Zucchini Fritters
by Chungah
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Use up extra zucchini to make perfectly crispy zucchini fritters! Serve as an appetizer, side dish, snack or light meal. Picky-eater approved!
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why you’ll love zucchini fritters
- Great way to repurpose all the summer zucchini. Have you made way too much zucchini bread this season? Don’t worry – you can still use up all that summer zucchini bounty with these crowd-pleasing crisp-fluffy zucchini fritters!
- So great for picky eaters. These fritters are wonderfully nutritious, low in calories, and the perfect way to sneak in some extra veggies and greens for those picky eaters.
- Ridiculously easy to whip up. Zucchini fritters are so easy to make, perfectly crispy and golden brown on the outside, light and airy on the inside.
- Can be served in so many ways. Serve them as an afterschool snack, an appetizer, a side dish, or even a light lunch with a side of tzatziki sauce.
- Freezer-friendly. Fritters are so great to make ahead of time, and can keep in the freezer for up to 3 months, reheating very well in the oven or air fryer.
What are zucchini fritters?
Zucchini fritters are a popular summer appetizer, side dish, or vegetarian meal, made with shredded zucchini, flour and eggs, and then pan-fried to yield crispy, savory pancakes. The fritters are typically served with sour cream or tzatziki sauce for dipping.
how to make zucchini fritters
- Prep the zucchini. Using the large holes of a box grater, shred the zucchini first, then transfer to a colander over the sink. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt and let it rest for 10 minutes to draw out the excess moisture.
- Squeeze dry. Transfer the zucchini to a clean dish towel or cheese cloth and wring out as much liquid as possible.
- Make the batter. Combine the squeezed zucchini, flour, Parmesan, garlic, egg, salt and pepper.
- Cook. Scoop and drop 3-4 tablespoons of batter for each fritter into a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat, flattening with the back of a spatula. Work in batches if needed to avoid an overcrowded pan.
- Make it crispy. Cook for 2 minutes, then flip and cook an additional 1-2 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
- Keep warm. Keep warm in a low oven (250°F) between batches and serve with sour cream or tzatziki sauce.
Storing, freezing and reheating
Storage
Leftover fritters can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days.
Reheating
Reheat in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes.
Freezing
Place the fritters on a baking sheet lined with wax paper or parchment paper, freezing for 1 hour until solid. Transfer the fritters to an airtight, resealable freezer bag. Label, date, and freeze up to 3 months.
Reheating after freezing
Thaw the fritters overnight in the fridge and reheat in the oven at 350°F until warmed through and crispy, about 10-15 minutes, or in the air fryer at 350°F for 4-5 minutes.
what to serve with zucchini fritters
Tools For This Recipe
Zucchini Fritters: Frequently Asked Questions
Zucchini is very high in water! So to avoid soggy fritters, we want to squeeze out as much water as possible. That way, we can get those favorited crisp, golden brown edges.
A box grater will work beautifully here!
The possibilities are endless! You can serve them with a dollop of sour cream, tzatziki sauce, or as a side dish to my favorite lemon herb roasted chicken.
Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the fridge for 3-4 days, reheating in the oven at 350°F until warmed through.
Yes! Zucchini fritters freeze very well, and can keep in the freezer for 2-3 months. For best results, freeze without any toppings or sauces until thawed and reheated.
Zucchini Fritters
Video
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds zucchini, grated, about 3 cups
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 large egg
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
Instructions
- Place grated zucchini in a colander over the sink. Add 1 teaspoon salt and gently toss to combine; let sit for 10 minutes. Using a clean dish towel or cheese cloth, drain zucchini completely.
- In a large bowl, combine zucchini, flour, Parmesan, garlic and egg; season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Heat olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat. Working in batches, scoop 3-4 tablespoons of batter for each fritter, flattening with a spatula, and cook until the underside is nicely golden brown, about 2 minutes. Flip and cook on the other side, about 1-2 minutes longer.
- Serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
- Squeeze dry the zucchini. This is a key step to avoid soggy fritters! Grate the zucchini and add 1 teaspoon salt. The salt not only seasons the zucchini beforehand but also draws out the excess moisture. Wrap the grated zucchini in a clean dish towel or cheese cloth and squeeze out as much liquid as possible.
- Cook in batches. Work in batches to properly cook the fritters for maximum crispness. An overcrowded pan will unfortunately steam the fritters instead.
- Mix it up. Use a different kind of cheese (ex. feta or cotija), add fresh herbs (thyme, rosemary, oregano or dill) or fresh lemon zest to brighten up some of the savory flavors.
- Keep warm. The fritters can be kept warm in a low oven at 250°F.
- Reheat in the oven. Leftover fritters can be soggy when reheated. For best results with leftovers, reheat in the oven at 350°F until warmed through, about 5-10 minutes.
- Freeze leftovers. Flash-freeze the fritters first, then transfer to an airtight, resealable freezer bag, freezing up to 3 months.
Did you make this recipe?
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Yum! This sounds great! I don’t know if anyone already asked, but do you know if this will freeze well? Thanks!
Yes, they do!
Eager to try this recipe..but I don’t have any parm cheese at home tonight. How do you think it will work if I omit that ingredient?
Thank you!
Saron
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot answer with certainty. As always, please use your best judgment.
Has anyone tried baking vs frying? And, how far in advance do you recommend making before serving? Do they hold up well at room temp?
These sound absolutely delicious and I’m going to be making these this weekend for one of our movie night appetizer snacks! I’ll be back with the results…I have a feeling it’s gonna be a winner!! 🙂
Olive Oil isnt a healthy choice for frying Avacado Oil is though!!!!!
I think I’d omit the garlic for minced onion for better taste 🙂
Hi! How many fritters in one serving??
Unfortunately, it is very difficult to say how many fritters are made in a single serving as there is so much room for variation – thick fritters, wide fritters, mini fritters, etc.
Hello! Your recipe states that it yields 4 servings but there are a good 9 fritters in your image – how many fritters make up one serving, and is the nutritional info per quarter of the prepared mixture, or per individual fritter?
Sorry for the silly question; I’m trying to watch my calorie intake and I wanna make sure I get it right!
Kim, the images are strictly shot for photographic purposes and are not indicative to how many fritters this recipe yields. That being said, it is so difficult to say how many fritters are made with this recipe as there is much room for variation – thick fritters, wide fritters, mini fritters, etc. The nutritional information listed is per serving, not for each individual fritter.
Did my first try adding an extra egg and replacing olive oil for coconut oil and it was heavenly delicious!
Now I’m going to try to do a baked version without the oil… Let’s see if it works!
Thank you so much this recipe is awesome!
These were delicious! Though, making sure the zucchini was dry enough was a challenge. I actually ended up taking my hair dryer to the grated zucchini on the lowest heat for about 5 minutes. As goofy as that sounds it seems to have worked – the fritters came out in one crispy piece.
I’m excited to try these again and experiment with adding some onions as others have suggested or maybe something spicy in the mix for an extra kick of flavor.
I will agree with another user who commented that there was a bit too much salt – I’ll probably add a pinch less next time. Other than that, these were great!
I made these last night and was so excited about them but they were way overstated. I would recommend at least half the salt or just a pinch and add your own to them after they’re cooked if needed.
How do I get the fritters to end up circular, and in the same size?
I recommend using a spatula.
I would love to make these but have a crazy question! Approximately how many cups of shredded zucchini should I use? I had a large zucchini that needed to be used so I shredded it but have no idea how much o( it I would use for this recipe. Thank you!
There is roughly about 3 cups grated zucchini in 1 1/2 pounds.
These are amazing!
I topped mine with ricotta, avocado, and sliced cherry tomatoes. Delicious!
I must admit, I had no idea how to dry the zucchini, and had to cook them longer because really weren’t dry after a couple mins of patting them dry.
Thanks for the recipe 🙂
Your fritters look so delicious but the outcome was less than spectacular for me. I found them pretty bland and wet. They took much longer to cook than the time listed here. Maybe I didn’t squeeze out enough water? Will try squeezing out more next time and I think I’d add some onion as well. Thanks for the recipe
I made these today, and they were so delicious! I do have to say, I made some changes though- I used gluten-free oat flour instead of white flour, and I used egg whites instead of whole eggs. I also did not use the cheese. They were soooo good! I could not stop eating them!! Thanks for this wonderful recipe!
This simply just is amazing! I’m making them right now, they’re so easy to make and such a good alternative! As my boyfriend likes some meat too, I fixed the recipe up with some diced ham for him, once I’m done with mine! Love it!
Can you pack these in kids school lunch? I know you said eat immediately in the recipe. Thanks
Yes, absolutely.
I actually let these drain for close to an hour before making and I took the additional step of wringing out the rest of the moisture by wringing the drained, shredded zucchini in a tea towel before adding the rest of the ingredients. By doing this, the consistency of the pancake was perfect! They held together nice and tightly; however, I only used one clove of garlic and found it to be way too overpowering. Maybe next time try a teaspoon of grated onion instead. These would also be good with a dash of hot sauce or red pepper in the batter. I would make these again with a few tweaks.
Epic Fail! First very watery; I added more flour hoping it would make it tight, but did nothing. When I fried, I had to keep them frying at least 10 minutes per side. If I was lucky they browned, but most when in the garbage because they fell apart.
Jennifer, I’m sorry that this did not turn out the way you had imagined. But it sounds like there was too much excess water from the zucchini. Did you squeeze out as much water as possible as directed in the recipe?
made these with what is called yellow zucchini around here, probably just yellow squash. anyway they were wonderful, followed your recipe and used my non stick simply celphalon pan and loved them. will maybe add some chives or grated onion next time. Have lots of zucchini still in garden to use up so can do some experimenting