3-Ingredient Quinoa Pancakes - High Protein, Quick, and Easy

These simple 3-Ingredient Quinoa Pancakes are hearty, delicious, and versatile - but best of all they are absolutely quick to whip up! They make a healthy breakfast for those rushed mornings when you need to get everyone out of the door quickly! (Skip to Recipe.)

I love, love, love this time of year.

There's something magical that happens when that first whiff of fall shows itself in the air. Your senses heighten, the leaves suddenly look clearer, you detect a subtle earthy scent on the wind, and you pull your sweater a teeny bit closer. The change tiptoes stealthily in during the night - one day you're wearing shorts and desperately looking for shade to escape the searing summer heat, and the next morning you wake up thinking, brrrr, maybe I should turn the furnace on. You lament about it to strangers, but inside, you're secretly excited.

At least, I am.

I come alive with those first subtle signs of autumn. They may signal the end of summer and the dying of all things lush and green, but to me, those tiny changes signal a rebirth; a new season, a new beginning, and a whole new range of possibilities. Yes! The year starts now.

It all starts with my birthday near the end of August, exactly four months before Christmas (because of course, a birthday is always fun) and the excitement just keeps on mounting. It's always wrapped up with the start of school; with the intoxicating smell and feel of brand new school supplies, with the fun of shopping for new school clothes, and the excitement of connecting up with friends you haven't seen all summer.

Then the excitement just keeps mounting as we head into the harvest. Growing up on a farm, this was the best time of year. The fields were golden and all hands were needed to help get the crops and the garden in. We don't harvest big crops any more, but the garden is producing a rich bounty that must be picked, stored, or preserved. It is a busy time and a season of abundance.

Once the garden is safely put to bed, the reward for our labours is celebrating the harvest with a Thanksgiving feast. Then we dive into the crazy fun of Halloween. After that, for two wonderful months, the thrill continues with the mounting excitement of the holiday season. This whole favourite time of year ends with the joy of Christmas and happy New Year's festivities. (After that, of course, comes the hibernation spell of our long, cold Canadian winter, but we won't go into that right now.)

That's why I love this season, these four months that start right now.

I love harvesting and I love wearing sweaters.

I love autumn leaves and I love foggy mornings.

I love packing school lunches and I love making heartier fall breakfasts.

These oh-so-easy pancakes are a winner. They're made with only three ingredients - one ingredient, if you don't count water or salt - and you can make the batter up ahead to quickly whip up fresh pancakes all week long. Plus, their main ingredient is that healthy, high protein little quinoa grain. Doesn't that sound like a great back-to-school, too-busy-to-cook kind of a real meal deal?

How do we Make These Easy Quinoa Pancakes?

You just soak a bunch of quinoa in water overnight.

Then you drain it and rinse it.

Add some fresh water and a pinch of salt.

Whiz it in a blender.

And whip up these delicious little pancakes.

All toasty brown and nutty. They're dense and slightly chewy. So satisfying.

Serve 'em with a golden slurp of maple syrup.

Or my favourite way - with a spoonful of rich honey yogurt, fresh fruit, and then the drizzle of maple syrup.

You can even use quinoa pancakes as a base for savoury toppings. Try piling them up with chili, your favourite curry, or a hearty stew for a fantastic dinner.

* * * * *

Kitchen Frau Notes: The absolute beauty of this recipe is that you can keep the batter in the fridge for up to a week. Longer than that and it starts to ferment, but is still edible - more like a sourdough pancake. (For African injera pancakes you actually ferment the grain, teff, in order to make them.) I like to  make up a double or triple batch of the batter on the weekend to have ready for the week. The cooked pancakes also reheat well in the microwave for even faster make-ahead breakfasts.

Do not try making these pancakes with cooked quinoa. It won't work. (I tried.)

I did an experiment and a taste test to see what other grains worked if I substituted them for the quinoa:

*Buckwheat and ivory teff worked really well. They also made great little pancakes.

Black rice, brown rice, and millet did NOT work well.

3-Ingredient Quinoa Pancakes

• 1 cup quinoa (or raw buckwheat or ivory teff)
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup (120ml) water + water for soaking

Put the quinoa into a bowl or jar and cover with water by several inches. Leave it to soak overnight or at least six hours, either in the fridge or at room temperature.

Dump the soaked quinoa into a fine-meshed sieve, drain, and rinse it well under running water. Drain again.

Add the drained quinoa to the canister of a blender, along with the salt and the ½ cup of water. Blend until smooth.

Add a small amount of butter or oil to a non-stick skillet or spray it with cooking oil spray and heat it over medium heat. Pour small amounts of batter into the skillet (2 tablespoons for each pancake) to make pancakes that are about 2½ inches in diameter. Cook until light brown underneath, then flip and cook the other side.

If you make larger amounts of this recipe, the batter will keep in the fridge for up to a week.

Makes about 15 small pancakes.

Guten Appetit!

Sign up here to receive new Kitchen Frau recipes directly to your email inbox, and get a handy and useful kitchen tip with each recipe.

If you like my recipes, follow me on Instagram, Pinterest, Twitter, and Facebook. You’d make my day!

Don’t forget to PIN IT to save the recipe:

 

You might also like:

High Protein Pancakes

Two-Ingredient Banana Pancakes

Banana Buckwheat Pancakes

Cooking with Kids: Gingerbread Pancakes