These naturally pink waffles are made with roasted beets, making them the perfect recipe for Valentine’s Day breakfast! Plus, they’re gluten free and super delicious.
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You all don’t think I forgot about Valentine’s Day, right?! It does seem to have snuck up on me, but I’ve had this delectable pink waffle recipe for a V Day breakfast in bed up my sleeves for a while now.
It’s not surprising that I chose beets to give these waffles their pinkish hue. I love having beets at lunch and dinner, and finally, I have an excuse to eat them in the morning too! I also took a chance on this recipe and experimented with tapioca flour, a starchy flour made from cassava root that has a sweet flavor.
After some trial and error, I was pleasantly surprised with the sweet taste that the tapioca flour provides, the ease of blending a roasted beet into the batter, and how fluffy on the inside but crispy on the outside these waffles are! Plus, my pink waffles are gluten free for those who need it.
But my absolute FAVORITE part is that you can dress them up however you’d like! I added shredded coconut, some frozen berries, and a few dark chocolate chips (for the photo op and for eating of course). They also taste amazing with nut butters and plain old maple syrup too.
How to Make Pink Waffles
- In a high-powered blender, blend the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and roasted beet. The almond milk + apple cider vinegar serves as a substitute for traditional buttermilk. That’s why these pink waffles taste just as good as classic buttermilk waffles!
- Add the maple syrup, coconut oil, vanilla, and eggs to the blender. Blend until smooth.
- Pour the batter into a preheated Belgian waffle maker (like this one from Cusinart) or waffle iron. Cook for 3-5 minutes.
- Top with butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit, chocolate chips, coconut…you name it!
Looking for another recipe using roasted beets? Check out the Red Cabbage Slaw with Beets while you’re here.
Expert Tips for Making Pink Waffles
- I highly recommend using pre-cooked beets, like the ones you can find at Trader Joe’s or the Love Beets brand (found in the produce section at most large grocery stores). This will drastically reduce your prep time! If you’ve never cooked a beet, or have no interest in temporarily dying your hands red, they’re your best option.
- If you aren’t familiar with tapioca flour, I recommend this brand. Products labeled as tapioca starch are the same as tapioca flour.
- Be sure to lightly spray or grease your waffle maker before pouring the batter onto it. Depending on the size of your waffle iron, you may have enough batter to make more than 8 waffles.
- To make these beet waffles in advance and store for later, I recommend cooking them and letting them cool completely. Do not stack them on top of each other to cool, as this may cause them to stick together. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or a bag in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can pop them right in the toaster to reheat!
So without further adieu, bookmark this page. Open it on Valentine’s Day morning, brew a pot of coffee while the pink waffles cook, and enjoy them with your honey!
More Healthy Breakfast Recipes
- Silver Dollar Sweet Potato Protein Pancakes
- Spiced Oat and Butternut Squash Muffins
- Easy Broccoli and Cheese Egg Bake
- Spinach Banana Muffins
- Turnip Noodles with Eggs and Chives
- Vegetarian Meal Prep Breakfast Sandwiches
Video
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📖 Recipe
Pink Beet Waffles
Equipment
- Waffle iron
Ingredients
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1 cup tapioca flour
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup almond milk - unsweetened
- 2 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 small beet - cooked
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup maple syrup
- ¼ cup melted coconut oil - measure after you melt it
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Lightly spray and preheat your waffle iron.
- Combine the almond and tapioca flours, baking powder, and sea salt in a large bowl. In a blender, combine the almond milk, apple cider vinegar, and beet. Pulse until smooth, add the eggs, maple syrup, coconut oil, and vanilla, and blend again until smooth. Add the blender mixture to the bowl with the dry ingredients. Whisk all ingredients together until smooth. This should resemble a typical waffle batter, but with a pink hue!
- Pour onto waffle iron and cook approximately 4-6 minutes, until the waffles are cooked through and slightly crispy on the outside. Cooking time will vary depending on your waffle iron. Enjoy with toppings of your choice!
Video
Notes
- The short prep time reflects using pre-cooked beets for this recipe, such as the Love Beets brand. I highly recommend doing that, since it saves a lot of time. If you need to cook the beet yourself, you can clean and trim one, rub it with a little olive oil, then wrap it in aluminum foil and bake on the center rack of the oven for 40-55 minutes at 400 degrees F.
- Possible toppings: butter, maple syrup, fresh fruit (raspberries look very pretty!), shredded coconut, chocolate chips
- Cool completely before storing in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 5 days. Do not stack on top of each other while cooling. Reheat in the toaster, microwave, or under the broiler. You can also freeze these waffles for up to 3 months and reheat in the toaster.
- Depending on the size of your waffle iron, the batter may make more or less than 8 waffles.
Nutrition
This post was originally published in February 2018. It was updated with expert tips and a video in February 2020.
Jackie
So fun! I used almond meal instead of flour because its what I had and I’m sure they were more dense than if I had used flour but they were still delicious. Mine turned out a much deeper hue, I guess because I used a bigger beet. I love that you fostered the rich pigmentation of beets to make these fun waffles. So creative! I’ll definitely be making these again. What’s even better, my meat and potato, beer drinking boyfriend went back for seconds!
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
I’m so glad you enjoyed this recipe!! It’s great to know that almond meal worked for you. Thanks for letting me know! 🙂
Country Kitchen
These waffles are so amazing!! What a super easy and truly delish dish! I made this last night, sticking pretty close to your instructions. It turned out delicious and made a good presentation. I’ll be repeating this one for sure. Thank you so much for this recipe!
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Awesome, I’m so glad that you enjoyed them!! Thanks so much for leaving a comment.
Symone
I made these tonight, although they were good they didn’t come out very waffle-like. They’re kinda mushy no matter how long I cooked them. Im wondering if using an egg substitute is what caused this? That was the only thing I changed about the recipe. My son who refuses to try them, has eaten 5 waffles (small square waffles).
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Symone, thanks for your feedback! I think using an egg substitute may be the issue here, like you mentioned. Which kind of substitute did you use? That may help me narrow down what the issue is.
Symone
I used Neat egg substitute, its the only one I have been able to fine. I was attempting to make these vegan, any other suggestions would be great.
Lizzie Streit, MS, RDN
Hi Symone, I’m surprised it didn’t work with that egg substitute since I was going to recommend using a chia egg, and it looks like Neat is mostly made from chia seeds. My only other thought would be to try a flax egg (1 tbsp ground flaxseed + 3 tbsp water, let it sit for 15 minutes). For the 2 eggs needed for this recipe, double that. If you try it this way, let me know! I hope that helps.
Noura
I liked the taste but not the texture I felt it was stringy almost like jelly, made these exactly as Instructed.