The Best Recipe for Homemade Green Onion Pancakes

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Homemade Green Onion Pancakes are sure to impress any guest and will make for a tasty meal in the morning or at lunch! Green onion pancakes are also known as scallion pancakes and they are flaky pancakes that have been made for centuries. You may see recipes for Chinese Green Onion Pancakes or Korean Green Onion Pancakes. Before we get into the recipe, we’d like to share a short history of green onion pancakes.

Green Onion Pancake Facts

You might be thinking – what are green onion pancakes? In Mandarin, the green onion pancake is known as cong you bing. In Korean, they are known as Pajeon.

While the exact origin of green onion pancakes is unknown, many believe that they originate from Shanghai in northeastern China. According to different myths, Marco Polo actually loved green onion pancakes. And that’s not a shocker either – these pancakes as so tasty and delicious!

While most scallion pancakes are made with simple ingredients – oil, flour, salt, and green onions, there are different ways to prepare them. Some people love to add fennel and other additions to their recipe. While some will actually fry the scallion pancake in egg.

If you’re frying it in egg or adding fennel, you’ll be sure to enjoy any variation. Green onion pancakes are vegetarian and if you make them without frying them in oil, then your scallion pancakes are also vegan.

Make sure to pair your green onion pancakes with a tasty sauce, cut them into triangle shape, and enjoy them with friends!

Tips for Making Homemade Green Onion Pancakes

When measuring the flour, do not just scoop the flour, we suggest using a spoon and measuring the flour slowly. Another tip is to chop the green onions thinly. Use a sharp knife and cut them thinly. Additionally, you’ll need a clear surface and some time.

One you knead the dough, you’ll want to cover the dough and let it sit. These tasty pancakes cannot be made in less than 30 minutes so keep that in mind when you’re making them.

Another tip we’d like to share is that you can freeze them. We will place them in parchment paper, wrap in foil, then place them in Zip-loc freezer bags. If you’re making a batch of homemade green onion pancakes, it’s never a bad idea to make extra and freeze them.

We have never had green onion pancakes in the freezer longer than a month – because we eat them right away but you should be able to keep them in the freezer for a few months.

Homemade Green Onion Pancakes that the Whole Family Will Love

This is an easy recipe for green onion pancakes once you’ve made them a few times. If you’re new to making green onion pancakes, it may take some time to get the recipe down but give yourself time and have fun!

When we first started making these, the sizes and shapes were not always symmetrical. You’ll cut them at the end so you can be happy knowing that even if your pancakes are slightly lopsided, it’s totally fine!

Homemade Green Onion Pancakes

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour

2 Large Bunches of Green Onions (Chopped thinly)

1 Cup Boiling Water

1/2 Cup Cold Water

2 Teaspoons salt

7 Tablespoons Oil – Olive or Canola

Directions:

Place 3 cups of flour in a bowl

Boil 1 cup of water and then add boiling water to flour

Mix flour and water with chopsticks or fork – it may look clumpy

Let the dough sit for 3 minutes and then add 1/2 cup of cold water

Knead the dough until it is smooth then form it into a large ball and cover the dough – let it sit for 30 minutes

While the dough is sitting, cut up 2 large bunches of green onions thinly

Once dough has been sitting for 30 minutes, add a small amount of flour to a clean counter top cut dough into 8 equal parts

Start by rolling out 1 of the small pieces of dough – this should be about 7″

Once rolled out to a thin layer, add 1/2 Teaspoon of olive oil, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and 1 Tablespoon of green onions across the dough evenly

Start at one end of the dough and roll it into a form of a jelly roll while making sure that the ends are tight

Now take one end of the dough and roll it around into a circle (coil it and tuck the end underneath) so you have a tight circle like a snail

Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough until it’s around 1/4 inch thick

Heat 1-1.5 Tablespoons of oil in a frying pan and when ready, add one green onion pancake and cover

Fry for roughly 2 minutes and then flip and cover the pancake

Cook for one additional minute or a little bit longer if you want the green onion pancake to be extra crispy

Place the pancake on a paper towel to remove excess oils, cut and enjoy!

Final Thoughts

If you loved this recipe, make sure to let us know! While these green onion pancakes are not gluten free, we plan on trying to make them with gluten free flour in the future.

If you’d love to try them but don’t have the time to make them, Trader Joe’s Green Onion Pancakes are also very tasty!

Also – if you’re looking for some other amazing recipes, check out our list of our favorite Stir Fry Recipes.