Sweet Potato Pancakes
Updated Aug 11, 2025
Fluffy sweet potato pancake recipe using leftover mashed sweet potatoes (or freshly baked) with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Ready in under 30!
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Make Pancakes with Sweet Potatoes
Whenever I have leftover sweet potatoes, I almost always turn them into sweet potato pancakes. They’re fluffy, lightly sweet, and a nice change from the usual weekend pancakes. Plus, it’s an easy way to use up boiled sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes, without letting them sit in the fridge until I forget about them.
Sweet potato pancakes only take a few minutes to mix together, and if I’ve got the griddle going, I can have a whole stack ready fast. I’ll make them for brunch, or even just on a slow morning when I want something different.
Sweet Potato Pancake Ingredients
- Mashed sweet potatoes: I created this sweet potato pancake recipe using leftover mashed sweet potatoes, but you can make it with leftover baked whole sweet potatoes, boiled sweet potatoes or roasted sweet potatoes that you mash. If using whole sweet potatoes, you’ll need 1 large or 2 medium sweet potatoes to equal one cup of mashed for the recipe.
- Dry Ingredients: You’ll need baking powder, cinnamon, nut-meg, salt, and all-purpose flour for this recipe! If you’re swapping in gluten-free flour, just be sure it’s a 1:1 baking alternative.
- Eggs: Just 2 standard eggs (flax eggs will work, too).
- Milk: I use whole milk for more protein and richness but you can use any milk you want.
- Melted butter: Just two tablespoons! You can also swap with avocado oil or even applesauce in the same quantities.
- Maple syrup and brown sugar: I love the way both of these sweeteners play off of the natural flavor of sweet potatoes, but feel free to use one or the other rather than both!
- Mix-ins: These are great plain, but if you want to bake in a little texture, try mixing in dried cranberries, chocolate chips, citrus zest, or any chopped nuts you have on hand!
How to Make Sweet Potato Pancakes
Sweet Potato Pancake Recipe
Fluffy sweet potato pancake recipe using leftover mashed sweet potatoes (or freshly baked) with cinnamon and a pinch of nutmeg. Ready in under 30!
Video
Ingredients
- 1 cup leftover mashed sweet potatoes
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cup milk
- 2 tablespoons packed light brown sugar
- 1 tablespoon Maple syrup plus more for serving
- ¾ cup all purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- Pinch nutmeg
- 2 tablespoons melted butter plus more for cooking
Instructions
- Place mashed sweet potatoes in a large bowl. Add eggs, milk, brown sugar and maple syrup and whisk until combined.
- Sprinkle flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt and nutmeg on top of the sweet potato mixture and stir until smooth. Add melted butter and mix until combined
- Set a large nonstick skillet over medium heat and add a small pat of butter. Once melted, drop ⅓ cup portions of the sweet potato batter onto the preheated skillet. Cook until bubbles form on the top of the pancake, 2 to 4 minutes, then flip and cook for an additional 2 to 3 minutes. Repeat process until all of the batter has been used, you should end up with about 8 pancakes.
- Serve warm with maple syrup.
Notes
*Nutrition label uses plain unseasoned mashed sweet potato.
Storage: Let any leftover pancakes cool completely before transferring them to an airtight container or zip-lock bag and storing them in the fridge for up to 5 days. To reheat, you can microwave them for about 40-60 seconds wrapped in a damp paper towel, or heat them in a skillet on the stove until warmed through.
Freezing: Sweet potato pancakes freeze well. Just let them cool completely before transferring them to a freezer-safe container or bag and stick them in the freezer for up to 3 months. To eat, let them thaw overnight in the fridge, then reheat as mentioned above!
Nutrition
Calories: 128kcal, Carbohydrates: 18g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 5g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g, Monounsaturated Fat: 1g, Trans Fat: 0.1g, Cholesterol: 56mg, Sodium: 182mg, Potassium: 120mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 6g, Vitamin A: 2539IU, Vitamin C: 0.4mg, Calcium: 70mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Recipe Tips
- Use even more leftover sweet potatoes. Using 1 cup of mashed sweet potatoes results in a fluffy pancake-like texture. However, if you have more than a cup on hand, you can add up to an additional cup to the recipe for a more potato pancake-like texture. This recipe is very forgiving!
