Easy Banana Pancakes (VIDEO)
Banana Pancakes are easy to make and one of the best ways to use ripe bananas. This is like having Banana Bread in pancake form.
The pancake batter can be made ahead and refrigerated overnight, plus the pancakes reheat really well. Also, the kids love these so we’re winning the breakfast battles with this recipe.
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We love fluffy homemade pancakes from Ricotta Pancakes to Dutch Baby Pancakes. If you are looking for a new favorite breakfast, these Banana Pancakes are a must-try. They are also very easy to make.
Banana Pancake Recipe Video:
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A New Family Favorite!
When we find a new family favorite, we always know it’s a hit when it lands on our regular rotation. These Banana pancakes were a big win with everyone in the family. Here’s Why:
- Make-Ahead Batter – you can cover and refrigerate the batter overnight then make the pancakes the next day using cold batter right out of the fridge. This is perfect for busy mornings or camping trips.
- Reheat Well – these pancakes can be reheated on a skillet, in the toaster, or in the air fryer until warmed through.
- Soft and Moist – these pancakes have a tender crumb and go down easy.
- Naturally Sweetened – most of the sweetness comes from the bananas. You can omit the 1 Tbsp of sugar if you are cutting out processed sugars.
Ingredients for Banana Pancakes
The key to making great banana pancakes is in using overripe bananas. Just like with making Banana Bread, the more overripe, the sweeter your recipe will be. Check out our post on how to ripen bananas faster.
- Bananas – 2 medium bananas should be about 1 cup mashed
- Dry ingredients – (basic pantry staples) all-purpose flour, only 1 Tablespoon sugar, baking soda, and salt.
- Buttermilk – activates the baking soda and adds a hint of tangy flavor.
- Eggs – these can be cold, right out of the fridge
- Butter – adding melted butter to the batter makes the pancakes rich and moist.
- Vanilla extract – use real vanilla extract for the best taste
How to Make Banana Pancakes
- Mash Bananas – use a fork to mash the bananas into a chunky applesauce consistency.
- Combine wet ingredients – whisk together buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, mashed bananas, and melted butter.
- Combine dry ingredients – whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center.
- Whisk wet and dry ingredients – mix just until combined, and do not overmix. The batter should be lumpy.
- Cook pancakes – Heat a cast-iron skillet or non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add 1 Tbsp oil then sautee for about 2 minutes per side.
Pro Tip: Use a trigger release ice cream scoop for easy and even portioning of the batter into the skillet. It’s also less messy.
Common Questions
Making homemade pancakes is typically healthier than using a boxed mix. We also love that they are sweetened mostly with bananas. Check out the nutrition label below for calorie and nutrition estimates.
Since these are primarily sweetened with banana, you can omit the 1 Tbsp of sugar in the recipe if desired.
These pancakes should be sautéed for about 2 minutes per side. If they are browning too quickly, reduce the heat.
Once you see bubbles rise to the top and start to pop, they are ready to flip.
Pancake Toppings
Banana pancakes have great banana flavor and we love to serve them with these complimentary toppings:
- Banana Slices
- Toasted and chopped pecans or walnuts
- Maple Syrup
- Honey Butter
- Fresh strawberries or blueberries
More Banana Recipes
If you love this Banana Pancake Recipe, then you won’t want to miss these ripe banana recipes.
- Chocolate Chip Banana Bread
- Banana Muffins
- Strawberry Banana Smoothie
- Creamy Fruit Salad
- Green Smoothie Bowl
Easy Banana Pancakes Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 1/4 cups buttermilk
- 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, measured correctly
- 1 Tbsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 3 Tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 medium bananas, mashed (1 cup)
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, divided, to sauté
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together flour, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Make a well in the center.
- Mash banana with a fork until a chunky applesauce consistency.
- In a second bowl, combine wet ingredients: buttermilk, eggs, vanilla, mashed bananas and melted butter. Whisk to combine.
- Pour wet ingredients into dry ingredients and whisk just until combined. Do not overmix, the batter should be lumpy.
