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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!
Watch how to make Zucchini Fritters! | 30-sec video
How to make the BEST Zucchini Fritters (in a nutshell):
- grate zucchini
- salt zucchini to draw out water, drain.
- 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.
More recipes you may enjoy
- How to make the Best Tzatziki
- Mediterranean Stuffed Peppers
- Grilled Eggplant with Greek Relish and Creamy Polenta
- Greek Pasta Salad
- Classic Greek Salad
- Mediterranean Chard Salad
- Mediterranean Farro Salad w/ Marinated Zucchini and Chickpeas
- Beet Tzatziki
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
- ——-
- 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
- Serving Size: 3 fritters
- Calories: 257
- Sugar: 1.2 g
- Sodium: 774.9 mg
- Fat: 12.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 4.3 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.4 g
- Fiber: 0.8 g
- Protein: 6.3 g
- Cholesterol: 63.2 mg
Keywords: Zucchini Fritters, zucchini fritters recipe, how to make zucchini fritters, crispy zucchini fritters, best zucchini fritters
We made these tonight. I didn’t have any dill (dislike it) so used fresh thyme and added a little grated parmy. Fried in butter, they were SO fantastic! Thank you for all your wonderful recipes. I love them all x
★★★★★
Oh good! Great to hear Jane!
What a delicious addition to Sunday brunch!! I think next time I make them I will either try your Tzatziki sauce, or just go with yogurt with a squeezed of lemon. I bought Cedar Tzatziki sauce at Whole Foods, and we all agreed that it overpowered the delicate fritters.
Ah yes, I can see how that could happen. Glad you enjoyed!
I am so excited to try these tonight! All of your recipes are amazing, and I am sure this will be no exception. I was wondering what pan you used in the video, is it enamel? I have been thinking about buying something like that for frying, so as not to have sticking.
Thanks, it think this a ceramic non stick pan from Crate and Barrel.
I reallyt love these…I added a bit more salt and an extra egg because I only had small eggs. Fritters were great! Next batch I will double for sure!
Awesome to hear Sarah!
Yum – great simple recipe that tastes great – I served with salad and sour cream and lemon juice
★★★★
Sounds perfect Sharmayne! Thanks. 😉
These were amazing! However, I felt mine were not as “crispy” as maybe they should’ve been. As another reader stated her batter was very dry and mine too (I did not add another egg). Can you take too much water out of the zucchini? They seemed light on the inside. Tzatziki was also wonderful. I will certainly try these again.
★★★★★
Hummm, I wonder! So your batter was dry to begin with?
Very nice. My batter was a bit dry, so I added another egg. Perhaps did to good a job with drying out the zucchini.
★★★★★
Thanks Johan- glad you were able to adjust this!
Can these be frozen?I’ve made several times & it’s a dynamite recipe!!
Yes, I think they would freeze well!
We enjoyed the fritters and tzatziki today using zucchini, cucumbers, scallions and dill from the garden. Quite a tasty meal! Thank you.
★★★★★
Perfect Jafa!
Curious if many one has used this recipe in an air fryer. Also can you make a bunch and freeze them … take out as needed.
I havent, but curious too!