by 
Enjoy the delicious blend of red lentils and aromatic spices in these Red Lentil Pancakes. Perfect for breakfast or as a nourishing part of a main meal. These egg-free, dairy-free and gluten-free pancakes are a perfect choice for those with special dietary requirements.
Lentils have always been a staple in our house, and I'm excited to share my new recipe for red lentil pancakes with you. They join the ranks of some of my other family-friendly lentil recipes such as lentil puree, lentil curry, lentil pasta sauce, lentil shepherds pie and lentil croquettes.
Jump to:
Reasons to Love this Recipe
- Wholesome Ingredients: Packed with red lentils, carrots, spinach and spices these pancakes are a wholesome and nutritious option that will leave you feeling satisfied and nourished.
- Special Diet-Friendly: With no eggs, dairy or gluten, these pancakes cater perfectly to those on special diets or those with dietary restrictions.
- Easy To Adapt: Try them with different spices or add some other veggies into the mix.
Ingredient Information (& Alternative Suggestions)
For the full recipe, with ingredient amounts, scroll to the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Red Split Lentils: Serve as the essential base ingredient. Other lentil varieties will not produce the same result, stick to red lentils.
- Garlic: Adds flavour, if you prefer a milder flavour, or don't have garlic to hand, you can substitute with garlic powder or omit it altogether.
- Carrot: Adds a touch of natural sweetness and texture. Feel free to replace with other grated vegetables like zucchini (courgette) or omit if you prefer.
- Spinach: Adds a pop of freshness and a boost of nutrition. Skip if you wish.
- Smoked Paprika: Elevates the flavour profile of the pancakes. If you don't have smoked paprika your can use regular paprika or omit it.
- Cumin: Brings a warm, earthy flavour to the pancakes, adding depth to the overall taste. If you are not a fan of cumin you can omit it or replace with ground coriander or curry powder for alternative flavour profiles.
- Lemon Juice: The lemon juice really brightens the flavours, adds a tangy notes and balances the earthiness of the lentils and spices. If you don't have lemon juice, you can substitute with lime juice or even apple cider vinegar for a tangy element.
- Salt: A little salt enhances the overall flavours of the lentil pancakes, balancing the other ingredients and bringing out their natural tastes. Adjust the amount according to your personal preference and skip if making for a baby.
Step by Step Instructions and Cooking Tips
This is a simple recipe, that doesn't take long to make, but you do have to allow time to soak the lentils to ensure you get an easy blending, creamy batter.
- Soak the lentils overnight - Rinse the red split lentils, then place them in a bowl and cover with water. Allow to the lentils to soak overnight ideally but for at least for 4-6 hours. This helps soften them, making them easier to blend and cook.
- Drain the lentils - After soaking drain the lentils using a fine-mesh sieve. Discard the soaking water.
- Puree lentils - Transfer the drained lentils to a blender. Add a small amount of water, around ½ cup, to aid in blending. Puree until you achieve a smooth batter-like consistency. The batter should be thick but pourable.
TIP: Start with a smaller amount of water and gradually add more as needed. The goal is to have a smooth batter that can be easily poured but not too watery. - Sauté Vegetables - Heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan. Add the grated carrot and cook for a few minutes until it begins to soften. Then, add the spinach and sauté until it wilts. Finally, add in the spices and continue to cook for a further minute to release their flavours.
Tip: Grate the carrot using a fine grater to ensure it cooks quickly and evenly. - Mix the batter - Mix the pureed lentils and sautéd vegetables together until combined.
- Fry - You can create either large, crepe-like pancakes for filling or small, tablespoon-sized pancakes perfect for dipping or snacking.
- Large Pancakes: Heat a non-stick pan over medium-high heat. Pour around ¼ of the mixture onto the hot pan, spread it in a circular shape, and cook for 3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side.
- Small Pancakes: Heat a non stick pan, over medium-high heat. Drop a tablespoon of batter onto the pan, spreading it slightly with the back of a spoon. Cook for around 2 minutes on each side.
TIP: Adjust the heat if needed to prevent burning or undercooking. Look for bubbles forming and ensure the pancake is easily flippable before turning.
Serving Suggestions
For the larger, crepe style, pancake fill one side with your choice of ingredients, such as sautéed vegetables, slow cooked shredded chicken , guacamole or hummus. Fold it over and serve with a side salad.
