8 Savory Pancake Recipes for a Weekend Brunch

Sweet pancakes have had their moment in the spotlight long enough. If you’ve ever stood at the griddle on a Saturday morning and thought there has to be more than maple syrup and butter, you’re not wrong — and the good news is that savory pancakes are one of the most satisfying, underexplored corners of brunch cooking.

The concept isn’t new. Cultures around the world have been making savory pancakes for centuries — Korean pajeon, Japanese okonomiyaki, Indian dosa, French galettes, Italian farinata. What’s changed is that home cooks are finally catching on to what these culinary traditions already knew: a pancake doesn’t need sugar to be extraordinary. It needs good ingredients, a little technique, and the confidence to skip the syrup bottle.

The eight recipes here range from a five-ingredient weeknight-friendly stack to a spicy, smoky chorizo situation that will genuinely make you reconsider brunch priorities. Some are vegetarian, some are packed with protein, and all of them are built on a core truth: savory pancakes are better for brunch than most people realize, and once you make them, sweet pancakes start to feel like dessert at the wrong time of day.

Whether you’re cooking for two on a slow Sunday morning or feeding a hungry crowd, this collection has something that’ll work for you. Each recipe is different enough to feel distinct, but approachable enough that you won’t need culinary school credentials to pull it off.

Why Savory Pancakes Deserve a Spot at the Brunch Table

There’s a reason savory pancakes show up in virtually every food culture on the planet. The pancake format — a batter cooked on a hot surface until golden — is one of the most versatile bases in all of cooking. It carries flavor from within and accepts toppings generously. It’s fast, it’s satisfying, and it scales up easily when more people arrive at your table.

What makes the savory version particularly useful for brunch is the protein payoff. Sweet pancakes, however delicious, tend to be carbohydrate-forward. Add cheese, eggs, cured meats, or vegetables to a savory batter and you’ve built a meal with actual staying power. You won’t be reaching for a snack two hours later.

There’s also the matter of versatility that sweet pancakes simply can’t match. A cheesy, herb-flecked pancake works with a poached egg on top, a spoonful of sour cream, a fresh tomato salad, or a drizzle of hot sauce. It can be a side dish for steak or the main event at brunch. No recipe here requires a single component you wouldn’t already find in a reasonably stocked kitchen, which makes weekend cooking feel spontaneous rather than stressful.

The Secret to Fluffy, Savory Pancakes Every Time

Before you start cooking, a few principles apply across nearly every recipe in this list — and understanding them makes the difference between pancakes that are thick, golden, and proud, and ones that come out flat and sorry-looking.

Don’t Overmix the Batter

This is the single most repeated pancake mistake, and it applies to both sweet and savory versions. When you overmix, you overdevelop the gluten in the flour, which makes pancakes tough and dense instead of light and tender. Mix until the dry ingredients just disappear into the wet — lumps are fine, actively desirable in most cases. Stir gently, stop early.

Cover the Pan While They Cook

This is a pro move that most home recipes don’t mention. Covering the pan with a lid while the first side cooks traps steam and heat, essentially giving the pancake a mini oven environment. The result is a thicker, fluffier interior that cooks through evenly without burning the bottom. Try it once and you’ll never go back.

Let the Batter Rest

Even five or ten minutes of resting time allows the baking powder or baking soda to begin its work, and gives the flour a chance to fully hydrate. Pancakes made from rested batter rise more noticeably and hold their structure better on the griddle.

Temperature Is Everything

Medium heat is almost always the right answer. Too high and the outside burns before the inside is set. Too low and you get pale, limp pancakes with no golden crust. A proper nonstick or well-seasoned cast iron pan, lightly greased even if it’s supposedly nonstick, is the right tool for every recipe below.

What to Serve Alongside Savory Pancakes

The toppings and sides you pair with savory pancakes matter as much as the batter itself. A well-chosen accompaniment can elevate a good pancake into a complete, restaurant-quality brunch plate.

Eggs are always a strong choice. A fried egg with a runny yolk poured over the top of a savory pancake does the same job as maple syrup on a sweet one — it provides that fluid, rich element that ties everything together. Poached eggs work beautifully if you want something slightly more refined.

Fresh tomatoes, dressed simply, are a near-universal pairing. Cherry tomatoes halved and tossed with red wine vinegar, olive oil, and a pinch of salt cut through richness and add brightness to any of the cheesy, meat-heavy options below.