- Don’t worry about your mashed sweet potato flavor. This recipe is designed to be used with leftover sweet potatoes that skew sweet in their flavor profile, but if there’s a little herb or black pepper in your recipe, don’t worry. These will still come out perfectly.
- Don’t over-mix. I can’t stress this enough: Over-mixing the batter will result in dense pancakes. Mix until just combined, and then stop mixing.
Serving Ideas
- Add sweet toppings. These are great plain or with a classic drizzle of maple syrup, but my kids and I also enjoy them with applesauce, Greek yogurt and honey, chopped nuts, sliced bananas and apples, or even a drizzle of melted homemade peanut butter or homemade almond butter.
- Add savory toppings. For a more savory dish, I like to top my sweet potato pancakes with scrambled egg, avocado, cream cheese, or even whipped cottage cheese.
Comments
I’ve made this several times and it always comes out great! Thank you!
Yay, that makes me so happy to hear! Thank you!!
I wanted to love these, but they came out way too dense. I would need to play with the ratio of sweet potato, flour, baking powder, and milk if I were to make them again. Instead, I’ll probably just try a different sweet potato pancake recipe. Glad this seemed to have worked well for others, though.
Thanks for the feedback, Laura. Is it possible that you over-mixed the batter? Over-mixing results in dense pancakes. You need to make sure to mix until just combined and then stop. I’m also curious, did you use freshly baked sweet potatoes or leftover mashed sweet potatoes with other ingredients (like butter, milk, etc.)?
These pancakes were a game changer for my all the sudden picky toddler who doesn’t want to eat vegetables! She loved them so much she didn’t even eat them with syrup. Bless you haha!!
Aww, that makes me so happy to hear!! Thank you, Gabby!
I made these with purple sweet potatoes from my garden. They were so delicious and so pretty!
Yum! That sounds so good and pretty!! Thanks for sharing, Gayla!
Really appreciated this recipe. Thank you so much, we thought it was delicious (and forgiving, as you said.)
Amazing!! So glad you liked it!
This recipe was so easy! The pancakes turned out great! They were so moist and fluffy and delicious. I highly recommend this recipe!!!
Aww, so happy you loved it! Thank you so much, Stephanie!!
I have never felt so happy making pancakes. Your recipe it so healthy and so yummy!! I had too many sweet potatoes and am so glad I came across your recipe. I will be making another batch tonight.
Yay!! So happy you love it! Thank you, Carmen!
These resulted in just-okay pancakes. They were SO flat and lacked flavor. I’ll be using this as a base recipe but definitely needs some tweaking.
I’m sorry to hear your pancakes didn’t turn out fluffy, Maria! Is it possible that your baking powder was expired? As for the flavor, were your leftover mashed sweet potatoes seasoned? This recipe is meant to be used with leftover sweet potatoes that have been separately seasoned, so the recipe doesn’t add too much seasoning but you are always welcome to adjust the spices to your personal preferences.
I don’t leave reviews often but for these I had to! They’re delicious, no additional maple syrup needed. Just make them!!
Yay!! Aww, so glad you love them!! Thank you!
Are the calories for the whole stack??
The nutrition information is for 1 pancake. Each recipe makes 8 pancakes, or 8 servings. Hope that helps!
100% recommend!!! These are absolutely delicious. I used plant based butter and honey and molasses instead of maple syrup and they are amazing! I don’t normally write recipe reviews but I had to for this one 🙂
Aww, I’m so happy you liked them!! Thank you so much!
Why do you add the melted butter after everything is mixed?
I don’t add the melted butter with the other wet ingredients because I pull the milk and eggs right out of my fridge, so mixing them during that step will cause the butter to harden into chunks. I found that doing it in that order caused pockets of hot butter throughout the pancakes. By mixing the melted butter at the end, after combining the wet and dry ingredients, I think it gives the best texture because it incorporates the butter throughout the batter better. You could probably get the same result if you let your milk and eggs warm up to room temperature. Hope that helps!
Delicious!