Smaller pancakes are ideal for baby-led weaning, kids or for snacking. Serve them with some dips (such as avocado dip, beetroot dip, paprika dip or hummus) or alongside curries or stews. Their bite-sized nature make them perfect for dipping into flavourful sauces.
Recipe FAQs
No, this recipe has been developed using red split lentils, other lentils will not break down in the same way.
Yes, this is necessary to soften the lentils for blending into a batter.
No, you should no cook the lentils, doing this will change the texture and the recipe will not work.
Babies can typically start eating lentil pancakes once they have been introduced to solid foods, from 6 months plus. Just ensure that you skip any added salt.
If your baby hasn't already tried lentil or any of the ingredients within this pancake you should start by introducing a small amount for the first few servings and watch closely.
Smaller tablespoon-sized pancakes will be perfect for little hands.
Lentil pancakes are best served warm, straight after cooking. You can refrigerate and freeze them but the taste and texture is not as good. I often freeze them and my boys are happy to eat them cold or re-heated.
Refrigerate: Store in an airtight container for up 1 day.
Freeze: Store in an airtight container for up to 3 months.
Reheat: You can gently heat in a pan, microwave or toast them.
Other Recipes You May Like..
Looking for more healthy kid recipes?Sign up for my free recipe newsletter to get new family friendly recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more kid-friendly inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram.
Lentil Pancakes
Ingredients
- 180g (1 cup) Red Split Lentils
- ½ cup Water
- 1 Garlic Clove ,minced
- 1 Carrot ,finely grated
- ¼ teaspoon Ground Cumin
- ½ teaspoon Smoked Paprika
- 2 handfuls Baby Spinach ,finely chopped into ribbons
- 2 tablespoon Fresh Lemon Juice
- ½ tsp Salt ,do NOT add if making for a baby
- 1 tablespoon Olive Oil ,for frying
Instructions
- Add the lentils to a mixing bowl and cover with water. Allow to soak overnight.
- Drain the lentils and add to a high-speed blender along with the water. Blend until you have a smooth batter.
- In a frying pan, heat ½ tablespoon of the oil over a medium-high heat. Add the carrot, garlic, smoked paprika, cumin and spinach, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until softened (around 4-5 mins).
- In a large mixing bowl mix together the lentil batter along with the sautéed vegetables, lemon juice and salt (if adding).
- Heat a non stick frying pan over a medium-high heat. When hot add a drizzle of oil (or alternatively use a spray oil).
Large Crepe-Like Pancakes
- Pour around ¼ of the mixture onto the hot pan and spread it in a circular shape using the back of a spoon.
- Cook for 3 minutes on one side, then flip and cook for 2 more minutes on the other side.
- Remove pancake from the pan and repeat with the remaining mixture. Serve
Small Pancakes
- Add a tablespoon of the batter to the pan and use the back of your spoon to spread it out a little (to make them thinner) Repeat to fill the pan.
- Cook for around 2 minutes on each side (this will vary depending on the pan, heat and how thin your pancake is). You want to look for bubbles forming and your pancakes should be able to be flipped easily.
- Remove pancakes from the pan and repeat with the remaining mixture. Serve
Video
Recipe Notes
- The amount of oil you need will depend on your pan. I find I can use very little when using a non-stick pan, a light spray is usually enough.
- I do not normally add salt to my recipes but I do feel that the salt greatly enhances the recipe and helps to balance the flavours. This is optional and for taste only. Leave out if cooking for a baby.
- These pancakes are best served with a dip or curry or stuffed like you would a wrap. See post for suggestions and recipe links.
Darlene
Hi, I tried making these but they would fall apart. What am I doing wrong? They look nothing like your picture
Amy
Hi Darlene, I'm not sure what went wrong. Did you use uncooked lentils? Did you drain them before blending? I have never had an issue with them falling apart before. Amy
SB
Hi. Just tried the recepie but I think I've might miss understood the procedure... used red lentils and cooked them as per the pakage an then blend them as per your recepi. The butter just splite once over the hot olive oil. Only realized now that you don't precook the lentils. Do you only soak them?
Amy
Hi SB, Yes you don't pre cook, just soak ??
Virginie
I just made these and I can't believe how fast, easy and great it was! It is the perfect texture I was hoping to achieve for my baby led weaning 7 months old! Thank you! And I can't wait to eat them with a yummy dip too!
Amy
Excellent! So glad they were a hit, thanks for taking the time to comment and let me know ?
