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Pancake Day, also known as "Shrove Tuesday" or "Pancake Tuesday," is a delicious day of feasting and using pantry ingredients to prepare for the Lent season leading up to Easter.
What is Pancake Day?
According to Historic UK, the term Shrove Tuesday derives from an Anglo-Saxon term "shriven" where early Christians would confess sins and prepare for a season of Lent, traditionally including fasting, in preparation for Easter, 40 days later.
See our Lent recipes for easy food ideas for the Lenton season.
While Pancake Day is often celebrated in the United Kingdom with Shrove Tuesday Pancakes, other countries, including the United States, France, and Germany, often celebrate Mardi Gras or "Fat Tuesday." A time of feasting before Lent.
Why Do We Eat Pancakes on Shrove Tuesday?
Traditionally, Shrove Tuesday was an opportunity to use up eggs and fats before the Lenten fast season. Pancakes are a delicious way to use up added fats like eggs and milk.
What is Lent, and When Does it Begin?
Lent begins the day after Pancake Day and commences a remembrance, preparation, and fasting season. It lasts for a period of 40 days leading up to Easter.
It's a time when we can spend time in prayer and fasting (which can mean abstaining from something like food, types of food (like fats), or even habits) to prepare hearts for a glorious Resurrection Easter season.
Lent also encourages "almsgiving" or charity, a time to serve others, recognize their needs, and love our neighbors as ourselves.
Pancake Day Recipes
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Irish Shrove Tuesday Pancakes with Lemon
Irish Shrove Tuesday Pancakes are a delicious way to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. These crepe-like pancakes are folded into quarters and sprinkled with fresh lemon juice and confectioners' sugar.
This fluffy pancake recipe is one you'll want to memorize. It's simple, easy, quick... and utterly delicious! A perfect stack of thick pancakes for weekends or holidays.
This Queen Elizabeth pancake recipe, or drop scones, are slightly sweet and delicious. Perfect for mornings or teatime, these "Scotch Pancakes" are simple to make and such a treat!
Homemade Swedish Pancakes are a vision of beauty with their lacey crisp edges and light, thin batter. Much like French crêpes, they're made quickly in a shallow skillet and folded or rolled into a delectable breakfast or snack with delicious fresh berries and jam.
This Strawberry Dutch Baby, or spring German pancake, is an oven-baked puffed pancake, deliciously perfect in strawberry season, for Mother's Day, Memorial Day, or any morning when you're craving this always popular breakfast treat.
This Dutch Baby German Pancake recipe is not only one of the simplest breakfast recipes you'll find, but it's also naturally sweetened and free of refined sugar, making it both delectable and healthier. Its puffed and golden appearance will also make it a stunning centerpiece on your breakfast table.
Banana Dutch Baby Oven Pancake is a large puffed pancake, baked in a skillet, and perfect for breakfast or even dessert. Whip the ingredients in a blender, and in 5 minutes, this Dutch Baby is oven-ready and minutes away from serving. Utterly yummy!
A Blueberry Dutch Baby is a quick and easy baked oven pancake often called a German Pancake. Its high puffs, crisp edges, and tender delicious center is such a treat that it just might become a weekend tradition!
Pumpkin Pancakes made light and fluffy with warm spices like cinnamon and nutmeg. Perfect for chilly mornings with toasted pecans and warm maple syrup.
These banana protein pancakes are a perfectly delicious way to start a healthy day. Packed with protein, these 4 ingredient pancakes are delicious with a hint of sweetness and are gluten-free.
Irish Boxty Potato Pancakes for an Easy and Cozy Breakfast
Irish Boxty Potato Pancakes is an Emerald Isle staple and vies with champ and colcannon as a favorite potato dish. It's often served for breakfast but a can make a tasty side any time of the day.
This Apple Dutch Baby, or German pancakes, is an oven-baked puffed pancake, deliciously perfect in the fall apple season, and always a popular breakfast treat.
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If you enjoyed this post, you'll love The Sunday Edit No. 5. It’s my weekly "magazine-style" digest designed to help you reset, refine, and find beauty in the everyday. From intentional kitchen resets to curated seasonal menus, it's the 31 Daily you love, delivered with a bit more soul.
Stephanie Wilson is the founder of 31Daily.com, where she shares seasonal recipes, weekly meal plans, and teatime favorites to help readers gather around the table with joy. A certified private chef, cookbook author, and longtime event planner, she brings over 20 years of experience in catering, food writing, and media production—including network television work as a producer, director, and writer. Her work has been featured by Today.com, The Kitchn, Parade, and more.
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