Which frozen pancakes are really worth buying? We tested 6 popular brands

Every Sunday, my family enjoys a stack of freshly made pancakes with crispy bacon and lots of maple syrup. Although I always make pancakes from scratch when cooking for my family of three, it’s not practical when I’m hosting a big breakfast or brunch. I’ll make a few make-ahead meals (think sheet pan bacon or quiche Lorraine), then put some frozen pancakes in the oven. The question is: which ones are worth buying?

To find the best frozen pancakes, our editors tested six widely available brands. We cooked them according to the package directions, then sampled them in random order without knowing which was which. We then tabulated the results and crowned the overall winner, along with two other worthy contenders.

The criteria

Whether homemade or store-bought, pancakes should be light and fluffy, with a tender crumb, not dry, dense or rubbery. They must have a balanced taste: a touch of sweetness is welcome, but they must be neutral enough to pair with maple syrup, honey, whipped cream or fresh fruit. They should also be well seasoned but not noticeably salty. While baking powder and/or baking soda are essential for leavening, there shouldn’t be too much of either ingredient that the pancakes taste soapy or metallic.

Overall winner

365 by Whole Foods Buttermilk Pancakes

Our Associate Editorial Director, Megan, was very excited about these pancakes. She loved that they were “soft but not too sweet” and thought they had the best texture of any pancake we tasted. “Soft, almost like homemade,” she noted. Likewise, our editorial director, Daniel, thought these tasted like “real” pancakes – high praise for a ready-made frozen product. They were also favorites of our deputy editorial director, Amanda. “Nice little buttery taste,” she noted. Our visual editor, Jessie, thought they were “pretty dry,” but still okay. While they’re a clear favorite overall, our former social media editor, Kelli, found them too dense for her taste, and our deputy food editor, Laila, found them plain and a little dry. However, nothing a little maple syrup can’t solve!

Finalists

Stop & Shop Buttermilk Pancakes

Everyone appreciated the sweetness here, and it wasn’t unwelcome. “Pretty and maple, definitely on the sweeter side,” Amanda wrote. “Moist with a hint of maple syrup,” Kelli noted. “I like the sweetness, but they’re a little salty.” They were slightly too sweet for Jessie, who agreed that those with a sweet tooth would probably enjoy them. While Daniel and Kelli liked the texture of these pancakes (Kelli described them as “nice and creamy”), other tasters, including Laila, found them slightly too fluffy.

Wafelbakkers buttermilk pancakes

“A hint of sweet, a hint of salt. Very standard,” Kelli wrote. Jessie liked that these pancakes had some structure and weren’t doughy, with a mild flavor that would make them good to serve with toppings. Amanda agreed: “A very nice neutral taste.” On the other hand, Laila found them a little too salty. Overall, though, our editors found these pancakes to be balanced, well-seasoned, and, as Daniel noted, had “good” flavor.

The suitors

• 365 by Whole Foods Buttermilk Pancakes
• Blue pancakes
• Wafelbakkers buttermilk pancakes
• Frozen Eggo Buttermilk Pancakes
• Stop & Shop Buttermilk Pancakes
• Trader Joe’s Silver Dollar Pancakes

Key Takeaways and Conclusion

Most frozen buttermilk pancakes are made with similar ingredients: water, flour, sugar, eggs, salt, baking powder and/or soda, and some form of buttermilk, whether liquid, powder, or solid. When combined with an alkaline ingredient, such as baking soda, buttermilk helps leaven baked goods and pastries, giving them their chewy texture. The acidity of buttermilk also provides a pleasant flavor and helps tenderize the gluten, resulting in flavorful pancakes with a softer bite.

Most of the frozen pancakes we’ve tasted contain corn syrup or high-fructose invert syrup, sweeteners that help keep baked goods soft and fluffy. De Wafelbakkers Buttermilk Pancakes and Stop & Shop Buttermilk Pancakes, our two runners-up, contain high fructose corn syrup and invert syrup, respectively. Our winner, however, doesn’t contain any either and is sweetened with cane sugar.

Our winners and runners-up all contain malted barley flour or malted barley extract. As I discussed in my easy hot chocolate recipe, malting is the process of drying, germinating and toasting grains, which transforms the grain’s starches into more complex sugars and its proteins into amino acids. This gives malted products, including flour, milk powder, syrup and extract, their rich, nutty flavors. When incorporated into drinks or desserts, malt often adds depth and earthiness, resulting in a more delicious result than products made without it.

Overall, our editors found frozen pancakes made with malted products to be more flavorful and preferred those they considered balanced and low in sugar. Although Whole Foods’ 365 Pancakes were our clear winner, we’d be more than happy to reheat either of our runners-up in a pinch.

Our testing methodology

All taste tests are carried out with completely hidden brands and without discussion. Tasters taste samples in random order. For example, taster A may taste sample 1 first, while taster B will taste sample 6 first. This is to prevent palate fatigue from unfairly giving an advantage to one sample. Tasters are invited to fill out tasting sheets, classifying the samples according to different criteria. All data is tabulated and results are calculated without editorial input to provide the most unbiased representation of actual results possible.

October 2025