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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Simple and super delicious! We will definitely do again! I probably went a little heavy on the garlic — but super, super good! Now I know what I can do with all that zucchini from the garden! It was mentioned that it would be a great addition to a brunch too (we did it with dinner.)
Made these for lunch today! They were awesome! Ty
Easy to make and really good!!
Just made these this morning. I opted to use small cast iron skillets for slightly larger but individual fritters. Filled them in to the edges and then patted down. Flipped after a few minutes, no issues with sticking. Came out good, love cast iron cooking!
I have made ZZ Fritters many times but the lovely balance of cheese / egg / flour was perfect.
I also snuck some chicken stock in place of salt in the recipe. V V Yummy
Turned out excellent! Recommend this for dinner, lunch or breakfast!
Easy instructions to follow. Delicious as is or experiment with different seasonings- we’ve used cumin, garlic powder, onion, curry, fresh herbs. Always turns out. Generally will serve with sour cream, salsa or a homemade relish.
We have an abundance of zucchini from the garden this year so I’m sure I’ll be grating zucchini in 3 cup bags for the freezer.
It’s absolutely delish when eaten piping hot. As I didn’t have enough zucchini, I made up for it with carrot. Also, I added 1 spring onion, chopped. All it needed was a few drops of tabasco sauce.
Yummy! I really like how simple the recipe was to prepare. I did add a carrot to my shredded zucchini. I used garlic and onion powder. My husband liked them and he is picky with the unknown. Served with sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. My husband liked them and is taking one today for lunch on Italian bread.
Yummy! Recipe was easy to follow. I added 1 whole carrot to my shredded zucchini. I added garlic and onion powder. Definitely need to make sure you squeeze as much water out so they aren’t soggy. My husband liked them and he is picky about the unknown. He is taking one today for lunch on Italian bread. We served them with sauce and a sprinkle of parmesan cheese. Thanks for a great recipe and a way to use huge zucchini’s.
Thank you – found your recipe this evening searching for novel ways of dealing with our glut of garden zucchini. Everything turned out perfectly and the family enjoyed them – even teen no. 2 who usually refuses to have anything to do with zucchini. One bonus: I put the colander into a bowl to drain the zucchini and then squeezed them inside a linen cloth into this bowl. This produced a couple of pints of zucchini “juice” which was refreshing and surprisingly tasty to drink (although I’ll sprinkle less salt next time). This juice would make the basis of a good green smoothie, too.
I love the idea of saving the juice!
Delicious! Made exactly as written. Thank you!
So delicious!
I followed the recipe exactly as posted 🙂
I used jalapeño Monterey Jack cheese instead , added crushed chilli pepper, dried oregano, summer savoury, parsley and fresh off the cob . This was the best ever !!!
Easy and delicious! We had an abundance of zucchini on hand thanks to our CSA, and this recipe made for a very tasty lunch. I was glad to have read the comments about making sure to squeeze as much water as possible out of the grated zucchini; that helped keep the fritters from being soggy. Next time I might try adding some diced onion and some breadcrumbs, just to experiment, but the flavor of these was great as is.
Simple and delicious. I also grated a small carrot in the mix. Will keep this recipe
Good taste but soggy
Followed the recipe pretty much exactly except I added scallions and shredded carrot (extra color). Really, really tasty. I made one as a test and then decided to spice them up a bit – more salt, more pepper and a bit of garlic powder.
I’ve made them a few times since I saw this recpie few weeks ago and am ga ga over it. Strangly it taste a bit like potato pancakes to me ( weird ? ) but a plus for me. I got 6 out of mine and they looked exactly like the picture here !!! Wow ! On the 6, I went back to kitchen 2 more times and ended up eating them all! So now I know I have to get 6 to be filled and happy. Highly recommend ! Thought back to when I was a kid, never even heard of zucchini but we ate a lot of potato pancakes lol And I am making them again this evening and am all set to go 🙂 So my 5 th time making these in about 2 weeks !!! No adjustments , make exactly as she says for fantastic snack
I like to use panko crumbs instead of flour!
Good idea! Did you use the same amount?