An easy and delicious recipe for healthy Pink Beet Pancakes. These fun Pink Beet Pancakes are quickly mixed in your blender, are super kid-friendly, full of healthy beets, naturally sweetened and can easily be made gluten free.
Beautiful naturally pink pancakes
In my experience as a mom and teacher, kids love bright, fun food. And with Valentine’s Day next week, I have all things pink on the brain.
Which means I’ve been cooking with beets.
This delicious beet pancake recipe is easy, delicious, and made with cooked beets, oats, applesauce, and yogurt. The perfect FUN and healthy breakfast recipe that quickly mixes up in your blender and is naturally gluten free when you use gluten free oats. They also freeze beautifully, so make a nice big batch as part of meal prep and enjoy for many breakfasts to come.
Beet recipes are my favorite way to get that amazing pink color that dazzles kiddos eyes. Plus, they also add an awesome boost of wonderful vitamins and minerals to a recipe. Fun + healthy = so many cool mom points.
However, while beets are full of so much goodness, they also rock a particularly earthy taste (some would describe it as “dirt”) that some children (and adults) find a bit off-putting.
But, friends, these beautiful Pink Beet Pancakes are far from earthy and off-putting. They are downright delicious, healthy and easy to make for the big and little loves in your life.
How do I know? Well, my head veggie-loaded-recipe-quality-control-expert (aka, my 8-year-old daughter) is one of the biggest beet dislikers on the planet. But when she (suspiciously at first) took a bite of these beet pancakes, her eyes lit up and the “mmmmmmmmmm” that left her lips could be heard throughout the house.
So yeah, they are beautiful, beet-loaded and kid-approved. Basically, I just won a gold medal with these beet pancakes.
Love these pink beet pancakes? Check out my Pink Beet Smoothie recipe and Fudgy Beet Gluten Free Brownies too!
Health benefits of beets
I mentioned above that beets are plant rockstars (because they are), but if you are like me….you want to know what a veggie offers up so you can decide what plants to veggie-load your life with and see why veggie-loading can so up the health of your foods.
By adding beetroot, you also add: (source)
- protein
- fiber
- Folate (vitamin B9) (this is helpful for cell and tissue growth)
- Manganese (an essential trace element)
- Potassium (good for heart health)
- Iron (an essential mineral that is necessary for the transport of oxygen in red blood cells)
- Vitamin C (something all us parents need oodles of in our diets)
Suggested toppings for Pink Beet Pancakes
I personally love them on their own, but they are always a little better with a little something something on top to make them extra fun. If you love a little extra pizzazz with your pancakes, consider topping your beet pancakes with one of these gems…
- Plain yogurt sweetened with a little maple syrup. This adds extra protein to the meal and when you sweeten the yogurt yourself, you can control the amount of sugar you add! Most sweetened yogurt have a lot more added sugar than many people would add on their own.
- Homemade whipped cream. Whipped cream makes everything feel like a treat. Homemade whipped cream is quick and easy to make. I also love that (again) you can control the amount of sweetener you add….which is usually a lot less than the amount of syrup or honey you might pour on top of pancakes.
- Natural nut butter. This is my daughter’s favorite pancake topping and a great way to add healthy fat to breakfast. I like to either warm up nut butter and drizzle it on top or use it to make little pancake sandwiches! Unsweetened sunflower seed butter is a great nut-free option.
Different methods for cooking your beet
Yep, you need to cook your beet. But it is something you can easily do ahead of time so that these beet pancakes can come together quickly on a busy morning.
Why do you need to cook your beet? Well, remember how I said that beets have an earthy flavor that some people feel iffy about? Well, cooking a beet helps that! Cooking a beet brings out the natural sugars in it and cuts the earthy flavor that makes so many people fear this healthy veggie!
But if you already have a raw beet in hand, there are lots of different ways to cook a beet. Some methods I have used are…
- Roast (suggested method, as I find it holds onto the color the best)
- Boiling
- Instant Pot
- Steaming
Tips:
- Cook and peel your beet first. Again, don’t try to shortcut this part. Cooking beets helps to bring out their natural sweetness and really helps these beet pancakes to hit the yum mark.
- If gluten free is important, make sure your oat flour is certified gluten free. Not all oats are gluten free. The legit ones have a label on the outside of their packaging that shows that they are certified gluten free and safe for those with gluten allergies.
Suggested adaptations for beet pancakes
- Not a beet fan? I get it. They aren’t for everyone. So if that pink color isn’t a must for you and your crew, you can sub in 1/2 cup pumpkin puree, sweet potato puree, or butternut squash puree for the beet.
- Make them dairy-free by subbing the plain yogurt in this recipe with your favorite non-dairy yogurt.
- Freeze them! Batch cook them ahead of time and stick them in your freezer to make a healthy breakfast that much easier to get on the table.
Other beautiful beet recipes that your family will love
- Fudgy Beet Gluten Free Brownies (vegan)
- The BEST Beet Hummus
- Homemade Strawberry Beet Fruit Leather
- Super Vitamin C Smoothie
- 10+ Delicious Beet Recipes
- Chocolate Beetroot Cake (with raspberry whipped cream)
- How To Roast Beets
Did you try this beet pancakes and now you’re hungry for more?
