This enormous pancake is made in a rice cooker! No need to stand over the stove and flip individual pancakes. Instead, just pour in the batter and let the rice cooker do the work.
Rice cooker pancakes were introduced in Japan a few years ago and became an internet sensation. It’s been on my to-do list the for longest time and with the weekend almost here, I decided to try making one. Or two. Or three. Okay, so I went a little overboard, but I was having so much fun experimenting!
All you need is a basic pancake batter recipe or even pancake mix if you prefer. There are a lot of article discussing the rice cooker pancake but very few recipes provided, or even how much mix/batter to use. I experimented with different amounts before finding what I think is the ideal amount and it’s the recipe I’m providing below. It doesn’t rise as high some of the others I’ve seen out there, but it cooks very evenly. When I tried to make mine extra thick, this is what happened:
It looks pretty cool, but the surface of the cake gets overcooked, as you can see by the darker brown color and ends up tasting a bit dry too.
To make the cake, whisk your batter, grease the interior of your rice cooker pot, pour in the batter, then set a timer and press cook. When it’s done, the surface will actually be pale and a little wet from the condensation that forms from the rice cooker being closed. But if you touch the cake, it should be firm, and a toothpick inserted will come out clean. The cake will also have pulled away from the edge of the pot slightly. As you let it cool down, the condensation will disappear and the cake will shrink slightly (the last photo in this collage is after the cake had cooled). When you flip the cake over, you’ll find a nice, even brown surface.
When it’s finished, the pancake looks a bit like a Japanese souffle cake. I love that the top is evenly browned. It tastes like a thick pancake, though a bit denser and chewier than normal sized pancakes.
This is definitely a recipe I’ll be making again. It’s great for a weekend breakfast or brunch, and I love that you can just let the rice cooker do the work while you go about your business.
Rice Cooker Pancake
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 2 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 2 tbsp granulated white sugar
- 2 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups low fat milk
Instructions
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together eggs and milk until completely blended. Add in remaining ingredients and whisk until only small lumps remain.
- Grease the interior of your rice cooker pot. I used my 10-cup rice cooker with only a cook/warm function. Pour in the batter. If you have a very small ricer cooker, make sure your batter does not reach past the halfway point since the pancake will rise when cooking. Close your rice cooker.
- If your rice cooker has a timer function, set it to cook for 45 minutes. If it doesn't, set a separate timer for yourself and then press cook. If your rice cooker only has a cook/warm function, the rice cooker will likely go from cook to warm before the 45 minutes is up (mine did it after 10-15 minutes). You can try pressing cook again, but my rice cooker wouldn't let me. I left it on warm and it continued to cook, finishing at 45 minutes. Your cooking time may vary slightly depending on your rice cooker (size, power, etc). You can check on it periodically.
- When it is done, the cake will have slightly pulled away from the edges of the pan. The surface may look slightly wet, but it is likely from condensation. When you touch the cake, it should feel firm and bounce back. A toothpick inserted should come out clean. Let cake cool a few minutes. Then invert the cake onto a plate (the cake should slide out easily), and the surface of the cake should be brown.
Nutrition
The nutrition information provided are only estimates based on an online nutritional calculator. I am not a certified nutritionist. Please consult a professional nutritionist or doctor for accurate information and any dietary restrictions and concerns you may have.
So i cheated and used a box mix. So despite that not bad but fun. It was a bit doughy but I don’t have an instant pot, i have a Mueller multi cooker. 45 min was too long and it started to burn after 30 but it was done.
I used the rice cooker setting low pressure manual time setting max was 15. So when it beeps, just restart.
Thanks for sharing your experience!
Mine keep burning on the bottom. Any ideas?
It’s probably the rice cooker you’re using – we recommend checking on it and adjusting the cook time.
I’ve made this twice now, I increase the sugar a bit and add a splash of vanilla and it’s easy and delicious. Thank you!
We’re happy you like the recipe!