Ruth
Could I use regular split lentils instead of split red lentils? I tried 2 stores and they were out of the red split lentils so I just got the regular brownish-beige looking ones
Amy
Hi Ruth, thanks for your comment. To be honest I'm unsure. I have never tried this with other lentils before and I'm not sure how well they would blend and make a pancake batter. Sorry I can't help more. If you do try it please let me know how it goes. Thanks, Amy
eva
I have made these with split yellow peas as well as green lentils and the work as well as the split red lentils lentils . Key is to soak for many hours even overnight and rinse as often as possible very well until the water runs clear , they have to be raw to work cooked will not work.
Alena
Anyone tried to bake them instead of frying? just looking for healthier alternative. thanks
Amy
Hi Alena, sorry I have never tried baking them.
Laura E Currey-Taseva
I did them in a non-stick skillet with just a spritz of cooking spray and they worked great, not greasy at all.
Stephanie
I baked them tonight and they came out great! I put a baking sheet and brushed olive oil on it and then flipped halfway through, came out great!
Amy
Thanks for the feedback, Stephanie. I'm so glad they work well when baked. I'll give it a try next time.
Laura E Currey-Taseva
We made these tonight! I'll admit, I was a bit skeptical when mixing them. I have older kids, five and eight, so I added some extra oomph with the seasonings you suggested and they were a hit! We will definitely make them again and my kids had blast mixing and cooking them! I am also sharing the recipe with my vegetarian parents! I think they'd be great with a chutney of sorts! Thank you!
Amy
So glad they were a hit and thanks so much for sharing and for taking the time to comment x
Allison
This looks great! I'm excited to try it, especially since I'm always looking for fun new things to share with my son (8 months old and a VERY adventurous eater!) Can you tell me about how many pancakes this recipe yields? I'm planning on making them the same size that are in your pictures. Thanks!
Amy
Hi Allison, I'm so sorry - I can't remember as I haven't made them in a while. I really need to put that into my future recipes. Hope you enjoy x
Jessica
can you use canned lentils instead?
Amy
I've never tried canned lentils. I think that the mixture could be a little wet, sorry.
Christine
taste the same and easy to bake them!
KC
Do these freeze well? Have you ever tried? Thanks!
Amy
I've never tried freezing them, sorry.
Kim
I was wondering this as well! Did you ever try freezing them in the end?
Kaeleigh
I freeze them and they work great!
Bex
I always freeze everything I make on here and yes these were fine for us 🙂
Kirsten
This looks great! What's in the dip?
Amy
Thanks Kirsten, it was just a greek yoghurt dip. Simple!
Jessica
Greek yogurt alone? Or mixed in with other ingredients
Amy
I often just serve plain Greek yoghurt as a dip. Sometimes I sprinkle smoked paprika in as my kids love it.
Kasey
I like the recipe but would prefer that they did have eggs and Gluten as new studies show that by failing to introduce these food to a child very early on in their life's, the child is much more likely to build an immune response to the food that has been withheld (meaning an allergy).
Amy
Hi Kasey,
Thanks for your feedback. I have a lot of recipes on my site that contain egg and gluten, I don't try to avoid it at all. This just happens to be a recipe that doesn't contain either so I mentioned that it would be good for those that do have allergies. Hope you still decide to try them 😉
Thomas
Since this is actually something that has been posted very recent, I wanna add something very important.
If you really wanna talk about allergies and alike, you can't forget the fact that many people eat certain foods every single day (especially non soaked nuts and seeds and grains, aswell as highly heated/oxidized egg yolks and milk and vegetables oils, and so on) - THAT, in my opinion, is a main cause for allergies and intolerances due to several reasons....
- one being simply an oversaturation of the body (coconut - I know a few people who just can't stand ANY more coconut due to daily consumption for a period of time, I experienced that myself aswell).
- or that the immune system gets confronted with a lot of toxins these days (even found in home grown food) - and if you eat the same food every day, you probably also eat the same toxins every day, that's like punching ones shoulder on the same spot on a daily basis with no chance to recover (particles of foods are recognizable in and by the body for up to 72 hours).
- also, as mentioned, lack of proper preparation....especially nut floors from non soaked and dehydrated nuts are consumed very frequently and in large amounts (people who think they eat like our ancestors aka "Paleo"), which can lead to a lot of problems in the long-run. And just to add something to the nuts: they are not soaked, not dehydrated, heated (during baking) which causes oxidation, and then most of them also don't have a good O6:3 - and even then, only little amounts of the plant based O3 can actually be used by the body after transforming them.
