Zucchini Fritters
These homemade Zucchini Fritters have a mild flavor and pair delightfully tender interiors with crisp, golden edges — perfect for dipping into your favorite sauce. Enjoy these for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or a veggie-packed snack.
Why We Love Them
As I’ve evolved to eat more in sync with seasonal produce, I’ve realized you can literally never have enough good zucchini recipes, because when zucchini blooms, it blooms in full force. Not surprisingly, not everyone in my family enjoys plain old sautéed zucchini, so I am always in the market for ways to mix it into meatballs, pesto, muffins, you name it.
These fritters are something I started experimenting with last year, and I absolutely love the simple combination of shredded zucchini, green onions, Parmesan cheese, and a few pantry staples. The end result is a pancake-like patty with a pleasant but mild flavor — a little tangy from the Parmesan and lightly perked up with sea salt and black pepper.
The real star quality here, though, is the texture. If you make a good faith effort to squeeze excess water out of the shredded zucchini, you will reap the reward of fritters with golden brown, crisp exteriors, made simply in your standard frying pan with a light drizzle of oil. No deep frying or complicated method required.
Serving Suggestions
Personally, I can happily gobble up a big plate of zucchini fritters for lunch or dinner, alongside either a side salad or, less virtuously, mac and cheese. I like them plain, but my husband loves them with a dollop of sour cream or Tzatziki sauce. We all like some lemon wedges on the side for a quick squeeze of fresh citrus. Zucchini fritters also make a great side dish to pair with grilled steaks, shrimp, or salmon for a light summer meal.
Although I’m not a huge breakfast eater during the week, I’ve even been known to munch on a leftover fritter or two for breakfast or a mid-morning snack!
Ingredient & Substitution Notes
A few notes and shopping tips about the ingredients you’ll need; find full amounts in the print-friendly recipe card below.
- Zucchini, obviously. I try to grab 2 or 3 medium-large zucchini with which to make fritters, equal to roughly 1 and 1/2 pounds whole.
- Two large eggs. The binding agent a great fritter needs.
- Green onions. Technically these are optional, but I love the extra bit of flavor and crunch they add.
- Grated Parmesan. This was the missing ingredient from the first few fritter recipes I tried! With a slight tang and salty finish, Parmesan always adds so much. Creamy crumbled Feta cheese is a good swap. Experiment to see which you like best!
- Pantry staples: Flaked sea salt or kosher salt, black pepper, all-purpose flour, and baking powder. The baking powder gives these fritters a little lift to keep that interior texture nice and fluffy.
- Olive or canola oil. For cooking only.
How To Make Zucchini Fritters
This is an overview; find full ingredients & instructions in the printable recipe card below.
Begin by cutting the ends off the zucchini plants, then grating the entire rest of the zucchini. You can do this by hand using the larger holes on the side of a box a grater, or using the grating attachment of a food processor.
Either way, transfer the shredded zucchini to a bowl lined with a clean kitchen towel, cheesecloth, or a double layer of paper towels. Sprinkle with about 1 teaspoon of sea salt and set aside for about 10 minutes. This allows some of the moisture to begin drawing out.
Meanwhile, whisk together the eggs, green onion, Parmesan, more salt and black pepper in a large bowl.
Squeeze That Zucchini For Best Results!
Extracting as much water as possible from your shredded zucchini will make or break the quality, or at least the crispness, of your fritters! Wrap the towels or cheesecloth tightly around the zucchini, hold it over the sink, and press firmly all over with your hands to squeeze out as much excess water as possible.
Zucchini holds a ton of water, pound for pound, and drying it out a bit is crucial to getting fritters that hold together well and get nice and brown in the pan.
Once you’re getting only small drips of water, fold back the towels and shake the zucchini out into the egg and Parmesan mixture. Stir it in, then sprinkle the flour and baking powder on top, and stir again.
Now it’s time to cook! Warm a generous slick of oil in a skillet over medium heat. You don’t want to cook these too fast, or they can blacken and burn. Scoop heaping Tablespoons of the zucchini mixture out straight into the pan, then press down lightly to flatten them into a tall pancake shape.
Sauté for 4-5 minutes, then carefully flip and repeat on the other side, until deep golden brown. Transfer cooked fritters to a paper towel-lined plate and continue in batches as needed.
Storage & Reheating
Cooked zucchini fritters can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days, then re-crisped as desired.
I’ve had good results from two different warming techniques: one, kind of re-frying them in a skillet for 1-2 minute per side over medium-high heat with a small drizzle of olive oil. Obviously they don’t need to cook all the way through again, but by the time they warm through, the outer edges regain a crisp. Two, I’ve also had good luck warming fritters in my toaster oven on the air fryer setting for roughly 4-5 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Related Recipes
Try my favorite zucchini casserole next, followed by zucchini pasta with garlicky breadcrumbs. Craving more of a tasty baked treat? Lemon olive oil zucchini muffins and zucchini chocolate chip muffins hit the spot every time!
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Zucchini Fritters
Ingredients
- 2-3 large zucchini about 1.5 pounds
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons flaked sea salt divided
- 2 large eggs
- 1/3 cup minced green onions
- 1/4 cup grated Parmesan or crumbled Feta
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon baking powder
- canola or olive oil
Instructions
- Grate zucchini on the side of a box grater, then place in a bowl lined with a double layer of paper towels, or a clean kitchen towel. (You can also use the grating attachment of a food processor, if you like.) Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sea salt and set aside for about 10 minutes.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, green onion, Parmesan, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and black pepper.
- Wrap the paper or kitchen towel tightly around the shredded zucchini, hold over the sink, and press all over with your hands to squeeze out as much excess water as possible. Once you’re getting only small drips, fold back the towels and shake the zucchini out over the egg mixture. Stir well to combine.
- Sprinkle flour and baking powder on top. Stir until evenly mixed.
- Warm a generous slick of oil in a large skillet, preferably cast iron or non-stick, over medium heat. When the oil is shimmering, add heaping Tablespoons of the zucchini mixture. Press down lightly to flatten the fritters into a pancake shape.
- Sauté for 4-5 minutes per side, until deep golden brown. Reduce heat as needed to prevent blackening. Serve right away!
Notes
- Storage: Cooked zucchini fritters can be stored in the refrigerator for 2-3 days.
- Reheating: For best results, you want a warming method that re-crisps. Either give the fritters a quick re-fry for 1-2 minute per side over medium-high heat with a small drizzle of olive oil, or warm in a toaster oven or air fryer over medium-high heat.
We have been making zucchini fritters for over sixty years in my family. Have to admit yours are much better.
We also cut the zuchinni into strips sometimes (like french fries) and dip them in two well beaten eggs and then into a mix of flour and Panko italian bread crumbs and fry them just like french fries. Better healthwise and absolutely better tasting than potato fries as well.
Thank you……for the inspiration