3 Ingredient Paleo Pancakes (+ Breakfast Ideas)
Since I started blogging about my Paleo recipes, I have received questions from many of you. One of the main questions I hear quite often – What are you eating for breakfast besides eggs? This is a great question and one that I struggled to answer for a while because… well, I was honestly struggling with what to make for breakfast.
When I first started eating this way, I would on a regular basis scramble eggs with veggies or make an omelet. But, of course, over time that got really, really, really old! And I finally had to use google to my advantage to see what creative (and frugal!) Paleo-friendly breakfast ideas I could find. So for the past month, I have really started making a point to change-up what we have for breakfast… and it has actually been fun experimenting.
Here are a few of my favorite breakfast concoctions:
* Mixed Nuts (sometimes I add shredded coconut) and berries with almond milk
You can see a picture of what this looks like at the bottom of this recipe post.
* Squash or Sweet potato Hash with veggies and sometimes bacon or eggs
Similar to this recipe.
* Leftovers from dinner the night before
I know this may sound weird to some of you, but occasionally in the morning dinner actually sounds good to me. Last week, for example, I made meatloaf patties with sweet potato and cauliflower “mashed potatoes” (recipe to come) and I ate a huge helping the next morning for breakfast. Yum! 🙂
* Simple Paleo-Friendly Pancakes
Have I peaked your curiosity regarding these simple and did I mention scrumptious Paleo pancakes? Well, good! I’ll be sharing this super simple pancake recipe below. And the credit for this recipe goes to Mark’s Daily Apple… thank you! Once I saw that this pancake recipe required just 3 ingredients (and 3 ingredients I already had on hand), I knew I had to try it and I am so glad I did!
3 Ingredient Paleo Pancakes (makes about 4 to 5 pancakes)
Ingredients:
2 ripe bananas
1 egg
1 to 2 tablespoons of almond butter (you could probably use other nut butters in place of this)
Optional ingredients:
Vanilla Extract (or other flavoring extracts)
Stevia
Cinnamon
Chocolate Chips (I made a few for the kiddos one morning and added these!)
Cacao Powder
Pumpkin
Directions:
Mash the bananas in a bowl. Add the egg and almond butter. Mix until combined. I also opted to add cinnamon and a little vanilla extract. Heat coconut oil (or whatever you have on hand) in a frying pan over medium heat. Once hot, I used a 1/4 cup measuring cup to pour each pancake onto the frying pan.
Once you start seeing holes and bubbles on the pancakes (like the pic below), they are ready to flip.
Keep in mind that these pancakes are on the delicate side since they have no flour in them, so take your time when flipping them and use a good spatula. These pancakes are actually really good plain… but there are also lots of various topping you could put on them. Just get creative! Blended blueberries with a little Stevia make for a sweet and oh so delicious topping.
If you have any other healthy breakfast ideas, I’d love to hear! 🙂
Mu husband and I started eating Paleo 10 days ago – I threw everything processed out of the pantry and we are committed a 110% – anyway we love love love Ham and eggs and then Egg Muffins (I make mine with spinach, bacon and green onions)… you can find the recipes here –
https://www.health-bent.com/pork/bacon-and-eggs-to-go
and
https://www.primal-palate.com/2010/07/breakfast-on-go-egg-muffins.html
Enjoy!
Wanted to add for someone who asked – we are doing Paleo for health reasons – we have been doing to 100% for 12 days now – I have lost 7 lbs – my husband 6 lbs. In addition – he has almost completely reduced his knee pain (21 years in the Army plays heck on the knee’s)…. in addition he has knocked almost 6 mins off his two mile required PT run – YES in 12 Days!!!!
OK…I just tried to make these delicious looking pancakes…and they are a heap of mess in my pan. What is the trick to getting them to look all round and pretty? Ugh. Great flavor, but mine definitely do NOT look like pancakes (and I consider myself pretty experienced in the kitchen!).
