Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters with Avocado Crema {Vegan}
October 18, 2023

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

October 18, 2023

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters with Avocado Crema {Vegan}

Packed with zucchini and protein-rich green peas, these fritters are surprisingly rich for a plant-based recipe. As well as being super-tasty and filling, these Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters are also versatile, easily working for brunch or lunch, or as a dinner main or side.

Side-view of stacked Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters topped with avocado crema

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

Ingredients

These Zucchini and Green Pea fritters are made with just a few ingredients, and are held together with either aquafaba, if you’re vegan, or eggs if you’re vegetarian.

Ingredients for Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters: frozen peas, aquafaba, flour, zucchini, lemon zest
  • Frozen peas: The peas are boiled before adding to the fritters.
  • Zucchini: We used green zucchini but yellow would work as well. Zucchini is also known as courgette.
  • Flour: We use white or whole wheat flour. We have also tested with chickpea flour, for a gluten-free option. The chickpea flour has a more dominant taste than wheat flour. 
  • Aquafaba: Aquafaba, meaning "bean water", is the egg replacer in this recipe. We typically get ours from a can of cooked chickpeas. Read more about this fabulous egg replacer. If you aren't vegan you can use eggs. 
  • Lemon zest:  The lemon zest adds a bright note.
  •  Neutral cooking oil: This is for pan-frying the fritters

Making Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

  1. 1
    Dice the zucchini into pea-sized pieces. Put the zucchini in a colander and sprinkle with salt. This will release the water from the zucchini. Let it sit for about 15 minutes.
  2. 2
    While the zucchini is draining, boil the peas, zest the lemon, and measure the  aquafaba/eggs, and flour.
  3. 3
    After leaving the zucchini for about 15 minutes, press out as much of the water as you can.
  4. 4
    In a mixing bowl, combine all of the ingredients. The batter will be loose.
  5. 5
    Heat a thin layer of oil in a frying pan, and make a test fritter. This will help you determine the best temperature for cooking.  
Top-down view of Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters topped with avocado crema

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

Gluten-free Variation

I have made these occasionally with chickpea flour instead of wheat flour. The chickpea flour will have more of a dominant taste than wheat flour. I have made the aquafaba/chickpea flour combo, but not the egg/chickpea combo so I can’t say with certainty how it will turn out. I suspect there would not be an issue but cooking is chemistry and sometimes surprising things happen!


Tips: where do you get your protein? 

If you're new to plant-based eating, you might be wondering: "Where do I get my protein?" The good news is that there's a wide range of plant protein sources.  For example, the green peas in this recipe are a good source of protein--containing about 8 grams of protein per cup. 

Compared to traditional North American diets, which often centre around a large piece of meat or other animal protein, typically plant-based meals contain multiple sources of protein.

Everyone has different protein requirements. You can see how much protein each recipe contains, along with other nutritional information, at the bottom of the Recipe Card. Be sure to also read the Nutritional Information details provided (right above the nutrition count) as it details how the information was calculated.

Pin for Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters, showing the fritters stacked on a white plate with avocado crema on top

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

Recipe Card

Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters

5 from 2 votes
Prep Time 10 minutes
Cook Time 10 minutes
Passive 15 minutes
Total Time 20 minutes
A quick and filling plant-based main or side. 
Servings 8 fritters
Calories 51 kcal

Ingredients

Fritters

  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 2 cups zucchini, pea-sized dice {You can grate instead, but see Recipe Note as you will need more flour}
  • 1/4 teaspoon salt
  • 1/2 plus cup flour (white or whole wheat) {See Recipe Note}
  • 1-2 teaspoons grated lemon zest
  • 6 tablespoons aquafaba (liquid from canned or cooked chickpeas) OR 2 eggs (slightly beaten) {See Recipe Note}
  • 2 tablespoons neutral cooking oil

Avocado Crema

  • 1-2 ripe avocados
  • 1 tablespoon lemon or lime juice
  • milk {any kind of unsweetened milk}
  • salt {to taste}