Sour cream, Greek yogurt, or a quick lime crema (sour cream with a squeeze of lime and a little salt) work as cooling, creamy counterpoints to spiced or smoky pancakes. They also make excellent dipping sauces for thinner pancakes or stacked ones served family-style.

A simple green salad turns a pancake plate into a balanced meal, especially for a later brunch that crosses into lunch territory.

1. Sweet Potato and Cheddar Pancakes

These are the kind of savory pancakes that convert people. The sweet potato adds a mild earthiness and natural moisture that keeps the interior soft long after cooking, while the cheddar brings a sharp, salty backbone that makes every bite interesting. Green onions add a pop of freshness against the richness of the cheese, and the whole thing comes together in about ten minutes.

The key to getting these right is using pre-cooked sweet potato — not raw, not canned, but leftover roasted or baked sweet potato that you’d cube into roughly half-inch pieces. That way it holds its shape in the batter rather than dissolving into it, which gives you little bursts of sweet, tender potato throughout the pancake rather than a uniform orange mass.

The Ingredients and Method

The batter here is Greek yogurt-based rather than milk-heavy, which does two things: it adds a faint tang that balances the sweetness of the potato, and it creates a thicker batter that produces a notably fluffier pancake. Self-rising flour means you don’t need to measure out baking powder separately.

• 2 large eggs, room temperature
• 2 tablespoons olive oil or melted butter
• ½ cup milk (whole or nonfat both work)
• ½ cup plain Greek yogurt (any fat level)
• 1½ cups self-rising flour (or all-purpose with 2 tsp baking powder and ½ tsp salt added)
• 1 cup cooked sweet potato, cubed into ½-inch pieces
• 3 stalks green onion, thinly sliced
• 1½ cups sharp cheddar cheese, shredded

Whisk eggs, oil, milk, and yogurt together, fold in the flour until just combined, then gently stir in the sweet potato, green onions, and cheese. Cover the pan after pouring each portion of batter — this is non-negotiable for maximum fluff.

Why This One Works for a Crowd

This recipe makes eight generous pancakes and holds well. Stack finished ones on an oven-safe plate in a 200°F oven while you cook the rest. Serve with sour cream and extra sliced green onions on the side.

Pro tip: If your batter feels too thick to pour easily, add milk a tablespoon at a time until it drops from a spoon in a slow ribbon. Too thin? Add a little extra cheese or a tablespoon of flour.

2. Parmesan and Fresh Herb Pancakes

Parmesan is the right cheese for pancakes when you want maximum flavor impact from a smaller quantity. Its salt content, umami depth, and fine grating texture mean it disperses through the batter more evenly than block cheddar, flavoring every bite rather than pooling in pockets. Paired with fresh thyme and garlic, these pancakes are fragrant and complex — and they’re done in 20 minutes.

What makes this recipe particularly clever is the batter rest. After you mix everything, letting it sit for ten minutes allows the baking soda to start working and the garlic to release its aromatics into the batter. Pancakes made without that rest are noticeably flatter.

The Ingredients and Method

• 1 large egg
• 1¼ cups whole milk
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• ½ cup shredded Parmesan, plus extra for topping
• 3 tablespoons green onion, finely chopped
• ½ teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped (or ¼ tsp dried)
• 1 teaspoon garlic, finely minced
• Oil, for greasing the pan

Beat the egg until slightly fluffy, stir in the milk, then fold in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and pepper. Add Parmesan, green onion, thyme, and garlic, stir gently, and let the batter rest for ten minutes before cooking.

Serving Suggestion

Top each pancake with a fried or poached egg and halved cherry tomatoes. The runny yolk functions as a rich, self-contained sauce that pairs perfectly with the herby, salty batter. A grind of fresh black pepper over the top before serving makes a real difference.

Worth knowing: You can swap Parmesan for gouda or aged gruyère if you want a nuttier, more buttery flavor profile. Both melt beautifully into the batter.

3. Bacon, Cheddar, and Jalapeño Pancakes

This combination — bacon, cheddar, jalapeño, corn — is genuinely hard to improve on. It hits every note: smoky, salty, sharp, spicy, and just slightly sweet from the corn. These are the pancakes that disappear fastest from any brunch table, and they’re the ones that generate the most “wait, you made these?” responses.

