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Dye Free Pink Pancakes

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This Dye Free Pink Pancake recipe is perfect for Valentines, and any other time you want a special breakfast.  You won’t believe how PINK they turn out, just by adding beets! Coloring your food with vegetables rather than fake coloring is way better for your family!  Plus, you really can’t taste the beets, I mean.. really!

stack of dye free pink pancakes with raspberries and strawberries on top

Dye Free Food Coloring

Kids love foods that have fun bright colors.  We love to color our foods for different holidays – green for St. Patrick’s Day, pink for Valentines,  red or green for Christmas – it is fun to have a reason to make our food fun!  Instead of adding artificial colors and dyes, we like to color our food with natural colors from foods that are already brightly colored!  Beets have one of the deepest and brightest colors and can turn any food pink!  We love to add them to pancakes because they turn unbelievable pink!

Why Are Beets So Good For You?

These perfectly pink pancakes really pack a lot of nutrition.  Beets are really high in antioxidants as evidenced by their deep color.  They are also a great source of folate, and other micronutrients that have been shown to function as anti-inflammatory compounds.   If you want to add veggies to your breakfast and the nutrition that comes with them, these are the perfect pancakes for you to make!

How to Make Beet Puree

Making beet puree is literally much easier than I would have thought.   Wrap beets in foil. Cook at 400 degrees for 1 1/2 hours (like you would a potato). I did this the night before I wanted to make the pancakes, and then let the beets cool all night.  In the morning, I came back, unwrapped, peeled (the skin slid right off), and sliced. Put the slices in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth.  You can add a teaspoon or so of water to get it to blend better if you need to.

How to Make Dye-Free Pink Pancakes

stack of dye free pink pancakes on a plate with raspberries and strawberries on top - overhead view

To make your pancakes, we like to use this homemade mix recipe.   Then add 1/3 cup of the beet puree, plus a little extra liquid to make the batter a little more runny.

Pour pancakes onto a hot griddle, using about 1/4 cup of batter per pancake for a nice big pancake.  If you like smaller pancakes, just use a couple of tablespoons for each pancake.   The smaller the pancake you make, the less brown in will get and the more pink it will look!

Serve with fresh fruit and yummy syrup.  If you want to make them extra fruity, use this homemade blueberry syrup. 

How to Make Pink Pancakes fun for Valentines

If you have little kids, sometimes it is fun to make your food little too! I poured some of my pancake batter into a squeeze bottle to easily make tiny round pancakes. When they were cool, I slid them into a toothpick with a heart on one end. They I put some yogurt into a cute little container and added some Valentines sprinkles. These pink pancake kabobs were a hit!

You could also dip them in syrup if your kids prefer that to yogurt. Greek yogurt just gives them a bit more protein!

Stack of dye free pink pancakes on a plate with a slice taken out
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
3.8 from 98 votes

Dye Free Pink Pancakes

Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time1 hour 35 minutes
Course: Breakfast
Cuisine: American
Servings: 10 pancakes
Calories: 129kcal

Ingredients

Instructions

  • Wrap beets in foil and bake 400 degrees F for 1 1/2 hours. Let cool.
  • Unwrap the cooked beets, and peel. The skin should slide right off. Slice into large pieces.
  • Put the slices in a food processor or blender with 1 1/2 cups milk puree until smooth.
  • In a large bowl combine, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add beet mixture, maple syrup and melted butter and gently stir until combined.
  • Spray, or use a small amount of oil to grease a griddle or pan.
  • Pour a small amount of batter onto the hot griddle. The small pancakes tend to turn less brown and keep the pretty pink color.
  • Cook until golden on both sides.
  • Serve with fresh fruit and syrup on top.

Nutrition

Calories: 129kcal | Carbohydrates: 27g | Protein: 5g | Fat: 1g | Sodium: 516mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g
Keyword : beets, dairy free, homemade, pancakes, pink pancakes, vegetarian

www.superhealthykids.com

Natalie Monson

I'm a registered dietitian, mom of 4, avid lover of food and strong promoter of healthy habits. Here you will find lots of delicious recipes full of fruits and veggies, tips for getting your kids to eat better and become intuitive eaters and lots of resources for feeding your family.

Learn More about Natalie

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49 Comments

I love the pink pancakes! And I love your daughters look like, “what in the world did Mom make?” Exactly the look I get everyday from my kids when I make a new meal. This one, I’ve gotta try! I use veggie colorants, (India Tree) but never seem to have time to color with real vegetables. But I’m trying this one. You should try my broccoli brownies. They turned out SO good. My kids actually request me to make them all the time. http://burntapple.wordpress.com/2010/02/24/broccoli-brownies/

WOW!! COLOR! So you said you can REALLY taste the beets. Is that a good thing? I have limited beet experience and seems like they always taste like dirt, no matter how much I scrub or peal them. I have never roasted them though, just juiced or chopped to throw in salads.
Those are just so beautiful!

I just wonder how to fry several pancakes at once in a pan, like those in your picture? They have perfect round shape!

I used a large electric griddle. I also use a small measuring cup (like 1/4 cup) to pour the batter on. That way, they are all the same size.

Love this idea! My go-to for a purée add-in for pancakes (and French toast!) is a half cup of sweet potato. In case you want another purée idea.

You said you used a $25 food processor. Can you tell the type and brand? I need to get a good and affordable one. Thanks

Great idea if using organic beets (non-organic are usually GMO) and please ditch the Bisquick (heart healthy or otherwise – it is bleached and fiberless, unhealthy flour if you know how to read ingredients, yuck) and make a batter from scratch or use a batter of whole wheat or other whole grain flour.

Made these for valentines day. Followed the recipient exactly and by the time they cooked there wasn’t any pink on them, they were brown. Did you photoshop these? Anyone else have success?

Bummer Ashleigh- I didn’t use photoshop, and a quick google search will show that lots of people actually get this color! When I posted this in 2010, I didn’t edit any pictures at all. Maybe our beets were different varieties? Thats the only explanation I can come up with.

Stumbled upon this recipe a couple weeks ago. Saved it for Valentine’s day. My wife flipped!!! She’d never seen anything like it. Regarding the browned mentioned above, make smaller pancakes and you will avoid the browning. We used raspberries and raspberry syrup. FYI – raspberries taste sour after wasting something sweet. Thank you for the recipe!

I love how pink these are! I’ve made green pancakes by sneaking spinach puree into my pancake mix, but haven’t tried beet pancakes yet…really inspiring, I’m envisioning all the other colours I could make with other veg/fruit purees too!

I made these earlier in the week. I accidently used WAY more beet pureé than the reipe called for, but I just added a little more mix, and they turned out great! My daughter and nephew (both picky eaters) love them for snack time, and they prefer them without anything on them at all! Thanks for sharing this great idea!

Think this would work with pureed raspberries instead of beets?? I have soo many raspberries in the house I need to use! These pancakes look amazing! Thank you 🙂

I’m wondering the same. I have a few cans of beets that need to be used and this recipe would be perfect. I’m assuming the color won’t be as great, but would the flavor be ok?