These banana spinach pancakes are a delicious, easy and healthy breakfast option! Naturally sweetened and loaded with simple nutritious ingredients, these healthy pancakes taste great and are kid-friendly too! Freezer friendly to boot!
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Blender Spinach Pancakes
Mornings are busy and hectic in most houses as it is. Including mine. Everyone has a different time they need to be out the door and it feels a bit like a crazy ballet trying to get our family out into the world on time during the week.
So when it comes time for breakfast, I like to keep things extra simple and just focus on easy, healthy recipes that my family will eat without question. And my blender is almost always involved…
Which is why I love these pancakes. They are blended totally in my Vitamix (but will work even if you don’t have a high-speed blender. I share how below). So not only are they fast to make, but fewer dishes sitting in my sink to face later.
Can these easy spinach pancakes be made ahead of time.
Yes! All the yes. In fact, do that! It’ll make your life so much easier before that coffee kicks in and you will be so grateful for these spinach pancakes on a on a hectic morning. Not only will breakfast be a breeze, but you will feel so good knowing that they are heading into the day with a belly full of nutrient-dense foods.
To store in the fridge: Cook as directed and let cool completely. Store in an air-tight container in fridge for 4-5 days. Reheat in microwave or toaster oven.
To store in freezer: Cook as directed and let cool completely. Store in your favorite freezer safe container (I like to use Stasher Bags) and freeze. Take them out as needed to thaw in fridge overnight or pop into the microwave or toaster oven to reheat.
Tips for making these banana spinach pancakes
- If you don’t have a high-speed blender, blend the batter in batches. First blend the oat flour mixture in Step 1 and pour it into a bowl. Then add the wet ingredients + the spinach and banana to the blender and puree until smooth. Add the oat flour mixture back in and blend to combine. This ensures that the oats get processed down into a flour AND the spinach gets pureed so that you have a healthy pancake with a great texture!
- Make them ahead of time. Not a morning person? Totally okay! Just make them a head of time (see above for tips) and reheat in seconds in the morning.
- Don’t go crazy with the spinach. I know when i find something veggie-loaded that my daughter gets excited about, I am tempted to load it up with allllll the veggies! But, if you put too much spinach in these blender pancakes, they might end up too wet and too “green” tasting…which is no good for anyone.
Suggested adaptations
- Skip the sweetener. These are loaded with banana which brings a lot of natural sweetness, so you can skip the honey/maple syrup if you are serving these to babies or just like to keep added sugar to a minimum.
- Adjust the amount of spinach to fit your family. Even though these pancakes are green, they taste like a delicious banana pancake. However, if green foods make your kids nervous, half the amount of spinach in this recipe so that the spinach pancakes are a mellower shade of green.
- Make them as silver dollar pancakes. They make great finger food!
- Use them to make a pancake sandwich for lunch boxes! I LOVE to do this for my daughter because it means she is getting an easy added veggie in her lunch and she loves the novelty of a pancakes sandwich!
Topping ideas for banana spinach pancakes
What are your favorite pancake toppings? In my option, there is no wrong way to pancake, but if you need a few ideas on how to jazz up these spinach pancakes, here are some of our favorite toppings!
- nut butter ( or sunflower seed butter for a nut-free option)
- honey
- maple syrup
- homemade whipped cream (we love this because we can control how much sugar we add and it makes the pancakes feel like dessert! Plus you can make it ahead of time and store it in the fridge for days)
- whipped coconut cream (a dairy-free alternative to whipped cream)
- chia jam . We love drizzle this warm over our pancakes but cold is good too!
Other healthy pancakes for kids
I love a good blender pancake recipe. Especially a healthy pancake recipe that kids love! Here are some other veggie-packed pancake recipes that kiddos will adore seeing on their plate in the morning!
- Healthy Apple Carrot Pancakes
- Healthy Sweet Potato Pancakes
- Veggie-Loaded Chocolate Pancakes
- Banana-Spinach Pancake Pizza {Paleo}
- Pink Beet Pancakes
Banana Spinach Pancakes
Equipment
- Blender
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats uncooked. If gluten free is important, make sure the oats are certified gluten free.
- 2 tsp baking powder aluminum free suggested
- 1/4 tsp fine salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 large eggs
- 1/4 cup milk of choice (I used unsweetened almond milk)
- 1 cup mashed ripe banana sub unsweetened applesauce
- 2 tbsp maple syrup or honey
- 2 tbsp melted coconut oil or avocado oil plus more for cooking
- 1-2 handfuls baby spinach depending on how green you want them
Instructions
- Add oats, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to a high-speed blender. Blend until oats become a fine powder. Pour into a medium bowl and set aside.
- Combine spinach, banana, milk, oil, eggs, and syrup/honey in the blender. Blend until mixture is very smooth and well pureed.
- Pour oat mixture into the blender. Blend until well combined and batter is smooth. If you do not have a high-speed blender, see above for tips.
- Heat a skillet over medium-low heat and add a little oil. Once hot, portion out the pancake batter into the pan.
- Cook until you see small bubbled forming on the top of the pancake and the edges seem dry, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for another 2 minutes. Place cooked pancakes onto a plate and continue with the remaining batter.
- Enjoy warm with topping of choice. Let cook completely before storing leftovers in an air-tight container in fridge for 4-5 days or in freezer
Made these this morning and they were fantastic. I left out the sweetener and they were still PLENTY sweet from the bananas. Also sub’d whole wheat flour for the oatmeal (I was out) – have you tried them with almond flour?
Yay! I am so glad they were a hit! I have not tried them with almond flour, but now I want to!
Roughly how much is a cup of mashed banana? 1.5 bananas? I have no concept
Every banana is different in size, which is why I suggest mashing the banana and measuring out a cup. But, yes for me, the one cup was about 1 1/2 medium bananas.
I’ve made these everyday since you posted them. So good! I skip the honey and sprinkle a few mini chocolate chips in for fun. The family inhales them.
Can be made with flax egg or chia egg, vegan option? Did you try or I should :)))
I haven’t tried yet but I have similar recipes that work really well with flax eggs! If you try, please report back!
Taesha, very similar comments for these much like your Carrot Apple Pancakes. I definitely indulged in more than a few servings of this recipe this weekend and have aptly nicknamed them “Hulk Pancakes” which my husband loves! This will be in regular menu rotation for hard ultra-endurance event training weekends. I did substitute date syrup in both to reduce the sugar and lengthen the healthy carb burn. Super tasty and chock full of recovery nutrients. Bravo on a delicious breakfast recipe! And broadening a die-hard waffle fan’s breakfast perspective. Both recipes make a hefty serving and stocked up in the freezer.
I love using date syrup in my recipes for the exact reasons you mentioned! So glad you enjoyed
Just made these. They are so delicious and toddler approved. I left out the syrup because my bananas were over ripe. But, definitely saving for another day!
I love doing that too! Bananas often do enough sweetening in baked goods for us and I love skipping added sugar where I can.
Awesome recipe! I add 3-4 cups of spinach. So good served with peanut butter!
Yes! So good with PB….and chia jam!
Made these this morning, so yummy!!! Everyone loved them, including my super picky four year old. Thank you for this recipe, going to try they carrot/apple pancakes next 😊
Yay! Rave reviews from little food critics is the best!
These were delicious!! I made these for my husband and he said these are his new favorite pancake! Thank you so much for the recipe.
Yay! I am so glad to hear that Rebecca!