Same here! I mostly burnt mine unfortunately, but what I did get to salvage was absolutely delish! I am going to try to make them smaller next time and reduce the heat from medium to low. I’m not giving up on these babies just yet!
*Update* I made these again this morning, a little smaller and cooked on low. They turned out great! I also tried incorporating a little air into the batter as someone else advised. Seemed to work, great suggestion! This is definitely one of my new favorite breakfast recipes!!
try this
3 eggs
1 mashed banna
1/4 cup potato flour — didn’t have almond flour
1/8 cup broken walnuts
1 tbs almond butter
1/8 tsp baking soda
1/8 tsp baking powder
almond milk to desired consistency
mix – pour – flip – eat
Kate, the “trick” to these pancakes is the firmness of the banana…they cannot be ripe w/black spots. The best pick of banana is the yellow one w/a little green in the peel. I always dbl or triple the recipe & only then can you get away with having one or two “ripe” ones for sweetness. I add honey for sweetness if the bananas I’m using have more green. Just think, if your banana is mushy your pancakes will be as well. No need for the extra work of blending them or adding more egg. These are very simple and delicious. Just mash well w/a potato masher or I use a pastry tool. Hope this helps 🙂
Just made these and the batter was a little runny so I added 1/2 cup of whole wheat pancake mix, came out delish!! Thanks for the idea collin!
THe addition of the pancake mix though is not Paleo.
Love all your recipes, Colin!! I started eating paleo at the beginning of the year with the intent of doing it for one month to kick my sugar addiction. However, I love it so much and see so many great results that I’m sticking with it. I’ve already lost 25 pounds (need to lose 80 total) and can honestly say I am never hungry and have very few cravings!
My favorites for breakfast besides eggs are protein smoothies and paleo crunch. Have you tried making your own paleo crunch? YUMMY! You can eat it as a snack, or with some coconut milk as a cereal… but my favorite is to combine it with some almond butter and smear it on apple slices. OMG. Heaven.
I tried them too! and same result! I was thinking of adding another egg to help bind it up more but not sure if that would just make it messier…I’ll have to let you know how it goes but Colin, could you tell us how you did yours? Just starting Paleo for me and gradually working the kids and hubby into it…why did you start this anyways?
I made these for breakfast today and they turned out fantastic! I topped them with mixed berries mixed with a little stevia. They are tricky to flip, so I found that making them smaller, letting them be pretty well done on the first side and using a super flat spatula worked best.
Same here! I used only egg whites but added about 3/4 of tablespoon of Bob’s Red Mill Gluten free baking mix for to bind the batter. They turned out awesome!
I tried making these this morning. I don’t know if I had the heat too high on the burner or what, but I had absolutely no success in making them. They looked nothing like your picture. I looooove good pancakes, but was refraining from the regular ones since I’m pregnant and my midwife wants me to stay away from white flour and sugar…well basically any flour and starches. I thought this would be a great substitute, but they were not very good (and I’ve been burping bananas all day so far). I’d love to know what I did wrong. Tonight I’m making pizza and decided to try [url=https://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html]this[/url] for my crust. Since I also loooove pizza. Hopefully this will be a better success. I will keep trying these pancakes, hoping I’ll have more luck next time.
I tried these this morning and, like several others, mine didn’t work out but I think I know why, so thought I’d share.
The recipes for these three ingredients all say “mix,” which is a pretty broad term. Not wanting to wake others in the house up this morning, I just mixed by hand, which resulted in a thoroughly blended, but heavy batter that didn’t cook through and fell apart in the pan.
When you “mix” these, the blender, electric mixer, immersion blender, etc. is important, here. Since you aren’t using baking soda, self-rising flour, or the other ingredients that typically add air and lightness to pancakes, you have to manually incorporate that air yourself. So if you tried these and found they didn’t work, give them another shot with the blender (I prefer an immersion blender) to whip a little air in there. You should see bubbles in the batter.