Yay, so happy you like them! Thanks, Jenny!
Hello, do you not recommend using almond flour? I tried it! And pancakes came out like mashed pancakes.
Oh no! I’m so sorry to hear that. I haven’t tried making these pancakes with almond flour but I’m not surprised they fell apart since it’s a very dry flour. Were you trying to make them gluten free? I recommend using a gluten-free flour mix that is made for 1:1 substitute baking instead next time. Hope that helps!
I don’t usually write reviews, but this is so so delicious. I added oatmeal just to be healthier. Next time, I will use whole wheat. These will be my go-to pancakes now.
Aww, so glad you loved them!! Thanks so much!
Good
Thanks, Tish!
This was yummy and worked with gluten-free flour!
Yay, I’m so glad!! Thanks for sharing, Kathy!
I echo the comments when I say these were incredible. Absolutely 100% delicious. We ate them straight off the griddle without syrup or any fixin’s and had to make another batch! We are all not fans of sweet potato, but my son wanted to try them, and whoa they knocked our socks off. Found they freeze great and are easy to warm in the toaster for a quick school morning breakfast. Could not be more pleased with this recipe. 5 stars. Thank you!
Wow, thank you so much for your kind words!! So happy your family loved them, Kristen!
These were DELICIOUS. I had leftover mashed sweet potatoes from dinner and these were a perfect way to reuse them. My kids and husband loved them! As a mom on a fitness journey though, just curious. 128 calories for 1 pancake?
Aww, so happy you and your family liked them!! Yes, the nutrition facts are for 1 pancake (using plain, unseasoned mashed sweet potato).
Simple and delicious. The sweet potato pancakes are on repeat!!
Yay! So glad you liked them!!
I followed this recipe but added coconut flour instead of regular flour. The mixture was too thick to make pancakes and they fell apart, even though I tried to continue to add milk to the batter. So instead of making pancakes, I put them in a muffin tin and I’m making sweet potato muffins and added dried cranberries.
Hi Lori! I don’t recommend using coconut flour for this exact reason. I’d love to hear how your batter turned out as muffins though. Dried cranberries sound great!
I was trying to make these gluten free, but they didn’t quite come together as a muffin when baked for 35 minutes. I even tried baking it longer. I wasn’t able to achieve a muffin-like texture. The mixture was still tasty, but did not work as a muffin.
Bummer! So sorry to hear that, Lori. Another reader has had success making these pancakes with buckwheat flour, maybe you could give that a shot?
Yummy! Followed the recipe exactly! Will be making these all the time for sure.
Yay!! So glad you liked them! Thank you, Nancy!!
Yummy way to use up overly sweet sweet potato marshmallow mash from Thanksgiving. Totally easy. Didn’t add any more sugar or maple syrup because it was sweet enough from the original recipe. Great texture too. Thanks! Will make another batch tomorrow.
So happy the recipe helped you use up Thanksgiving leftovers!! I’m sure the marshmallows were so delicious, what a sweet morning treat! Thank you, Sharon!!
This pancake is a winner. My daughter loves it. I used oat milk and agave nectar instead of the maple syrup. It was very tasty. Thank you for this recipe. There is none left. It was sooo good.
Yay, so happy you and your daughter love it! Thank you, Natasha!!
These sweet potato pancakes are REALLY so so good!
Yay! So happy you like them!!
Just made this today. A total hit with the kiddos! I used two baked potatoes and doubled the recipe. Followed the recipe exactly. So delicious, will definitely save this and continue to make it. Thank you, Yumna!
Yay, so happy your kids loved it!! Thank you!
Made these for breakfast with leftover mashed sweet potatoes from yesterday’s Thanksgiving. We had them with butter and leftover Turkey Gravy on top. I am now told this is the only way my family will eat sweet potatoes. Thanks, now they won’t eat them even roasted, mashed, or in soup. etc.
Haha so happy your family loved the recipe! It’s perfect for extra mashed sweet potatoes, I’m glad you were able to put your Thanksgiving leftovers to good use!!
These came out great!
Yay, so glad you enjoyed them!
