closely, as gas stovetops are more responsive.
Flip just once and at the right time. Flipping pancakes too early or flipping them back and forth will rob you of a uniform golden exterior and peak fluffiness.
You’ll know the pancakes are ready to flip when the edges start to dry out (these pancakes don’t really form bubbles in the center, so don’t look for that cue).
Variations
While I encourage you to make this recipe as written the first time, once you experience its magic as intended, it’s fun to add mix-ins!
For chocolate chips and blueberries, we recommend sprinkling them directly on top of each pancake instead of folding them into the batter for three reasons: (1) you can add the mix-ins to just a few pancakes in case some folks like their pancakes plain; (2) it helps with more even distribution of mix-ins in the batter; (3) it prevents over-mixing and then deflating the batter.
Chocolate Chip Pancakes
- You’ll probably need 1 cup of dairy-free or dark chocolate chips (6 oz / 170g) for the entire batch of pancakes.
- After you ladle the batter into the pan, sprinkle the top surface of each pancake with a few chocolate chips. Cook as directed in the recipe card below.
Blueberry Pancakes
- You’ll probably need 1 1/2 cups cup of blueberries for the entire batch of pancakes.
- After you ladle the batter into the pan, sprinkle the top surface of each pancake with a few blueberries. Cook as directed in the recipe card below.
Lemon Poppy Seed Pancakes
- Zest 2 medium to medium-large lemons to get 2 tablespoons lemon zest.
- Measure out 1 1/2 tablespoons of poppy seeds.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients just until combined, as stated in the recipe.
- Add the lemon zest and poppy seeds and gently fold them in using a silicone spatula, using as few strokes as possible to combine. Cook as directed in the recipe card below.
- PS: These taste like mini lemon poppy seed cakes. Yum!
Chunky Monkey Pancakes
- Mash 1 medium banana. Finely chop ½ to ⅔ cup (60 to 80g) pecans or walnuts. Measure out 1 cup (170g) chocolate chips.
- Combine the dry and wet ingredients just until combined, as stated in the recipe.
- Gently fold in the mix-ins using a silicone spatula, using as few strokes as possible to combine. Cook as directed in the recipe card below.
Whole WhEat Pancakes
- Sub the all-purpose flour with 100% whole wheat flour. Use extra milk to hydrate the batter, 2 cups or (480 mL) of soy milk instead of the 1 3/4 cups (420 mL).
- Use a heaping ¼ cup of batter per pancake for the optimal pancake texture (crispy edges with a soft fluffy interior) instead of the larger quantity stated in the recipe. Cook on medium heat for 1 ½ minutes per side.
Frequently Asked Questions
If you don’t have access to vegan sour cream, you can (1) omit it entirely.
The texture is great, but they have less flavor (the tang from the sour cream goes a long way). However, with maple syrup and vegan butter on top, they were still lovely. They also cook slightly quicker, 1 ½ to 2 minutes per side.
(2) You can use a thick and tangy vegan yogurt instead. We like Culina, CocoJune, GT’S CocoYo or Kite Hill Greek Yogurt
Yes, it’s right! A generous amount is the secret behind light and fluffy vegan pancakes. We tried this recipe with less baking powder and we lost a lot of fluff.
Yes. A few notes.
(1) Preheat the griddle while the batter rests.
(2) Generously spray the griddle with cooking spray, or with coconut oil and spread it out with a paper towel.
(3) Use a heaping ¼ cup of batter per pancake instead of a heaping ⅓ cup. The larger pancakes we tested on a stovetop griddle were a bit too soft on the inside.
NOTE: The exterior doesn’t get as crispy and the interior doesn’t fluff as much on a griddle. So using a griddle is a decent alternative when you’re short on time…but for the best pancakes, I recommend using a frying pan.
Yep! Once the 5-minute rest is over, refrigerate the batter in an airtight container (don’t let it sit out too long on the counter, or the air bubbles deflate).
The pancakes are fluffiest when the batter is cooked within 24 hours, but are good for 5 days.
