10 Different Pancake Toppings

Grace Edmonds
3 days ago
5 min read

This year, I wanted to try something different to the common pancake toppings. I’m bored of lemon and sugar, done with chocolate spread and tired of ham and cheese. There must be more to life than this?! So, I asked around, got some weird and wonderful ideas for toppings, and got to experimenting in my kitchen!

What Are Common Pancake Toppings?

I don’t know about other places, but in the UK our common toppings look something like this:

Lemon juice and sugar
Chocolate spread
Jam or berries
Ham and cheese
Plain syrup or honey

There’s nothing wrong with any of these, and I can respect the crowd that feel if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. But I wanted more from my plate this year. I’ve tried to come up with some ideas for both sweet and savoury, thick and thin pancakes… so hopefully there’s something for everyone!

Savoury Pancake Toppings

Chicken & Gravy | 4/5

Three thick, American style pancakes are stuffed like tacos with Taste Original baked chicken bites and sit next to a bowl of instant gravy

This idea evolved into a KFC-style situation. Breaded and/or fried chicken with a thick gravy? Sounded delicious to me! This worked so well, particularly as I chose these little chicken balls from Taste Original. They gave me popcorn chicken vibes (if you know, you know) and they were incredibly moreish with a pot of thick gravy to dunk in! I used this topping on a stack of thick pancakes and they soaked up the gravy beautifully.

Kimchi & Cheese | 3/5

Three thin pancakes have been folded into quarters and stuffed with layers of kimchi and grated cheese, which has melted.

Kimch-eese is one of my ultimate toastie fillings, so I felt like I was already on to a winner. They were delicious, but I think I prefer this in a sandwich. I used thin pancakes that I could fold over to emulate the toastie and, don’t get me wrong, they tasted lovely… they just didn’t knock my socks off.

Garlicky Miso Mushrooms | 5/5

A thin pancake has been folded over at the edges like a galette, encased are creamy garlicky mushrooms that have been stewed down with miso

I would eat these on repeat for a week, they are sublime. Again, using thin pancakes that could encase the mushrooms, I stuffed them full with a creamy, savoury filling. To make the mushrooms, I simply fried them in a little butter, added a few springs of thyme and a generous spoonful of miso before using a splash of water to pull the mix together. Outrageously good.

Beans & Cheese | 5/5

On a red plate lie two folded pancakes, stuffed full with beans and grated cheese. They are sprinkled with chopped chives.

Bet you can’t guess what this is inspired by? That’s right, this is the lighter, less traditional cousin of the mighty jacket potato. A staple topping for the British baked spud. There’s no way this one was ever going to fail. I heated the beans in a separate pot and, once my pancakes had been flipped, filled one half with beans. Then, I grated lots of strong cheddar over the top, gave it a crack of black pepper before folding it over to melt the cheese. Unbelievable. You could take it up another notch by making homemade baked beans - but that's for the days you have time and energy to do so.

Chorizo, Halloumi & Hot Honey | 5/5

On a wooden board there is a row of miniature pancakes. They are all filled with cooked chorizo and halloumi, and topped with finely sliced spring onion. To the side is a bowl of hot honey.

The fanciest of my five savoury toppings, this one really hit the spot for feeling like a full meal. With heaps of flavour from this top tier combination of ingredients, I think this is the one that really elevated the humble egg-flour-milk wrapping. I fried off sliced chorizo in pan, added some diced halloumi before drizzling it all with a homemade honey. With a sprinkle of freshly chopped spring onion for freshness and crunch, I’ve been dreaming about these ever since!

Sweet Pancake Toppings

S’mores | 2.5/5

A tall stack of thick, fluffy pancakes is topped with charred marshmallows. Between each pancake is a layer of chocolate spread oozing at the sides.

Inspired by the classic American campfire snack, I went all-out sweet with this one. Possibly a little too sweet… Between each fluffy disc is a layer of chocolate spread and toasted mini marshmallows. On top, I laid three toasted (and when I say toasted, I mean flame grilled with my handheld blow torch) large marshmallows and sprinkled the stack with crumbled rich tea biscuits; apparently these are the closest thing we get to Graham Crackers in the UK. Undeniably tasty, but far too much for me.

Banoffee | 4/5

In the middle of large, round plate is a thin pancake that is folded into a quarter. On top are two long slices of caramelised banana. Everything is drizzled with toffee sauce.

Banoffee was my favourite pie filling as a child. So simple, yet so delicious, so I felt it deserved a try. I cut some bananas in half lengthways before pan-cooking them until they began to caramelise – I trialled this a couple of times and it definitely works best with riper bananas! Serving them on a couple of golden thin pancakes, I drizzled everything with a generous squeeze of toffee sauce before topping with squirty cream and some chocolate shavings. It more than lived up to my banoffee-expectations but it was, again, a little on the sweet side for me.

Lemon Squash & Sugar | 5\5

Three rolled up pancakes sit on a large white plate. They have been doused in lemon squash with sugar and lemon zest sprinkled over the top.

A rogue choice, you might think. This one was inspired by a work friend who mentioned they had experimented with this combination as an impoverished student. I have to say, I went into this one feeling a little apprehensive, but there’s logic behind it, so I was happy to give it a go.. and I’m so glad I did! This ended up being one of my favourites! The sweetness of the squash gives the plate a lovely sherbet taste, unlike the straight up sweet and sour that the classic version offers. A triumph.

Pina Colada Crème Brûlée | 4.5\5

On a colourful plate lie two thick, fluffy pancakes. They have had custard piped on their surface which has been bruleed with a blow torch. To the side is a generous serving of stewed pineapple chunks.

This came to me like a vision from the lord himself in conversation with a foodie friend. I made a sweet custard, exactly like you would for a classic crème brûlée, except I used Coconut Cream instead. Then, I stewed down some chunks of pineapple in rum and brown sugar. I dolloped a spoonful of custard on each thick, fluffy pancake, topped it with a sprinkle of sugar before using my trust mini blow torch to scorch it, creating that famous crispy crunchy topping. I added the pineapples on top and sprinkled the plate with some shaved coconut. The ONLY way I’d take this a step further is using coconut sugar to brûlée the custard; then it really would be out of this world.

Balsamic Berries & Greek Yoghurt | 4/5

On a bed of three thick, fluffy pancakes, some fresh berries have been spooned on top. They have been macerated in balsamic vinegar and sprinkled with lemon zest.

Macerated berries and Greek yoghurt are a beautifully sweet/sour combination that we really should celebrate more. This, again, was the product of a mouthwatering conversation with a fellow home cook. Soaking the berries in a mixture of balsamic vinegar and honey gave them a very moreish flavour and, complemented by the creamy yoghurt, made for a delightfully refreshing topping!

To watch my method and find out the details of each recipe, check out my full series on Instagram!

Take Me To The Pancake Kingdom

More Pancake Topping Ideas

This was my whistle-stop tour of 10 alternative toppings for pancake day, but there were plenty more that came up in my exploratory conversations! I hope they can serve as some weird & wonderful inspiration for pancake day, which is on 17^th February this year: