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Homemade Crepes are easier to make than you may think! With a few key tips and simple ingredients, this easy recipe delivers delicate, buttery crepes that are delicious served plain, stuffed, sweet, or savory.
Crepes, just like French Onion Soup, Quiche Lorraine, Green Beans Almondine, Instant Pot Coq au Vin, and Instant Pot Beef Bourguignon, is a classic French recipe that never disappoints!
Easy Homemade Crepes
I took 4 years of French in high school and I think the ONLY thing I retained from my sweet French teacher was her simple method for making crepes. Time well spent in my humble opinion😉
She instilled in me that making crepes (or crêpe, as she would demand I write), was not at all complicated or difficult.
And with her tips and this easy recipe, you too, can master making crepes at home!
Happy Cooking! xo Kristen
Recipe Highlights
Notes on Ingredients
While you only need a handful of ingredients to make crepes, it is critical to pay close attention the type of flour used and the addition of seltzer water. Both play a crucial role in the texture of homemade crepes.
- Cake Flour (or Whole Wheat Pastry Flour): I rarely use cake flour or pastry flour in my recipes, but this crepe recipe is the exception. It is necessary to achieve the light batter and makes the crepes easier to flip. Using all-purpose flour or regular whole wheat flour results in a heavier batter that is harder to manipulate when cooking.
- Seltzer Water: The bubbles in the seltzer water help to aerate the crepe batter, which in turn results in a light, delicate batter. Be sure to use plain, not flavored seltzer water.
- Milk: Any variety of milk or non-dairy milk works well in the batter.
How to Make Homemade Crepes
While the process of making crepes is EASY, pay attention to my tips, which will help yield perfect results.
- Blend Batter. It is best to prepare the crepe batter in a blender, which will help to aerate the batter, while keeping it super smooth and silky.
- Rest Batter. Allow the batter to rest for 30 minutes at room temperature. This is a crucial step as it allows the flour to absorb all the liquid and for the gluten to relax. This is KEY to making thin, tender crepes.
- Add Batter to Heated Pan. Pour ¼ cup of the batter onto a heated skillet that has been generously brushed with butter. Tilt the pan, allowing the batter to thinly, and evenly, coat the skillet.
Kristen's Tip
Before cooking the crepes, I melt butter in a small dish and have it sitting next to the stove. Use that melted butter to brush the skillet for EACH and EVERY crepe. This will ensure the delicate batter does not stick to the pan.
- Cook Crepes. Cook the crepe until the bottom is lightly browned, about 1-2 minutes. Then gently loosen the crepe from the edges of the pan with a nonstick spatula, flip, and continue to cook for an additional 30-45 seconds, or until set. Repeat the process until the batter is gone, being sure to coat the pan with butter for each new crepe.
- Serve crepes plain or use one of the flavor variations below to dress up your crepes.
Filling Ideas for Crepes
The ways to enjoy crepes are endless. They can be served savory or sweet, stuffed, and of course, are delicious plain as well. Below are a few of my favorite suggestions for serving homemade crepes.
- Ricotta and Berries: Mix a bit of ricotta cheese with honey. Spread the crepes with a thin layer of the ricotta, fold the crepes up, and serve with fresh berries and maple syrup or additional honey.
- Nutella and Bananas: Spread the crepes with a thin layer of Nutella and then top with sliced bananas. Fold up and serve.
- Strawberries and Chocolate: Fold up prepared crepes and then drizzle with homemade chocolate syrup and fresh sliced strawberries.
- Jam and Cream: Spread crepes with a thin layer of jam, fold or roll as desired, then top with homemade whipped cream.
- Roasted Vegetables: For a savory crepe, add leftover roasted vegetables to the crepes, roll up, and serve with a drizzle of olive oil or spaghetti sauce and some parmesan cheese.
- Chicken and Cheese: Saute leftover shredded chicken and sliced baby portabella mushrooms with a bit of butter until warm. Layer the mixture over the crepes with a generous sprinkling of Swiss or Gruyere cheese. Fold or roll the crepe up and serve.
