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Get ready for the Fluffiest Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes that you’ve ever had. They’re easy to make with just 7 ingredients in 30 minutes and guaranteed to hit the spot whenever you’re in need of a classic pancake stack. Chances are you have everything you need in the pantry to whip these up right now!
What is Vegan Buttermilk?
It’s simple: 1 cup plant-based milk + 1 tablespoon of an acid. That’s it! The trick is to mix the two together and allow them to rest for about 10 minutes. As it rests, the acid will curdle the almond milk (slightly thickening it) and cause it to develop a sour taste similar to that of buttermilk.
Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes are one of the best simple meals to make with pantry staples! Even if you don’t have any plant-milk on hand, you can always make some homemade milk with a handful of nuts or a scoop of nut butter and water in a high-speed blender. Check out our homemade almond milk post for helpful tips and tricks!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Flaxseed meal: One of our go-to vegan egg replacers is flax eggs. They are easy to make with ground flaxseed meal and are pantry friendly. You can use either golden or brown flaxseed, just make sure it is flaxseed meal, not whole flax seeds.
- Plant milk: The best vegan milks to use when making vegan buttermilk are soy milk and almond milk. We tend to use our homemade vegan almond milk because we almost always have it on hand, but soy milk is another favorite because it curdles quite well.
- Apple cider vinegar: In order to make vegan buttermilk, an acid is needed to curdle the milk. Our favorite is apple cider vinegar, but you can also use distilled white vinegar or even a tablespoon of lemon juice or lime juice.
- All-purpose flour: We wanted to make these pancakes as classic as possible and opted for Bob’s Red Mill all-purpose flour. We haven’t tested this recipe using a gluten-free flour blend, but if you’re looking for gluten-free vegan pancakes, check out our Blender Oatmeal Pancakes or our super easy 3-Ingredient Gluten-Free Vegan Pancakes.
- Baking powder: Reacts with the acidic vegan buttermilk and leavens the pancakes, making them the lightest, fluffiest pancakes.
- Cane sugar: Adds a touch of sweetness and softens the pancake batter. Sugar also helps the pancakes brown and makes them a perfect light golden brown. If preferred, opt for using coconut sugar. The pancakes will be darker in color and slightly less sweet, but it will still work well.
- Vanilla extract + salt: Adds depth of flavor and balances the flavor in the pancake batter.
Equipment Needed
How to Make Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes
- Prepare a flax egg. In a small mixing bowl, whisk the flaxseed meal and water together until uniform. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to thicken.
- Make the vegan buttermilk. In another bowl or large pyrex measuring cup, mix the cup of non-dairy milk and apple cider vinegar together. Set the mixture aside to curdle, forming vegan buttermilk (about 5-10 minutes).
- Whisk together the dry ingredients. While the flax egg and vegan buttermilk form, prep the dry ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour, baking powder, vegan cane sugar, and salt until uniform.
- Add the wet ingredients. Once the flax egg and buttermilk are ready, add those into the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract. Whisk together until just combined but do not over-stir. If the pancake batter appears water, add 1-3 tablespoons more flour to thicken the batter (we typically add 2 additional tablespoons).
- Cook the pancakes. Preheat a griddle or medium/large nonstick pan over medium heat. Lightly grease the non-stick pan or griddle and add the pancake batter 1/4 cup at a time. Once the edges begin to dry and bubbles appear on the surface, flip the vegan pancakes and cook for a few minutes more.
- Serve. Serve your vegan buttermilk pancake stacks while warm as desired!
Add-ins and Variations
- Chocolate chips: Add a 1/4-1/2 cup of vegan chocolate chips to the pancake batter.
- Fruit: Add a 1/4-1/2 cup of blueberries or thinly sliced banana to the batter to make banana pancakes or vegan blueberry pancakes!
- Whole wheat flour: If you’d like to up the nutritional content of your vegan pancakes, use 1/2 cup all-purpose flour and 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.
- Add cinnamon: If you love the warmth and flavor cinnamon adds, you can add up to 1/2 teaspoon of ground cinnamon to the pancake batter. Or, give our well-spiced Vegan Gingerbread Pancakes or Vegan Pumpkin Pancakes a try!