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Pink Beet Pancakes
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups rolled oats uncooked. If gluten free is important, make sure the oats are certified gluten free.
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon fine salt
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup plain yogurt
- 2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
- 4 ounce beets cooked and peeled. I find that roasted beets offer up a stronger color.
- ½ cup unsweetened applesauce or mashed ripe banana
- 3 Tablespoons maple syrup
- 2 Tablespoon neutral oil plus more for cooking
Instructions
- Combine oats, baking powder, and salt to a high-speed blender. Blend until oats become a fine powder.
- Pour the oat flour mixture into a bowl and set aside.
- In the now empty blender, combine remaining ingredients ( beets, egg, oil, yogurt, vanilla, syrup, applesauce). Blend until smooth and well combined. Add the oat flour mixture into the blender and blend again. Stop a few times to scrape the sides of the blender to ensure everything is well mixed.TIP: If you aren't using a high speed blender, considering pouring blended beet mixture into the bowl with the oat flour and mixing there. This can help throughly mix the batter without overtaxing your blender.
- Heat a pan or other skillet over medium-low heat. Add a little cooking oil to the pan. When the oil is hot, portion out the batter into small pancakes.
- Cook until you see small bubbles forming on the top of the pancake and the edges seem dry, about 2-3 minutes. Flip and cook the other side for another 2-3 minutes. Place cooked pancakes onto a plate and continue with the remaining batter.
- Enjoy warm with topping of choice. Let cool completely before storing leftovers in an air-tight container in fridge for 4-5 days or in freezer.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!
Comments
My daughter cannot get enough of these and I love them too! I freezed them with parchment paper so they were super easy for my daughter heat up herself in the morning for breakfast. The moment this batch was done she requested more. Needless to say, these will now be a staple in our house.
This recipe is awesome, and the pancakes came out beautifully. I love being able to incorporate vegetables into my toddlers diet, especially since he is very picky! However, I think it should be noted that the batter for these is extremely thick. I followed all the directions, but I ended up having to add about a cup of water and another egg. They turned out just fine, but I don’t know how they would’ve been if I hadn’t tried to thin out the batter. Other than that, these were great! Thank you for the recipe!
Hi Ariana! Thanks for sharing your experience. The batter is indeed thick, but I’ve never had it so thick that I needed to add more liquid! Was it a batter consistency like the mixture shown in the pictures? And you mentioned following directions, but just wondering if you swapped out any ingredients that might make the batter so thick. Regardless, so glad you enjoyed them!
Mine turned out quite liquid! Not sure if it’s too much beets, I think I put 1/3 of a big beet in. it burns on the outside with the inside still kind of mushy! But I don’t think it’s raw, just the beets lol! Still tasted really good, my baby ate almost half this recipe!
I’m glad they were still enjoyed, Emily! I wonder if you might be cooking them at too high of a temp if they are burning on the outside. Different cookware conducts heat in different ways depending on what material they are made out of, so you might just need to cook your pancakes low and slow!
I make these in bulk for our 1 year old and freeze them in individual servings for a quick grab and heat breakfast. She is an extremely picky eater but loves loves loves loves these!
I am so glad, Katie! That is so wonderful! Thanks for sharing.
Hi!
Can the yogurt be omitted? Thank you!
Hi Whittnie! You can sub with applesauce if needed! The yogurt does help give the pancakes some lift, so your’s might be a bit thinner but just as tasty
These are the fluffiest and pinkest beet pancakes I have made yet. I’ve made 3 recipes in total and this one is definitely my favorite. I had plain greek yogurt on hand, and no apple sauce, so I used the greek yogurt and a flavored Oat Milk that has some added sugar… but not much different I would think than a good apple. I just can’t rave enough about how yummy these are! I love the spinach oat pancakes on the blog so I shouldn’t be surprised, but the texture on these is so good. You would never realize it’s oats unless someone told you and that’s how I personally like my oats 🙂
What a lovely review, Natalie! I’m so glad these are such a hit for you! Thanks for taking the time to share.
Made as a sheet pan – baked for 9 mins at 425 degrees and used frozen dragon fruit that I slightly thawed instead of beets because that’s what I had on hand. I used heart, arrow and circle cookie cutters shaped and premade the night before Valentine’s Day, added a few sprinkles before baking and they turned out so cute!
That sounds AMAZING! I want to come to your house for Valentine’s Day breakfast!
Another winner! We made these for Valentine’s Day into heart shapes and they were the perfect way to start our day. My 3 year old devoured them. We added chocolate chips, of course. I love how easy these are to make with frozen beets and whip up in the blender. We froze our leftovers and are printing the recipe to make again!
Are you able to substitute quick cook steel cut oats instead of rolled oats or some other flour like quinoa or almond flour? Also, can you use flax or chia ‘eggs’ instead of regular egg/s? Thanks.
If you can breakdown the steel cut oats into a fine flour, then those should work fine. I have not tested this recipe with almond flour or quinoa flour, though. I have made these with flax eggs before, though they taste great, though don’t hold together as well.