10 IHOP Pancakes, Ranked Worst To Best

Sure, they're not the best pancakes in the world, but IHOP is definitely one of the most well-known pancake houses in the U.S. While I wouldn't call any of its offerings much to write home about, it's a reliable choice when you find yourself hungry on the road or need something palatable for members of a picky crowd. As such, the International House of Pancakes takes its job very seriously, offering (at the time of writing this piece) 10 different pancake flavors to cater to its prolific customer base. 

I already know that I prefer IHOP's pancakes to Denny's, but I've never looked for an opportunity to try more than one or two of IHOP's own flavors. However, its menu is diverse enough to inspire intrigue. Obvious pancake offerings include the classics like blueberry and chocolate chip, but IHOP goes beyond the basics to incorporate desserts like cheesecake and tres leches into the breakfast food. I'll admit, a couple of its flavors were pretty good hits (and I really loved one in particular). I felt the chain missed the mark on many others, though. I ranked the following pancakes based mostly on personal flavor preference, which is something to take into account if you're using this list to decide on your next pancake order — our tastes may differ widely. 

Getting a firm last place on my list is IHOP's Original Buttermilk Pancake. It's not unusual for me to put the most "basic" version of something in last place simply because it's unimpressive. However, I don't know that I'd recommend these pancakes to anyone who isn't a child. Eating it without syrup would be a dismal experience, and unfortunately, adding syrup only made it moderately better. 

In fact, syrup was just about the only thing giving these pancakes any flavor at all. They were pretty bland — the only thing giving them a recognizable pancake quality was a slight tang from the buttermilk (which I actually quite liked). These pancakes are really asking to be dressed up and, to their credit, their plainness makes them amenable to any number of extras you may want to add in. I also liked the spongey, fluffy, light texture of the pancakes, a factor that each in this ranking also boasted. While these were by no means bad pancakes, they weren't anything extraordinary, and their mediocrity earned them an easy last place. 

You might be surprised to find the "healthier" version ranking higher than IHOP's Original Pancakes: its Protein Power Pancakes. Yeah, I was a little shocked too, but there's an understandable reason these come in just slightly above the last selection: Simply put, they tasted better.

These protein-packed pancakes had arguably more flavor than my previous choice. They tasted like oats and, though oats don't tend to have the most recognizable flavor, they did a lot to boost this stack of pancakes. Syrup elevated this earthy flavor, rather than being the only source of flavor in the pancakes. However, if you're ultra-picky about texture, you might be less than enthused about these. They're still light and fluffy, but they're slightly drier and thicker than IHOP's other pancake selections. That's not enough to deter me from ordering these again, but it's something different palates should take into account. 

Before I begin, I should mention that I have a strong distaste for bananas. I don't even like homemade banana pancakes — in fact, as an adolescent, I had a sleepover where a couple of friends woke up early to make banana pancakes as a prank. It's a lifelong abhorrence that I can't explain and I don't think I'll rid myself of anytime soon. I tried to temper my own tastes enough for this ranking, which is why this didn't get last place on my list; however, I can't say the banana fan would love them, either. 

I've never had bananas foster before (for previously stated reasons), but I can safely say that this is far from the best bananas foster option. The sauce was too cloying to be palatable, and the bananas didn't seem very fresh. I do think adding banana slices inside the pancakes was a good choice, but I'm not sure the additional slices on top fit the bill for a good banana pancake. If you're the occasional bananas foster fan and don't mind some saccharinity in your pancakes, you might like this — however, I can't recommend them. 

I was surprised to give IHOP's Double Blueberry Pancakes as low of a ranking on this list as I did. I love blueberry pancakes — I like the burst of fruit you get when you bite into one that's part of the pancake, and I enjoy a blueberry syrup as much as the next person. The nail in the coffin for these blueberry pancakes was, unfortunately, its blueberry compote topping; had the topping been better, I could have ranked this much higher.

The actual blueberry pancake was good, and I understand why the chain would want to add a sweet topping to enhance the breakfast; however, this was the wrong choice. The topping tasted like overly sweet canned pie filling. I had the sense that it was meant to be baked, and eating it "raw" didn't sit right with me. I don't necessarily expect fresh blueberries, but I don't think this sickly sweet compote was a good compromise. 

Do you go bananas (ha) over the strawberry-banana flavor combo? Then IHOP's Strawberry Banana Pancakes could very well be your top pick. This stack features the same pancakes that are in the Bananas Fosters offering, with bananas baked inside the pancake. It's topped with more banana slices (that seemed admittedly fresher than those on the aforementioned banana pick) and glazed strawberries. 

The strawberries were the icing on the cake of this pancake stack. They gave the pancakes a fruity appeal rather than being overly cloying, and helped brighten the richness of the bananas. However, the banana flavor was still pretty strong — this may be a good thing for you, but it was an obvious negative for me. If you like hints of banana in your pancakes, pass this by. If you want the fruit to be the dominant flavor profile, you could very well be happy with this choice. 