Obviously leaky gut can be involved aswell. And that's one of the reasons why I personally follow a rotation diet as Paul Chek suggests/follows himself.
I personally, highly doubt that a child is "much more likely" to build an immune response to a certain food when you don't introduce these foods early, the only "problem" that I see is that certain bacteria from foods such as in raw milk and a lack of certain digestive enzymes would require a more or less long introduction phase (maybe along with some sickness due to the immune system having to adjust to a certain unknown "invader"). I personally would be especially cautious when they come up with certain foods that are a) far from their natural state (gluten containing grains who have several times the gluten contant than in the past, certain fruit which has a lot more sugar than it used to have,...), and b) have been exhaustively bombarded by negative press and therefore been consumed (bought $$) a lot less. As Weston A. Price, in his book "Nutrition and Physical Degeneration" observed, there have been, for example, Europeans who had to grow up on the native foods provided by their country (regional, seasonal) so they could build a strong and healthy body in accordance to their genetics, but after childhood (I can't remember if he stated an age), they could go to Africa and adopt the food that these people were eating there (the healthiest people ate/drank fish, meat, milk, blood and vegetables) and were (almost) free of tooth decay and dental arch deformations as the natives in this country.
By the way I'm definitely going to try the lentil pancakes, thanks for the egg free recipe since I don't do well on them :)! As far as I can remember, lentil pancakes/crêpes/flat breads have been used for hundreds of years in the Indian culture (they fermented them before cooking them to make them even more digestible and the nutrients more absorbable).
All the best, Thomas
Jennifer
As a scientist who understands allergy and immunology a fair bit, please take this person's post with a grain of salt.
eva
instead of eggs you can sub for each egg 1/4 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp vinegar, works very well
Lisa
Hi, I made this with precooked lentils - maybe the quantity was thrown out but it didn't bind at all (was just like water) and I had to add flour and egg to them. Any suggestions?
Amy
Maybe if the lentils were cooked they had a higher water content and this is why it didn't bind. I'd suggest sticking to the soaked lentils (or even un soaked if you have high speed blender) It works perfectly as a batter 🙂 Hope you have more success next try x
eva
this recipe need raw lentils does not work with cooked lentils
Liz
Hi Amy! As an alternative to soaking the lentils overnight, can you also cook them up beforehand?
Amy
Hi Liz, I've never tried them that way - I wouldn't cook them too long and would try blending without the liquid first as you may not need as much. Let me know if you try it and if it works. ?
hannah
Do you not need eggs to bind the mixture together?
Amy
Hi Hannah, no you don't need eggs! The lentils make a great batter 🙂
Jessica Moody
Thanks you for having so many vegetarian options! These look fantastic. I keep looking for great foods for my 11 month old to take to daycare. And your recipes are almost ALWAYS perfect.
Amy
Hi Jessica, thanks for your kind comment. I'm so glad you are enjoying the recipes 🙂
Maria
Pure genius.. I would never have thought to use the lentils in this way and can't believe how well these turned out.. My almost 9 month old gobbled down two pancakes in no time!
Amy
Hi Maria, so glad they were a success for you and your 9 month. 🙂 Thanks for the feedback?
stacey
This is a fantastic idea for a recipe! I love using lentils. But I haven't used them like this before.
Amy
Thanks Stacey, I go a little lentil crazy! I just know how much my little one loves them and so use them a lot!
Minna
What a great idea to add lentils to pancakes! 🙂 My toddler loves spinach pancakes, so need to try these. Thanks for the recipe!
Amy
Thanks Minna, hope they are a success for you 🙂 We loved them ?
Diana
Hi Amy,
just wondering if you've ever tried this recipe with black lentils...they probably wouldn't look as appatizing because of the colour but do you think the consistency would still work?
Thanks! 🙂
Amy
Hi Diana, I've never tried them with black lentils and I'm not sure how they would work to be honest. They need a longer cooking time and I don't think they would work in this recipe. Sorry.
ShiroiHato
Black lentils doesn't work 🙁 I just got a nice fried porridge of black lentils :/
Amy
Hi ShiroiHato, yes it really should be red split lentils for this recipe. They have a much shorter cooking time and are much softer.
Ana
I cooked the lentils before and add a little whole wheat flour and it kind of work 🙂
Kristin
have you ever tried using the Trader Joe’s already cooked lentils? no
Amy
Hi Kristin, No I haven't - we don't have Trader Joe's here! I'm not sure how they would work, to be honest. What type of lentils are they?