Here is the traditional recipe for French buckwheat crepes. These savory crepes happen to be naturally gluten free and vegan.
Buckwheat Crepes are one of the most classic dishes of French cuisine. French people often make them at home or eat them at a restaurant : a creperie (a restaurant that only serves crepes).
If you are fond of French cuisine, you can try my Chicken rillettes, my Fluffy Aquafaba Chocolate Mousse or my Flambeed banana.
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⭐ What are crepes / galettes?
First of all, the French name for buckwheat crepes is buckwheat galettes (galettes de sarrasin). In France, and especially in Brittany (the region they are from), the word crepe is used for sweet crepes. Whereas the word galette is used for savory ones.
Crepes are traditionally made with wheat flour, milk and eggs. Whereas galettes are traditionally made with buckwheat flour. So you will find here the galette bretonne recipe.
Galettes, like crepes, are kind of a little bit like pancakes but much larger and way thinner than pancakes. Compared to pancakes, the batter is thinner and runnier, with no leavening agent to give them any lift.
📖 Ingredient notes
- Buckwheat flour. If you are not familiar with buckwheat flour and want to find out everything about it, you can read my post : what is buckwheat flour.
- Sea salt.
For the complete list of ingredients and quantities for these naturally gluten free and vegan buckwheat crepes, see recipe card below.
🔪 Equipment
To make these French buckwheat crepes, you will need:
🥣 Step by step instructions
Combine the buckwheat flour and sea salt in a large mixing bowl.
Add half the water (250 ml / 1 cup).
Mix with a spatula to form a smooth paste.
Keep mixing with your spatula energetically for 15 minutes or until bubbles appear. Alternatively you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and knead on medium speed for about 15 minutes.
Cover and reserve in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and up to 72 hours.
After the resting time, thin the batter with the other half (250 ml / 1 cup) of water. Mix well until you get a smooth, watery batter.
Preheat the crepe pan.
When the pan is hot, lightly grease it with oil. You can use an oil soaked paper towel or cloth or a brush to do that. Make sure that the pan is greased well so that the galettes don’t stick.
Add the measured batter into the pan. Swirl the pan as you add the batter.
Work quickly, to spread the batter evenly around the pan all the way to the edges, so that you have a smooth edge.
Continue to swirl the pan (and occasionally shake it gently), to move the batter around and fill the pan as evenly as possible.
Once the bottom of the pan is evenly coated with the batter, place it back on the heat and cook.
Cook the galettes until the edges are starting to brown lightly, and they look a little crispy. Do NOT flip your buckwheat crepe. Buckwheat crepes only cook on one side, otherwise they dry out.
Add your fillings in the center of your crepe once it starts browning. Then fold your crepe, using a spatula and serve immediately. And voilà. Bon appétit!
👩🏻🍳 Top tip
For a 9.5 inch/24 cm pan you will need about ⅓ cup (about 80 ml) of batter for each galette. This is enough to create a thin layer of galette batter on the bottom of the pan. Always mix the batter first, before you make each galette to make sure the batter is uniformly mixed.
🧾 Are crepes served hot or cold?
That's another reason why I love buckwheat crepe so much: they are very versatile and you can eat them warm or cold.
💭 How do you eat a crepe?
How to eat warm crepes
In France, buckwheat crepes / galettes are typically served warm for lunch or dinner.
They can be filled with all kinds of fillings (see below for some crepe savoury filling ideas).
But the most traditional French filling is the “complète”: a slice of ham, emmental cheese and an egg.
How to eat cold crepes
You can also use crepes to make wraps by spreading your favorite spread on them and adding some lettuce or anything you want. Then roll them and cut them into 4 or 5 pieces.
You can then stick a toothpick on each piece to secure and serve them as an appetizer or at a party buffet.
Or you can put them in your lunch box, along with some salad, it will make a delicious lunch.
🥘 Crepe savoury fillings
Here are some ideas to fill your buckwheat crepes :
- Grilled vegetables, dried or fresh tomatoes, onions, mushrooms, spinach, olives...
- smoked salmon, ham, minced meat, eggs, bacon...
- all kinds of cheese, cream...
💬 Recipe FAQs
For best results with this buckwheat crepe recipe it is better to make the batter ahead of time to make it rest. Prepare the batter at least 1 day beforehand or up to 3 days before and keep it covered in the fridge.
You can also make these buckwheat crepes ahead of time and store them in the fridge or freeze them.
To store these crepes, layer each crepe on a plate, then cover the whole stack with plastic wrap and store in the fridge.
If buckwheat crepes are exposed to air, they will dry out. So it’s important to keep them covered with plastic wrap to prevent this.
You can keep these crepes covered in the fridge for up to 2 days.
If you want to keep the buckwheat crepes / galettes for longer than 2 days, then you can freeze them for later. When the galettes have cooled to room temperature, layer them with parchment paper in between each of them to make sure say don’t stick together. Then place them in an air-tight container that is freezer-friendly. This way, you can store the galettes for up to 4 weeks in the freezer.
Warm them in the same pan you used to make them and fill them as you wish.
🍲 Other recipes you might like
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📋 Recipe / Recette
French Buckwheat crepes (gluten free, vegan)
Ingredients
- 225 grams (1 cup + ¾ cup) buckwheat flour
- 500 ml (2 cups) water
- 5 grams (1 teaspoon) sea salt
- oil to grease the pan
Instructions
- Combine the buckwheat flour and sea salt in a large mixing bowl.
- Add half the water (250 ml / 1 cup).
- Mix with a spatula to form a smooth paste. Keep mixing with your spatula energetically for 15 minutes or until bubbles appear. Alternatively you can use a stand mixer with the paddle attachment and knead on medium speed for about 15 minutes.
- Cover and reserve in the refrigerator for at least 24 hours and up to 72 hours.
- After the resting time, thin the batter with the other half (250 ml / 1 cup) of water. Mix well until you get a smooth, watery batter.
- Preheat the crepe pan. When the pan is hot, lightly grease it with oil. You can use an oil soaked paper towel or cloth or a brush to do that. Make sure that the pan is greased well so that the galettes don’t stick.
- Add the measured batter into the pan. Swirl the pan as you add the batter. Work quickly, to spread the batter evenly around the pan all the way to the edges, so that you have a smooth edge. Continue to swirl the pan (and occasionally shake it gently), to move the batter around and fill the pan as evenly as possible. Once the bottom of the pan is evenly coated with the batter, place it back on the heat and cook.
- Cook the galettes until the edges are starting to brown lightly, and they look a little crispy (about 3-4 minutes). Do NOT flip your buckwheat crepe. Buckwheat crepes only cook on one side, otherwise they dry out.
- Add your fillings in the center of your crepe once it starts browning. Then fold your crepe, using a spatula and serve immediately. And voilà. Bon appétit!
Leah
Does this recipe use the light or dark bickwheat flour?
Bea C.
The traditional recipe uses dark buckwheat flour. But I think you could use light buckwheat flour instead.