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I’ve enjoyed sharing my favorite zucchini recipes this month, but I couldn’t leave out these super tasty Zucchini Fritters! These zucchini fritters have been a favorite of mine for years. They’re made with simple ingredients and they’re quick & easy to whip up. Plus who can resist those crispy brown edges and tender inside. And did I mention they’re also budget-friendly coming in at under a dollar per serving? I mean seriously, what’s not to love? If you’re a zucchini lover like me, then you have to give this zucchini fritters recipe a try! ;)
“Super flavorful. With the exception of the water drainage part for the zuc, it comes together really fast for an easy side dish. Honestly though, I could totally eat this for an entire meal…it’s that good!”
Brittney
Easy Recipe for Zucchini Fritters
These zucchini Fritters are crispy little zucchini cakes made with grated zucchini, flour, seasoning, and a few other add-ins. Their preparation reminds me of little pancakes (but packed with veggie goodness) and are great to enjoy for lunch, as a snack or appetizer, or even as a dinner side dish during Summer.
Recipe Tips!
- Squeeze out the liquid well. You definitely want to squeeze as much water as you can out of the zucchini before adding it to the rest of the ingredients. This helps keep the zucchini fritters crisp and not soggy.
- Make sure your pan is hot. Make sure the pan and oil are hot before you add the fritters. I like to start my heat at medium-high heat and adjust if needed. If your pan gets too hot, the zucchini fritters might cook faster on the outside without fully cooking all the way through on the inside. So keep an eye on it and turn the heat down just slightly to medium if needed.
- Don’t use too much oil. You don’t need a whole lot of oil to fry these fritters. I only use a few tablespoons of oil for the quick pan-fry.
- Serve immediately. Don’t wait too long to enjoy these tasty zucchini fritters. They are best when served hot and crispy. The longer they sit, the more they tend to become soggy. However, I have shared some storage and reheating information at the end if you do want to meal-prep them!
- Wondering what else you can add? One of my favorite ingredients to add to these fritters is fresh summer corn. Since corn on the cob is in season the same time as zucchini, I sometimes grab one ear of corn to include in the mixture. Just cut the corn kernels off of the cob and add them with the grated zucchini. Trust me, corn and zucchini fritters are also really good!! 😊
Zucchini Fritters
Servings 4 (makes 7-8 fritters)Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs. zucchini (2 large zucchini, $2.00 *)
- 1/4 yellow onion (finely diced, $0.15)
- 1 garlic cloves (minced, $0.08)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour ($0.20)
- 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese ($0.40)
- 1 large egg (lightly beaten, $0.16)
- 1 tsp salt (divided, $0.08 **)
- 1/2 tsp freshly cracked black pepper ($0.04 **)
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.12)
For Serving
Instructions
- Wash the zucchini well, trim off the stem, then using the large holes on a box grater, grate the zucchini. You should end up with about 4 cups of grated zucchini.
- Place the grated zucchini in a fine mesh cheesecloth or a strainer over a bowl. Sprinkle ½ tsp of salt over the zucchini. Give the zucchini a quick mix and let it sit for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, using the cheesecloth or clean hands, squeeze out as much liquid as you can into the bowl or over the sink.
- Add the grated zucchini to a large bowl along with the finely diced onion, garlic, flour, parmesan cheese, egg, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper. Mix all of the ingredients together until well combined.
- In a large non-stick skillet, heat the cooking oil over medium-high heat. Once the oil is hot, add several spoonfuls of the zucchini mixture to the hot skillet to form small pancake-sized patties. Gently flatten the tops of each fritter with the back of a spoon or a spatula and cook each fritter until it is golden brown on both sides – about 3 minutes per side. Cook the fritters in 2 batches to keep from crowding the pan.
- Remove the fritters from the pan and drain on a wire rack or paper towel lined plate. Serve immediately and enjoy while they’re hot!
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Equipment
- Box Grater
- Cheesecloth
- Large Non-Stick Skillet
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!How to Make Zucchini Fritters – Step By Step Photos
Prep the zucchini: Wash 2 large zucchini (or roughly 1 1/2 lbs.) well, trim off the stem, and use the large holes on a box grater to grate the zucchini. Once it’s all grated, you should have about 4 cups of grated zucchini.
Strain the zucchini: Place a fine mesh cheesecloth or strainer over a large bowl. Now add your grated zucchini on top and sprinkle with ½ tsp of salt. Gently mix the zucchini with the salt and let it sit for 15 minutes. The salt will help draw out excess moisture, which would otherwise make your fritters soggy.
Drain the liquid: Once it’s been 15 minutes, squeeze out as much liquid as possible into the bowl or over your sink. If you wanted, you could keep this liquid and use it in homemade soups! Just keep in mind this liquid is already salted, so you’ll need to adjust the salt to taste in any recipe you use it in.
Make the batter: Back to the fritters! Add the grated zucchini to a large bowl with 1/4 yellow onion (finely diced), 1 clove of garlic (minced), 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, 1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese, 1 large egg, ½ tsp salt, and ½ tsp freshly cracked black pepper.
Combine all of the ingredients together until well mixed.
Cook: Heat 3 Tbsp of cooking oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is hot, add several spoonfuls of the zucchini mixture to the hot skillet to form small pancake-sized patties. Carefully flatten down the tops with the back of a spoon (or spatula). Now cook each fritter until golden brown on both sides, about 3 minutes per side.