Wrap them in plastic wrap or store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can revive the crispy exterior by reheating them in a skillet for a few minutes, or in a 350ºF/175ºC oven for 10 to 15 minutes.
Yes. once cooled, layer them between parchment or wax paper in an airtight container or freezer bag. Freeze for 1 to 2 months.
How to serve vegan pancakes
Serve them any way you like :) For a loaded Sunday brunch spread, serve alongside my Tofu Scramble and a big platter of fruit. Or with my Tempeh Bacon, sliced avocado, and roasted potatoes. Of course, there are plenty of toppings to choose from to take them up a notch:
- They’re already buttery and full of flavor, which means you should only need a light drizzle of maple syrup. Or, top them with an extra pat of vegan butter. This is what Max does and he swears by it.
- Make them extra fancy with vegan whipped cream or a whipped topping and fresh berries.
- Or skip the maple syrup and use a berry compote instead, like this simple strawberry compote.
Watch: How to make the best pancakes
Perfect Vegan Pancakes 🥞
If you love these Vegan Pancakes as much as we do, please rate and review the recipe with your feedback below :) It’s always very much appreciated!
Best Ever Vegan Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup (113g) vegan sour cream, at room temperature for 30 min (see Note 1)
- 1 ½ tablespoons lemon juice (or apple cider vinegar)
- 1 ¾ cups (420 mL) plain-flavored soy milk (see note 2)
- 2 cups (250g) all purpose flour (see note 3)
- 2 tablespoons (25g) baking powder
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 tablespoons organic cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 tablespoons (42g) vegan butter, melted (or refined coconut oil),
- Refined coconut oil, avocado oil, or other high-heat oil for cooking pancakes
For serving
- Vegan butter + maple syrup
Instructions
- Add the lemon juice to a medium bowl. Pour the milk on top and stir. It should curdle pretty quickly. This is the "buttermilk."
- In a large bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, and sugar and whisk well to combine.
- To the buttermilk, add the room temp vegan sour cream and vanilla. Mix on low speed until mostly smooth (it’s okay if there are very tiny crumb-size pieces of sour cream, it doesn’t need to be 100% smooth).
- Melt the vegan butter in the microwave or in a small saucepan. Drizzle it into the wet ingredients and stir until combined and no lumps remain (see Note 4).
- Pour the wet ingredients over the flour mix and fold with a wooden spoon until just combined. Do not overmix—lots of lumps are fine. Rest the batter for 5 minutes (or 10 minutes). The batter will be very very thick and fluffy, almost like a yeast bread dough. But don't stir after resting—the batter will lose air bubbles, resulting in a flat pancake.
- Preheat the pan. Heat a nonstick frying pan over medium heat for several minutes. Add a teaspoon of coconut oil (see Note 5). Allow to heat ~30 seconds. Test to see if the pan is hot enough by adding a droplet of water—if it sizzles and dances, it’s ready.
- Cook the pancakes. Ladle a heaping ⅓ cup pancake batter into the pan (since the batter is thick, it won’t ladle into a perfect circle). For smaller pancakes, use a heaping 1/4 cup batter. After the first 20-30 seconds, swirl the oil in the pan around the pancake edges to get those crispy edges. Cook for a total of 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, until the edges start to dry out and you can see the bottoms are golden brown. Carefully flip. Cook on the second side for a total of 2 to 2 ½ minutes, swirling any remaining oil around the edges again.NOTE: don’t flip back and forth, just the one time. This makes pancakes less fluffy without a uniform golden brown exterior.
- Cook the rest. Add a teaspoon more oil to the pan and lower the heat a touch to prevent burning (my burner is 1 to 7; I start at 4 for the first pancake, then reduce to 3). Repeat with the batter, adding a teaspoon of oil to the pan to preheat per pancake before adding more batter.
- To keep pancakes warm, add to a wire rack-fitted sheet pan in the oven at 200ºF/95ºC until ready to serve. Serve pancakes warm with maple syrup and a pat of vegan butter, if desired. If you have leftover batter, store in an airtight container in the fridge for 5 to 6 days.