The critical move is pre-cooking the bacon before it goes into the batter. If you try to let the bacon cook inside the pancake itself, you’ll get underdone, chewy bacon and excess fat pooling in the batter — neither of which you want. Cook it until properly crisp, drain it on paper towels, and crumble it finely so it distributes evenly through each pancake.

The Ingredients and Method

• 6 strips streaky bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup fine cornmeal
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 1¼ cups buttermilk (or whole milk with 1 tbsp white vinegar, rested 5 minutes)
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• ½ cup sharp cheddar, shredded
• 1 jalapeño, seeds removed and finely diced
• ½ cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
• 3 scallions, thinly sliced

Whisk dry ingredients, whisk wet ingredients separately, combine until just mixed, then fold in bacon, cheese, jalapeño, corn, and scallions. Cook in a well-greased skillet over medium heat until bubbles form and edges look set, flip, and cook two minutes more.

The Heat Level

Leaving the jalapeño seeds in makes these noticeably spicy — genuinely hot, not just “a little kick.” Removing the seeds keeps the flavor without the heat, which makes them more accessible for a mixed crowd. A drizzle of honey when plating adds a sweet-salty contrast that balances everything out.

Pro tip: Sauté the corn kernels in a dry pan for three to four minutes before adding them to the batter. The caramelization adds a nutty depth that raw corn simply can’t match.

4. Chorizo and Scallion Pancakes with Chilli Butter

This recipe is the brunch showstopper. Crispy Spanish chorizo folded into the pancake batter, sharp cheddar sprinkled on before the flip so it forms a golden crust, scallions throughout, and a compound chilli butter that melts into the stack as you serve it — this is savory pancake cooking at its most confident.

The chilli butter is what separates this from everything else on the table. It takes two minutes to make: soften good-quality salted butter, mix in a finely chopped jalapeño (or green chilli), and either leave it at room temperature or refrigerate it briefly to firm up. When you drop a knob of it onto a hot stack of pancakes, it melts slowly into every layer. It’s the kind of detail that makes people ask for the recipe before they’ve finished eating.

The Ingredients and Method

For the pancake batter:

• 210g (1¾ cups) all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• Pinch of salt
• 1 large egg
• 300ml (1¼ cups) full-fat milk
• One 15cm (6-inch) length of chorizo, cut into small chunks and pan-fried first
• 8 scallions, finely chopped (reserve ¼ for topping)
• 50g (½ cup) cheddar, grated

For the chilli butter:

• 4 tablespoons (60g) salted butter, slightly softened
• 1 green chilli or jalapeño, finely chopped

For topping:

• 8 strips streaky bacon, fried crisp and chopped small

Mix the butter and chilli together first and set aside. Fry the chorizo in a dry pan over high heat for two minutes until it releases its oils, then transfer to a plate. Make the batter by combining flour, baking powder, salt, egg, and milk — don’t overmix. Stir in three-quarters of the scallions. Cook pancakes in a buttered nonstick pan, sprinkling chorizo and cheddar on top before flipping.

Structural Integrity (Yes, It Matters)

Keep chorizo pieces small — roughly half-inch — before adding them to the batter. Large chunks sit proud of the pancake surface, meaning only those pieces touch the pan when you flip, causing uneven cooking. Small pieces embed properly into the batter and cook with it.

Worth knowing: A drizzle of golden syrup over the finished stack sounds wrong until you try it. The deep, malty sweetness against the spicy chilli butter and smoky chorizo is genuinely extraordinary.

5. Kimchi and Shrimp Pancakes

These are the wild card of the group and — for people who’ve tried them — the one they talk about most. Kimchi adds fermented tang, subtle heat, and a complex depth that you can’t replicate with any combination of Western pantry staples. Shrimp adds protein and a slightly sweet, briny note that plays against the spicy kimchi perfectly.

This is a Korean-Western fusion — not traditional kimchijeon, but inspired by it, adapted into a format that’s familiar and achievable without any specialty equipment. The batter base is standard, the flavor profile is anything but.