- Cream Cheese and Smoked Salmon: Spread crepes with cream cheese and then layer thin slices of smoked salmon on top of the crepe before rolling or folding up.
- Ham and Cheese: Lay thin slices of ham and cheese on crepes and roll up before serving.
- Pesto and Tomatoes: Spread crepes with a thin layer of pesto, roll up, and top with sliced cherry or grape tomatoes.
Recipe FAQs
For best results, blending crepe batter is best. You want the batter to be completely smooth and the flour to be completely dissolved, which is best achieved using a blender.
YES! You want to give the bubbles time to pop and the batter to rest, this will make the crepe batter easier to work with and the resulting crepes to be more tender.
No. Cake flour or whole wheat pastry flour needs to be used or the crepes will be dense and difficult to work with.
Yes! You can prepare the batter up to 1 day in advance. Blend the batter as directed and then refrigerate the batter. Allow the batter to come to room temperature for 20 minutes before cooking the crepes.
No. A small 8 to 10-inch skillet works just as well.
More Breakfast Favorites
- Whole Wheat Pancakes
- Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole
- Overnight French Toast Casserole
- Whole Wheat Waffles
- Homemade Breakfast Sausage
- Bananas Foster French Toast
Did you make this recipe?
If you enjoyed this recipe, please leave a comment with a 5-star review at the bottom of the post. Thank you!
Homemade Crepes
Video
Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 3 large eggs
- 1 cup cake flour, or whole wheat pastry flour
- 1 cup milk, any variety
- ¾ cup seltzer water
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup, see note
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- dash of salt
Instructions
- Melt one tablespoon of the butter and let cool slightly.
- Place the eggs, milk, seltzer water, maple syrup, vanilla, and the melted butter in a blender. Add the flour and salt and blend until smooth and bubbly.
- Let the batter rest for 30 to 60 minutes at room temperature.
- Once the batter has rested, melt an additional 2 tablespoons of butter to use for greasing the skillet. Keep this near the stove to make buttering the skillet between crepes efficient.
- Heat an 8 to 10-inch skillet over medium heat. Brush the skillet generously with melted butter. Pour about ¼ cup of the batter into the pan to thinly cover the pan. Very quickly swirl the pan around, so the batter covers the pan.
- After the crepe is golden on one side, after about 60 to 90 seconds, carefully use a rubber spatula to flip the crepe over. Cook for an additional 30 to 60 seconds and remove the crepes to a plate.
- Repeat the process until the batter is gone, being sure to brush the skillet with butter in between each time.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
This recipe was originally published in 2016 but updated in 2025.
My family loves these for breakfast or dinner! Some of our favorite toppings are strawberry yogurt with peanut butter.
Oh I love the idea of strawberry yogurt with PB!
My late mother in law made crepes with a beef stroganoff filling. They were incredible! I hadn't before worked up the courage to make crepes. Partly because that was her thing, and partly because they always seemed intimidating before. But your recipe is so easy to follow and the directions are so clear! The crepes turn out perfect and I'm so pleased!
I am so glad you got the courage up to try this recipe and you were able to enjoy the crepes. Thanks for sharing!
These crepes were so good, they turned out silky and perfect, the most amazing crepe recipe!
I love hearing that Lily! Thanks for sharing!
Hi Kristin,
We love crepes and it is part of ethnic culture and have been making them for a long time.
I love this recipe and going to try it this week.I love working with pastry flour and the soda …I think it is great.
Thank you for the recipe…will let you know how they turned out.
I hope you enjoy every bite Irene!
Can you use gluten free flour?
Hi Betty Anne. I have had success using an all purpose gluten free flour blend in place of regular flour, but not cake flour. The texture was a bit off and harder to work with.
This is such a great recipe for crepes! Easy and delicious, they turned out perfectly!
So glad they turned out
Made these for brunch today and they came out so well! So light and easy, and loved that they were whole wheat. Thanks so much for an easy recipe! 🙂
You are so welcome! Glad you enjoyed!