The added air will make the batter lighter,which will allow it to cook more quickly and evenly without burning, and will also allow the cakes to be lighter so that they don’t tear apart as easily when you try to flip them.
do you think these would freeze/reheat well?
If you have trouble making them look pretty try cooking them in more coconut oil and on medium low. A newer nonstick pan also helps.
I made these tonight and they were fantastic! I did not use coconut oil, but another time olive oil. I did mash the bananas up pretty fine.
Glad I found this site. Trying to find as many paleo friendly recipes as I can to get my family in on this with me and let them understand that its healthier and can be tasty.
I just tried these pancakes, and they turned out so delicious! Instead of blueberry puree I opted for a tiny bit of all natural peanut butter, some Greek yogurt and strawberries! It was very yummy, and I will definitely be making them on a regular basis. Also, I wanted to thank you for your posts on your healthy recipes. I think not only for myself, but for a lot of people, you are a trust worthy person and I really value your opinion. I am a young mommie, 24, to two little girls… and I just wanted to thank you (and anyone else who deserves credit) for putting so much effort into this site. It’s been a life changer for me 🙂
Just am making this right now. Doubled the recipe before reading the “everything turned to mush” comments. However, i did use a potatoe masher to maker sure bananas were well and truly mashed and used awhisk to make sure well mixed. Using non-stick pan with no oil. Also anice firm spatula with a sharp edge and quick moves seems to being generating results as pictured. And super tasty to boot!!!
Thx for sharing this recipe Colin! This has been our favorite breakfast & snack food for my husband & I. I think with any recipe there will be a bit of trial & error due to a combo of different factors (type of pan, intensity of heat, ingredients, etc.), but it makes it fun to perfect! I have found that when I use my presto electric griddle, they turn out perfect & do not fall apart- look just like flour pancakes & I have tried them in a pan. I also use smart balance because I didn’t have any coconut oil & the olive oil heats too high so it burns them. These are a keeper!
Just cooked them and they came out perfect! I was worried because of the other posts. Not sure if using roasted almond butter from the Whole Foods machine matters or ceramic cookware, but they couldn’t have come out better. I did use 2 tbspoons of almond butter. Medium heat.
This is my second try at making these pancakes, and this time I substituted flax meal/water for the egg. Apparently, it really depends on the egg to make them fluff up. The first time, I used an egg and they turned out beautifully and so delicious! This time with the flax, they were flat and tore apart when I tried to turn them. I ate them anyway b/c the ingredients are so delicious even in partially cooked lumps!
Thanks! I’ve been getting so sick of eggs. I’ll try out those pancakes this weekend 🙂
Can you add a little of coconut flour? Would this still be Paleo?
I have been on the Paleo Diet for a while now and love eating whole foods! I have been working on my own pancake recipe that is grain and dairy free. It is super good. Go here to check it out.
https://www.inexperiencedcook.com/delicious-gluten-free-pancakes/
I doubled the recipe and added an extra egg. I made them very small, cooked on low for three minutes a side. Perfect.
I tried it this morning. Didn’t know how much almond butter I used, just eyeballed it. It came out delicious! Difficult to flip but it was yummy. Can’t wait to make them again 🙂 my banana was SUPER ripe though. Like the skin almost black and the banana was complete mush. Tasted sweet this way 🙂 like banana bread
Paleo Banana Pancakes
1 banana
2 eggs
3 dessertspoons almond flour/meal
Mash bananas
Beat eggs into banana
Stir in almond flour – add a little more or less to get right consistency
Fry in a little coconut oil
Makes 4 pancakes – 3 dessertspoons of mix per pancake. Serve with berries blended with a little stevia.
I modified this recipe when I made a large batch and it came out delicious!