Instructions

Fritters

  • Dice the zucchini into pea-sized pieces, put in a colander and stir in the salt.  Let sit for about 15 minutes. This releases some of the water from the zucchini. Press as much of the water out as you can, but it will still be moist and that’s OK.
  • Boil the peas and set aside.
  • In a medium-sized bowl, combine the peas, zucchini, lemon zest, aquafaba or egg and flour. The batter will be quite loose.
  • Do a test fritter first. Heat a thin layer of oil in a heavy pan {e.g. cast iron}, and then add about 1/3rd of a cup of batter. You can press the fritter together a bit but try not to flatten it into the pan too much or it will stick. Let it cook for about 3 minutes or until you see the sides of the fritter starting to brown. It should be easy to flip over. Adjust the heat/oil as necessary.  
  • Serve hot with your choice of toppings:
    Avocado Crema (recipe below)
    Easy egg-free garlic mayo (vegan)
    Mother Mix Sauce (with additional nutritional yeast, as desired (vegan)
    simple cheese sauce (vegetarian)

Avocado Crema

  • Mash the avocados with the lemon or lime juice. Thin with as much milk as needed to achieve your desired consistency. Add salt to taste.

Notes

Cooking Tips
  • If you choose to grate the zucchini instead of doing a pea-sized dice, the zucchini will release a lot more water and consequently you will need to add more flour to the batter, approximately 2-3 tablespoons more. Try adding 2 tablespoons more first, and then do a test fritter as noted in the recipe instructions. Then add more flour as needed.
  • You don’t want too much oil in the pan all at once or it will get very splatter-y. You may need to add a bit more oil as you go.
  • Once, I've done my test fritter, I cook 3 fritters at a time in my cast iron pan. Usually I put a baking sheet in the oven, set the temperature at 200F, cook the first batch of fritters and then place them in the oven while the next batch is cooking.
  • These fritters are best served fresh, but you can reheat them in a 250F oven for about 10-12 minutes.
About Aquafaba
See our post, Aquafaba: Easy Vegan Egg Replacer.
Gluten-Free Possibilities
  • I have made these occasionally with chickpea flour instead of wheat flour. The chickpea flour is going to have more of a dominant taste than wheat flour. I have made  the aquafaba/chickpea flour combo, but not the egg/chickpea combo so I can't say with certainty how it will turn out. I suspect there would not be an issue but cooking is chemistry and sometimes surprising things happen! I'd love to hear from you if you try the recipe with chickpea flour or gluten-free all purpose flour.
Nutritional Information
Nutritional information is an estimate only and is based on using aquafaba (not eggs) and without any toppings. 
 
 

Nutrition

Serving: 1fritter | Calories: 51kcal | Carbohydrates: 3g | Protein: 1g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 0g | Cholesterol: 0mg | Sodium: 76mg | Potassium: 125mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 1g | Vitamin A: 200IU | Vitamin C: 13.1mg | Calcium: 9mg | Iron: 0.4mg

Courses, Cuisines, and Keywords

Course
Appetizer
|
Main Course
Cuisine
North American

Comments

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked

Recipe Rating




  1. 5 stars
    I made these for my 10 month old.
    I omitted the salt for him and used oat flour. I only had half a zucchini so I used yellow squash as well. I used a pea and carrot frozen blend and put them in the food processor to chop up a little. They taste really great!!

{"email":"Email address invalid","url":"Website address invalid","required":"Required field missing"}

Hello!


We're creating a course: Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating

Yes, seriously. Trying a plant-based diet can be overwhelming and we'd like to help. 

This course is for you if: 

  • you're curious about plant-based eating, but don't know where to start 
  • you have family or friends who eat plant-based and you'd like to be able to cook for them
  • you've dabbled with plant-based cooking, but would like to expand your repertoire

Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating will: 

  • answer your pressing questions 
  • cultivate your confidence
  • arm you with recipes

Want to learn more?  

Join our email list for updates about the course launch. You'll also get priority access to new recipes, and other subscriber privileges.

Hello!


We're creating a course: Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating

Yes, seriously. Trying a plant-based diet can be overwhelming and we'd like to help. 

This course is for you if: 

  • you're curious about plant-based eating, but don't know where to start 
  • you have family or friends who eat plant-based and you'd like to be able to cook for them
  • you've dabbled with plant-based cooking, but would like to expand your repertoire 

Baby Steps to Plant-Based Eating will: 

  • answer your pressing questions
  • cultivate your confidence 
  • arm you with recipes

Want to learn more?  

Join our email list for updates about the course launch. You'll also get priority access to new recipes, and other subscriber privileges.