How to make crispy light Zucchini Fritters! Never soggy or heavy! This Greek-inspired recipe for Zucchini Fritters is made 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!
Zucchini Fritters! | a 30-second video!
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
- 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
- ——-
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
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
Will these work without cheese? Or is there a vegan cheese you would recommend?
Daiya Cheese is vegan and I’ve heard it melts nicely- but I haven’t tried it here.
This is a great recipe and easy to make. Around these days I like to make recipes from everywhere around the world as it is the only way to travel easily. With a greek salad and roasted potatoes, it was delicious!
I kept mine vegan. I added a chia seeds egg (1.5 table spoon chia seeds and 4 table spoon water) and it was perfect.
★★★★★
Thanks for sharing! I’ll have to try that!
All your recipes turn out great but what can i use instead of eggs?
★★★★
I’m not sure here. I guess you could try a flax egg or egg replacer?
Hi Sylvia, I’ve made many or your recipes and love them! Today I made the zucchini fritters for the second time and they were even better. My only complaint is that it took me 2 hours to make and bake all of them. Any suggestions on how to cut down the time?
Oh dear- that is a long time.Sorry. Do you use a food processor to grate? That would help. You could also salt and place in a strainer overnight in the fridge until ready to make. That might cut some time?
Please post more comprehensive nutrition info
★★★★★
Sorry about that- it is there now!