Difference Between Crepe and Pancake


Main Difference

The main difference between Crepe and Pancake is that Crepe’s dough prepares without a leavening agent, whereas Pancakes use leaving agent in its preparation.

Crepe vs. Pancake

Crepe is a type of pancake. Pancake is a round plane cake. Crepes are thin while pancakes are thick. Crepe originated in France. Pancakes originated in America. Crepe is soft, and the pancake is puffy. Crepe prepares without baking powder. Pancakes prepares with the addition of baking powder in its dough. Crepes are sweet or savory while pancakes are sweet. Crepe does not inflate on frying whereas pancake appears puffy on frying. The dough of crepe widens on the whole base of a frying pan. The mixture of pancake spreads in center of frying pane in the form of a circle. The batter of crepe is watery while pancakes have a solid dough. Crepes can serve as three meals of a day, but consumers eat pancakes in breakfast. Additional flavors are added after frying of crepe while flavors often add in the batter of pancakes. Crepe has less sugar conversely pancake has more sugar. The fat content of crepe is less than a pancake in its one serving. Crepes supply a few calories. Pancake provides more calories. Crepe is a healthier choice as compared to pancake.


Comparison Chart

The thin pancake is called crepe.A thick and round flat cake is called pancake.
Thin, delicateThick, fluffy
Leavening Agent
No oneBaking powder
Served As
Dessert, breakfast, lunch, dinnerBreakfast
More liquidMore solid
Fat Content
2.1g per serving9.6g per serving

What is Crepe?

Crepes belong to ancient Greek’s language, which means “frying pan.” The word depicts its process of baking; fried in frying pan. The dough spreads at whole frying pan and fries until golden color. Crepes originated in Brittany, an area in France. It is a type of pancakes which are usually thin and soft. The fried crepes have an appearance like bread. Its main ingredients include wheat flour or buckwheat flour, eggs and milk. Leavening agents, i.e. Baking powder or baking soda, do not supplement its recipe. Therefore, crepes are less dense and do not puff up on frying. Its diameter is also less. People can eat crepes in place of three meals a day. It serves as a dessert. Crepe’s taste depends upon what we choose for topping. It can be sweet or savory. Crepes nutrition increases with fruits like strawberries, bananas. Crepe rolls fillings with ham, melted cheese, and spinach, give it a salty taste. Crepes prepare with less sugar, bears more egg taste. It provides a few calories and less fat content hence it is a healthy choice.


Nutritional information

  • One serving of crepe provides 100 calories, 2.1g fat, 14.4g carbohydrate,5.5g protein.
  • It also supplies a vast amount of minerals, i.e., Sodium, potassium, calcium, copper, iron, magnesium, selenium, zinc, and vitamins (A, D, C, E and B vitamins) which are necessary for body metabolism.

What is Pancake?

The first recipe for pancake assembled in the 17th century. Pancakes were one of the significant cereal foods eaten by prehistoric people. It finds its origin in America. Pancakes are thick, and smooth cakes prepare from a batter of eggs, milk, butter, wheat flour, and leavening agent. The dough is more solid and spread in the center of a frying pan in the form of circles. The pancakes leaven on frying, are puffy and served with different toppings. The sugar content is greater in it; therefore, it is sweet. It serves as a dessert in breakfast; people can eat it as a snack throughout a day. Pancakes are often used with a topping of jams, fruits, and syrups. It is thick and dense usually in circle shapes. Different varieties of pancakes are made all over the world. Traditionally, people eat pancakes on “Shrove Tuesday” also known as “pancake day.” Some people develop pancake allergy after eating it. It is known as “pancake syndrome.” As its nutrients include protein, gluten, lactose and most of the people are allergic to these ingredients. The potent effects of pancake depend upon its topping type. It provides more fat content and calories per serving, that can be a risk for people suffering from cardiovascular diseases.


Nutritional Information

  • One serving provides 138 calories, 9.6g fat, 9.1g carbohydrate, and 3.8g protein.
  • It supplies some nutrients like vitamin A, sodium, potassium, magnesium and iron which boosts the immune system

Key Differences

  1. Crepe is a thin and delicate type of pancakes, whereas pancake is a flat cake made of starch-based butter.
  2. Crepe finds its origin in France while pancake prepared in America.
  3. Crepe is thin and soft conversely pancake is thick and fuzzy.
  4. Crepe’s recipe does not include baking powder while pancake needs baking soda for leavening.
  5. Crepe serves for three meals or dessert on the flip side pancake serves for breakfast.
  6. Crepe’s batter is watery on the flip side the dough of pancake is more solid.
  7. Crepe provides less fat content in one serving while pancake offers more.


Crepe is a kind of thin pancake served as a dessert in the form of bread or rolls and pancake is a thick puffy round plane cake of bread.

Aimie Carlson
