Light and crispy, these plant-based Zucchini Fritters are seasoned simply with lemon and garlic. Serve them up freestyle with a dollop of pesto or slather with (vegan) yogurt or sour cream and stack ’em high for an easy but impressive brunch, lunch or light dinner.
The Ingredients
Zucchini, of course!
These Baked Zucchini Fritters are a great way to use up lots of zucchini! We used a mix of yellow and green zucchini, but you can use whatever you have on hand. Zucchinis, also known as courgettes, are a type of squash. Zucchinis can grow quite large. You can certainly use whatever zucchini you have available, but younger, smaller zucchini are generally more tender and tasty.
The Mother Mix
We made the fritters using our 5-minute DIY Mother Mix as a base. If you haven’t checked out the Mother Mix, you should! It’s a seriously versatile base that jumpstarts over 15 recipes on the site, including Crazy Easy Vegan Queso Dip, Dairy-Free Scalloped Potatoes, Green Bean Casserole, Spinach Dip, and Veggie Pot Pie. The Mother Mix is very easy to make, it’s just 4 dry ingredients: almond flour, nutritional yeast, tapioca flour, and salt. If you’re not ready to make it, don’t worry, we’ve included the equivalent ingredients in the Recipe Card below.
Breadcrumbs
We used Panko breadcrumbs for this recipe. Panko is a a bit dryer and flakier than regular breadcrumbs. We think it would be fine to substitute regular breadcrumbs, although we have not yet tested this.
Seasonings
We’ve seasoned these fritters lightly with grated lemon rind and garlic powder. If you feel like adding some fresh herbs, we think basil or dill would work well here.
Other Ingredients
The remaining ingredients include melted butter or margarine, and if you want to make a zucchini stack, your choice of yogurt or sour cream. We love these with plain Greek yogurt but use your favourite plain plant-based or vegetarian yogurt or sour cream.
Making the Fritters
Step 1: Prepare the zucchini
Start by grating the zucchini. We used a box grater. You’ll need about 6 cups of zucchini to start with. Add your grated zucchini to a colander placed over a large bowl and stir in the salt. This helps the zucchini to release some of the water. Let it sit in the colander for about 15 minutes.
Step 2: Squeeze out as much water as possible
This is a very important step! You need to get as much of the water out of the zucchini as possible. We have a silicone colander so we just squeeze the colander over the sink. Another option would be to wrap the zucchini in a clean tea towel and squeeze the liquid out that way. Use whatever method works for you. We usually get at least 1 cup of liquid out of the zucchini.
Once you’ve finished squeezing, measure the zucchini again. You should have about 3 cups. If you have a lot more or less, vary the recipe proportions accordingly. Optionally, if you have a lot more, set aside the extra and use it in soup, a green smoothie, or a stir fry.
Step 3: Make the batter
In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, Mother Mix, breadcrumbs, seasonings, and melted margarine/butter.
Once you’ve stirred everything together, give it a taste and adjust the seasoning if desired, by adding more lemon, garlic powder, salt and pepper. If you want to add fresh herbs, add them now.
Step 4: Prepare the baking sheets
Lightly oil 2 baking sheets with olive oil.
Step 5: Form the Fritters
Pack some fritter batter into a measuring cup. We used a 1/3 cup measure.
Turn the measuring cup upside down over the prepared baking sheet. Give the cup a hard tap to release the fritter. Use the back of the measuring cup (or your hands) to flatten the fritter so it’s about 1/4 inch high. Repeat with the remaining fritters.
Brush each fritter with a little bit of olive oil.
Step 6: Bake the fritters
Bake the fritters at 375F for 15 minutes. Remove them from the oven, brush a little olive oil on the top of the fritters and then flip them over. Bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the fritter is golden.
Step 7: Serve!
You can serve these garnished with your choice of yogurt or sour cream. If you want to make a Zucchini Stack, place the largest fritter on a plate. Spread about 1/2 tablespoon of yogurt/sour cream on top. Place the next fritter and repeat. For the final fritter, top with a dollop of yogurt/sour cream and optionally, some pesto.
