Zucchini Fritters - The Plant Based School (2024)

Zucchini fritters are an easy and wholesome recipe with a crisp caramelized outside and a tender and flavorful inside.

Have these savory pancake-like patties as a light meal, side dish, or appetizer. They are delicious with tzatziki, marinara sauce, or sour cream.

Zucchini fritters are a fun and simple recipe that your whole family will love!

Zucchini fritters are made with a batter of grated zucchini mixed with an egg, oregano, garlic, red onion, salt, and black pepper.

The mixture is shaped into pancake-shaped flat cakes and cooked with olive oil on a pan until golden brown and crisp outside.

They are popular in North America as well as in Mediterranean countries.

InTurkey, for instance, they are calledMücverand are often served as a starter on ameze platter with other delicious small dishes.

Just like our lentil patties and chickpea fritters, zucchini fritters are versatile, and you can have them for a light lunch, as a starter, or as a side dish.

They are also excellent for meal prep, keep well for days, and can be served hot or cold.

With stuffed zucchini, zucchini boats, and zucchini banana bread, zucchini fritters are a delicious way to use abundant garden-fresh summer zucchini.

Quantities are in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

Zucchini

We use green zucchini (courgette for our UK readers), but you can use any other varieties, including round zucchini, yellow zucchini, crookneck squash, and more.

Squeezing out the waterfrom the zucchini is essential so the patties stay together on the pan and don’t turn out wet and soggy. More on this later.

You can add other grated veggies to your zucchini fritters. Try grated carrots, beets, or sweet potatoes.

Egg

One large egg acts as a binder, helping the patties stay together and adding substance and nutrition.

If you are vegan, you can substitute chickpea flour for the egg. You’ll need ⅓ cup or 50 grams of chickpea flour mixed with ¼ cup or 60 grams of water to replace one egg.

We tested this recipe with and without eggs; we could not tell the difference.

The cakes were almost identical in texture and flavor.

Flour

You’ll need all-purpose flour to absorb moisture from the zucchini and keep the patties together.

We tried to make zucchini fritters without flour, using chickpea flour instead, but the result was disappointing.

The patties were too moist and did not keep their shape as we flipped them.

You can make this recipe gluten-free using a one-to-one gluten-free flour mixture and one egg. We tried King Arthur’s Measure for Measure Gluten-Free flour.

Red Onion

You’ll love the sweet and mild flavor of red onion with zucchini.

The onions caramelize slightly as the fritters cook on the pan, adding flavor and sweet notes.

Substitute yellow, white, or green onions for the red onion.

Garlic

Garlic is a must in zucchini fritters. We recommend using fresh cloves, grated finely.

Substitute garlic powder for fresh garlic.

Herbs

You can use your favorite dried herbs like oregano, thyme, mint, dill, basil, rosemary, or sage.

Or you can use finely chopped fresh herbs like parsley, dill, and chives.

We recommend fresh or dried dill, oregano, or parsley.

Baking powder

Baking powder allows some air into the cakes, making them light and fluffy.

You can also make the fritters without baking powder; they’ll be a little more dense.

Salt and pepper

We use fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. Add a pinch of red pepper flakes for some heat.

Olive oil

We recommend extra virgin olive oil to pan-fry the zucchini fritters.

Extra virgin olive oil adds a beautiful flavor and is an important ingredient in this recipe. Without the oil, the patties will taste different.

Also, thanks to its high polyphenol content, extra virgin olive oil is stable at high temperatures, making it healthier than most other oils.

You can substitute avocado oil or another vegetable oil for extra virgin olive oil, but nothing beats the flavor of a good olive oil.

Cheese (optional)

Cheese is optional. You might consider adding some if you are serving the fritters as a main dish. We recommend grated parmesan or crumbled feta cheese.

The patties in the pictures are without cheese.

US cups + grams measurements in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.

1. Drain the zucchini

Grate the zucchini with the large holes of a box grater or a food processor with a grating disc attachment.

Transfer them to a colander and toss with salt. Put the colander over a bowl and let them drain for 10 minutes.

Now, squeeze the water out of the zucchini with your hands.

Tip: Squeeze out as much liquid as you can. You can squeeze them in a kitchen towel or cheesecloth, although hand squeezing is much faster, with less washing up.

2. Make the batter

In a large bowl, add one large egg and beat it with a fork.

Add the shredded zucchini, thinly sliced red onion, grated garlic, your herbs of choice, all-purpose flour, baking powder, salt, and black pepper.

Stir with a spatula until the ingredients are combined into a thick batter.

3. Cook the fritters

Heat the olive oil on medium-high heat in a large non-stick pan or cast iron skillet (you’ll need more oil in cast iron).

Drop four heaping tablespoons of zucchini mixture into the skillet.

Flatten the patties with a spatula and shallow-fry them on medium heat for 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown.

Turn the zucchini frittersandcook for two more minutes,adding more oil if necessary.

Arrange them on a plate lined with paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Add more oil to the pan and cook the next batch.

You can serve the zucchini fritters hot, right out of the pan, or at room temperature.

They are lovely as a light main dish, appetizer, or side dish, sprinkled with chopped fresh herbs (parsley, chives, or dill), flakey salt, and lemon wedges.

We like to have them as a main with a dollop of tzatziki, sour cream, or marinara sauce next to a refreshing salad like a creamy cucumber salad, Mediterranean salad, or chickpea salad.

For a special dinner, you can have them as part of a gorgeous mezze platter.

Make a spread on the table with other small Mediterranean and Middle Eastern dishes, such as chickpea hummus, baba ganoush, shirazi salad, tabbouleh, olives, and warm pita bread.

Variations

Cheesy zucchini fritters: add 3.5 ounces (100 grams) of crumbled feta cheese or grated parmesan cheese in the batter.

Vegan zucchini fritters: Substitute ⅓ cup or 50 grams of chickpea flour mixed with ¼ cup or 60 grams of water for the egg.

Make Ahead: Zucchini fritters are best when right out of the pan. However, we do like to keep leftovers for the week as their flavor is delicious even after several days. To crisp them up, reheat them in the air fryer.

Refrigerator: Store leftovers wrapped in plastic or in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

Freezer: Let the patties cool down, transfer them to a freezer-friendly bag, and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw in the microwave or the fridge.

Reheat: The air fryer is your best friend for revitalizing your fritters and making them crisp. Alternatively, you can use a microwave or a pan with a drizzle of olive oil.