How to make crispy light Zucchini Fritters! An easy recipe for Zucchini Fritters with feta and dill, topped with optional Tzatziki sauce. Serve this with a hearty green salad for a simple delicious vegetarian meal or a tasty appetizer! Updated 7/20
A simple recipe highlighting zucchini and summer squash- Zucchini Fritters! If you are like me, you’ve probably come close to your fill of zucchini and summer squash for the season. When we get to this point at our house, I know it is time to whip up these tasty Zucchini Fritters. (New photos by Simply Suwannee)
I’ve discovered that my husband will eat pretty much anything that comes in the form of a fritter, so this is a tactic I employ when trying to get through the last mound of summer produce.
Zucchini Fritters seasoned with fresh dill and feta cheese are full of flavor and make for a delicious vegetarian meal alongside a hearty green salad. Topped with creamy Tzatziki Sauce, they are dreamy!
How to make the BEST Zucchini Fritters (in a nutshell):
- grate zucchini
- salt zucchini to draw out water
- Mix into a thick batter
- Pan-sear in a hot skillet, finishing in the oven.
- Serve with sour cream, yogurt, or my favorite, Tzatziki!
It starts with the zucchini!
Use a food processor with the grater attachment to grate the zucchini. You can also do this by hand using a hand grater. You’ll need 4- 5 cups.
Sprinkle with salt to draw out the water. * This is a really important step in preventing soggy fritters! You want your fritters light and crispy, not heavy and soggy. Right? 😉
Why are my fritters soggy?
- The number one reason why your fritters are probably soggy is not drawing out the water from the vegetable. The easiest way to do this, is to salt the veggie, let stand 15-30 minutes, strain, then press the remaining water out, patting dry. This will prevent soggy fritters and give you light, crispy fritters that plump up when cooking!
Look how much water will release!
After it releases its liquid, place in a strainer and press as much of the water out. Blot with paper towels. Get them dry.
Mix in the rest of the ingredients and you will end up with a thick dough or “batter”, which will be full of good zucchini flavor and texture, and not taste eggy.
Fresh dill and scallions give these the BEST flavor!
I love adding feta, but you could sub another cheese- even cheddar or grated mozzarella if you are not a feta fan.
Then place the fritters on a parchment-lined sheet pan, or on a wire rack to finish cooking all the way through in the oven- without letting them get too dark on the outside.
You will know they are done on the inside when they start to puff up slightly.
This “puffing up” is basically the egg inside telling you, “I’m fully cooked through“!
Keep this in your back pocket. 😉
Make the optional Tzatziki Sauce. If you are swimming in Zucchini, Tzatziki can also be made with zucchini instead of the traditional English cucumber. Tzatziki, a Greek-style yogurt sauce is a really refreshing and cool topping for the crispy warm fritters- or sub a little yogurt or sour cream.
Pull the Zucchini Fritters out of the oven and serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in the fridge and reheated, uncovered in a toaster oven and surprisingly will get crispy again. Every time I make zucchini fritters, I often wish I would have made a double batch. They tend to go very quickly!
Spoon a dollop of tzatziki sauce on top and serve with a salad. This can be a light dinner or hearty lunch.
Or, to serve as a fun appetizer, make much smaller fritters (1 1/2 inch in diameter) and top with tzatziki and a fresh sprig of dill -and pierce a mini fork down through the top, for the perfect appetizer bite.
Crispy Light Zucchini Fritters!
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 20 mins
- Total Time: 40 mins
- Yield: 12 fritters 1x
- Category: Appetizer, vegetarian dinner,
- Method: pan-seared
- Cuisine: Greek
- Diet: Vegetarian
Description
How to make light and crispy Zucchini Fritters! An easy recipe with fresh dill, feta and tzatziki sauce. A Greek spin on our favorite fritters!
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs zucchini (about 4 medium zucchini)
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup chopped scallions
- 1/2 cup chopped fresh dill (or sub half with Italian parsley)
- 1/2 cup crumbled feta ( or sub another grated cheese- jack, mozzarella, cheddar)
- 1 large egg
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour (or GF flour)
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp fresh nutmeg
Serve with Tzatziki Sauce, sour cream or a dollop of plain yogurt. For a and extra kick, Zhoug yogurt is a great option too!
Instructions
- GRATE AND SALT ZUCCHINI: Using a hand grater or food processor, with grater attachment, grate the zucchini. You need about 4 cups grated, placed in a med-sized bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp kosher salt, stir well, and let sit for 15 minutes, stirring occasionally. (This will release the water and give you light and crispy zucchini cakes!)
- In the meantime, prep the other ingredients and make the optional Tzatziki Sauce.
- After 15 minutes, place the salted zucchini in a strainer, and using your hand or a spatula, press down firmly to remove as much water as possible. Do not rinse. Pat dry with a few paper towels. You really want to get these fairly dry.
- Preheat oven to 350F
- MAKE THE BATTER: Place the grated zucchini in a bowl, adding dill, scallions, feta, nutmeg, and one egg. Mix well. In a separate bowl mix flour and baking powder together. Add flour mixture to zucchini, incorporating all. This will be a fairly thick batter.