The Ingredients and Method

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup cold water (cold batter creates a crisper exterior)
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup kimchi, roughly chopped, plus 2 tablespoons of kimchi brine from the jar
• 200g (7oz) raw shrimp, peeled and roughly chopped into thirds
• 4 scallions, thinly sliced
• 1 teaspoon gochujang (Korean chilli paste — find it in the Asian section of most supermarkets, or substitute sriracha)
• Sesame oil for cooking

The Dipping Sauce

Serve these with a simple dipping sauce: two tablespoons soy sauce, one tablespoon rice vinegar, one teaspoon sesame oil, and a pinch of sugar. Stir to combine. The acid cuts through the richness of the pancake batter and makes every bite feel cleaner.

Cook these over medium-high heat in a thin film of sesame oil. You want some crispiness on the edges, which means resisting the urge to lower the heat too much. Press the pancakes gently with a spatula for better contact with the pan.

Pro tip: Pat the shrimp dry before chopping. Excess moisture from shrimp can thin the batter and prevent proper browning.

6. Paleo Bacon and Fried Egg Pancakes with Tomato Jalapeño Salad

This one is built differently. The pancakes themselves are grain-free — made with a blend of almond flour, arrowroot, coconut flour, and tapioca — and the savory elements live inside the batter and stacked on top in equal measure. Crumbled bacon and sliced green onions go into the batter. A bright, sharp tomato jalapeño salad and a fried egg go on top.

What makes this recipe genuinely satisfying rather than just technically gluten-free is the tomato jalapeño salad — it adds acidity, freshness, and heat that cuts through the richness of both the bacon and the egg. Without it, the plate feels heavy. With it, everything makes sense.

The Ingredients and Method

For the pancake batter:

• Your preferred grain-free or paleo pancake base (enough for 4-6 medium pancakes)
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper
• 6 strips thinly sliced bacon, cooked crisp — half crumbled into the batter, half reserved for topping
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced

For the tomato jalapeño salad:

• 1 cup cherry tomatoes, halved
• 1 small red jalapeño, very thinly sliced
• 2 green onions, thinly sliced
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 teaspoon red wine vinegar
• ½ teaspoon maple syrup
• ¼ teaspoon sea salt
• Black pepper to taste

For serving:

• 1 egg per pancake, fried to your preference

Make the Salad First

Mix the tomato salad before you start cooking the pancakes, and let it sit while you work. Even ten minutes of rest time allows the tomatoes to release a little juice into the dressing, which deepens the flavor considerably. The brightness of this salad is what makes the whole plate feel light despite the bacon and egg.

Pro tip: Keep finished pancakes warm in a 200°F oven while you fry the eggs. Frying eggs is the last thing you do so they hit the plate hot, with yolks still runny.

7. Prosciutto, Apple, and Arugula Pancakes

This is the one for people who insist they don’t really like savory pancakes. It bridges the gap between sweet and savory so gracefully that most people don’t even notice — they just know it tastes good.

Salty, thin prosciutto. Sweet-tart apple. Peppery arugula. A drizzle of maple syrup that somehow makes all three better. This combination isn’t obvious until you’ve tried it, and then it becomes the one you come back to whenever you want to impress someone without spending the whole morning in the kitchen.

The Ingredients and Method

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon sugar (just enough — don’t skip it, it balances the prosciutto’s salt)
• 1¼ cups milk
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• 4-6 slices prosciutto, torn into rough pieces
• 1 medium apple (Granny Smith for tartness, Honeycrisp for sweetness), peeled and finely diced
• 1 handful arugula (rocket)
• Maple syrup, to serve

How to Build This on the Plate

The prosciutto and apple go into the batter — they cook with the pancake. The arugula goes on top after cooking, along with a drizzle of maple syrup. Don’t add the arugula to the batter; it wilts and turns gray inside a pancake, whereas on top it stays vibrant and peppery.

Stack two or three pancakes, scatter fresh arugula generously over the top, tuck in a few extra pieces of prosciutto, and finish with maple syrup. It sounds like too much going on and it isn’t.

Worth knowing: Finely dice the apple into quarter-inch pieces maximum. Larger pieces create gaps in the batter that prevent even cooking and make the pancake harder to flip cleanly.

8. Cheesy Scallion Pancakes with Lime Crema

This is the most endlessly adaptable recipe in the group. Cheddar cheese and sautéed scallions form the base — a combination so fundamentally good that you don’t need to do much else. But the lime crema on top is what elevates it from a satisfying breakfast into something you’d legitimately order at a brunch restaurant.

