These zucchini fritters are light and crispy, never soggy or heavy! Made with zucchini or summer squash, feta cheese, green onions, and dill, they make a great starter, side dish, or vegetarian entree!
Here is one of my favorite zucchini recipes! If you are like me, you’ve probably come close to your fill of zucchini and summer squash for the season. My farmer’s market box is filled with so much zucchini it’s sometimes hard to get through it!
When we get to this point at our house, I know it’s time to whip up this delicious zucchini fritter recipe- I’ve discovered that my husband will eat pretty much anything that comes in the form of a fritter! It’s a useful tactic!
Why you’ll love them!
Great Mediterranean Flavor! My recipe is infused with Mediterranean flavors and makes for a delicious vegetarian meal alongside a hearty green salad. Topped with creamy Tzatziki Sauce, they are dreamy!
After a couple of decades of experimenting with this recipe both in our restaurant and my catering business, I’ll show you how to make light, crispy, and fluffy zucchini fritters instead of heavy, eggy, or soggy ones. Your whole family will love these!
Zucchini Fritters Recipe Ingredients
- Zucchini: You’ll need about 4 medium zucchini. Feel free to use a mix of zucchini and summer squash!
- Scallions: Add an aromatic bite and fragrant flavor, while contributing to the beautiful green color.
- Fresh dill: Dill has such a distinct summery taste that really elevates the overall flavor of this dish. You can sub half of the dill with parsley if you wish.
- Crumbled feta: Or sub another grated cheese like jack, mozzarella, or cheddar.
- Large egg: The egg is essential for binding the ingredients together to form a fritter.
- All-purpose flour: Forms the texture of the patty. Feel free to sub gluten-free flour if needed.
- Baking powder: To help the fritters rise and become light and fluffy.
- Fresh nutmeg: Our secret ingredient that adds a warm, nutty taste!
Zucchini Fritters Instructions
Step one: Grate the zucchini using a hand or box grater or food processor with a grater attachment. Gather 4 cups of grated zucchini and place in a medium bowl.
Sprinkle a teaspoon of kosher salt over top, mix, and let sit for 15 minutes. Toss occasionally. This step is essential for releasing excess moisture and resulting in light and crispy zucchini cakes!
Step two: While you wait for the zucchini, prep the remaining ingredients and make the Tzatziki Sauce if using it.
Tip: If you are swimming in zucchini, Tzatziki can also be made with zucchini instead of the traditional English cucumber.
Step three: When the zucchini is ready, transfer it to a colander over the sink to drain. Squeeze with your hands or use a spatula to press down firmly to release as much liquid as possible. Do not rinse. Use paper towels to pat dry.
Preheat the oven to 350F.
Step four: In a large bowl, mix together the grated zucchini, fresh herbs, green onions, feta, nutmeg, and egg. In a separate bowl, combine flour and baking powder. Add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture, incorporating well. The batter should be fairly thick.
Step five: Heat a tablespoon or two of olive oil (or butter) in a large skillet over medium heat. Once warm, spoon ping pong sized balls of the batter onto the pan. Sear until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Flip and repeat, pan-frying another 3-4 minutes.
Transfer to a warm oven on a parchment paper-lined sheet pan to allow them to cook through and puff up without getting too brown.
Tip: Prepare the fritters in batches, letting them finish in the oven for at least 10 minutes. They will puff up a bit when done in the middle!
Step six: Serve warm with a dollop of Tzatziki Sauce and a dill sprig. Freshly cracked black pepper, lemon zest, and parmesan cheese are all delicious garnishes too!
Meal Prep, Storage & Reheating
To meal prep, make the fritters, then store in the fridge for 3 days before reheating in the toaster oven directly on the rack.
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container for 5-7 days. Reheat uncovered in a toaster oven. They will surprisingly get crispy again!
Store in the freezer for up to 2 months. Thaw in the fridge before reheating.
Every time I make zucchini fritters, I often wish I would have made a double batch. They tend to go very quickly!
Serving Suggestions
Tzatziki, a Greek-style yogurt sauce is a really refreshing and cool topping for the crispy warm fritters, or sub a little Greek yogurt or sour cream.
Zucchini Fritters can be served with a salad to make a light dinner or hearty lunch. Try them with our Little Gem Salad, Spring Greens, or Raw Beet Salad.
Or serve as a fun appetizer or side dish! Make much smaller fritters (1 1/2 inch in diameter) and top with tzatziki and a fresh sprig of dill. Pierce a mini fork down through the top, for the perfect appetizer bite.
FAQs
The number one reason why your fritters are probably soggy is not drawing out the as much moisture as possible 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!
Baking powder prevents the fritters from turning out thick and heavy, resulting, in light, airy patties with crisp texture 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. 😉
Transfer seared fritters to a warm oven so they continue cooking through. This will also help them maintain their crisp versus being transferred straight to a plate.
I’m so excited for you to try this Zucchini Fritter recipe with Tzatziki Sauce! So tasty! Let us know how you like them in the comments below!!
More Favorite Zucchini recipes
Zucchini Fritter Recipe video
Zucchini Fritters Recipe
- 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
These zucchini fritters are light and crispy, never soggy or heavy! Made with zucchini or summer squash, feta cheese, green onions, and dill, they make a great starter, side dish, or vegetarian entree!
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
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!
Pretty, simple and oh so tempting! Love this recipe — and the photos, as usual, are super lovely. Thank you!
I do love the pictures! And I use a nut milk bag… That was perfect! I used to dread seeing so much zucchini coming in my cosa bag…. But now “I say bring it on!” LOL
Yay!!!
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!
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.
YUM, what a gorgeous meal – any time of the day.
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