- Preheat cast iron or nonstick skillet or griddle to medium heat (350˚F). Grease your griddle or skillet with 1 Tbsp olive oil. Scoop batter 1/4 cup at a time onto your greased pan at least an inch apart.
- Cook about 2 minutes per side. Use a spatula to flip pancakes when bubbles start to pop on the surface. Add more oil as needed and cook remaining batches and serve warm.
Notes
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
These were good banana pancakes,it a keeper. My daughter had exactly 2 banana left,so I was looking for pancake recipe &found yours,family liked pancakes
Glad they loved it!
Delicious pancakes!!! These are the best banana pancakes after trying many other recipes. Thank you so much Natasha for sharing this amazing recipe❤
Thank you for this amazing review, Janine!
Hi Natasha,
My son is on a dairy free diet – is there anything else I could use instead of buttermilk to make this recipe work for us?
Hello Lana, I haven’t tried other substitutions in this specific recipe, but I bet it could work. Kefir is a good substitute for buttermilk.
These pancakes are so delicious! I love adding chocolate chips for a bit of added sweetness. They are the perfect light and fluffy texture. Super quick and easy to.
They sure are! I’m so glad you loved the recipe, Audrina! Thank you for the review.
These were the best pancakes! This recipe is the best I have used for banana pancakes! I added a touch more vanilla, only because I used what was left in my bottle! Thank you Natasha!
You’re welcome, Judi! So glad you love it.
These pancakes were delicious!
They turned out perfect and the kids loved them too.
Thank you for always posting tried and true, reliable recipes.
I have tried so many of your recipes and they always turn out great!
Xxx
That is the best when kids love what we moms make. That’s so great! Thank you for your great review, Gabriella!
Baking soda was a BAD choice. All other banana pancake recipes use baking powder. I could taste the soda. shouldn’t happen!
This looks really good! Can you put a scoop of protein powder in this?
Hi Kathy! I haven’t tested this with protein powder. If you experiment, let me know how you liked the recipe.
Below average at best
Batter was too runny
Natasha should step her game up
Hi Elia! I’m sorry you had this experience with the recipe. As you can see in my video, the batter consistency is not runny, it has the consistency of cake batter and is kind of lumpy. If you try this recipe again, I would look over the recipe to see if you missed anything or possibly measured incorrectly.
These are really great! I tried adding a little granola before flipping them. Very good. I had tried that in a restaurant and wanted to see if it worked.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me.
This is an EXCELLENT recipe and the pancake came out very soft and delicious. I followed Natasha’s instructions to the tee. I used extra virgin olive oil spray instead of 2 tbsp. of it. It still came out very good. I highly recommend this recipe. High five, Natasha! You’re the best!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Emelyn!
Hey Natasha,
I am a vegetarian and do not eat eggs.
How can I make the banana pancakes without eggs?
Thanks in advance
Hi Richa, I do not have a substitution for eggs. You’d have to experiment with it to see if you can use egg replacement or other..
I love pancakes and these banana pancakes are delicious! I almost never have buttermilk on hand so I make my own by adding 1 tablespoon lemon juice per cup of milk and let it stand for a few minutes. I also love taste and texture of whole wheat flour so replaced 1/2 cup of white flour with whole wheat. Yum!
Hi Cathy, good to know that worked well too! Thank you for sharing that with us.
These were soo yummy (breakfast for dinner). For years I have made homemade brown sugar syrup with a dash of maple flavoring. I even had enough batter left for another day SOON. TY appreciatively for the simple dimple recipe.
You’re welcome, Frances. Pancakes are always a good idea, I’m happy to know that you enjoyed it!
I haven’t found the right recipe for banana pancakes. They all come out wet looking but I trust you! Buuut I don’t have buttermilk, can I substitute it?
Hi Carina, If you don’t have buttermilk you can make some! Ex: 1 cup buttermilk = 1 Tablespoon white vinegar + enough milk to measure 1 cup.
Hi Kristy, I haven’t tested that so I can’t say for sure, but the buttermilk does serve to activate the baking soda so you might need to replace that with a little vinegar to activate it. Without testing that through, I’m not able to offer specific advice.
This recipe sounds great, but you forgot to include the measurements for each ingredient! Haha.