Made APX 25 Pancakes
6 Bananas
7 Eggs
4 TBS Almond Butter
1 1/2 Cups Flax Meal
3 TSP Nutmeg
1 TBS Cinnamon
2 TSP Truvia
Here is a link to a picture of them https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10151242058939179&set=a.10150388373229179.409790.660049178&type=1&theater¬if_t=like
Oops forgot the 1/2 Cup of Canned Pumpkin!
Okay so I followed this recipe and I even followed several comments of mixing the ingredients in a blender and lowered the heat settings, but my pancakes were not anything like the picture…. any suggestions?
Try adding 1/8 cup of coconut flour. I did and they were excellent!
Made these pancakes this morning and cannot stop thinking about them. I used 1 banana, 1egg, 1 tbsp almond butter, 1/8 tsp cinnamon and 1/4 unsweetened coco powder- delicious! Oh, I also made the blueberry topping.
If using one banana, you will get about 2.5 pancakes.
I just made these pancakes with 2 banana’s, 2 Tbsp. Almond butter, 1/4 tsp cinnamon, 1 egg, 1 tsp vanilla and 1/8cup of coconut flour! Wow, Thank you for the great recipe to build on.
I just made these into mini muffins since I couldn’t get them to come out right on the stove top. THEY WERE DELICIOUS. Baked for about 8-10 minutes on 375F in a mini muffin pan. PERFECTION. Putting them in the fridge for tomorrow’s breakfast for the kiddos. Thanks!
Ok, I’ve heard of paleo a few times recently and I’m a bit clueless. What is it?
the addition of an extra egg instead of flour should help form up the firmness. I also grind my own almond flour so adding a little more flour instead of almond butter helps because flour by its textures absorbs but butters tend to already have added oils which are not absorbent to help things firm up.
@Erin – Primal Paleo diets exclude various problematic foods like dairy, grains, legumes and sugar (etc). The things which are encouraged and touted are fish and meat and nuts and certain fruits and vegetables which would be likely present in our “evolving hunter gatherer” diet to which the human body evolved and adapted to expect. The meats should ideally not be commercially raised meat because of all the things lacking in commercially raised foods (ALA/CLA) as well as the dangers of hormones and risk of prions from commercial meat farming techniques. So organic is also key or better yet actual wild or natural farm raised meat.
and by grains – accept that all grasses (to which many people suffer some level of allergies not just to wheat gluten) and all the many things that are “grasses” you may not realize – all of your grains are of the “grass” family/genus including rice and corn (the corn kernels are just really large grass seeds clumped into an ear)
Just made these. It was the perfect amount for my two kiddos and myself. They are very delicate to flip, but only one of mine came out ugly. I added a bit of vanilla and cocoa powder. MAJOR hit with the kids!
A lot of other two or three ingredient banana pancakes call for room temp eggs. Also if you use a ripe banana the consistency turns out more crepe like instead of pancake like. My son loves it this way because of the sweetness of the ripe banana and change the name to crepe and no one is surprised by the look. I add any tiny bit of maple syrup (the real stuff) to the batter and then we drizzle it with a little additional maple syrup.
I make similar to these one banana, 2 eggs, tbsp cocnut flour 2-3 tbsp water or coconut milk, keep them small so you can flip them. My 4 year old loves them topped with homemade jam or pb.
Trying these out for the first time this morning. I’ve tried other paleontologists pancake recipes and needed something with fewer ingredients to make the morning easier. I’m waiting for the flip right now – I have the heat set on low…
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who had the problem of finding something to eat after I stopped eating bread for breakfast 🙂 your recipes sound great and easy! I haven’t been doing too bad myself once I started trying to come up with new ideas. I enjoy yogurt with ground seeds and nuts and a little maple syrup.
I love Paleo, but I am allergic to bananas. What can I use instead?
You can used cooked sweet potato!
I made these this morning and they were delicious. I added about a 1/4 cup of my homemade protein mix (chia seeds, hemp seeds, pepitas, oatmeal, almond flour, and flax meal) which might have meant they were no longer paleo (not on a paleo diet), but my kids and I loved them!