Serving Suggestions
Enjoy these classic pancakes for the ultimate weekend brunch, breakfast for dinner, or a weekday treat! We love them served with a pat of vegan butter, fresh berries, and maple syrup. You can also serve them with peanut butter, vegan chocolate chips, banana slices, and crushed peanuts for a peanut butter twist.
Don’t be afraid to make them your own!
Storage Instructions
These pancakes can be refrigerated in an airtight container for up to 5 days or frozen for up to 3 months. If freezing, spread the cooked and cooled buttermilk pancakes across a baking sheet, making sure they are not overlapping. Transfer the baking sheet to the freezer and freeze for 2-3 hours, or until the pancakes are frozen completely solid.
Once frozen, place the pancakes into a freezer bag, such as a Stasher bag, or a freezer safe container.
Reheat leftover pancakes in the microwave, on a nonstick pan or on a griddle, or in the air fryer until warmed through.
Recipe FAQs
In order to prevent the pancakes from sticking to the cooking surface, it is important to grease it properly using non-stick cooking spray, vegan butter, or your favorite cooking oil such as olive oil or avocado oil. If you are oil-free and want to avoid using cooking oils or melted vegan butter, make sure to use a nonstick skillet, such as the Caraway Pan set.
The most common cause of chewy, dense pancakes is over-mixing the pancake batter. If you whip too much air into the pancake batter, it will over-activate the gluten, causing the batter to become tough and stringy. In order to make the fluffiest vegan buttermilk pancakes, it is important to whisk the pancake batter gently until just combined. Small lumps are okay!
No, unfortunately, these ingredients cannot be substituted 1 to 1. They absorb liquid very differently and act very differently in baked goods.
If your pancake batter was too thin, the pancakes are more likely to fall apart. For best results, add additional flour until the batter is thick enough.
More Vegan Pancake Recipes You May Enjoy:
- Easy Vegan Banana Pancakes
- Blender Oatmeal Pancakes (Vegan)
- Fluffy Vegan Carrot Cake Pancakes
- 3-Ingredient Vegan Pancakes (Gluten-Free)
- Fluffy Sweet Potato Pancakes (Gluten and Oil Free)
PS: Chris also made an amazing pancake recipe of his own — Savory Corn Pancakes w/ Cilantro Dill Cream Sauce. We battled it out on our YouTube channel, head over to the Vegan Pancake Recipe Challenge, and vote for the winner!
As always, please make sure you tag us on Instagram @sweetsimplevegan and @consciouschris and hashtag #sweetsimplevegan if you recreate any of our recipes, we love to see your photos!
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Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes Recipe
- Total Time: 30 minutes
- Yield: 9 pancakes
Description
Get ready for the Fluffiest Vegan Buttermilk Pancakes that you’ve ever had. They’re easy to make with just 7 ingredients in 30 minutes and guaranteed to hit the spot whenever you’re in need of a classic pancake stack. Chances are you have everything you need in the pantry to whip these up right now!
Ingredients
- 1 Flax egg (1 tablespoon Bob’s Red Mill flaxseed meal + 3 tablespoons water)
- 1 cup unsweetened almond milk
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 cup + 3 tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill Organic Unbleached all-purpose flour*
- 4 teaspoons baking powder
- 3 tablespoons Bob’s Red Mill vegan cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract (optional)
- ½ teaspoon salt
Instructions
- Prepare a flax egg. In a small bowl, combine the flaxseed meal along with the water and mix until uniform. Set aside for 10-15 minutes to thicken.
- Preheat a griddle or medium/large nonstick pan over medium heat.
- In another bowl, mix together the almond milk and apple cider vinegar. Set the mixture aside to rest for 5-10 minutes. The almond milk will curdle, forming vegan buttermilk.
- In the meantime, prepare the dry ingredients. In a large bowl, whisk together 1 cup of flour (to start), the baking powder, vegan cane sugar and salt until uniform. Once the flax egg and buttermilk are ready, add those into the dry ingredients along with the vanilla extract. Whisk together until just combined but do not over-stir as this creates tough pancakes. Add 1-3 tablespoons more flour as needed if the dough is watery– we added 2 more.