The scallion sauté step is worth doing every time, even when you’re in a hurry. Three to four minutes in a hot pan with olive oil transforms raw, sharp scallions into something sweeter, softer, and far more complex. They lose their aggressive bite and develop a mild caramelized note that distributes through the batter in a way raw scallions never could.

The Ingredients and Method

For the pancakes:

• 1 cup green onions (scallions), diced — about 5-10 stalks depending on size
• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for sautéing)
• 1 cup grated cheddar (or pepper jack for heat, gruyère for nuttiness)
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1½ cups milk (whole, 2%, or a non-dairy alternative)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted
• Cooking spray for the pan

For the lime crema:

• ¼ cup sour cream
• 1 teaspoon fresh lime juice
• Salt and pepper to taste

Sauté scallions in olive oil over medium-high heat for three to four minutes until reduced and lightly browned. Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl, wet ingredients in a separate bowl, then combine both until almost mixed. Fold in sautéed scallions and cheese — do not overmix. Cook in a greased nonstick pan over medium-low heat, about three minutes per side.

The Lime Crema

Mix sour cream with lime juice, a pinch of salt, and a few grinds of black pepper. That’s it. The lime brightens the sour cream’s tang and turns a simple topping into something that genuinely completes the dish. Dollop generously on each pancake and scatter a few raw scallion rings on top for color and freshness.

Pro tip: This batter works brilliantly with add-ins. Fold in crumbled bacon, diced jalapeño, grated zucchini (moisture squeezed out), or diced ham at the same time as the scallions and cheese. The base is forgiving enough to carry most additions without structural issues.

Building a Full Brunch Around Savory Pancakes

The beauty of a savory pancake brunch is that the pancakes themselves do most of the work — you don’t need an elaborate supporting cast to make it feel complete.

Pick one or two recipes and do them well rather than attempting all eight at once. Each recipe above makes between 6 and 12 pancakes depending on size, which is more than enough for four people with a couple of sides.

For sides, think in terms of contrast. If your pancakes are rich and cheesy (recipes 1, 2, 8), pair them with something sharp and fresh — a dressed green salad, sliced tomatoes, pickled red onions. If they’re already bright and acidic (recipes 5, 6), add something creamy alongside — sour cream, avocado, or a soft-cooked egg.

Drinks matter more at brunch than any other meal. A sharp, cold juice — fresh grapefruit or blood orange — cuts through the richness of cheese and cured meat better than anything. Strong coffee is mandatory. A Bloody Mary is never wrong.

Storing, Reheating, and Making Ahead

Savory pancakes are more forgiving than sweet ones when it comes to storage, largely because the cheese and protein content helps them hold their structure better after cooling.

In the fridge: Any of these pancakes will keep well in an airtight container for up to five days. Allow them to cool completely before refrigerating — putting warm pancakes in a container traps steam and makes them soggy.

In the freezer: Stack cooled pancakes with a small square of parchment paper between each one, then place the whole stack in a freezer bag. They’ll keep for up to six months. Reheat directly from frozen in a toaster or under a broiler for the best texture — microwaving works but softens the exterior.

Reheating: A dry nonstick pan over medium heat for two minutes per side restores the golden crust better than any other method. The microwave is faster (20-30 seconds per pancake) but sacrifices the texture of the exterior. For a crowd, arrange pancakes on a baking sheet and warm them in a 300°F oven for eight to ten minutes.

Make-ahead batter: Most of these batters can be made the night before and stored in the fridge, covered tightly. The batter will thicken overnight — thin it with a splash of milk before cooking. This is especially useful for the parmesan herb version (recipe 2) and the cheesy scallion version (recipe 8), which actually benefit from the extra resting time.

Final Thoughts

Savory pancakes aren’t a compromise or a workaround for people who don’t want sugar in the morning. They’re a genuinely better option — more satisfying, more flexible, and far more interesting when you start exploring what the format is actually capable of.

The eight recipes here cover enough ground that you could cook a different one every weekend for two months and never feel like you’re repeating yourself. Start with whatever matches what’s already in your fridge — leftover sweet potato, a block of parmesan, a jar of kimchi — and work from there. The best cooks don’t follow recipes rigidly; they use them as a launch point.

One more thing worth holding onto: the covering technique. Lid on, medium heat, don’t rush the flip. That single habit, applied consistently, will make every savory pancake you cook from here forward come out thicker, fluffier, and more evenly cooked than anything you’ve made before. Technique travels across recipes. Take it with you.