How to Make Savory Crepes at Home
Savory crepes are delicate, versatile, and delicious! This easy crepe recipe requires no special equipment so you can get creative and enjoy crepes anytime. Step-by-step instructions include filling suggestions to inspire you to make savory crepes at home.
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If you love this recipe, use it for these recent additions, Sausage Crepes with Maple Béchamel Sauce and Lemon Crepes with Lemon Mascarpone.
What are crepes?
Maybe it’s better to ask what aren’t crepes. Because crepes are everything – oh my gosh, so good.
…Ok dramatic, but yeah they are really good.
Crepes are ultra thin pancakes. Like, super thin. Thinner than thin. They are from France, and they are use in all kinds of dishes – breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
In my opinion, the batter is more similar to popover batter, oddly enough. There are flour, eggs, milk, melted butter, and salt, and that’s it. So, while we may liken them to super thin pancakes, they are definitely not. Pancakes include leavening ingredients (baking powder and/or baking soda) and are meant to puff. Crepes stay flat.
The challenge in making crepes is to get the batter to spread out, thinly, as wide as possible. So, to accomplish this there are all sorts of crepes pans and such. I own one myself and have never had better luck with it than I do by just using a simple, nonstick skillet.
And, so here we are.
Sweet or savory crepes
Almost, forever, and always, you will see dessert crepes. Crepes filled with nutella or fruit. Or both. Crepes are more often a sweet thing, and those crepes are made with a sweetened batter.
But me, I do not have a sweet tooth. I like popovers, and bread, and pasta, and pizza. I will take chips and dip over chocolate Every Single Time.
So, this savory crepe recipe uses a batter with no sugar or vanilla. And it is intended for use meat and veggies and seafood and such. Yum yum yum.
Savory Crepe filling suggestions
There are no limits to what you can put in savory crepes! Basically, it is pretty much a French tortilla, but just thin and delicate with more of a pancake feel rather than a bread feel.
So, let these ideas inspire you…
- Beef stroganoff.
- Roast beef, caramelized onions, Swiss cheese, and mushrooms. I’ve seen this combination with gratin potatoes added too.
- Crab stuffing. Like a crab cake, but in a crepe.
- Chicken, mushrooms, spinach, and Swiss cheese. This combination, also with gratin potatoes, is what I always get at my local crepe eatery.
- Roasted veggies, like asparagus and broccoli, with cheese and herbs.
- Fresh mozzarella, sun-dried tomatoes, and prosciutto for an Italian vibe. Even better with a balsamic drizzle. Check out my recipe here.
- Eggs, potatoes, and Gruyere for a French breakfast taco.
And even though I am calling these “savory crepes”, they are still perfect for nutella and strawberries. Or bananas, marshmallows, and whipped cream (my son’s favorite). The crepes themselves just aren’t sweetened. Of course, you could always add a little sugar and vanilla, if you like. Or not. Like me.
Savory crepe batter ingredients
- Eggs. Two large eggs, lightly beaten.
- Milk. I use 1% or 2% milk because that is what I always have on hand. Whole milk if fine as well. I have not tried skim milk, so I can’t vouch for it.
- Unsalted butter. I always always always say use unsalted butter (also sometimes called sweet cream butter), but it is especially important in this recipe.
- All-purpose flour. If you do not know how to measure flour, now is a good time to learn. Always gently pour or spoon flour into the measure cup, then use a straight edge to level. Never pack, tap, or push flour into a measuring cup. It would be easier if we Americans used flour by weight, but we generally don’t so here we are.
- Kosher salt. Always kosher salt, and I’ll leave it at that.
How to make crepes at home
Ok, here is where we grab a glass of wine and roll our sleeves up. This is an easy crepe recipe. Easy. You just have to get the rhythm down, then knock them out.
So, first things first is we make the batter. All the ingredients go in a mixing bowl and we whisk until combined, but not smooth. There will be lumps of flour in the batter, and this is expected.
Next, we heat the pan. I have both a crepe pan and a little nonstick skillet, and I get better, consistent crepes with the skillet. I should just toss the crepe pan really.
Then, one-by-one, we make the crepes. Spray with cooking spray, add batter into the center of the pan, and twirl the pan in a circular motion (think: Tilt-a-Whirl) to distribute the batter as evenly and THINLY as we can. A circular motion works best, starting with all the batter in the center and working it outward.
Start the motion at the same time as you add the batter. It cooks quickly, and we don’t want it sitting in the center at all or else it will not be a crepe.
Next, we gently lift one side just a bit to check for doneness (see photo above of what we’re looking for). Using a rubber spatula to do this gently works best. When we see light golden color, we flip.
Cook the second side, slide it off onto a plate, then repeat to make the rest. Note that the second side will not get golden like the first. This is fine.
Important tips for easy crepes
Please read the instructions above and these tips below because there are details not included in the recipe card. If you are new to cooking crepes, or new to cooking in general, this information will be helpful.
Lumpy batter is good. Smooth batter means the flour had been over worked and the crepes will be tougher.
I use a 1/4 cup ladle to get the batter in the pan, but a measuring cup works as well. Use a scant measure, meaning a little less than all the way full.
Use cooking spray again each time before adding more batter for the next crepe.
When the batter is first added to the pan, because of the cooking spray and it being a hot pan, the batter will easily move and distribute to coat the pan. Then it will kinda stick there until it releases. That is another trick to know when it is time to flip and cook the second side. You can even shake the pan – pretty strongly – and feel for this “give” to happen.
First time you make this (or any) crepe recipe, you may have a casualty or two at the beginning. So, tips for that specifically:
- You want a hot pan, but not a red hot pan. If you spray the cooking spray on and it smokes, set the pan aside for a couple minutes off the heat to come back down a bit and try again.
- Hold your ladle or measuring cup of batter in one hand and pan in the other so you can immediately start moving the batter around in the pan to coat. The batter cooks quickly, so if it is allowed to stay in the center, you will a disk of cooked dough, but not a crepe.
Using a large rubber spatula works best for lifting up the crepe and checking for doneness. And also for flipping.
As written, and with no crepes casualties, this recipe makes 10-12 crepes depending on size of the pan. Many times, I double this recipe to make more crepes depending on what I am cooking. Crepes from the doubled recipe are just as good as from a single recipe.
Looking for more French-inspired recipes?
- Herbed Potato Gratin.
- French Onion Pizza.
- Blackberry Basil Galette with Lemon Cream.
- Asparagus Gratin.
- Julia’s Boeuf Bourguignon.
How to Make Savory Crepes at Home
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ⅓ cups milk
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter melted
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp kosher salt
- cooking spray
Instructions
- Combine all the ingredients, whisking until incorporated. Note there will still be small chunks of flour, this is expected.
- Heat a small, nonstick skillet (or a crepe pan) on high heat. Spray with cooking spray.
- Add a scant ¼ cup batter to the pan and immediately tilt and twirl and move the pan in a circular fashion (like a Tilt-A-Whirl) to get the batter to move out as thin as possible and cover the entire bottom of the pan and up the sides ~½-inch (varying with the size of the pan).
- Use a rubber spatula to gently check the bottom side of the crepe that it is lightly golden. Carefully flip to cook other side until very lightly golden. Transfer crepe to a plate.
- Repeat the process to make 10-12 crepes, using cooking spray again each time.