These Vegan Waffles are made beautiful and extra good for you with addition of a special healthy ingredient: beet! They are fluffy, simple to make, and are as easy on the eyes as they are on the taste buds!
Beets? In waffles? Yes, TNNers….I did that. Truthfully, that probably doesn’t surprise you longtime followers too much since I veggie-load food in all kinds of ways.
These beet waffles were inspired by my oh-so beloved beet pancakes and YOUR request for more vegan/egg-free veggie-loaded recipes.
They are a total win in our house and I LOVE that they are made with things we usually have on hand (yes, we almost always have roasted beets in the freezer). These waffles are perfect for bringing a little fun and veggies to the breakfast table and utterly ideal for a healthy Valentine’s Day breakfast
These vegan waffles are fluffy, delicious, and full of good-for-you ingredients. Made with whole grains, cooked beets, and are naturally sweetened with maple syrup. They are the perfect healthy breakfast or waffle to make during meal prep to stock your freezer with.
Why beets are so dang good for you
Beets are basically plant rock stars. They are loaded with nutrients (source) and are totally worth working into your diet in oodles of veggie-loaded ways (see below for some more TNN beet recipes!)
Curious as to WHAT exactly you get from a little extra beet? When you add beetroot to your food, you also add:
- protein
- fiber
- Folate (vitamin B9) (this is helpful for cell and tissue growth)
- Manganese
- 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 need oodles of in our diets)
How do I cook my beet for these waffles?
Cooking your beet for these vegan waffles is a must. Stress not! It is something you can easily do ahead of time so that these vegan waffles can come together quickly on a busy morning.
Cooking your beet will help to reduce that earthy flavor beets naturally have and bring out its natural sweetness. So don’t skip this step!
Some methods for prepping your beet…
- Roast (suggested as I find it holds onto the color the best)
- Boiling
- Instant Pot
- Steaming
Time saving hack! Many grocery stores have pre-cooked beets in the freezer or refrigeration section that you can use in these beet waffles. However, those beets don’t tend to have as much juice/color and might not result in a waffle with a strong pink color.
Why are my beet waffles a different shade of pink?
I get this question all the time when it comes to my other beet recipes. And I totally get it when people are hoping for this blazing pink goodie and the color isn’t quite what they expected.
Here is the thing. Mother Nature isn’t a factory and doesn’t make every beet the same. The color your beet gives your vegan waffles depends on a few things
How your beet was cooked. I find that roasting beets holds onto the colors the best and creates for the brightest waffles. But if your opt for another method, your waffles will still be veggie-loaded (the important part) and still pink…just maybe not as bright.
The beet it self. How juicy and red your beet is will vary from beet to beet. If your beet is old, dry or grown out of season, it might not hold as much natural red color and, thus, not make waffles as bright of a pink. I made multiple batches of these beet waffles while testing and every batch had a different shade of pink…even though all of them were cooked exactly the same way (roasting).
Suggested Adaptations
Use whatever milk you prefer. If vegan or dairy-free is not needed, you can use whatever milk you typically enjoy when making these waffles.
Make these waffles gluten free by using a cup-for-cup gluten free flour blend in place of the white whole wheat flour. This is a brand that I like. (affiliate link)
Make these as pancakes. Just portion out the batter on a greased hot griddle of pan and enjoy as pancakes if you prefer or don’t have a waffle iron.
Kitchen gear I used to make these vegan waffles
I get asked all the time what blender and waffle iron I use and suggest. And, trust me, I have tried lots of them! These two products are what I used to make these vegan Beet Waffles and many of my other veggie-loaded recipes!
This post contains affiliate links.
More beet loaded recipes that will dazzle you
- Kid-Friendly Pink Beet Smoothie
- Pink Beet Pancakes
- Fudgy Beet Gluten Free Brownies (vegan)
- The BEST Beet Hummus
- 10+ Delicious Beet Recipes
- Chocolate Beetroot Cake
- How to Roast Beets
Did you try this beet loaded recipe and now you’re hungry for more?
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Beet Vegan Waffles
Equipment
- waffle iron
- Blender
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond milk or plant milk of choice
- 4 oz cooked and peeled beet about 1/2 cup when pureed or one small beet
- 2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 cup maple syrup
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 cups white whole wheat flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil
Instructions
- In your blender, combine nut milk, vanilla extract, maple syrup, beet and apple cider vinegar. Blend until smooth and beet is completely pureed. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. The sifting is an optional step but really helps to make the waffles fluffy.
- Pour the beet mixture from the blender into the dry ingredients. Add the melted coconut oil and gentle mix the batter together. Do not over mix. Batter will be thick.
- Heat up your waffle iron (see above for which iron I use). If needed, put a little oil on the iron's plates to prevent sticking. Once hot, pour 1/2 cup of batter onto your hot iron.
- Close your waffles iron and let cook. How long will depend on how hot your particular waffle iron cooks, but you will know the waffles are done when the the steam has COMPLETELY stopped coming from the waffle maker. If there is steam, your waffle is still cooking. My waffle iron cooks these in about 5-6 minutes.