Notes
HOLY CANNOLI THESE ARE THE BEST VEGAN PANCAKES I’VE EVER HAD!
Thank you Nisha for sharing your gift with us!!
Hey Benji! Wow, I can feel your enthusiasm about this recipe through the screen! Love it! And you’re welcome for the recipes- we’re happy to provide them!
These are the best pancakes ever!!! I didn’t have soy milk or oat milk, therefore I used a creamy cashew milk and it totally worked!
Hi Samara, thank you so much for your kind review!
Those are not just the best vegan pancakes I’ve ever had, they are the best pancakes I’ve ever had period. These were so incredibly delicious, you knocked it’s out of the park on this recipe. Thank you so much Nisha!
What a compliment, Megan! Thank you so much for the lovely review, so cool to hear you’re such a fan of the pancakes!
Loved these – my favorite ever vegan pancakes!
So awesome to hear that, Monica! Thanks for sharing!
Holy forking shirtballs, batman! These pancakes are the real deal – definitely the best vegan flapjacks I’ve ever had the pleasure of trying. I think my quest to find a good vegan pancake is finally over!
Your review made our day, Ron! Thank you for taking the time to share your thoughts and for trying out the recipe.
Just made these for breakfast; only changes to the recipe were 1/2 cup of whole wheat flour and some lemon zest. They are definitely the fluffiest pancakes I’ve ever made! Also a great way to use TJ’s vegan sour cream, as it’s more budget-friendly but I am not a huge fan of the flavor on its own.
Thanks for sharing, Kimberly!
I just made these pancakes this morning for my family and they love them. Thank you so much for sharing your talents and skills with the world. They fluffed up nicely, and we only have two left. This flavorful and fluffy batch served three people.
With it, I also made your fantastic scrambled tofu. Everything was delicious!
We’re so happy the tofu scramble and pancakes turned out well for you, Arlene. Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment and for trying out the recipes!
There’s a reason why these pancakes are called the best vegan pancakes because they truly are! I followed the recipe to a T and omg, they are my absolute favorite now. My kids love them too and they have now become a repeat on Saturday mornings for the past few weeks! Definitely saving these in my repertoire of pancake recipes.
Thanks for the lovely feedback on the pancakes, Nadia! So cool they’re a new favorite!
This was a very good vegan pancake recipe. Turned out fluffy and the taste was amazing. I did make some adjustments to the recipe: I used oat milk instead of soy milk. I substituted some of the flour. I used about half a cup of all purpose flour and the rest aused 100% whole wheat pastry flour. Also, I added a half a teaspoon of vanilla paste. Another adjustment, I didn’t have any vegan sour cream, but I did have on hand, some of my raw cashew cream that I use for sour cream. Even with these adjustments, the pancake came out as the recipe said it would. taste was wonderful thank you for a wonderful recipe.
These were delicious! I was able to find vegan sour cream too. I will definitely make these again. Even my pancake expert (non-vegan) partner loved them. Thanks for the great recipe!
Hi Tiffany, we love to see non-vegan pancake professionals give the stamp of approval! :)
Made these this morning for me and my husband, we recently went vegan and have been missing good pancakes. These were absolutely the best pancakes I’ve had in a while. I did have to make a few substitutions based on what we had at home: I used homemade oat milk instead of soy, vegetable oil instead of vegan butter, and vegan cashew yogurt instead of vegan sour cream. They came out so fluffy and moist! Can’t wait to go grocery shopping so we can have the recipe as written! Excellent recipe, Nisha. Thanks for all of your hard work :)
Thanks for sharing, Alex! You’re very welcome for the recipe!
I made this recipe for Christmas brunch and everyone kept talking about how fluffy and delicious these pancakes were! I can’t wait to make and share these again.
Thanks for the lovely feedback, Divine!
