Crispy Zucchini Fritters with Cheese and Chives
Ingredients
Method
- Shred the zucchini using the large holes of a box grater or a food processor. Put it in a colander, toss with 1/2 teaspoon salt, and let it sit in the sink for 10 minutes. Transfer the zucchini to a clean kitchen towel and squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, eggs, cheese, chives, salt, and pepper until smooth. Add the drained zucchini and stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drop the batter by tablespoonfuls into the pan, flatten each mound with the back of a spoon, and fry for about 2 minutes per side, until crisp and golden. Cook in batches so the pan is not crowded.
Nutrition
Notes
Tried this recipe?
Let us know how it was!What Are Zucchini Fritters, Anyway?
If your zucchini fritters always come out soggy, you are in good company. I once served a batch so limp that Dana asked me if I had boiled them. That was a long time ago and I still think about it.
Here is what I know now. A proper fritter is crisp at the edges, tender in the middle, and packed with melted cheese and fresh chives. Twenty-five minutes, one heavy skillet, no drama.
This easy zucchini fritters recipe calls for 4 medium zucchini, flour, 2 eggs, shredded cheese, and chives. That is the whole list. Nothing you have to hunt down at a specialty market.
It is October here in East Nashville, and my garden zucchini is on its last legs before the first frost. Cool evenings like this make me want something warm and crispy straight out of the pan. A bowl of soup on the side does not hurt one bit.
Ingredients for Zucchini Fritters
Eight items, and two of them are salt and pepper. That is my kind of zucchini fritter ingredients list.
- 4 medium zucchini, shredded. Small to medium beat the giant ones every time.
- 1/2 teaspoon salt, for drawing water out of the zucchini.
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, the binder that holds everything together.
- 2 large eggs, for structure and moisture.
- 1/3 cup shredded cheese. Parmesan, cheddar, or mozzarella all work well.
- 1 tablespoon chopped chives, fresh if you can get them.
- Salt and pepper, to taste.
- Olive oil, for frying. Canola or another neutral oil works too.
On the cheese: parmesan gives you the crispiest edges and a salty little bite. Cheddar brings more melt and more color. Mozzarella is the mildest of the three, which is handy if you have picky eaters at the table.
On the chives: no chives in the crisper? Thyme or parsley will do the job. Different song, same key.
How to Make Zucchini Fritters
Four stages, and honestly only one of them matters. Guess which. Prep runs about 15 minutes and cooking takes 10, so you are eating in under half an hour.
Stage 1: Shred and Salt
Shred the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, or let a food processor do the work if you have one. Big shreds give you texture. Tiny mush gives you paste.
Toss the shreds with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a colander and walk away for 10 minutes. You will hear a faint drip in the sink. That is the water leaving, and that is exactly what you want.
Stage 2: Squeeze It Dry
This is the stage that separates crispy zucchini fritters from sad ones. Wrap the salted zucchini in a clean kitchen towel and wring it out like you mean it.
Pale green liquid will run out. Keep squeezing until the towel stops dripping. Your hands will get messy. It is worth every second, I promise.
Stage 3: Build the Batter
Whisk the flour, eggs, cheese, chives, salt, and pepper in a medium bowl until smooth. Then fold in the drained zucchini and stir until it is evenly combined.
What you want is a thick, scoopable batter. If it runs off the spoon like pancake batter, add a spoonful more flour. If it looks dry and crumbly, crack in one more egg.
Stage 4: Fry in Batches
Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Drop the batter by tablespoonfuls, flatten each mound with the back of a spoon, and fry about 2 minutes per side until crisp and golden.
Listen to the sizzle when the batter hits the oil. A steady crackle means you are in business. A quiet pan means the oil is not ready. Don’t crowd the pan, either. Give them room to think.
Why Are My Zucchini Fritters Soggy?
Nine times out of ten, it is water. Zucchini is roughly 95 percent water, and all of that liquid has to go somewhere. If it stays in the batter, it steams the fritter from the inside.
