Flourless Banana & Protein Powder Pancakes

02/18/20

(Last updated 01/26/22)

Start your day with these nutritious protein pancakes! Made with just banana, protein powder and eggs, these flourless pancakes come together in minutes. The best part? They're packed full of protein to keep you satisfied into the AM.

Protein pancakes served on a white plate, with sliced banana, yoghurt, blueberries and a drizzle of maple syrup.

These no-frills protein pancakes pack a hefty protein punch. With a combination of eggs and protein powder (working to a 20g protein per serve supplement), a finished stack serves up over 30g protein – similar to a small chicken breast!

As a nutritionist, I’m often asked for quick, easy protein-packed breakfast ideas. High protein foods are slow to be digested, making a decent serve at brekkie a great nutritional strategy to keep satisfied into the morning (1). These pancakes fit the protein brief and can be whipped up in around 10 minutes!

Free of grains, they’re ideal for those gluten-free too. Instead, a banana is used to provide energy (carbohydrates) and natural sweetness.

Ingredients

Simple does it for these protein pancakes – only three ingredients are required:

  • Protein powder. This recipe is suitable for flavoured or plain whey or pea protein powder. There will be subtle differences in the end dish, depending on what you use – the whey batter blends thicker and creamier, leading to a slightly fluffier pancake! I’ve tried collagen protein here and found it didn’t work well – this might be due to how collagen dissolves.
  • Eggs provide structure, leavening (that little rise as it cooks!), flavour and richness from the nutritious yolk fat. Two eggs definitely pull their protein weight, offering up 10g of the good stuff! #gains.
  • Banana is used for nature sweetness, a yummy banana flavour and glorious carbs aka energy. Go for a ripe yellow fruit – more of the starches will have converted to sugars, meaning it’ll be sweeter.

Feel free to play beyond these base ingredients – try blending in spices (like cinnamon), spinach (for green goodness) or cocoa powder (for a chocolatey boost). If you find something that works, leave a comment below!🙏 

Kitchen Tips

I’ve found the below tricks helpful when making these protein pancakes:

  • Blend ingredients together to save time and ensure a uniform batter. Otherwise, you can whisk in a bowl by hand, just make sure to really mash the banana prior so it’s not clumpy.
  • Pour batter mixture into a small milk jug. Once the frying pan is greased and hot, pour batter direct from the jug into the pan. This will help ensure perfect pancake rounds!👌
  • Look out for signs that your pancakes are ready to flip, like a golden brown colour and edges that slightly pull away. The pancake should lift easily off the griddle or frying pan when ready to flip. If not, cook for a bit longer.

Serving Suggestions

Enjoy for breakfast or a post-workout meal. While totally ace by themselves, pancakes are always infinitely better with toppings (and the extra goodies add nutritional diversity and bulk out the meal!). You could try:

  • An extra protein boost by adding a dollop of Greek yoghurt, cottage cheese, chopped nuts or sprinkle of hemp seeds.
  • Bumping up the sweetness by scattering over chopped seasonal fresh fruit, stewed fruit, fruit compote or a drizzle of maple syrup.
  • Adding texture with a sprinkle of crunchy granola or muesli, your favourite chopped nuts, a drizzle of tahini, shredded coconut or an assortment of seeds.
  • Or for just an insanely good time drizzle peanut butter overtop and a sprinkle of chopped dark chocolate. Yum!

Thanks for reading!🥞 After more protein-packed breakfast ideas? Try this vegetable and cheddar loaf or this Greek yoghurt berry smoothie.

Flourless Banana & Protein Powder Pancakes

Prep Time: 2 mins
Cook Time: 8 mins
Serving Size: 1
Rating:

Ingredients:  

  • 3 Tbsp* pea or whey protein powder or more to reach a thick pourable consistency
  • 1 ripe banana or around ⅓ cup mashed
  • 2 eggs

Method:

  • Heat a fry-pan over a medium to low heat. Grease well with oil or butter – so they don't stick!
  • Blend together banana, eggs and protein powder. The mixture should be a thick pourable batter, that’s not too runny or stiff. If it’s too stiff, add a splash of water. If it’s too runny, add a sprinkle of protein powder.  You’re after a thickness where you can pour it into the pan and it spreads out just a little.
  • Pour batter into a milk jug. Hot tip: the pouring spout will help you get perfect pancake circles!
  • Pour pancake mixture into pan. Depending on your fry-pan size, you may need to do a few batches. Leave to cook until golden in colour or you can easily flip with a spatula. Repeat on the other side.

