Every IHOP Pancake—Ranked!
BY
Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, CSSD, LDN
When you think pancakes, there's a good chance IHOP comes to mind. It's the "home of all things breakfast and everything delicious," and that certainly includes the chain's World-Famous pancakes. The flapjacks you get at IHOP are legendary—fluffy and always stacked with yummy toppings. But, as you can imagine, some options are naturally better for your overall health than others. Certain IHOP pancakes are just highly caloric, sugar-filled dishes, while others aren't as bad of a treat.
So we went ahead and looked at all the current pancakes (and crepes!) options on the IHOP menu. We ranked the IHOP pancakes from the worst option to the one that is the least offensive. We looked at the nutritional breakdowns for just the pancakes, not including any side dishes. Pro tip: If you really want to indulge in any of these pancakes, we suggest eating only half at a time and saving the other half for later! Or, as Eat This, Not That! medical board expert, Leslie Bonci, MPH, RD, CSSD, LDN suggests, it's best to "split [the pancakes] and accompany [the order] with protein of some kind (think eggs), [and] ask for the butter, syrup, and whipped cream to be on the side instead of on top."
See where your favorite IHOP pancakes end up on the list, and in case you get the urge to whip up breakfast yourself, be sure to check out these 21 Best Healthy Cooking Hacks of All Time.
IHOP Cupcake Pancakes
By now, you now eating a cupcake for breakfast isn't an ideal way to start the day. So it shouldn't come as much of a surprise that cupcake pancakes aren't the best bet, either. IHOP took four fluffy buttermilk pancakes and filled them with festive rainbow sprinkles, then topped them with cupcake icing and whipped topping. These pancakes are coming in at more than 800 calories and 59 grams of sugar. That's as much sugar as you would get from eating 20 Oreo Thins cookies. And you wouldn't have that for breakfast, right?
IHOP New York Cheesecake Pancakes
OK, we'll admit it—a New York cheesecake is a classic dessert. Again, dessert isn't something you want to be starting your day with! These buttermilk pancakes are filled with cheesecake bites and topped with glazed strawberries, a combination that created the IHOP pancakes with the most amount of calories.
When it comes to sugar, you'll want to keep in mind that The American Heart Association recommends men should consume no more than 36 grams of added sugar per day, and women shouldn't have more than 25 grams per day.
IHOP Chocolate Chip Pancakes
Hey, we're not here to tell you which time of day to get your chocolate fix. So if you want to add a few chocolate chips to your pancakes every once in a while, enjoy yourself. These chocolate chip pancakes are made with chocolate batter, are filled with chocolate chips, and are topped with a drizzle of chocolate syrup, along with more chocolate chips. Talk about chocolate overload! It's no wonder it's packing as much sugar as you would get from six and a half snack-size Hershey chocolate bars.
If you're really itching to eat some chocolate chip pancakes, go for the option that is made with buttermilk batter, and skip out on the toppings. Remember, caring is sharing, too! Four full-size pancakes are a big helping, so stick to just two, add on some fresh fruit, and you'll be in better shape.
Looking to get lessen your sugar intake? Here's the science-backed way to curb your sweet tooth in 14 days.
IHOP Strawberries & Cream Crepes
Crepes are often thought of as thin pancakes but don't just assume these are going to be that much lower in calories. This dish is topped with glazed strawberries (as opposed to fresh strawberries) and a vanilla cream drizzle. That just means sugar.
IHOP Harvest Grain 'n Nut Pancakes
The Harvest Grain 'N Nut Pancakes had potential. They're filled with oats, almonds, and walnuts and are topped with whipped real butter. The fact that this dish has half a gram of heart-harming trans fat is concerning, though, as it's recommended for people to eat no trans fat or come as close to zero as possible. Trans fat raises LDL, or your "bad" cholesterol, and lowers HDL, aka your "good" cholesterol, so you don't want to start your day off on that note.
IHOP Mexican Tres Leches Pancakes
Four buttermilk pancakes are layered with both a vanilla sauce and a dulce de leche caramel sauce. Clearly, IHOP really likes making the whole dessert-for-breakfast angle! If you want to try these, split an order with friends—one pancake each isn't bad! That way, you can enjoy an order of nutrient-packed eggs and some sausage to round out the meal.
IHOP Strawberry Banana Pancakes
Strawberries and bananas—now that's a solid breakfast combination! The pancakes are filled with fresh banana slices and are topped with some, too, along with glazed strawberries. If only the pancakes had fresh strawberries instead of this sugary, sweet, saucy topping.
IHOP Double Blueberry Pancakes
Double is one of those menu words that is always a red flag, as it means, well, more. Here, that meals double the blueberries, since the pancakes are filled with berries, and are also topped with blueberry compote. Skip the compote and the whipped cream and that will instantly knock off 16 grams of sugar.
IHOP Buttermilk Pancakes Full Stack
Hey, there is nothing wrong with going simple and sticking with the regular buttermilk pancakes. However, the full stack is five pancakes—that is a lot to eat in one sitting. While much lower in sugar than other options, you do want to take note of the sodium here. This stack is clocking in at 2,550 milligrams, and The American Heart Association recommends most adults consume no more than 2,300 milligrams a day.
IHOP Swedish Crepes
These crepes are topped with sweet-tart lingonberries and lingonberry butter. Lingonberries are essentially like cranberries. They happen to be high in antioxidants and may just be helpful when it comes to weight loss. See, one study even found that mice who received 20% of their calories from lingonberries actually ended up weighing 21% less and had lower body fat than those mice who ate an equal-calorie, high-fat diet without the berries. Pass the lingonberries!
IHOP Buttermilk Pancakes Short Stack
There really is nothing wrong with a classic, and that's exactly what IHOP's Buttermilk Pancakes are. The short stack is packing the least amount of calories and is the lowest in sugar compared to every other pancake option on the menu. As Bonci points out, "the short stack can satisfy with delight in every bite. Do ask the server if a side of fresh fruit is available as well."
