Zucchini Fritters are a quick addition to your recipe box, breakfast menu or anytime menu. When zucchini squash is in full season it is super easy to add this wonderful vegetable into your everyday meal prep. Zucchini fritters are quick and easy to make and are loaded with tons of flavor.
So when that time comes, usually the end of July or the beginning of August when anyone with a garden starts to realize they have way too much zucchini. It is at this point that you start to experiment with different recipes and try to figure out what else can you do with zucchini. You can’t freeze it! The real mission is to figure out ways to use it in recipes and meals. Some recipes like zucchini bread can then be frozen and others you can share with friends. The goal is to find ways to use zucchini in breakfast, lunch and dinner and heck dessert if you can.
Today’s mission was Zucchini Fritters. I’ve made potato fritters in the past and they’ve been delicious and I have made zucchini bread, zucchini pancakes and zucchini rolls. And they’ve all been fantastic. And honestly it all started with a Pinterest picture of zucchini or vegetable tots. I’m a tater tot freak. I love them! They’re terrible for you if they are fried. So I started investigating how I can make zucchini tater tots or zucchini tots because I had no intention of putting the potatoes in them. While popping around Pinterest, I stumbled across a zucchini fritters recipe.
Now anybody who knows me knows I never follow a recipe. I look at the proportions, I glance at what’s in it, I look at how to cook it or the ways to get it cooked. And then I make it my own. Which is what happened this morning. I took a couple extra zucchinis that I had in the fridge that I had picked out of the garden the other day. And mind you I’ve already made three loaves of zucchini bread. I made a Zucchini Caprese Salad last weekend which was phenomenal. Here’s the link to that you must try it! It was definitely a keeper. And I still have zucchini left so now what do I do. Fritters. Yep fritters!
I graded the two zucchinis, grabbed what I had left of some Italian breadcrumbs, grated up some fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano, threw in a little bit of leftover mozzarella shredded, and then just for the heck of it added a little ranch powder that I keep in the fridge. Ranch Powder is great for making dips or adding to vegetables. After you grate the zucchini make sure to pat it down dry with a paper towel. I put mine in a strainer and just let it hang out for a while and then pat it down.
With all the dry or somewhat dry ingredients in a bowl I mixed it slowly with a fork until it was combined and looking delish! And said how many eggs one or two? I decided to start with one. I could always add another if it needed it. Oh and I put a little salt and pepper in there.
OK so I have all the dry ingredients mixed together and it looks phenomenal. I beat up one egg and add it to the mixture and I start to just toss it together with a fork. It starts to come together beautifully. It’s the right consistency. It’s starting to hold together. It smells and looks phenomenal. Success!
Now do I fry it or bake it? I can put it in a little muffin cups maybe and then heat the house up with the oven. Remember we’re talking July and it’s about 90° outside right now so I’m not sure I want to heat up the oven. So I decided I’m going to fry them – lightly!
When you’re frying something pay attention to the oils and what type of oil you are using to fry. Do not, please do not, fry in olive oil. It’s a low temperature oil. You want to use a high temperature oil like sunflower, safflower or peanuts. Think of nut oils for high temp oils. Nut oils have a higher smoke point and will not turn on you so always have that in your pantry.
I make my little patties and I drop them into it preheated, lightly oiled pan and commence to cooking. These are a delicious cheesy zucchini treat with your morning fruit. I served it with just a little bit of vegan sour cream and some parsley for color.
SIDENOTE: If you have not grown your own parsley you should try it because the flavor is amazing. Lots of homegrown garden vegetables have much better flavor; sweeter carrots, more flavorful parsley, more tender beans, sweeter tomatoes etc. Next time you have a bunch of extra zucchinis, or carrots or sweet potatoes or regular potatoes for that matter, you can substitute it for this recipe and make your own fritters. They’re delicious and will keep for 3 to 5 days in an airtight container. They can also be easily reheated in an air fryer or microwave.
Be sure to try some of our other zucchini recipes like this Zucchini Caprese salad.
Zucchini Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchinis
- 1 cup parmesiano reggiano shredded
- 1/2 cup mozzarella cheese shredded
- 1 cup panko or italian breadcrumbs
- 1 egg
- Salt to taste
- Pepper to taste
- 2 tbsp sunflower oil or other high temp oil
Instructions
- Grate zucchini with a box grater on the largest size
- Drain and pat zucchini dry with paper towels
- Mix zucchini, cheeses, bread crumbs, salt and pepper together in a bowl
- Whisk egg completely and add to dry ingredients
- Mix gently until it starts to pull away from sides of bowl.
- Form 5 patties.
- Gently heat oil in saute pan.
- When heated add patties carefully.
- When brown gently turn over and brown on the other side. About 6 minutes each side.
- Remove to paper towels and serve with sour cream and chopped chives or parsley.
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