Notes:

* Protein powders can come in different total weight measurements per serve (e.g. 24g, 40g…), depending on ingredients, which can impact the viscosity and thickness of the batter – this is why a range of 3 Tbsp or more has been given. Start at 3 Tbsp, blend and check thickness. If the batter looks to thin (quite jiggly when you give it a wiggle) then add more protein powder. You’re after a thickness where you can pour it into the pan and it spreads out just a little. 
Avoid turning the heat up high – this will cook (or burn!) the outside of the pancake before the middle has a chance to cook through. 

Leave a Comment & Rate this Recipe

If you enjoyed this dish, please consider giving it a star rating when you post a comment. Star ratings help others discover my recipes online (and your reviews make my day! 🙂 ). Happy cooking and baking. Danijela x

Recipe Rating




    28 Comments

  1. 5 stars
    Simple and delicious! Consistency was good, was a bit hard to flip but other than that a very easy recipe.
    Would be yummy with a bit of cinnamon added into the batter.

  2. These are so good! I use chocolate protein powder and a bit of vegan pancake mix and they come out great! I top with peanut butter and dark chocolate buttons 😋

  3. 5 stars
    Best pancake recipe out there. Beats *regular* pancakes to be honest. I used a vanilla falovred powder from myprotein and it’s just awesome.

  4. 5 stars
    Absolutely love this recipe!! Can’t believe something so yum only has a few ingredients… I added a vanilla protein powder to my mix! Highly recommend this recipe.

  5. These were delicious! I added some cinnamon and organic greens powder—so yummy! I will for sure be making these again 🙂

  6. Tried these this morning with vanilla protein powder and a pinch of allspice. They are amazing def a new go to breakfast.

  7. 5 stars
    It was so good! you don’t even need a blender. Tastes great with a little bit of syrup or fresh fruit!

  8. 5 stars
    Amazing recipe! The pancakes came out so fluffy and sweet without any added sugars. Stewed berries and coconut flakes is the move 🙂 Thanks for the healthy recommendation.

  9. 5 stars
    Loved the taste, comfort. And ease.
    Added sime cinnamin as a suggested.
    I attempt to get some oats in as gluten free and know they are heart healthy and dtick to your ribs. I added 1/4
    Cup of rolled oats that i previously blended into oat flour. And some water just to kerp nice and thin

  10. 5 stars
    Loved this recipe! Since I just needed a single serving, I used 1 banana, 1 egg, 2 tbs. of Inspire Whey Protein Isolate Banana Nut Bread Protein Powder, 1/3 c. fresh blueberries and a dash of cinnamon. Breakfast was phenomenal…didn’t need butter or syrup. Thanks for sharing and putting me on the right path!

  11. Pelase confirm serving size? If 1 is selected is that physically just 1 pancake?

    • Hey Chantelle, thanks for your question. Serving size is for one person. You can make the pancakes as big or little as you like – this will impact how many pancakes you get. I recommend not making them too big as they’ll be hard to flip. I hope that helps xx

  12. 4 stars
    We made these this morning. I made a X2 recipe did add about 1/2 tsp of baking powder and a teaspoon of lemon juice. The family was impressed with the texture and flavor. Thanks for the recipe!

  13. 5 stars
    I made these this morning with vanilla protein powder and a pinch of cinnamon. Fantastic, especially since I need to stay off grains for a while. I indulged and had a bit of heavy cream on them.

  14. 5 stars
    These are really good. I mixed in a tbsp of PB2 Chocolate Peanut Butter powder and it was very good. I topped it with a little bit of sugar free cool whip, that I mixed with the same PB2 powder, and some sliced strawberries and blueberries. This is definitely making a staple in our weekend breakfast for my husband and I.