It’s always nice to find another way to use my rice cooker! I like the browned top! For some reason, mine wouldn’t finish cooking on warm. I was able to make it go another cycle of cook, but after it switched to warm again, I moved it to a 300° oven and cooked it for 10 minutes. That worked well, especially since I was using the oven on warm for the rest of the breakfast anyway.
We’re glad it worked for you!
Hi, im making this literally right now. It tasted blamd before cooking, so I added a bit of vanilla, and instead of sugar, i would suggest honey, because it gives normal pancakes more flavor. But this looks good, thanks Kirbie. If you don’t mind me asking, is that a nickname? I don’t know of any names with a nickname kirbie. Thanks!
It is a nickname 🙂 You can learn more on the About page!
I followed the recipe and even added vanilla extract and it came out with no flavor
Like other types of pancakes, it should be served with toppings like syrup and fruit for extra flavor.
Does this cake feed one person? Because if so… and it takes approximately 45 minutes… it could be a long time to feed a family of 4. Please let me know… thank you!!
The way we serve it, you get six slices – so it really depends on how big of a serving you want for each person.
I tried to make this with a gluten free flour blend and almond milk, and let’s just say it didn’t not turn out well. Just a forewarning for anyone who also feels like experimenting
Thanks for sharing your experience – other readers will find it helpful!
OMG this totally worked the first time and I only have a cheap basic rice cooker! Will probably only need 35 – 40 mins next time for a fluffier consistency but overall it was pretty good.
I’m glad it worked out for you!
The pancake turned out exactly as it looked but the flavor was very bland. Definitely need some better flavor and toppings to complete the flavor profile
Most pancakes are served with toppings like syrup, powdered sugar, and fruit to add more flavor so we recommend that you try that.
I have a small, 4-cup rice cooker and even after halving the recipe I still had to cook for the full 45 minutes. The resulting pancake is a bit dense and the “crust” on the bottom of the pancake is a little tough and chewy, but overall, still decent. To add more “fluff” to my next batch, I am going to try adding Kewpie mayonnaise like I saw in another recipe. Just not sure what proportion I’ll use yet. I also added half a teaspoon of vanilla and a pinch of salt.
Since we only use a 10-cup rice cooker, we can’t guarantee the recipe will work in a smaller one. The recipe would need adjustments to make that work.
I recently saw a Japanese pancake and thought, I have to figure out how they made that! The father of my boys is half Japanese and they love all things Japanese. When they mentioned something about a rice cooker pancake I went looking and found your blog! So we just made it and here it is! It has collapsed a little in the cooling process (as you mentioned) and we are about to enjoy. I have a 5 cup Japanese rice pot and cooked for just a little over 45 minutes because it didn’t seem quite done at 45. Thanks for the recipe!
I’m so glad your family got a chance to try a Japanese rice cooker pancake
Is it possible to make the rice cooker pancakes in a insta pot?
yes if you are using the older version of instant pot. some of the newer versions require 1 cup of liquid or it won’t start cooking. https://kirbiecravings.com/giant-instant-pot-pancake/
It tasted amazing! We used a 6-quart rice cooker and it took an extra 5 minutes (maybe because we opened it to check). We added lemon zest and vanilla for a little more flavor. Now we are exploring all of these recipes and are excited to try more after this success!
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
Hi, could I check if I half the portion of your recipe, should the cooking time be shorten too? I kept to 45 min and find it very dense and dry. I also used unsweetened rice milk instead. Would you have any advice? Thank you.
if you reduced the recipe by half with the same size pan, then yes, you would need to reduce cooking time.
Hi. I find your recipe is interesting, and it’s on the top of google search for rice cooker pancake recipe.
I want to ask you, did you ever try to cover the rice cooker lid with cloth to avoid the condensation on the top of the cake? Just like people do to avoid wet steamed bun?
I have not tried that. I don’t find the condensation to be a problem because it evaporates soon after when the pancake is cooling
Very nice and simple recipe, tasty as hell and it came out great! A bit chewy as expected but I love it!
I’m really glad you enjoyed!
