I can accurately estimate how much my family will eat when I make some foods, but I’ve never been able to figure out how much rice they will eat at a meal. Which means that I often end up with left-over rice that I’m not quite sure how to use.
So I was thrilled when I recently came across a hundred-year-old recipe for Rice Griddle Cakes which called for left-over cooked rice. The recipe was easy to make. The Rice Griddle Cakes were delicious and tasted very similar to typical pancakes, but they were more textured because of the addition of the cooked rice.
Here’s the original recipe:
Here’s the recipe updated for modern cooks:
Rice Griddle Cakes (Rice Pancakes)
2 cups flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 egg
1 cup milk (a little more may be needed)
2 cups cold cooked rice
Put flour, sugar, salt, baking powder, egg, and 1 cup milk in a mixing bowl, beat until smooth. Stir in rice. If the batter is too thick, add additional milk. Heat a lightly greased griddle to a medium temperature, then pour or scoop batter onto the hot surface to make individual pancakes. Cook until the top surface is hot and bubbly, and then flip and cook other side.
A Hundred Years Ago 
What an interesting idea. Thanks for the inspiration.
It’s nice to hear that you liked this recipe.
It is a good use of left-overs.
I agree – Cooks a hundred-years-ago had some creative ways to use left-overs.
I find the recipe fascinating–a “little more than”; “nice brown”; “not too thick”. Reminds me of how my grandmothers cooked. 🙂
I love cookbooks compiled by communities and organizations – both now and from a hundred years ago. The recipes are favorites of the members – and the recipes authors describe how to make the dish using their own words which can be wonderfully descriptive (and sometimes a bit quirky which makes them even more fun).
Something old that is now new under the sun. Wonder if it would work to get a little left over quinoa into the kids.
I’m guessing that it would work fine with leftover quinoa.
I’ve never heard of these…yum! Thanks for the recipe!
You’re welcome – It’s a nice recipe.
This sounds like a good idea. My Mom used to put cinnamon and honey in leftover rice and pour milk over it like breakfast cereal. I loved it as a kid, but these days I’m not such a big fan.
What an interesting way to use left-over rice! With cinnamon and honey, it almost sounds like it could be a dessert food as well as a breakfast food.
I’ve always had it for breakfast, but that’s not a bad idea.
These look and sound perfectly delicious! Nothing wasted!
They’re tasty. Cooks a hundred years ago really tried not to waste food.
So true, and I’m hoping that will be a silver lining in all this too.
Oh what a treat this post was, Sheryl. Reading the original recipe is always a thrill. This one was quite informal and a little confusing initially, and you did an excellent job of rewriting it for clarity. Leftover rice is an excellent idea, adds some texture, takes care of leftovers, and also adds a little more grainy substance. I found “1 pint flour” especially interesting.
It’s nice to hear that you liked how I rewrote the recipe. When I read the original recipe, I couldn’t figure out why it called for 1 pint cooked rice and 2 cups flour. Since a pint equals two cups, you’d think that the recipe author would have used one unit or the other in the recipe rather than mixing them.
Kind of pancakes I had never heard of. Sounds like a good way to use rice that I would have never thought of.
I also thought that it was an ingenious way to use left-over rice.
Another awesome recipe! I’ve recently made pancakes from leftover rice, but the recipe included only cooked rice, egg, salt and pepper, and herbs. They are kind of challenging to flip over, but turned out very tasty, besides it’s a good option for those who avoid wheat. Who knew there are so many recipes for letfover rice! Human creativity knows no bounds and it’s so amazing!
I had no problem flipping the griddle cakes when I made them. They held together just fine.
My husband throw leftover rice, a few peanuts, an egg and some hoison sauce in a frying pan for a quick lunch. I just reheat the stuff. I do appreciate that there are so many ways to avoid wasting any food. Since food is challenging to obtain right now, I find myself back in the no waste mode.
The dish your husband makes with leftover rice sounds wonderful.
And simple.
This never would have occurred to me as a use for leftover rice. Fried rice, stir fry, curry… but never thought about pancakes.
My grandma would “hide” oats and apple sauce in her pancakes.
I’m guessing the pancakes with oats would have a texture somewhat similar to pancakes with rice. I never thought about it until I read your comment, but pancakes work well to “hide” other food in them.
Grandma also hid good juices in koolaid (hers always had “floaties” from various fruit pulp).
I love it! Mothers and grandmothers have to be so creative to get kids to eat nutritious food.
My family always voted for rice pudding to use up leftover rice. This would be a good recipe to try.
mmm. . . Rice pudding is another great way to use left-over rice.
I think my husband would love these! Of course we rarely have leftover rice that isn’t earmarked to be used with leftover curry or in a soup.
I like how you use leftover rice. Your comment makes me hungry for some good curry.
This could be a keeper! I’m a hopeless judge of rice (and spaghetti) amounts 🙂 🙂
Now that you mention spaghetti . . . oh my goodness . . . in my opinion it is absolutely impossible to judge spaghetti amounts. I remember a few meals where I cooked way too little spaghetti, and then ate only a couple strands of it while claiming I wasn’t hungry (even though my stomach was growling) so others would have enough for a decent meal.
Yes, I’ve done that too, Sheryl :)) 🙂
Great idea~ Tho I never mind leftover grains, in fact I make extra just so it’s easy to reheat (like Murisopsis’ comment), I like to experiment with grains, and I bet it works with spelt and faro (also in my “pandemic pantry”—bought during another era 🙂 ) I hear about shortages of grains like rice in grocery stores, and certainly hope people aren’t tossing extra that they’ve made and don’t know what to do with!
Yes, I also think that this recipe would work well with a variety of cooked grains. It sounds like fun to experiment with using various grains.
I’ve not heard of rice pancakes before, but I guess the rice helps bulk them up a bit.
It does tend to make the pancakes a bit thicker.
How unusual but I bet they are good, especially with some butter and maple syrup! I use leftover rice in all kinds of Mexican food, fried rice, cabbage rolls, etc.
Butter and maple syrup definitely make pancakes tastier. There are lots of wonderful ways to use leftover rice.
Who knew? I always have lots of leftover rice too, well, I used to, now I use everything! Great idea!xxx
You’ll have a give this recipe a try.
Can’t wait to give these a try!
I think that you’ll like it.
Rice pancakes are good, I make them for two of the grand boys that are gluten intolerant.
It sounds like you have a recipe for Rice Pancakes that really is a rice recipe, whereas this one calls for a mixture of rice and flour.
I’m intrigued! Will have to try.
It’s a nice easy recipe. I think that you’d like it.
This is the first time I have heard of rice griddle cakes. My husband loves rice, so this is a great idea! Thank you for sharing, Sheryl.
I think that he’ll like the recipe – though you can’t really taste the rice. I could tell that there was rice in the griddle cakes because of the texture, but it didn’t really affect the taste.
I also make too much rice {and spaghetti)! Interesting recipe! I would have never thought to add rice to a pancake batter. I think the texture that you describe makes me want to give this a try after I have some rice in excess. 🙂