These vegan blueberry sourdough pancakes are soft, thick and fluffy with mouthwatering sourdough flavor. It's a wonderful recipe to use up sourdough discard and it makes a big enough batch to enjoy with family and friends now or save some for later. This is my most requested breakfast recipe but you don't have to take my word for it - try them yourself!
Irresistible vegan blueberry sourdough pancakes
These vegan blueberry sourdough pancakes are an easy breakfast for weekends when you want to gather round the table with family or friends for a leisurely - and delicious -breakfast that's also incredibly nourishing.
The pancake batter is ridiculously easy, and you can make it with sourdough discard, even discard that's been sitting in the fridge for a couple of weeks, or with an active sourdough starter. It is very similar to the batter for my vegan sourdough waffles, which so many of you love. The night before you make the pancakes, set aside five minutes to put the ingredients in a bowl and mix them up. Then set the batter aside to ferment in a warm spot overnight.
In the morning stir in a tiny bit of baking soda, which makes the pancakes even more tender, optional flax meal, and blueberries. Then it's time to make pancakes!
Even if you have a great pancake recipe for weekends (I love these vegan whole wheat pancakes), you might never look back once you've tried these vegan sourdough pancakes. You can make them with whole wheat flour if you want to. I add blueberries for their nutrition and amazing flavor - so great with sourdough recipes like these vegan sourdough blueberry muffins - but you can make the pancakes plain too, without any added fruit.
Since I posted this recipe in 2018, some of you have asked me why the batter needs to stand overnight, and can't one just make it right before making pancakes? Some readers have even made the pancakes right away using this recipe and they've reported great results. However, I still recommend letting the batter stand overnight for two critical reasons:
- Pancakes made with an overnight sourdough batter are far healthier.
- They also have that rich, mellow, DELICIOUS sourdough flavor and fluffy texture.
To understand why, you need to understand the science behind sourdough baking. When you rest the batter for a few hours after mixing the sourdough and flour together, the gut friendly bacteria in the starter go to work to digest the starches in the flour. This makes the pancakes stratospherically better for blood sugar control. The batter also develops a smoother, more rounded flavor and the sourdough helps the pancakes rise high without eggs.
If you're still not convinced about the superiority of an overnight batter, use half the batter right away to make pancakes and let the other half stand for a few hours to ferment. Then come back and tell me if you don't agree.
This vegan sourdough pancake recipe makes 24 pancakes - enough to feed a small army or six very hungry people. You can make them soy-free and nut-free and, like most pancakes, they are very kid-friendly. If you don't want to stand over a hot stove flipping pancakes, just bake them in a sheet pan. I'll have more on that for you in the recipe FAQs below.
OH MY GOODNESSSSS!!! These are the best pancakes EVER!! The best whole grain, The best vegan, the best sourdough, simply the best!
-Aggie
Recipe card
Vegan Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes
Ingredients
- 1 cup sourdough starter (either a discard or an active starter)
- 2 cups flour (see ingredient notes below)
- 2½ cups non-dairy milk (divided, Use almond milk, soy milk or any nut milk of your choice)
- 1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon sugar (or maple syrup)
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon flax meal (optional)
- 2 cups blueberries (fresh or frozen. Rinse frozen blueberries in colander before using)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
Make sourdough pancake batter
- In a large bowl, mix the sourdough starter, two cups of non-dairy milk, vinegar, flour, and maple syrup or sugar. Cover the bowl with a tight lid or cling wrap and keep the bowl in a warm spot (like an unheated oven with the light turned on) overnight.
- By morning, the pancake batter should be puffy and bubbly and it should have risen. Mix in the salt, baking soda, blueberries, and optional flax meal and lemon juice. If the pancake batter is too thick, add the remaining half cup of non-dairy milk into the batter.
Make sourdough pancakes
- Heat a griddle and coat with cooking spray. Use a ¼ cup measure to pour out pancakes on the griddle, leaving at least an inch between the pancakes.
- Cook until the edges of the pancakes are dry and bubbles appear in the center. Use a thin spatula to flip each pancake and continue to cook the other side for a minute or until set. Remove pancakes to a plate with spatula.
Notes
Ingredient notes:
Flour: You can make these pancakes with all-purpose flour or with whole wheat flour or whole-wheat pastry flour. Blueberries: Fresh or frozen blueberries are both fine to use. If using frozen blueberries rinse them in a colander to remove any frost that's clinging to them. No need to thaw. Sugar or maple syrup: The sugar helps feed the sourdough yeast bacteria. Flax meal: The flax meal in this recipe is not a replacement for eggs nor a binder. I add it for more nutrition and you can skip it.Nutrition Information
To print recipe card without images, uncheck "instruction images" after clicking the "print recipe" button.
How to make vegan sourdough blueberry pancakes
Make the pancake batter
- Place the sourdough starter, flour, two cups milk, apple cider vinegar, and sugar or maple syrup in a bowl.
- Mix with a spatula until everything has just mixed together. Mixing the batter for too long will develop gluten, which can make pancakes chewy, so stop as soon as there is no dry flour in the bowl. A lumpy batter is perfectly fine.