I’m on a bariatric diet. Can I use almond flour and splenda?
this recipe will not work with almond flour
If you’ve got a smaller rice cooker with only a cook/warm switch…don’t bother. Mine’s been in about two hours now and even though I’m periodically turning it back on, it’s nowhere near done. Too bad, I was looking forward to it!
I’m sorry this didn’t work out for you. The more simple rice cookers are less reliable because of their limited function though I was able to get it to work with mine
I also have a small rice cooker with the cook warm lights and one switch. From a lot of trial and error I found you have to keep it to small cakes, no more than a cup and a half of batter each, then leave it alone after it has autoswitched to warm for at least 10 minutes. They aren’t the tall cakes like other cookers but they still come out beautifully.
I have a brown rice setting on my rice cooker, can I use that?
Yes you can try that. I don’t know if it will be enough time but it will be longer than the white rice setting.
Does it make a difference if I use skim, 2% or whole milk? I do not see where the recipe specifies what kind of milk to use?
I’ve successfully used all three which is why I didn’t specify.
First time commenter, short-time reader:
I didn’t have white flour, and so I made the following changes.
– 3/4 cup wheat flour substituted per 1 cup white flour
– 2 additional tablespoons of milk (fat free)
I also greased the pot with Pam and coconut oil.
Thank you for the tips, Kirbie! This was my first rice cooker pancake, and it came out very even.
thank you so much for sharing!
Thank you so much for this recipe! One note for people with newer/fancier rice cookers: I have a 4-setting rice/pressure cooker (white rice, brown rice, steam, keep warm) and I ended up having to go through the whole white rice setting twice and THEN about 25 minutes on “keep warm”. (Mine has an 8-cup capacity, by the way!)
I’m not sure if my cooker is just really weak or if that’s a common thing, but I figured I’d offer a heads up just in case!
Thank you again for the recipe!
thanks for sharing your experience!
I tried this but the inside of the pancake came out uncooked any advice? I left it in the rice cooker over an hour did the tooth pick test.
I’m not sure..I haven’t had this happen to me before. What kind of rice cooker are you using? If it’s a smaller rice cooker it will likely take longer to cook and you may need to keep turning it back on because it will shut off periodically. Also did you make any changes to the ingredients?
Thanks for replying. I am using a normal size rice cooker warm/cook function. I did substitute the flour for tj’s gluten free all purpose flour. I’m thinking that may be the issue as it may not have had the binding agent so I might try using agar agar. I did press the cook twice during the duration. I will continue to experiment 🙂
I have not tried with gluten free flour but I’m also guessing that might be the issue. I think it can be done but it probably needs some tweaks in the recipe
Made it this morning in my new rice cooker and it was AWESOME. The brown rice setting was right around the 45 minute mark and it came out perfect. Thanks for the recipe!
yay! so glad it turned out well. I just got a new rice cooker and I’ve been wanting to test it out with this too. haha!
Looks tasty. I want to buy this rice cooker. Please tell me wheher I can make pancakes in it?
This looks like a standard rice cooker, so it should work
Thanks for your response. I saw that you modified the instructions — very helpful! Thanks again!
You had a great question and hopefully this will help others with the same question. thanks!
I love seeing these things but find they’re often meant for big rice cookers rather than smaller ones like 3-cup cookers. What size of rice cooker did you use? Can the recipe be adjusted for different sizes (and if so, how)? Thanks.
I have a 10 cup rice cooker but I’ve seen videos of people making it in the smaller 3 cup rice cookers. You can half the recipe or you can make the full recipe, pour in the batter and stop if it gets past the halfway point. I had so much room left in my rice cooker when this was done that I think the recipe I provided might just fit in a 3 cup. But you may also need to take out a little of the batter, maybe 1/3. I think if you make 1/2 the recipe, you’ll get about the same thickness as mine was whereas if you use more batter, it will be extra thick. The extra thick ones look really nice but the tops of the pancake do get a little overcooked, so I prefer the slightly thinner version.