Looking for a kid friendly way to get some veggies in for breakfast? Well, look no further than this recipe for Rainbow Spinach Pancakes. I made these for St. Patrick’s Day which is the perfect time to make green pancakes fun and festive. Sure you could use regular pancake mix and add green food coloring, but why not use this as an opportunity to teach your child that eating green from real food doesn’t have to be scary?
Rainbow spinach pancakes are packed with nutrients. When kids eat the rainbow, they are getting the health benefits of the phytochemicals derived from each color. To learn more about the specific health benefits of each color, check out my Eat the Rainbow blog post.
This recipe is plant-based and uses chia seed and applesauce in place of eggs. The chia seeds give it a bit of a crunch which my kids enjoy. If you think the texture might be too much for your little one, try ground flax seed instead. I found by letting the batter sit for 5 minutes, the pancake turns out fluffier. Another tip is to cook them at a lower temperature so they stay green.
There are other great spinach pancake recipes out there such as this one by Yummy Toddler Food and this one by MJ and Hungryman but they have banana and I wanted to make one that is banana-free. Bananas are great, just not my family’s favorite. This recipe for rainbow spinach pancakes also dairy-free and can be made gluten-free (use GF oat flour or GF all purpose flour). There are no nuts but I would switch the sweetener if you’re allergic to coconut.
I love making pancakes with my kids. Getting them in the kitchen at a young age played a huge role in teaching them to eat a wide variety of food. Cooking is a great way to introduce your child to vegetables in a non-threatening way. While the spinach is technically hidden in the end product, I think it’s great for kids to know the spinach is inside because ultimately you want to normalize green for them.
Rainbow Spinach Pancakes
Equipment
- 1 Griddle
Ingredients
Wet Ingredients
- 1½ cups baby spinach (loosely packed)
- ⅔ cup non-dairy milk
- ⅔ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
Dry ingredients
- 1 cup flour (oat, wheat, GF all purpose)
- 1 tbsp chia seeds OR ground flax seeds
- 1 tbsp baking powder
- 1 tbsp brown coconut sugar
- ¼ tsp sea salt
Optional (to make a fruit rainbow)
- 1 cup chopped strawberries (or other red fruit)
- 1 cup chopped mango (or other orange/yellow fruit)
- 1 cup sliced green grapes (or other green fruit)
- 1 cup blueberries or blackberries (or other blue/purple fruit)
Instructions
- Heat griddle to 300 degrees
- Add all the wet ingredients to a blender.
- Blend on high speed until you can no longer see green particles.
- Mix the dry ingredients in a separate bowl with a whisk.
- Add the wet ingredients from the blender slowly into the bowl with the dry ingredients and mix while pouring.
- Let the batter sit for 5 minutes.
- Ladle the batter on the griddle.
- Flip when the edges are cooked and bubbles are forming in the middle.
- Serve immediately or freeze up to 2 months.
- If freezing, separate portions with parchment paper.
- Optional: Serve with fruit arranged like a rainbow with a pancake on each end (like clouds).