Delicious 😋 😋 one needs to have patience with the cooking process but either than that I thought they were so good. Thanx again for sharing Nisha. You recipes are making me a pro in the kitchen again but this time around as a Plant based “chef” don’t know if Al is good for my waist line 😉 but oh well … you get to live once right🤷🏾♀️
Elle, So glad to hear you loved this recipe! :)
These are incredible. So rich and fluffy. After I served them to my mom, she admitted this “might be better” than the pancake recipe she’s used for decades—I’ll take it!
Will, So glad to hear you two loved this recipe! :)
We’ve tried quite a few vegan pancake recipes, and they’ve all ended up gummy, chewy, runny, or way too fluffy. These were perfect! Fluffy with bit of crispiness and great flavor. Good enough to eat plain but even better with a drizzle of maple syrup. Definitely a keeper. Look forward to checking out other recipes on the website! This was our first one and what a fantastic intro. :)
Wonderful, Winnie! We can’t wait for you to start trying more recipes!
For 20+ years I’ve been trying to find a recipe for awesome vegan pancakes… my quest has ended.
This recipe makes the most delectable pancakes EVER!!!
Thank you very much for sharing your incredible skills!❤️
Woohoo, Mary! Thanks for trying the recipe yourself- we’re thrilled it was a hit!
Any time I’m in need of a reliably good vegan recipe Rainbow Plant Life is usually my first stop. Once again, RPL came through in the clutch. Silence reigned supreme at the table when I served these to my family – everyone was too busy gobbling these up to talk. They were delicious! Thank you for sharing. I also appreciate that you and your team always include alternatives that work well if substitutions are needed. I didn’t have soy milk or vegan sour cream on hand, but was able to sub oatmilk and coconut yogurt to scrumptious effect.
Lovely, Eboni! We’re thrilled you can always rely on the recipes. Thanks for the review!
I usually sub plain vegan yogurt for sour cream in pancakes, any reason why that might not work? too runny?
Hi there, yes! In our tests with a few standard vegan yogurts, the pancake batter was thinner and less airy than the tests with the sour creams and thicker yogurts. And when we cooked the pancakes, some parts of the pancakes were not fully cooked through, like a bit runny and gummy.
Wow this produced such wonderful pancakes. I did use Forager sour cream and had no problems with fluffyness. I’ll be using this again. It seemed more difficult than it actually was but the process was very easy to follow!
Lovely, thank you for trying the recipe Amanda. We’re so happy it was such a hit!
Hello again, I recently had to go gluten free and I just wanted to report that I tried this recipe with a gluten-free flour (mine is a mixture of rice and corn four + cornstarch with some other additives, just for reference) and it did work really well actually. Just thought I would let you guys know since someone was asking in the comments :)
Elsa -Can you share the Brand name of the GF flour you used and where you got it? From what Nisha said, they tested all the main GF flour brands and didn’t work to well. I really would like a GF version of the pancakes that tastes good!
Hi Nancy, I live in Germany so I doubt this information will help you, but the brand I used is called Seitz and I got it at a regular grocery store. I only went gluten-free recently so I really don’t know if this brand is supposed to be better than others, I haven’t tried much else, I just figured it was a pretty general gluten-free flour mix. I looked at the ingredients again and these are (in order): whole rice flour, corn starch, whole millet flour, guar gum and xanthan gum. I think it’s kind of important that the flour you use is fairly fine, I read that some flours can be too coarse and that can affect your end result.
I plan on starting to make my own glutenfree flour mix and I will test it again with that and report back. Sorry I could not be more helpful than this!
These were absolutely some of the best pancakes (vegan or non) that we’ve had. My fiancé and I recently started our transition to a whole-foods plant based diet and came across Nisha’s recipes. They have been a godsend! We tried these pancakes last weekend and they were so DELICIOUS! My SO is not really a fan of pancakes, but couldn’t help himself with these. I will definitely be making them again. We didn’t have vegan sour cream so used unsweetened Kite Hill almond yogurt instead. I like a little more vanilla in my pancakes so might add a smidge more next time, but they were fabulous as is, too! Nice and fluffy!
Thank you for sharing, Samantha! We’re so glad you two enjoyed the pancakes as much as we do! :)