Best pre-made pancake mixes to make your Pancake Day deliciously easy

Of all the things to whip up in the kitchen, most of us can agree that a pancake is fairly rudimentary.

The simple dish - which can be made savoury or sweet - needs only the basics: eggs, milk and flour with a dash of oil and a pinch of salt. In times past, if you were feeling really fancy, you might drop some vanilla extract in there too, for smooth sweetness. Then it’s simply a case of pouring the batter into a screamingly hot pan and letting it cook, flipping once to brown the other side. The flipping part is usually the hardest thing in the recipe.

Pancake Day’s official name is Shrove Tuesday, which traditionally was a time when folks would use up the last of their store cupboard essentials before the beginning of Lent, a period of restriction for Christians.

This year the day falls on March 1, and no doubt kitchens across the country will see a surge in flipping action.

Pancake ingredients may be basic, but how many times have you wandered hungrily into the kitchen, only to find you’re out of the essentials? In cases like this, the pre-made pancake mix comes into its own. They may seem like an unnecessary frivolity, but they can be convenient and get pancakes on your plate even more quickly than normal, which can only ever be a good thing.

We’ve rounded up the best all-in-one pancake mixes below, from brands big and small.

Shop our pick below

Honeywell Biscuit Co. Chocolate and Raspberry Heart Pancakes Baking Kit

Whether you’re making breakfast in bed for your S.O or you want to add an extra sweet edge to your pancakes, Honeywell Biscuit Co.’s kit has you covered. The kit includes pre-weighed dry ingredients to make up to eight heart-shaped pancakes with the included mould, topped with chocolate spread and raspberry coulis. All you need to add is butter, milk and an egg.

Buy now £17.50, Honeywell Biscuit Co.

Oliver Bonas Lazy Pancake Making Kit

Pancakes are a crowd-pleaser, bringing a smile to everyone’s face. Have them literally smile back at you (with a cheeky wink) with Oliver Bonas’s kit, which pairs triple chocolate pancake mix with an emoji mould for an irresistible breakfast that will set you up for the day. Just add milk and you’re ready to go.

Buy now £9.50, Oliver Bonas

Bisquick Pancake & Baking Mix 567g

If you’re dreaming of thick and deeply comforting US-style pancakes who better than one of America’s biggest home-baking brands to give you a hand? Betty Crocker’s Original Bisquick Pancake & Baking Mix whips up homely hot cakes in an instant. Just add milk and an egg for light and fluffy pancakes. Add a healthy glug of pancake syrup for good measure.

Buy now £4.95, Amazon

Bulk Protein Pancake Mix 500g

You can get in on the action without wrecking your health goals. Bulk’s veggie Protein Pancake Mix is ideal for gym obsessives craving a quick and easy sweet fix - it comes in lemon zest, maple syrup and original flavours. If you’re trying to be good, skip the syrup and top with yogurt and fruit instead.

Buy now £15.99, Bulk

The Skinny Food Co Pancake Day Bundle

Zero calorie toppings and a low sugar pancake mix? It can only be a bundle from The Skinny Food Co, which is offering this four-product kit for just over a tenner. It’s vegan and keto-friendly, ticking tricky boxes. The pack includes a packet of Low Sugar Pancake Mix with toppings of Sugar Free Skinny Golden Syrup, Sugar Free Skinny Maple Syrup, and Low Sugar Skinny Chocaholic Hazelnut Squeezy.

Buy now £10.99, The Skinny Food Co

Joe & Seph’s Pancake Day Ultimate Kit

Pairing their best selling caramel sauces with Creative Nature’s Fluffy Pancake Mix, this kit also includes a wooden spatula to help you make your dream stack. You’ll also need some eggs and a splash of milk to get everything together.

Buy now £20.00, Joe & Seph’s

The Little Pancake Company Three Month Pancake of the Month Subscription Food Gift

Know a die-hard pancake fan? This gift is made for someone who’s flipping mad about hot cakes year-round. Here’s the deal: a three month subscription service from The Little Pancake Company sees a gourmet American-style pancake mix delivered to their door, every month. They may be pancakes but give them as a gift and you’ll score serious brownie points.

Buy now £39.00, NOTHS

Quick Crepes Crepe Mix

Forget Emily in Paris, feel like you’re breakfasting in the city of lights yourself with this kit which brings the famous French pancake to your kitchen. The 1kg packet will make around 48 delicious crepes - perfect if you’re hosting a party - and all you need to make the batter is water.

Buy now £9.99, Amazon

Gits Dosai Mix, 500g

Anyone who’s ever been to southern India will have crossed paths with a dosa. These ultra thin crispy pancakes from the Subcontinent are presented rolled and eaten after dunking into savoury sambhar and coconut chutney. Give your pancake day an exotic edge and recreate the dish with Gits kit, which has enough dry mix to whip up 20 plain dosas - just add water, no eggs required.

If you’re after something more substantial, make a masala dosa, which features a dry potato curry inside the paper-thin casing.

Buy now £5.99, Amazon

Otafuku Okonomiyaki Making Set

Not all pancakes need to be sweet. Take your cues from Japan and attempt an Okonomiyaki this Shrove Tuesday, made all the easier with this kit from Sushi Sushi. It has everything you need to whip up the thick pancakes, but you should add fresh toppings (think cabbage, bacon shards, spring onions and Okonomiyaki sauce) to really make a meal of it.

Buy now £5.79, Sushi Sushi