Salting starts the process. Salt pulls moisture out of the shreds through osmosis, which is a fancy word for water moving toward salt. Squeezing finishes the job.
Here are the other usual suspects:
- Oil not hot enough. Cold oil soaks in instead of sealing the surface.
- An overcrowded pan. Too many fritters drop the temperature and steam everything.
- Fritters too thick. A tall mound cooks unevenly. Flatten it.
- Giant garden zucchini. Scoop out the seedy center before shredding, or the batter turns loose.
Fix those four things and you have solved the soggy zucchini fritter problem for good.
Tips for Crispy Zucchini Fritters
A hot skillet fixes a lot of mistakes. That is the short version. Here is the long one.
- Grate on the large holes. Texture is flavor. Fine shreds turn to paste.
- Salt for 10 full minutes. Not two. Let the salt work.
- Squeeze in a towel, not just your hands. Fabric gets more water out.
- Use enough oil. A thin layer across the whole pan, replenish as you go.
- Fry in batches. Two or three at a time, no more.
- Flatten each mound. The back of a spoon is the right tool.
- Check your seasonings. If you use parmesan, you may not need extra salt. Taste the raw batter and decide.
Texture Targets
Look for: deep golden-brown edges with a few darker spots, green flecks still visible in the batter.
Listen for: a steady crackle, not a roar. If it is roaring, pull the heat down.
Feel for: a fritter that slides when you nudge it. If it sticks, it is not ready to flip.
Zucchini Fritter Variations
The base recipe is a solid tune, but you can play it a few different ways. Treat everything below as optional add-ins, not requirements.
- Cheese swaps: parmesan for crisp, cheddar for melt, mozzarella for mild. Feta works too if you like a tangy bite.
- Herb swaps: thyme or parsley instead of chives. Dill is lovely if you are serving these with a yogurt dip.
- Yellow squash: a straight swap for zucchini. They are cousins and they behave the same way.
- Gluten free zucchini fritters: use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend in place of the all-purpose.
- Low carb and keto zucchini fritters: almond flour is a common swap, though the texture comes out softer.
- No egg: a couple of tablespoons of flax mixed with water will bind, though the fritters are more delicate.
Want baked zucchini fritters instead of fried? Brush them with oil and bake on a lined sheet pan at 400ยฐF (205ยฐC), flipping once. For air fryer zucchini fritters, cook at 375ยฐF (190ยฐC) in a single layer, flipping halfway. Both come out a touch less crisp than the skillet version.
How to Store and Freeze Zucchini Fritters
You can build the batter up to a few hours ahead and keep it covered in the fridge. Give it a quick stir before frying, since it will loosen up as it sits.
Cooked fritters keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days. Stack them with a piece of parchment between layers so they don’t glue themselves together.
To freeze, arrange the cooled fritters in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and freeze until solid. Then move them to a freezer bag, where they will keep for up to 3 months.
Reheat frozen fritters on a lined baking sheet in a 325ยฐF (165ยฐC) oven until hot all the way through. A skillet with a little oil works great too. Skip the microwave unless you like soft fritters. It gets them warm, but you lose the crust.
What to Serve with Zucchini Fritters
Sour cream is the classic move, and a squeeze of lemon over the top wakes everything up. Plain Greek yogurt does the same job with a little more tang.
If you want to get a bit fancier, tzatziki is a natural partner. Cool cucumber and yogurt against a hot crispy fritter is a good pairing, and the dill in it plays nicely with the chives.
As a side dish, these sit well next to grilled chicken, burgers, or a steak. For a lighter meal, I’ll serve them with a bowl of tomato soup on a cool October night. And on a Sunday, they show up on the brunch table with eggs and a pot of coffee.
One note on timing: these are best eaten within about 15 minutes of coming out of the pan. That is when the crust is loudest.
Zucchini Fritters FAQ
When you make these, you will not go back to soggy fritters. That is a promise. If you want more of my skillet cooking in your feed, come find me over on my Pinterest boards, where I save everything from cast iron suppers to garden zucchini ideas. Let me know in the comments how yours turned out!
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