Healthy 2-Ingredient Paleo Plantain Pancakes

Super quick and easy to make, these healthy two-ingredient pancakes are grain-free, paleo, and delicious. If you’ve ever tried the banana two-ingredient pancakes but were disappointed with them, try these instead. I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised! 

Not like banana pancakes!

So, if you have ever looked for some healthy, grain-free pancakes on Pinterest, you were probably bombarded by beautiful pictures of 2-ingredient pancakes made with bananas and eggs. Am I right?

Excited, you may have run to your kitchen to give them a try; only to find it was a complete disaster!

Not only did you have to wait for 10 minutes to cook each pancake over super low heat just to be able to flip them properly without them falling apart, but they sort of tasted like banana mash!

OK, so maybe that didn’t happen to you, but it did happen to me.

I could never get the banana two-ingredient pancakes to work well. It was difficult to get them to cook slowly enough to hold together without burning. Even when I did successfully make them, I was never very impressed with the texture.

I still wonder how so many people were able to take beautiful pictures of stacks of banana pancakes when all I ended up with was a pile of banana mush.

The History of the Plantain pancakes

Christmas day rolled around and I hadn’t planned anything for breakfast.

When I looked over to see the plantains and eggs in my fruit basket, I couldn’t help but wonder what would happen if I blended them together to make pancakes.

After the banana pancake fiasco, I don’t know what prompted me to try making them with plantains instead. Perhaps it was boredom, curiosity, or my intuition that plantains have a higher starch content that would make a more realistic pancake.

Whatever it was, I’m glad I tried it because this recipe has since become a family favorite.

Unlike the banana pancakes, these paleo plantain pancakes remind me of “real” pancakes. The starchy nature of plantains makes a batter that works and tastes much more like “regular” wheat pancakes.

What I really loved about these is that everybody in the family was really impressed with them. (Yes, even my picky little boy!)

Since that first Christmas, I have made them many times. My son asks for them all of the time.

How to Make Plantain Pancakes

Making these pancakes couldn’t be easier. The trickiest step is peeling the plantains.

Green or Yellow plantains?

Depending upon how green or ripe your plantains are, your pancakes can vary in levels of sweetness and how much they taste like bananas.

A greener plantain makes for a less sweet pancake that acts and tastes more like a traditional pancake. Green plantains are also a bit harder to peel.

Yellower, riper plantains are easier to peel. Using riper plantains results in a sweeter pancake with more of a banana flavor. Because they have a higher sugar content, you’ll have to be a bit more careful about not burning them when cooking them.

Either way, they are much easier to make than banana pancakes, and I think they taste better too. 😉

Mixing the batter

Once you’ve peeled the plantains, cut them into chunks and place them in the container of a blender.

Add 2 eggs for each plantain and process in the blender until you have made a smooth batter.

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Cooking the pancakes

Unlike banana pancakes, these pancakes are quite easy to cook and flip. They don’t need any special care.

Heat up the skillet with a bit of butter, coconut oil, or ghee over low to medium heat.

When the fat has melted and the skillet is warm, pour the batter in small circles onto the pan.

After a minute or so, when bubbles start forming, flip the pancakes with a spatula.

Cook for another minute or so on the other side and then remove from the skillet. Your pancakes are now ready to serve!

Serving ideas

I like keeping the recipe simple and then serving these pancakes with walnuts and maple syrup. Something about the combination of banana flavors with walnuts really appeals to me.

You can, though, serve them any way you would serve “normal” pancakes. For example, they’re also delicious covered with fruit and whipped cream.

Watch how to make these paleo pancakes

Paleo Plantain Pancake Variations

While these pancakes are delicious as-is, you can customize the recipe to change things up.

Chocolate plantain pancakes

By adding some cocoa powder to the batter, you can make delicious chocolate plantain pancakes. That’s a super-easy way to change them up, of course.

I add around 1 Tbsp. of cocoa powder for each plantain used. For sweeter chocolate pancakes, you can also add up to 1 Tbsp. honey or maple syrup to the batter mixture.

Stuffed double chocolate pancakes

If you’re really feeling fancy, you can stuff your pancakes with a chocolate mascarpone filling.

To stuff the pancakes, first, we need to make the filling. Here is a recipe you can use for a simple, tasty filling. (It’s the same filling I used in my chocolate ravioli.)

Chocolate Mascarpone Filling

• 1/2 cup mascarpone
• 1 Tbsp. honey
• 1 Tbsp. cocoa powder

Once combined, spread the mixture in disk shapes onto a small tray covered with parchment or freezer paper. Then, freeze the disks until solid.

When you are ready to make your stuffed pancakes, heat up the skillet. Pour in a little bit of the batter, using a spoon to spread out the batter a little and make it a bit thinner.

Remove a disk of frozen mascarpone filling and place it onto the batter in the skillet. Immediately pour a little more batter over top of the frozen filling, enough to cover it completely. Spread it out over the top of the filling with a spoon if necessary.

When you see bubbles forming around the edges, carefully use a spatula to flip the pancakes and cook on the other side for a minute or two, enough to brown them on the other side.

Pumpkin Spice Pancakes

To make pumpkin spice pancakes, add 1/4 cup of pumpkin purée to the batter, along with 1/2 tsp. cinnamon, 1/4 tsp. nutmeg, and 1/4 tsp. ground cloves. Continue with the recipe as usual.

4-ingredient pancakes

So, I guess by now you’ve probably seen my recipe card, and have seen that it actually lists 4 ingredients rather than two. So, let me explain…

When I first started making these, I made them with only two ingredients, eggs and plantains.

You can definitely make them that way and they turn out great, BUT…

With time, I started to tweak the recipe. I found that adding a couple of optional ingredients improved them ever so slightly.

Why add baking soda?

If you like fluffy pancakes, a touch of baking soda will help achieve that. It doesn’t make a huge difference, but I usually add a pinch of baking soda to give them that extra rising ability.

If you don’t add baking soda, the eggs still give them a fluffy quality, so they will still be tasty if you don’t want to use it.

Why add coconut oil (or ghee)?

With time, I also found that adding the slightest bit of coconut oil (or ghee) made the pancakes moister and enhanced their flavor. When I first started adding a fat, I used coconut oil. Later, I found that I liked the flavor that ghee gave them more.

You can choose whatever fat you like to enhance the flavor of your pancakes.

Healthy Paleo Plantain Pancakes Recipe

Stuffed Chocolate Pancake Recipe

If you love healthy pancakes, why not try out these paleo, low-carb walnut pancakes too!