Delicious! I’m not a good measurer, typically just eyeball amounts. My leftover sweet potatoes were hard so it would have been more work measuring an exact amount. When I read that the recipe was very forgiving, I went for it, eyeballing increases as needed. The end result was fabulous. When I make rice for dinner, I always make extra for fried rice the next day. Now I will have to make extra sweet potatoes for pancakes the next day!
Love that! So happy you like the recipe, Paul! Thank you!!
Loved these! Recommend cooking on low heat with coconut oil. Also, I was able to shove out the sugar and maple syrup for one mashed banana. If the batter is too thick, you can loosen it with more liquid to firm up “mushy” texture when cooking
Great tips, thank you for sharing! So happy you loved them, Heather!
Delicious taste and texture, be careful as they burn easily.
So happy you liked them, Michael!
These were delicious. I used whole wheat flour instead of AP, and half a banana and a few tablespoons of applesauce to replace the sugar/syrup. I loved them, 5 year old loved and my 10 month old loved them. Thanks for the recipe!
Yay, so happy it was a hit in your family! Thanks so much, Lisa!!
Absolutely love sweet potatoes so I will absolutely try this…
Yay, I hope you enjoy!!
Do you have recommendation for substitution if I don’t have maple syrup
You could swap it for honey, or just add an additional tablespoon of brown sugar.
I had used two varieties of sweet potatoes and didn’t have nutmeg… would have turned it up a notch.
4.1 out of 5 stars for me.
5 out of 5 the recipe as is…
Thank you! Next time I know you will give your self 5 stars with the addition of the nutmeg!
I love these! The cinnamon and nutmeg take them to the next level. We like to spread applesauce on top. I always make at least a double batch of these because they disappear in a flash!
Sounds amazing!
Ok Yumna, leave it to me….I came here from your recommendation to my comment/question on the sweet potato muffin recipe! These look amazing, but like I said, leave it to me-we are vegan, so is there a sub for the eggs?? I thought maybe flax eggs, but wanted to be sure.
Thank you!
I used buckwheat flour, one fourth cup of water instead of milk, added.
Walnuts, only used two tablespoons of sugar for sweetening, no maple syrup. And they turned out fluffy and delicious. I will be making these again.Thank you so much for posting this!
Thanks for sharing the tweaks you made!
Used whole wheat flour and oat milk substitutes. So delicious and healthy, not too much sugar. Whole family loves em.Will be making again for sure.
Glad to hear they were a hit with the whole family!
What heat setting do you cook them on?
These are cooked over medium heat. The full recipe can be found by clicking “jump to recipe” at the top of the blog post.
We make your oatmeal pancakes all the time and love them! I had a large can of sweet potatoes and decided to double the recipe to make them. These pancakes turned out so good and fluffy! Everyone had several pancakes. It is hard to say which is our favorite but this one is definitely top 2! Thank you for the easy to follow recipes that always turn out well!
I made these with some left over sweet potatoes we had from dinner last night. My husband will not stop talking about them. They were the best pancakes I think we both have ever had. We topped them with some homemade maple whipped cream and some whipped cranberry sauce I made last week. Top tier.
Wow, sounds so good! Such a nice and cozy fall breakfast.
I’m happy with your responses. I would like to try them myself as my mother too is a huge fan of sweet potatoes. Can I use plant milk as substitute for lower fat? Thanks a lot!!
When I make sweet potatoes I know now to make extra only to make these yummy sweet potato pancakes! They turned out really good and so fluffy!
Aw, thank you Salma! Always so nice to see you trying a new recipe!
Okay okay. The `1x in the ingredients is equivalent to how many pancakes? I need this for a patient that’s why I’m making sure.
Hi Danielle it’s for 8 pancakes total. Hope they enjoy!
Hello. I’m trying to follow the recipe posted here. But the nutrition facts posted are misleading. Baking powder alone in that given amount is equivalent to 480mg of sodium. Fat from eggs alone has 12g Fat. Sweet Potatoes in that amount has 1250 mg Potassium.
Hello, the nutrition facts are for 1 pancake and pretty accurate.
The baking powder does reflect 424 mg of sodium for the whole batch, plus 581mg for the added 1/4 tsp of salt added.
