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.
Making Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters
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.
To prepare the fritters, start by dicing the zucchini into pea-sized pieces and then placing it in a colander and salting it. Let this sit for about 15 minutes. This releases some of the water from the zucchini. While you’re waiting, boil the peas, zest the lemon, and measure the aquafaba/eggs, and flour. See our post, Aquafaba: An Easy Vegan Egg Replacer.
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!
Once your zucchini is prepped, the work is basically done. You just need to combine all the ingredients together into a batter and fry the fritters.
While totally delicious all on their own, you can jazz these fritters up with:
- my simple Avocado Crema recipe, included below (vegan)
- easy Egg-free Roasted Garlic Mayo (vegan)
- the Mother Mix sauce with additional nutritional yeast to taste
- simple cheese sauce (vegetarian)
You might also like:
- Baked Zucchini Fritters
- Pear and Zucchini Bread
- 1-Bowl Zucchini Chocolate Chunk Muffins
- Green Lasagna
Printable Recipe Card
Zucchini and Green Pea Fritters
Materials
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
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3 comments
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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!!
Thanks Shannon! Glad you and your little one enjoyed them!