- Lightly grease the non-stick pan
or griddle and add the pancake batter 1/4 cup at a time. Flip once the edges begin to dry and bubbles appear on the surface. and cook for a few minutes more. - Serve warm.
or griddle and
add the pancake batter 1/4 cup at a time. Flip once the edges begin to dry and bubbles appear on the surface. and cook for a few minutes more.Notes
- We prefer to use a griddle to cut down on the cook time by cooking multiple pancakes at once.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
Disclaimer: This post is sponsored by Bob’s Red Mill, but all of our opinions remain our own!
I’m no longer vegan, back to pescetarianism since 2007. I’ll be making the dry ingredients mix and just add a poultry egg and 1 cup of buttermilk. 13 of my in laws family and us are renting a VRBO house next week and we love pancakes. I made this when I was vegan and loved it! I hope it works with the poultry egg and buttermilk! Any thoughts Jasmine and Chris?
Hi, this recipe looks delicious. All I have is Chickpea flour. Will Chickpea flour work as well?
No, unfortunately, chickpea flour will not work for this recipe!
Cant wait to make t‼️‼️
Absolutely fabulous! I have to be honest. I was skeptical. 4 teaspoons of baking powder to 1 cup of flower? But…followed the ingredients (ooops…added blueberries to some of them) and instructions, and ended up with a plate full of soft, luscious pancakes. They are the fluffiest most delicious pancakes I’ve ever eaten. My new go-to pancake recipe.
In case anyone was wondering, this works great using whole wheat pastry flour. So fluffy and I love the slightly salty flavor. I wonder if buckwheat (or half buckwheat) might be an option.
Wow, finally a perfect,delicious fluffy pancake recipe. Best pancakes ever. I’m a vegan chef n baker n I gave up on pancakes. But now I can make n serve again. Thank you. Can’t believe how fluffy they are. I used mix, whole wheat n all purpose. N little spray oil on my griddle n monk fruit for sweetener. Perfection.
Delicious, fluffy, easy to make and ingredients any vegan kitchen has on hand. Thank you so much!
I’ve tried several vegan pancake recipes, but this is definitely my favorite. They taste better than I remember non-vegan pancakes tasting.
What would be the nutrition value of one pancake, no sauce ?
We don’t have that info, sorry!
Does it work with coconut flour?
Since coconut flour absorbs so much liquid, chances are this recipe will not work with coconut flour.
Made these and in the words of Jasmine they were freakin BOMB! Lol. Best vegan pancake recipe ive tried in 5 years of being vegan. You guys always come thru with the good stuff lol. Killin the game.
These were the best pancakes! I’ve never been good a making them, but the recipe was so easy to follow. Thank you!!
These pancakes are just as fluffy and decadent as the pancakes I grew up eating on weekend mornings – but better! I used oatmilk for the nondairy milk, as well as white vinegar (as that’s what I had on hand). I kept the pancakes warm in a preheated 250 oven on a cooling rack. Served with lots of maple syrup, vegan bacon, fresh bananas and raspberries! Definitely the best vegan pancake recipe I’ve made so far. Thanks for the recipe!
OMG! It’s hard and at the same time easy to believe that your recipe is once again my go-to! Your chocolate chip cookies recipe is my go-to and pretty sure this one is going to be my vegan go-to pancake recipe too! I don’t have vegan cream cheese but the pancakes are so light and fluffy and I love that it uses ACV! I’ll be making more of your recipes from now on! Thanks for sharing!
Yay! I am so happy to heat that 🙂
I only made the pancakes but i added bananas and damn it was good. although i used red grape vinegar. For the milk sauce what is the substitute for cheese because i can not find vegan cheese in my area.
So good! Finally found a pancake recipe that my carnivorous significant other loved! He loved it! This is our new go to pancake recipe and it’s so easy. Pancakes were super fluffy and had great flavor. I didn’t make the sauce, but will try it next time. I’d be curious to know if I can easily double the recipe, as this would be amazing for when we have guests. Thanks Jasmine!
Yay, we are so happy to hear that you loved these! And yes, you can totally double it no problem 🙂