- SEAR: In a heavy bottom skillet, heat 1-2 T olive oil or butter over medium heat. When the oil is hot, spoon ping-pong sized balls of the batter. Lightly sear each side until golden brown about 3 minutes each side, and place in a warm oven-either on a wire rack or on a parchment-lined sheet pan. Putting these in the oven will allow them to cook all the way through and puff up, without getting too brown in the skillet.
- Make these in batches, letting fritters finish at least 10 minutes in the oven, or until they puff slightly.
- Serve with a dollop of Tzatziki Sauce and dill sprig.
Notes
These and be cooked ahead, refrigerated for 3 days and reheated in a toaster oven ( right on the rack). Great for meal prep!
Nutrition
- Calories: 257
Keywords: Zucchini Fritters, zucchini fritters recipe, how to make zucchini fritters, crispy zucchini fritters, best zucchini fritters
Sylvia, these are the lightest, freshest tasting , most delicious fritters I have ever tasted! 3 of us finished the entire batch in 1 sitting and wanted more! I served the fritters with cashew yogurt because of My son’s cow’s milk allergy, and it worked beautifully . Thank you for sharing such delicious and healthy recipes! I’m a fan for life!
★★★★★
Awww thanks Leslie!
I had a hidden zucchini that had grown large in the garden. This recipe was a perfect use for it. Turned out great and it was my first time making a zucchini fritter!
★★★★★
I can’t wait to try these great looking zucchini fritters. You are my heroine Ms. Sylvia! In these days of viruses and staying home I am enjoying discovering good things to cook. Thank you for the flavorful and detailed instructions you provide. My cooking is happier thanks to you. I hope you and Brian are well and safe and eating wonderful feasts at home!!
★★★★★
Thanks Sherry, we are doing well!
I’m in Maine for a few weeks and, as a variant from straight-up lobster with butter for our family gatherings, added lobster meat to the recipe, and had half feta and half goat cheese in the recipe. Delightful – thank you!
Love the zucchini-fritters, they are also good served with fresh bocconcini . Good way to use all the zucchini in the garden ,we will be craving these in winter when we don’t have fresh zucchini .
★★★★
Finally I have managed a ‘non-soggy’ zucchini fritter!!!
My goodness, what a brilliant hack is the salting of the veg. This recipe is so delicious and user-friendly…just brilliant!
You really are the bomb Sylvia, thank you so much for this!
★★★★★
Yay!!! Glad they worked for you!
I can’t wait to try this. I love zucchini and this looks like a wonderful side dish or even a quick breakfast snack.
★★★★★
A nut milk bag works perfectly for squeezing the water out of zucchini.
Love it Candy, great idea!!!
I swapped out the flour for an equal amount of almond flour and it worked perfectly. I actually really liked the subtle almond taste that it added. They weren’t quite as crispy as the AP flour version but still super delicious! I used a brand of feta called Pastures of Eden that’s crazy good. I bought it at Wegmans but I think Trader Joe’s sells it as well.
★★★★★
Great to hear! thanks Erin!
I usually make a double batch and they are great for heating up and snacking during the week. Have you tried freezing them?
★★★★★
I have not! If you do try, please let us know how they reheat. Curious!
So tasty. Everyone asked for the recipe.
★★★★★
Love this recipe- usually use mozzarella because my picky teen doesnt like feta. But still good!
★★★★★
Glad you enjoyed it! Good sub on the cheese. 😉
We love the fresh dill in this recipe, so flavorful!
★★★★★
Great to hear!
These were delicious and easy to make. I will be making them again! (I noticed that the ingredients listed baking powder but the instructions said baking soda. I used powder and they turned out great, but I was curious as to which was the intended ingredient. ? )
★★★★★
It was a typo, baking powder is correct!
Powder!
These are also delicious with sweet chilli sauce.
Such a great idea! Thanks for sharing Louise!
Great recipe – they were delicious and turned out just like your pictures. I did add a bit of mint to my fritters to use some of my garden herbs. I couldn’t stop eating them. I ate the leftovers cold out of the fridge and they were still great.
★★★★★
Awesome Amy, glad you enjoyed and thanks for sharing!
Learn something new everyday, I will now salt my zucchini, I used to just squeeze. Thank you so much for the lesson!
Pretty, simple and oh so tempting! Love this recipe — and the photos, as usual, are super lovely. Thank you!
we’ve had these twice in the last week and i’m making another bactch today… SOOO delish!
Oh Good! Glad you liked them!
Sylvia, I always have to make things several hours before dinner when I have the time – how do I keep them crispy and crunchy until dinner? I made them last night for dinner and they were a huge hit!
I wonder if you could made them ahead, refrigerated, then crisp them up again in the oven right before serving ?
This is such a perfect recipe for me! We still have a bunch of zucchini and cucumbers. I love the addition of feta and dill in the fritters. Great recipe.
Uaaau this is amazing:) Love it!
What a dishes so yummy!
YUM, what a gorgeous meal – any time of the day.
I’m all over these! Delicious!
This looks yum, though I am not sure there are much zucchinis around these markets…
Love any kind of fritters and this is no exception, looks so good.
This looks like a great recipe, light and healthy meal. I just have to try and bake it in the oven instead frying, which I do not do any more. Thanks for sharing, Sara