Let the batter stand overnight
This gives time for the probiotic bacteria and yeast in sourdough to digest starches in the flour, making it easier on the tummy and the gut, and more flavorful. By morning the batter will be puffy with hundreds of bubbles.
Add remaining ingredients to batter
- Add the baking soda, salt, flax meal if using, and vanilla into the batter.
- Mix them in. Again, don't overmix. Stop when the blueberries are evenly dispersed through the batter. If, at this point, the batter appears too thick, go ahead and add the remaining half cup of non-dairy milk.
Make sourdough pancakes
- Heat a cast iron griddle or a non-stick skillet over medium high heat. Spray or brush on a thin coat of oil (you can use cooking spray). If you're using cast iron it's really important that the skillet be well-seasoned so you can flip the pancakes easily.
- Use a ⅓ or ¼ cup measure to scoop out pancakes onto the griddle. Use the bottom of the cup measure to help them spread them a little but don't make them too thin. Also don't overcrowd the pancakes - leave at least a couple of inches around them so they cook evenly and are easier to flip. If your griddle is smaller you can make one pancake at a time.
- Wait until bubbles appear on top of the pancakes, close to the center, and the edges begin to dry. This is really important to make sure that the pancakes are cooked evenly with no raw batter left inside. The undersides of the pancakes should be golden-brown at this stage.
- Flip the pancakes and let them continue cooking for 30 seconds to a minute, or until they've set up completely with no raw batter inside. You can check this by flipping the pancake again and poking the edge of the spatula into the center of the pancake. If no batter oozes out, it has set up and is ready to eat.
- Remove the pancakes to a plate. Serve them hot!
Recipe FAQs and troubleshooting
Absolutely! Pour the batter into an oiled, rimmed baking sheet and bake in a preheated 400 degrees Fahrenheit/205 degrees Celsius oven for 22 minutes or until a toothpick in the center of the pancake comes out clean. You can also try this fantastic vegan sheet pan pancakes recipe.
You can make these with any berries, apples, pears or peaches. Be sure to chop larger berries and other fruit into small pieces before adding them to the batter. Bananas can be added, but the sugar in bananas could cause the pancakes to brown faster.
Serve the pancakes with a drizzle of maple syrup and, if you like, more blueberries or bananas.
Absolutely, but you will need not just gluten-free flour but also gluten-free starter. If you don't have one you can make one using my fantastic gluten-free sourdough starter recipe. I also have a recipe for vegan gluten-free sourdough pancakes that you can use.
Refrigerate the pancakes up to five days and freeze in a freezer-safe container for up to three months. Pop pancakes straight from the fridge or freezer into a toaster oven and let them warm through a couple of minutes.
The batter can be thick if you used a different sourdough starter recipe from mine, which has lower hydration. Just thin it out by adding more non-dairy milk.
The batter may not puff up if you used a very weak or old sourdough discard, or if it is very cold in your kitchen. Sourdough needs a temperature of between 75 - 80 degrees Fahrenheit to reach peak activity. You can try leaving the batter in a warm spot for a bit longer or just make the pancakes. They will still taste good.
If you are using a very mature sourdough discard or are in a very hot climate the sourdough pancake batter could get very tangy. In that case refrigerate the batter overnight and let it come back to room temperature before making pancakes.
Recipe first posted on January 23, 2018. Updated and re-published on March 13, 2026.
More vegan sourdough breakfast recipes
- Sourdough Sticky Buns
- Vegan Cranberry Sourdough Scones
- Vegan Sourdough Biscuits
- Sourdough Skillet Pancake
Vaishali Honawar says
Hi Cassandra, I am sorry the recipe did not work for you. My sourdough starter weighs 250 grams a cup. I suspect your sourdough starter is much more dense and also the high activity may account for the taste. If you are in a very warm climate it might help to refrigerate the batter overnight. If the batter was too thick, which is the only reason the pancakes did not set in the middle before cooking outside, it was again likely due to your dense starter. Just add more water next time.
Lynn Nielson says
What if my batter is not bubbly, and risen by morning?
Vaishali Honawar says
You might have used a starter that's not been fed in a while. So long as the starter is alive, the sourdough pancakes will turn out just fine.
Ed Walker says
The Vegan Blueberry Sourdough Pancakes are a crowd pleaser! Great! We have enough for tomorrow's breakfast. Can we leave the mix covered on the counter or should we refrigerate it? Thanks
Vaishali says
Hi Ed, So happy you loved the pancakes. You can store the batter in the fridge overnight but it will get tangier. I'd advise making the pancakes and storing those instead - they will keep nicely for up to three days. Warm in the oven or on a griddle/skillet before serving.
Ed Walker says
Thank you.. and yes they did get tangy!
kerry lynn kirkpatrick says
best vegan pancake recipe! love the simplicity and that they aren't too fluffy. Oil free! thanks, kerry
Anonymous says
Can we use a different flour like AP or oat flour?