- Once each waffle finishes cooking, remove it from the iron and place on a baking sheet in a 200℉ oven to keep warm while your finish cooking the rest of the batter.
- Enjoy warm topped with berries, extra syrup, whipped coconut cream, or a little nut butter.
- Allow leftovers to completely cool before storing them in an air-tight container in your fridge for up to 4 days or in your freezer for up to a month.
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!
This recipe stuck to everything. I had to throw away multiple waffles and pancakes because they kept sticking. I have no idea why. I have a nonstick waffle maker and they still stuck. Tastes good, but will not make again.
Sorry to hear that, Sarah! I unfortunately don’t know why either, as I had zero issues with sticking in my testing. Any changes to the recipe?
No changes to recipe, but maybe (based off other readers post) I should have left them on the waffle iron longer? I can try again.
Hopefully it works the next time!
These were great. Not too sweet but also the beet flavor was nicely balanced.
I am so glad, Trish!
made this today for our sunday breakfast. my 21 months old son loved them!❤️ we are not vegans so used butter (didn’t have coconut oil) and cows milk. they were delicious and will definitely make them again!
my waffle maker is old so i buttered it loads and left waffles cooking until no steam came off (to avoid waffles sticking). took almost 10 minutes and it was worth the wait!
I am so glad you enjoyed them Jacqui! Yes, letting the waffles cook until the steaming is complete is totally key to crisp waffles!
Another incredible recipe from TNN! Roasting the beats ahead of time really helped with the dinner hustle. Beats are another veggie that is hard to eat, but this recipe and the beet pancakes make them taste delicious! Thank you for another great dinner/breakfast rotation!
I am so glad you enjoyed, Andrea! I agree, roasting the beets ahead is key for ease and they freeze great!
These are delicious! My kids love the color and love the taste. I think they are delicious too! We have made them 3 times and love making extra to pop in the toaster for school day breakfast or snacks.
I am so glad you enjoyed, DeAne! I love freezing these and popping them in the toaster too.
Ok I need a valentines breakfast that’s vegan and gluten free (and pink of course!). I was going to use your pancake recipe with flax eggs but couldn’t find reviews on how that might work and I saw this one but it uses “regular” flour. So what do you recommend- making the waffles
gluten free or the pancakes vegan? Thanks!
I would go with these waffles using a cup-for-cup GF flour (I like Bob’s Red Mill). The pancakes can be made with flax eggs, but it also has yogurt in it. And while it probably would work with coconut milk yogurt, I haven’t tried it so I don’t know how successful that would be.
A note with these when using GF flour, I find GF flour needs a little extra time to absorb the moisture in a batter. So mix until JUST combined (don’t over mix or they will get flat and gummy) and let the batter sit for a few minutes.
Does not work with a vertical waffle iron, the mixture is too thick, I will try your pancake recipe instead!
Oh good to know! Thanks for sharing
These are AMAZING!! Mine cooked beautifully and had a lovely pink color (I used roasted beets). The beet taste was subtle, the structure was great, and overall, they are one of my favorite waffles ever!
I ams SO glad you enjoyed them so much!
Very different from classical Belgian waffles. I love waffles and I will try this recipe for sure! Thanks for sharing it!
Oy vey… disastrous to the point of being almost comical. Stuck every time, tried three different kinds of oil with no luck. Also tried no oil. If I left the waffle on the iron for longer it just browned, then blackened… but still stuck. The batter was as thick as playdough, tried thinning it out slightly with water and milk but didn’t help the cooking issue. Ugh so frustrating.
Hi Ali! I am sorry to hear it was a disaster and so frustrating. The batter is thick (because I have found that is best fro nice crisp waffles), but play dough sounds too dry! Did you make any changes to the recipe? I’d love to help you troubleshoot, as I’ve had so much luck with this recipe!
So I have to say, even though I thought they came out terrible, my 15month old grabbed one from my stack on the counter and immediately devoured it. I ended up saving the least burnt ones and he LOVES them.
The only change was I used cow’s milk instead of non dairy. I did mix it all up in my ninja blender, where I pureed the beets, and so I wonder if maybe the blender mixed it too much? Not sure if that would cause the dough to be different. I had also doubled the recipe, but im pretty sure I didn’t make any mistakes with the math there.
I will have to try making them again since my little guy loved them so much.
I’m glad your little guy loved them! The mixing might have been the issue. It activated the gluten and can make waffles super gummy.
The fact that I “activated gluten” makes me sound like I know what I’m doing in the kitchen lol.
I’ll try again in a couple weeks, without the activation, and let you know how it goes!
Ha! 😂
So I have to say, even though I thought they came out terrible, my 15month old grabbed one from my stack on the counter and immediately devoured it. I ended up saving the least burnt ones and he LOVES them.
The only change was I used cow’s milk instead of non dairy. I did mix it all up in my ninja blender, where I pureed the beets, and so I wonder if maybe the blender mixed it too much? Not sure if that would cause the dough to be different. I had also doubled the recipe, but im pretty sure I didn’t make any mistakes with the math there.
I will have to try making them again since my little guy loved them so much.
Ugh sorry for the double post, my phone told me the first one didn’t go through