Green Vegan Gluten-Free Protein Pancakes
These green vegan gluten-free protein pancakes are made with chickpea flour, plant-based protein powder and spinach for a delicious and fun twist on everybody’s favourite breakfast. This recipe is very easy to make in a blender with just a few simple ingredients. Top your green pancakes with pure maple syrup, almond butter and banana and enjoy. This recipe contains 34 grams of plant-based protein and 12 grams of fibre per serving!
What is Chickpea Flour?
Chickpea flour, also called besan, gram flour or garbanzo bean flour is made simply from ground dried chickpeas. It’s super versatile and I use it often for everything from vegan omelettes to muffins and my favourite, pancakes.
If you haven’t made my vegan chickpea flour pancakes and are looking for a vegan gluten-free pancake without protein powder that still has a good amount of protein, head over and check that recipe out. You basically only need 1 ingredient to make them. They’re that easy.
Where to Find Chickpea Flour
I buy a generic organic chickpea flour made by my local natural food store but I’ve bought Bob’s Red Mill in the past and used it with success. They definitely vary brand by brand so you might have to experiment a couple times before you find one you like.
You should be able to find chickpea flour in any well-stocked grocery store or natural food store. You can also buy it online here.
Does chickpea flour taste like beans?
Yes, when it’s raw. Well, I don’t know if it’s exactly bean-flavoured but uncooked chickpea flour definitely has a distinct flavour and smell. If you taste the raw batter and freak out, don’t worry, once cooked, that distinct flavour fades away and it’s delicious. I actually like the taste of it raw though so maybe you will too.
Can I make my own chickpea flour?
Yes! Personally, I just buy chickpea flour because it’s quite inexpensive but you can definitely make your own. You will need dried chickpeas and a fine mesh sieve to make it. Add the dried chickpeas to a food processor or high-powered blender and blend until they form a flour. Run it through the strainer and repeat a few times to get it as fine as possible. The finer the flour, the best the result when used in recipes.
This spinach pancake recipe sneaks in some nutrition thanks to the big handful of fresh spinach that’s blended into the batter, and thanks to the magic of chickpea flour, these green pancakes are naturally gluten-free and grain-free. Add the vegan protein powder, you’ve got yourself a vegan protein pancake recipe that’s oil-free, sugar-free, low in fat and protein-rich.
Recipe Success Tips
- Make sure you don’t add too much water. 1/2 cup is the perfect amount. If you add to much they won’t be fluffy and they won’t cook as well. The recipe will still work if you add too much but they’ll be thin and a little on the mushy side. The batter should be quite thick, just barely pourable. If you do add to much water, you can always add a bit more chickpea flour 1 tbsp at at time to get back to a thicker consistency.
- Use a kitchen scale if you have one. For best results, I always recommend using a kitchen scale so you can measure ingredients accurately. If you don’t have one, that’s okay, just try to be as accurate as possible. You can get one on Amazon for about $15 and they’re super handy, especially if you do a lot of baking.
- Pre-heat the pan to medium-high heat.
- Let the batter rest for 5-10 minutes before cooking.
- The raw batter does not taste good but don’t worry, once cooked they taste great!
Recipe Nutrition Details
This low-fat, high-fibre recipe makes 6 small or 3-4 larger pancakes for one. One serving provides 338 calories with grams of 43 carbohydrates, 34 grams of plant-based protein and 4 grams of fat. You’ll also be getting 12 grams of dietary fibre and 40% of your daily iron requirement. This recipe is also a good source of vitamin K, folate, phosphorus, zinc, copper and manganese.
The nutrition details were calculated using stevia as the sweetener. If you use pure maple syrup or an unrefined sugar such as coconut sugar you’ll have to adjust for the additional carbohydrates. For more information on plant-based nutrition, read my vegan nutrition guide.
More Vegan Pancakes
Loving this vegan pancake recipe? Check these ones out too:
- Vegan Buckwheat Pancakes – gluten-free!
- Vegan Chia Seed Pancakes – a reader favourite
- Vegan Chickpea Flour Pancakes – basic but delicious gluten-free chickpea flour pancakes.
- 4-Ingredient Fluffy Vegan Protein Pancakes – fluffy protein pancakes
- Vegan Banana Pancakes with Berries – berry banana pancakes!
Did you try this recipe?
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I’d love to hear about it! Click here to leave a review and be sure to tag me @runningonrealfood if you post it on social media.
Green Vegan Gluten-Free Protein Pancakes
- Prep Time: 10 mins
- Cook Time: 8 mins
- Total Time: 18 minutes
- Yield: 1
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Stovetop
- Cuisine: American
- Diet: Vegan
Description
These fun green pancakes pack in 34 grams of plant-based protein and 12 grams of fibre per serving! They’re easy to make in the blender, have a light, fluffy texture and taste amazing and are the perfect post-workout meal topped with blueberries and banana.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup chickpea flour (62 g)
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
- handful of fresh spinach (35 g)
- 1 serving vegan vanilla protein powder (30 g)
- 1 teaspoon unprocessed stevia (optional, unprocessed stevia is green in colour and the ideal choice but processed stevia works too)
- 1/2 cup water
Instructions
- Add all of the ingredients to a blender and mix until smooth. Be careful not to add too much water or they won’t be as fluffy or cook as well.
- Let the batter sit for 5-10 minutes. While it’s resting, heat a non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat.
- Spray the pan with some non-stick cooking spray then scoop the batter into the pan to form 6 small pancakes. You can vary the size if you want, it should make either 3 large pancakes, 4-5 medium ones or 6 small ones.
- Let them cook until there are some bubbles in the batter and they’re starting to look fluffy and cooked around the edges. Flip and cook for another couple of minutes.
- Serve right away.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1
- Calories: 338
- Sugar: 2 g
- Fat: 4 g
- Carbohydrates: 43 g
- Fiber: 12 g
- Protein: 34 g
Keywords: vegan spinach pancakes, green pancakes, chickpea flour pancakes
These pancakes are delicious, I love getting some greens into my breakfast and don’t always feel like having a smoothie. These have become a regular meal for me, great protein after a morning workout.
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Same! I love getting greens in at breakfast even if I’m not having an actual savoury breakfast – although I have made these as savoury pancakes too and served them with avocado. I love them after the gym as well!
Could I use brown rice flour instead of chickpea flour?
I think that should work but I haven’t tested it. They should cook up ok but I can’t guarantee the texture. Let me know if you try.
I just tried it with brown rice flour. I also used a different protein powder and no spinach to make a white version. Overall they were very good! They were slightly grainier than I expected but other than that SUPER TASTY!
Glad it worked out! Brown rice flour would definitely change the consistency and protein powders really vary in how grainy they are. Anyways – glad they worked for you! You can also check out my 4-ingredient protein pancakes for another good one!
Really nice, fluffy pancakes but the salt measurements seems a bit off, should it really be 1/2 tablespoon of sea salt?
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Sorry, where does it say tablespoon? It’s half a teaspoon! Sorry if I missed that somewhere.
These protein pancakes look so delicious! I’d love to start my day with these!
★★★★★
I do love starting my day with these! hah 😉
I’ve never cooked with chickpea flour before! This really sounds delish! Can’t wait to try.
I love chickpea flour! I use it for muffins, breads, cookies and of course pancakes. It’s so versatile for a gluten and grain-free baking option. Love it’s higher protein content too.
Now those are some powerhouse pancakes! I bet they would be great savory for dinner too.
Love how much protein these contain!!!
Ya! It’s pretty great! Such an easy way to get in some protein in the morning.