Hi Sally, we have it on the recipe card! Simply click “jump to recipe” at the top of the post! I hope this helps!
Hi Natasha,
This recipe looks delicious! I have made them without the flour and it came out good also. Love your recipes!😊❤
I’m so happy you enjoyed that. Thank you for sharing that with us, Karen!
Mine completely fell apart, but tasted great haha! I did use a couple of substitutions though. I used whole wheat flour along with the AP flour, bananas from the freezer, and I substituted milk/lemon juice since I didn’t have buttermilk on hand. Maybe those were to blame. The batter was just really thin. But again, they tasted wonderful and we all ate them!
Hi Rebecca, oh no. It could be because of the substitutions that you used but I’m sure with a little experimenting to do you’ll be able to get it right and perfect next time. Thanks for sharing!
Dear Natasha,
I always love your recipes!
Just wondering if I could use frozen bananas for this recipe as I do for banana muffins/bread.
Hello Adriane, good to know that you’re enjoying my recipes. We love using fresh bananas but I imagine frozen will work too.
Hi Natasha , I was checking this recipe out to make for my kids and I noticed that you mention baking soda on YouTube but in your written recipe here you mentioned baking powder . So just wanted to let you know . I’ll try out the recipe with baking soda and let you know how we like it . I am a pancake lover and so are my kids 🙂.
Hi Pris, I said at 1:12 in the video baking soda and baking soda is also in the print-friendly recipe. It also states baking soda in the youtube description. Baking soda is correct.
Thanks for confirming it’s baking soda . Yes indeed in video you mention baking soda and in YouTube description too but a while ago I saw baking powder stated under “dry ingredients “ on here so I thought of letting you know . Looks like it’s been updated to say “baking soda” everywhere here . Thanks .
Hi Natasha! Made this and it was delicious! How long is the batter good for in the fridge?
Thanks for your good feedback, Ray. I haven’t tried storing the batter in the fridge for more than just a few days like 2-3.
Great recipe. Just the right amout of sweetness and banana flavor. Thank you, Natasha
Good to know that you enjoyed this, recipe. Thanks for your review, Natalia!
Why we can’t print some of your recipes anymore it is too long to write them
HI Aldea, all of the recipes are printer-friendly. Scroll down towards the bottom of the recipe post and you will see a highlighted print-friendly recipe card with a print button at the top right. Are you having a specific issue with a specific recipe? I was able to open the print screen ok with these banana pancakes and am not seeing any issues right now.
Hi there. I tried to make the batter tonight because I am having company tomorrow and wanted to have as much done as possible. I did everything but I forgot to add the buttermilk to the wet ingredients before I added them all to the dry ingredients. And because I saw it was thick realized I didn’t add my buttermilk and added it at the end. Do you think it will be ok? Eek, fingers crossed
Oh no, I’m not sure but maybe you can try to find out?
Hi Natasha you r not only a great cook but your video quality is great too.I made this for my son’s 13th birthday i made around 85 of these and every one loved it not only Kids adults enjoyed it too…thank you for such a great n easy recipe.
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Neeraja!
This was my first time making banana pancakes. They came out very yummy with a crepe-like texture. I had them with strawberries, blueberries and orange juice, and it sticks to your ribs, as they say. I haven’t been hungry in hours.
Delicious, I’m glad you enjoyed this recipe, Anna. Thank you for your review.
So far this has been the best from scratch pancake recipe we have tried. Thank you very much!
You’re very welcome, Cynthia. I’m happy to know that you loved these pancakes!
I’ve made this recipe two Sunday’s in row and it turned out so delicious every time! I’ve printed out the recipe and added it to my breakfast binder. There’s usually 3 or 4 left over that I’ll eat cold right out of a refrigerated container the next day as a snack. Lol! The next time, going to try a 1/4 to a 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and a pinch of ground cloves. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Hello Clayton, thanks for your great feedback. I’m happy to know that you enjoyed this recipe! Thank you for sharing that with us.
So delicious! So fluffy! I want to eat this everyday. Thank you!
You’re welcome, Abby! I hope it becomes your new favorite.