Fat from eggs: the nutrition has this at 9.51 for 2 lg eggs. USDA notes there’s about 5 g per egg.
1 cup of sweet potatoes: 448 mg potassium according to the nutrition calculator but this amount can vary.
Ohhhhh my GOODNESS!!! We were NOT ready for these. So delicious and moist and… Did I mention delicious???
LOL Thank you so much, so happy you liked it!
The whole family loved these. I’m wondering if I sub oat flour would it be the same amount as the regular flour?
I have not made these with oat flour, but it should be a 1:1 ratio. It may require some testing.
These were incredible!! The way mine turned out, I wouldn’t call them “fluffy” but they were sooo delicious with a very soft texture. I’m saving this one for sure! Also, I nixed the brown sugar and just did 3 Tbs maple syrup 👌🏽
Than you so much, Andy!
Hi!! Tried these tonight very good! Was wondering if it was supposed to be wet in middle? I’ve cooked until golden on both sides but inside seemed like they weren’t cooked. Plz help!
Sounds like they need a few more minutes to cook on the inside. The heat may have ben too high.
I tried your recipe and it was good. I did experiment a little with batter. Lacked a little flavor or sweetness, so I added 2 T. Of sweetened condensed milk. I fixed them for my client and I lunch and we enjoyed them!
I love the idea of adding the sweetened condensed milk!
These are incredible! Light, fluffy and better than regular pancakes. Don’t skimp on the nutmeg since it brings them to the next level. One recommendation, I cooked them in coconut oil which gives the edges a perfect crunch factor.
Oh I love the idea of cooking them in coconut oil!
Ohhh my GOSH- coconut crispy edges sound amazing 👏 Back to the kitchen to try it!
Has anyone made these with “flax eggs” instead of real eggs? (One “flax egg” is 3TBS of water mixed 1 TBS ground flax seeds). Hoping they would be just as light and fluffy.
Fluffy, delicious and soo easy!
Thanks so much, Amy!
These are amazing! I started with 1/4 cup almond milk and added just a touch more after mixing. They were so perfect. Im writing this with my empty plate sitting in front of me 🙂 I would add for some of the negative reviews it could be the leftover mash they’re using. I keep mine pretty thick so my pancakes came out nice and fluffy.
Thank you so much, Madison! Happy to hear you enjoyed them!
Worked better in Dash waffle maker.
Love the idea of using a waffle maker!
Followed the recipe as written and they came out super dense and no flavor. Very disappointed!
So sorry to hear that!
Not a great recipe at all. Weird texture, no taste.
So sorry to hear that you weren’t a fan of the pancakes.
They were delicious!!! I used fresh-milled Ezekiel flour and they were so satisfying!!
I love that the maple syrup is already in the batter. I didn’t even pour any on top!!
Thank you for the wonderful recipe.
You’re so welcome!
Hi! These look absolutely delicious! I was wondering if I could make them in a Dash mini waffle maker? Do you think that the batter would hold up? Thank you!
Hi Cassie, I have not tried it in a waffle maker, so I am not sure. I don’t see any reason why it wouldn’t, and it can’t hurt to test it out on one if it flops, you can make pancakes with it instead. You’ll have to let me know how it turns out if you try one!
Delicious! My kids gobbled these up. I followed the suggestion of 1/4 cup of milk and they were perfect.
So glad you and your kids enjoyed the pancakes!
Had more luck with a two ingredient pancake than this one and ended up tossing the whole batch cuz it wouldn’t firm up at all. Just stayed loose so impossible to flip. Followed recipe exactly. Not sure what went wrong.
So sorry to hear that the pancakes didn’t turn out as expected. It sounds like there might have been too much moisture in the batter – the water content of sweet potatoes does vary. If you try it again start with 1/4 cup of milk and see if that helps.
My picky toddler eat this up. I even added mashed carrots and chopped spinach and he had no idea ha ha. Thank you so much. Wonderful recipe!
That’s great! So glad you found a way to sneak some extra veggies in – I have a picky eater myself and know the struggles!
Sounds delicious
Thank you! Let me know what you think if you give it a try.