Cook the fritters in 2 batches to keep from crowding the pan.
Serve: Once golden brown on both sides, remove the fritters from the pan and drain on a wire rack or paper towel-lined plate. Serve immediately, and enjoy while they’re hot!
Serving Suggestions
I served these fritters with our creamy Tzatziki sauce. The cool and fresh flavors of the tzatziki pairs perfectly with the fritters. They also taste great with just a dollop of sour cream and finely sliced green onions. I also wouldn’t be opposed to dipping these in some tartar sauce or our comeback sauce!
Storage & Reheating
Let your zucchini fritters cool before storing in the fridge in an airtight container for 3-4 days. Don’t place the hot fritters in the container, as this will create condensation; wait until they’re cooled. You can also freeze them for up to 3 months. Let them thaw in the fridge and reheat in your skillet with a little oil to crisp them back up.
More Easy Zucchini Recipes
Our Zucchini Fritters recipe was originally published 1/22/11. It was retested, reworked, and republished to be better than ever 7/20/24.
These were pretty good! I used 3 cloves of garlic and fresh corn from the cob. I also highly recommend the corn. I made the taziki that you linked and it was delicious (also added more garlic).
Super flavorful. With the exception of the water drainage part for the zuc, it comes together really fast for an easy side dish. Honestly though, I could totally eat this for an entire meal…it’s that good!
These Fritters were awesome! I haven’t made the Z sauce yet but I’m sure they would make it SIX stars!
Elizabeth
BIG mistake, make as many as you can when zucchini is abundant and eggs are cheap then freeze as many as you can.
No need to eat ASAP.
I make enough to have several a week until the next growth season. Defrost in the fridge and reheat in a TINY bit of cooking oil in a frying pan. I swear you can not tell the freshly cooked one from the ones that were frozen,
At the top it says “You’ll need roughly 2 large zucchini and there’s no need to grate them.” But the recipe says to grate the zucchini—is there an alternative to grating?
Hi Karen, I just corrected that sentence to say “there’s no need to peel them” They do need to be grated. Thank you for letting us know. ;)
Aha! No peeling is good.
Thanks, Marsha.
Although this was delicious the amount of oil was way way too much an made my kitchen so messy. Next time I will only use 1/4 cup of oil an add a little more as needed.
This recipe calls for 3 Tablespoons of oil. 1/4 c is 4 Tablespoons, 1 more than the recipe states. How much oil did you use? I started with 2 T and added #3 with the 2nd batch of 4 fritters that I fried. They came out crispy and delicious.
I think this recipe was re-written from an earlier post and my guess is that it originally had more oil. BB, if you mention that this is a reformulate recipe, would you mention it in the notes?
Hi Judy, yes you are correct, we updated this recipe this week. And great suggestion for adding an extra note. Thanks! ;)
Hi Janmaus, we actually just updated this recipe this week and changed the oil amount. The original posting was from 2011. I’m so glad you liked the recipe! :)
I used the concept of these as a jumping-off point– I salted the zucchini and let it sit for 10 minutes before squeezing it out a bit, then continued with the recipe. Changes I made included using Bob’s Red Mill’s vegan egg replacer as a binder in lieu of the egg, adding onion powder and garlic powder, and skipping the parsley because I didn’t have any handy. Turned out great! If you need a vegan modification, I’d recommend this.
These are fun to make although I rarely fry anything. We ate the whole batch and no sauce was needed. Thanks for another dependable, clearly written recipe.
So good. zucchini insanity
Made it with almond flour instead to make it keto. And added bits of jalapeños to spice it up a bit (I love spicy stuff ❤️). But it was amazing!!!
These are delicious! I made them several times earlier this summer when my neighbors kept foisting zucchini and squash on me… and then went out of my way today to buy zucchini just so I could make them again! But a funny thing happened– I was seasoning the grated zucchini and tasting it along the way, added some garlic powder, paprika, seasoned salt in addition to the dried herbs, and realized as I was tasting it, “you know, I could eat this just as it is!” So I added a little bit of oil and ended up having a delicious zucchini salad for lunch! Guess I’ll have to go back to the store so I can actually fry them next time :)
I followed this recipe to a t and my fritters were wet and cooled down soggy. I added about 2 tablespoons of bread crumbs and they held their shape way better but were still a bit mushy., I wonder if trying to wick the moisture of the zucchini in a salad spinner or paper towels would make the texture better.
Yes, that might help. I think you can also squeeze the shredded zucchini in a clean lint-free towel to help dry it out.
I didn’t know zucchini could taste this good! The seasoning was simple, but delicious, and these were really easy to make. I used extra virgin olive oil since that’s what i had on hand, so I just cooked them longer over a lower heat. They turned out perfect and my husband absolutely loved them. I’ll be making these again, but I think I’ll double it next time. Thanks for another great recipe!
LOVE this recipe. I omitted the parsley (not a fan) and added some fresh grated parmesan! I’m serving them with an heirloom tomato salad for lunch!
Great recipe. I skip the oregano and basil, and cook few potatoes in their skin with butter to it. I got quite sick of zucchini since we had a lot of them during the summer in our garden, but this made them enjoyable again.