Hi what buttermilk did you use
Hi Fiona, our store carries lucerne or darigold. Both worked great with this recipe.
These were amazing!! My husband who eats absolutely no veggies or fruits actuslly ate it & loved it, thank you!!
I’m happy to hear that he loved this recipe! Thanks for your review. Jen.
Delicious pancakes,i used the same mix to make waffles and it came out perfect,best waffles I’ve ever had.
Hello Ala, that is great to hear! I’m glad you loved this recipe for your waffles too.
I made these over a recent weekend. The only difference was that I used 3 tbsp of baking powder instead of 1 tbsp of baking soda, just because that’s what I had on hand. (The 3:1 ratio was taken from looking up the substitution of one for the other on the net.)
They came out pretty good, although my first batch of 6 or 8 pancakes needed to cook longer.
I’d be curious to see this recipe adapted for Belgian Waffles!
Hi Steve! I’m so happy you enjoyed this recipe!
As the pancakes are prone to stick because of the sugar content in the bananas, I put chopped nuts in the skillet first, pour the batter on top. It toasts the nuts, more yummy. Nuts also serve as “ball bearings”, reducing sticking.
Thank you so much for sharing that with me, Robin! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
I made these for my wife today. Very easy to make. The pancakes lacked structure with only bananas in them. I made a note to incorporate chopped nuts or coconut in my next batch. You don’t even need to chew these. Just suck them back! Yumm.
I’m so glad you gave these a try Roger! We absolutely love them!
These were amazing! We made them today for Father’s Day used GF flour and they tuned out amazing. Thank you 😋😍
Very nice! Good to know that you made it work too using GF flour. Thanks for sharing that with us!
Big let-down. We make excellent pancakes. This recipe is far from a nice recipe. First time we’ve had this experience with Natasha’s recipes. Can’t win em all.
Hi Joe, I am always happy to troubleshoot. Did you change anything in the recipe that could have affected the results? We have made these many times and always get the same great fluffy pancake results.
These pancakes were such a hit! Thank you
You’re very welcome! Glad you enjoyed them.
Natasha!! Can we use white whole wheat flour or whole wheat?
Helo Rose, I honestly haven’t tried that yet to advise. If you do an experiment, please share with us how it goes!
I saw your video on YouTube today and I had 2 bananas that I had to use up so I tried this recipe. They are amazing! Everyone in the family loved them, especially my 1 year old granddaughter. I love how there was very little sugar in them. They are them just as a snack and didn’t need syrup.
I’m so glad you caught that video, Wendy! That’s so great!
So good! Made them as an early Father’s Day breakfast, they were a hit!
Yum! That’s so great! The perfect Father’s Day treat!
Hi Natasha
Can I use regular milk instead of buttermilk??
Hi Ena, we need the buttermilk in this recipe since it activates the baking soda and adds a hint of tangy flavor. If you don’t have buttermilk on hand, You can make your own buttermilk at a ratio of 1 cup whole milk to 1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice. Combine and let it sit 10 minutes to curdle then stir and use.
I will differently make them my grandson love’s bananas so I will get him eat pancakes
YES! They are so good and good for you! I hope your grandson loves this recipe!
Thx u for sharing
You’re welcome, Vijay! Thank YOU for watching!
Can I use kefir instead of buttermilk?
Hi Olga, I haven’t tried it in this specific recipe, but I bet it could work. Kefir is a good substitute for buttermilk.
Hi Natasha 👋 I will make these pancakes for Father’s day!
Could you tell me which oil dispenser you use from amazon?
Thanks!
Hi Nina, we use an oil dispenser like this one from Amazon.
These banana pancakes were amazing, I am always trying to think of new ways to use my browned bananas and this was perfect, the whole family loved them. I already got requests to make them for Sunday brunch 🙂
That’s so great, Lily! I love when simple recipes are a hit with the family!
Enjoyed these for breakfast this morning and started my day off right! Perfectly light and fluffy; my whole family loved them!
The perfect way to start Friday morning! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
So happy I found this, I have a bunch of ripe bananas to use up!
I’m so glad you discovered my blog and this recipe! I hope you love it!