We’ve got some other zucchini ideas for you…
- 1-Bowl Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Muffins (vegan or vegetarian)
- Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters (vegan or vegetarian)
- Green Lasagna (vegan or vegetarian)
- Pear and Zucchini Bread (vegan or vegetarian)
Printable recipe card
Baked Zucchini Fritters (Vegan)
Materials
- 6 cups grated zucchini (This should be the approximate amount once you've grated the zucchini. After salting and squeezing out the excess water, you should have about 3 cups of zucchini. See recipe notes if you have more or less.)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon rind, grated
- 2 tablespoons melted vegan butter or margarine (measure melted)
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (we used Panko)
- 1 cup Mother Mix (see below for equivalent ingredients)
- olive oil (About 2-3 tablespoons, for oiling the baking sheets and brushing the tops of the fritters during baking)
Optionally, if you don't have Mother Mix
- 3/4 cup almond flour (we use superfine almond flour, also sometimes labelled as ground blanched almonds)
- 3 tablespoons tapioca starch (also called tapioca flour)
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 3/4 teaspoons salt
Optionally to Make Zucchini Stack
- 6 tablespoons plain yogurt or sour cream (your choice of vegan or vegetarian)
- pesto, chopped chives or green onions, or fresh basil
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375F.
- Grate the zucchini and place it in a large colander inside a bowl. Stir in the salt and let the zucchini sit for 15 minutes. Squeeze out as much water as possible. You should have about 3 cups of zucchini. If you have a lot less than this, adjust the proportions of the remaining ingredients accordingly. If you have a lot more zucchini, adjust the proportions of the remaining ingredients, or reserve the zucchini for another use, such as a green smoothie, or add it to a soup or stir fry.
- In a large bowl, add the zucchini, the Mother Mix, breadcrumbs, garlic powder, melted butter/margarine, and grated lemon rind. The batter will be wet.
- Lightly oil 2 baking sheets. Pack some batter into a 1/3 cup measuring cup and then turn over onto the baking sheet, tapping the top of the measuring cup to release the fritter. Flatten the fritter so it's about 1/4 inch high. Repeat with the remaining batter, making 12 fritters, 6 per baking sheet. Brush each fritter with a little bit of olive oil.
- Bake the fritters for 15 minutes. Lightly brush the top with olive oil and then flip them over. Return them to the oven for another 10-15 minutes, until the fritter is golden and the sides are starting to look crunchy.
To Make Fritter Stack
- Place a fritter on a plate. Spread about 1/2 tablespoon of yogurt/sour cream on the fritter. Repeat with 2 or 3 more fritters (or however high you want the stack to be). Top with a final dollop of yogurt/sour cream, and your choice of garnishes: chopped green onion, chives, fresh basil, or pesto.
Notes
Measuring the Zucchini
We provide 2 measurements for the zucchini. When you first grate the zucchini, you should have about 6 cups. After salting it and letting it sit for 15 minutes, you squeeze out the excess water. The amount of water you can get squeezed out will depend on how wet the zucchini is and how strong you are. You should have at least 3 cups. Use this amount for the recipe. If you have a lot less, adjust the recipe proportions accordingly. (You can use the slider bar that appears near the Servings label in the Recipe Card.) If you have a lot more, you can either adjust proportions accordingly, or use the leftover zucchini in a green smoothie, soup, or a stir fry.ÂAbout the Mother MixÂ
The Mother Mix is a a DIY pantry-staple that gives you a jumpstart on over 15 recipes including dips, soups, and mains. It’s vegan and gluten-free and made from just 4 all natural ingredients: almond flour, nutritional yeast, tapioca flour, and salt. It takes just a few minutes to make.ÂStorage and Reheating
These are best served fresh, but you can store them for a day or 2 in the fridge in a well-sealed container. Reheat them in a 250F oven for 10-15 minutes until warmed through.ÂNutritional Information
Nutritional information is an estimate only and does not include yogurt or sour cream, or the olive oil used for the pan and brushing the fritters. ÂNutrition
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8 comments
I was wondering what to do with all the zucchini I’ve been gifted! This looks great!!
Thanks! This will use up at least 6 cups, to get you started!
really look forward to trying this. any thoughts on making it GF?
Hi Dorit! I haven’t tried either of these ideas but my 2 thoughts are 1) test with GF breadcrumbs or 2) replace the breadcrumbs with an equal amount of shredded vegan parmesan cheese. If you are thinking of these, try testing with 1/2 or even 1/3 of the recipe. (You can use the slider bar next to the Servings label in the Recipe Card to see the ingredient proportions). Let me know how it goes if you test out!
Love the mother mix recipe
Thank you! That’s great to hear!
Well…these were very tasty! My neighbour has an amazing garden and I raided her zucchini. Made these this afternoon and shared them with her by the pool! Super simple to make too!
So happy you liked them! Zucchini right from the garden, too! Awesome.