Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes

Sweet Potato Paleo Pancakes and Waffles are so delicious that you will think you are having dessert for breakfast. They are fluffy, flavorful, and are the best way to start your day.

I am obsessed with sweet potatoes right now, and we love our paleo pancakes, so I thought it might be awesome to combine the two.

I think this is the BEST Paleo Sweet Potato Pancake Recipe.

We often make a bunch of sweet potatoes in an Instant Pot to use for pancakes, chicken burgers, or Nom Nom Paleo’s Spicy Tuna Cakes.

At our house, we make these sweet potato pancakes in large batches and bring them on camping trips or just to keep in the freezer for a quick and easy breakfast.

These sweet potato pancakes also reheat really easily. Because these pancakes are more nutrient-dense than the regular all-purpose flour/white sugar pancake, they will leave you feeling full and energized for a long time! (I make them for us before going rock climbing, and we don’t find ourselves hungry for 3-4 hours or more. With regular pancakes, I am hungry in an hour! )

🥘 Ingredients Needed

A paleo sweet potato pancake is a paleo pancake that is jazzed up a bit with the addition of mashed sweet potato. A paleo pancake basically means that the pancake contains no gluten, grain, dairy, or legumes. (Yep, that includes rice and pea flour, so the gluten-free flour that you can buy in the store is most likely not Paleo.) So, take your paleo pancake up a notch with some sweet potato deliciousness.

• Coconut flour
• Tapioca starch
• Almond flour
• Mashed Sweet Potatoes – I like to cook sweet potatoes in my Instant Pot.
• Raw honey
• Vanilla extract
• Eggs
• Kosher salt – I cook and bake almost exclusively with kosher salt. I use sea salt in my grinders on the table for serving, but I love the consistency of kosher salt in recipes because it is very consistent.
• Baking Powder – If you eat Paleo because of an allergy, such as a corn allergy, this baking powder is corn starch free. It is, however, very expensive. Neither of us has a corn allergy or intolerance, so we use a baking powder made with non-GMO corn.
• Coconut Milk – We purchase the canned version of this coconut milk at a local International Grocery store. The last time I was there, it was $1.59 a can, so these are a little more expensive, but if you can’t find them locally, it is a good compromise. I like Aroy-D because the ingredients are just coconut milk or coconut cream. They don’t use any thickeners or gums.

This pancake recipe uses tapioca starch, almond flour, and coconut flour. They are fairly dense, but they taste amazing, and they are really filling. They are such a great breakfast if you are going to do something active for the day or if you won’t be able to eat another meal for a while.

They even freeze really well and can be reheated in a toaster oven or regular oven for about five minutes at 350°F.

Paleo sweet potato pancakes with almond flour and coconut flour will change the way you feel about eating pancakes.

With paleo pancakes, you are getting a bunch of nutrients from the ingredients while still enjoying pancakes. Raw honey and sweet potato add a punch of happy things to these pancakes. (I am always hungry within an hour of eating regular pancakes and would rather have something heartier. These paleo pancakes keep me full for hours.)

🥣 How to Make Sweet Potato Pancakes

Paleo sweet potato pancakes are really easy to make.

First, add the eggs and coconut milk to a mixing bowl and mix well to combine. (Pictures 1 & 2)

Next, add mashed sweet potato and mix it all together. (Picture 3)

Finally, add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl and mix well. I have made these using a blender, stand mixer, and hand mixer. (Picture 4) They come out great each way, but I found it hardest to get all the dry ingredients incorporated using a blender. My method of choice is using a hand mixer. (Picture 5)

As you mix your pancake batter, make sure you scrape down the sides of your bowl to get all the dry ingredients mixed in. Let the mixture sit for a few minutes while you melt some ghee in a frying pan, on a skillet, or on a waffle iron. This will give the baking powder time to do what it needs to do.

I like to use my brown butter ghee to cook these – it gives the pancakes sweet, crispy edges.

Next, ladle somewhere around 1/4 – 1/3 of a cup of pancake batter onto your skillet or griddle. (Picture 6)

If you are adding chocolate chips, add them to your cooking sweet potato pancake batter now. (Picture 7)

Once the sweet potato pancake is slightly bubbly, and the bottom is cooked enough so you can slide a spatula underneath, flip the pancake over and cook the other side. (Picture 8) Each paleo pancake takes about 2 – 4 minutes per side (depending on how hot your pan is.)

To make waffles, ladle about 1/2 a cup of pancake batter onto your greased waffle iron. (Picture 9) Waffles are ready when the edges are nice and brown and a little crispy. (Picture 10)

Make sure that you add more ghee to your pan in between making your sweet potato pancakes and adjust the pan’s heat accordingly as you cook the pancakes. Your pan will eventually get really hot if it is on for a while, and your pancakes can start to burn.

Also, note that sometimes your first pancake will come out a little funny. If your pan is too hot or not hot enough, you may experience the problem of the first pancake flop, which is common when making any pancakes.

When your sweet potato pancakes are done, serve them with ghee or maple syrup.

Are Paleo Sweet Potato Pancakes and Waffles Keto?

Unfortunately, no. This recipe for sweet potato pancakes is not Keto. (It is also not okay to use during a Whole30. No pancakes! 😉 ) These sweet potato pancakes have a lot of carbohydrates, but they are healthy carbohydrates and are an excellent source of energy.

✏️ Helpful Tips

• Cook your sweet potato pancakes or waffles in brown butter ghee to give the pancakes a sweet and crispy edge.
• If you are making a large number of sweet potato pancakes at one time and you want to keep them from getting cold, turn your oven on to a very low temperature (250°F) or a “Warming” setting and spread your cooked sweet potato pancakes out on a baking sheet while you cook the rest of your sweet potato pancakes. This will keep the pancakes warm and remove excess moisture while the rest of the pancakes cook.
• Check on the heat of your griddle or frying pan about halfway through cooking your paleo pancakes. The pan will start to get really hot after a while and can burn your pancakes. You might need to turn down the heat to adjust.
• Add your add-ins to your sweet potato pancakes after your paleo pancake batter has been added to the pan. Chocolate chips (Enjoy Life Mini Chocolate Chips or Enjoy Life Chocolate Chunks) are my favorite addition.

Want to Make Waffles?

We love to make our paleo sweet potato pancakes into sweet potato waffles! You will probably get 4 or 5 waffles out of this recipe (this also depends on the size of your waffle maker), but they are SO filling and are about equal to 2 pancakes each. I use a waffle maker/cake pop maker that I got on Amazon.

Cook according to your waffle maker – mine has red/green lights as a timer. A finished waffle will have nice crispy edges.