IHOP's Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Pancakes earned a predictable middle spot on this list. This and the following options are selections I'd consider ordering again were I to find myself at IHOP. It's a classic pancake, given a slight elevation by the restaurant with the addition of some chocolate sauce. In my opinion, you can't go wrong with a chocolate chip pancake, and the chain certainly didn't. 

Can you make better chocolate chip pancakes at home? Absolutely. However, these are a good dupe when you find yourself at IHOP and are stumped on what to order. You won't get anything more or less than what you expect — the chocolate-chip-filled pancakes are topped with extra chocolate chips and chocolate sauce, giving your classic breakfast some indulgent appeal that you won't get with other options on this list. It's a mid-range offering at best, but if you chose to order it, I don't think you'd be disappointed. 

Coming in just above the chain's Buttermilk Chocolate Chip Pancakes is its Chocolate Chocolate Chip pancake stack. Which you choose will just depend on the mood you're in, and I could see myself oscillating between the two options depending on the day. This tasting happened to take place on a day when I welcomed the depth of the double chocolate variety, and this flavor took an easy fourth place. 

As you can probably tell from the photo, the "chocolate chocolate chip" pancakes aren't so chocolatey that you'll be hard-pressed to take more than a few bites. Personally, I'm a fan of ultra-dark chocolate, but I liked these too. The addition of a scant amount of chocolate in the pancake batter gave it some flavor. If you recall, my biggest problem with the OG pancakes was that they were pretty flavorless — you won't have that issue with these pancakes. They also came with chocolate sauce and extra chocolate chips on top. I could give these a tied ranking with the previous choice; they're coming in ahead purely because of my own tastes on this particular day. 

Okay, I'm a sucker for cheesecake. It's my favorite dessert any time of year, and you'll always hear me asking for cheesecake rather than regular cake on my birthday. I felt from the start that IHOP's New York Cheesecake Pancakes would come in toward the top of my ranking, and I expect with a few tweaks they could have been my top choice; however, a few elements were off enough to prevent me from giving it a higher spot than number three. 

While I have to call this a poor imitation of the classic New York cheesecake, all its components still make for a pretty good pancake breakfast. The company's website claims these pancakes are "layered & topped with cheesecake mousse and glazed strawberries." That sounds delightful (and certainly wasn't bad), but the stack also didn't live up to my expectations. Rather than being a mousse, the cheesecake topping was pretty dense and tasted more like straight cream cheese than a cheesecake filling. I liked the glazed strawberries, and the pancakes definitely would have been lackluster without them. All the flavors worked together in harmony but still, these pancakes didn't quite blow me away like I expected them to. 

Taking the number two spot on my list is IHOP's Cinn-A-Stack Pancakes. Similar to its New York Cheesecake option, I thought a couple of tweaks could make this stack even better. As it was, I wasn't disappointed and could try it again, but I didn't love seeing the unmet potential in this offering. 

The Cinn-A-Stack Pancakes are "layered with cinnamon roll filling and topped with cream cheese icing." It sounds like a recipe for a good time, and it is, but only if you haven't had an actual cinnamon roll in eons. However, I still enjoyed it. The cinnamon roll filling had soaked into my pancakes by the time I tried them, which I didn't think was a bad thing — rather, it gave the pancake some much-needed flavor. The icing was also pretty good, provided I didn't get too much of it in one bite (it was on the verge of being too cloying). All that said, I still think this is a solid pancake stack. Don't expect it to taste just like a cinnamon roll, but if you go in expecting an elevated pancake, you're in for a pretty good time. 

Here's the thing: If I were giving all of these a number between one to 10, with 10 being the best, my previous choice could have gotten a 4, maybe 5 on a good day. IHOP's Mexican Tres Leches Pancakes, on the other hand, were an easy 10. I even found them visually stunning, with dulce de leche and vanilla sauce marbling together to create an elevated appearance. The pancakes tasted even better.

These came in on top for a few reasons, and if I had to condense them into one word, it would be "balance." Everything was in good proportion and worked harmoniously in this pancake stack. Dulce de leche gave a welcome, rich, sweet appeal without being cloying (which was a problem I had with some of the previous selections on this list). Vanilla cream added a warm creaminess, and because both of these elements had a relatively thin viscosity, the spongey pancakes took to them quite well. At no point in eating these did I feel overwhelmed, and though this was the last stack I tried, I ate more of this one than any other stack on this list. It's an easy choice for me to recommend to any eater, and will definitely be my order should I find myself at IHOP again. 

In doing this ranking, I got one order of each of IHOP's flavors to try. I ate each with its respective toppings sans any extras — that means the only pancakes I put syrup on were the Original Buttermilk and the Protein Power. I took this route to get an unadulterated sense of each pancake's flavor profile. Unfortunately, I couldn't manage to ignore my own prejudice against bananas. I tempered it as much as I could (otherwise, the two banana options would have gotten the bottom spots on this list), but if you're a banana fan, there's a good chance you'd rank those higher than I did.