Zucchini Fritters

These exquisitely crispy Zucchini Fritters are the best you'll ever have! They're pan-fried to golden perfection and the perfect way to use summer zucchini for a hearty side dish, finger food lunch, or even a main dish for dinner.

Zucchini Fritters

Zucchini Fritters are basically the perfect thing to make with all of that garden zucchini you have during the summer.

You can make a main meal out of it or you can serve on the side. Either way, it's amazing.

These zucchini fritters feature fresh zucchini in a fritter batter with a perfectly crispy exterior and a warm, soft interior. They're nutritious, low in calories, and a fun way to sneak some extra veggies into a meal.

Why Do You Salt and Strain the Zucchini?

This process, involving covering the shredded zucchini in salt and allowing it to sit in a colander, allows the extra water to drain from the zucchini, resulting in a firmer, less soggy fritter with all that zucchini flavor that you want!

How to Keep Zucchini Fritters from Getting Soggy

Soggy fritters are the worst. Keep yours nice and crisp with these tips.

1. Follow the draining and squeezing process of the zucchini described above and in the recipe. Zucchini holds a lot of moisture, or water, and when cooked, that moisture will leak out into the fritter causing it to be soggy. Removing the extra moisture before cooking will also remove the extra moisture, aka sogginess, from the fritter.
2. Zucchini fritters need a binder to absorb any extra moisture, hold the fritter, and help crisp up when it's fried. In this recipe, eggs and flour are both binders.
3. Don't cook too many fritters in the pan at once. Never cook more than 2 to 3 maximum in the pan at the same time. Putting in too many at once will lower the temperature of the pan, and will make it harder for the fritters to get crispy.

How to Serve Zucchini Fritters

First of all, I recommend serving them slathered with sour cream and fresh chives. The sour cream adds the perfect amount of creamy tanginess to the situation, and fresh chives should go on everything.

You can also serve with other sauces if you prefer, such as red pepper jelly, chutney, bacon jam, tzatziki, sweet and sour sauce, marinara, ranch, or honey mustard.

As far as what to serve zucchini fritters with, they're hearty enough to be a meal and light enough to be a side or snack, making them the all-around perfect food.

Serve them with other fried favorites like this Southern Pan Fried Catfish, Southern Oven Fried Chicken, or even fried eggs. You can also serve them with grilled or baked pork chops or chicken.

To serve them as the main dish, round out the meal with roasted or grilled veggies, mashed potatoes or cauliflower, rice pilaf, risotto, potato salad, or coleslaw.

Can You Freeze Zucchini Fritters?

Yes! Follow the full recipe, and allow them to cook to room temperature. Then transfer to a freezer bag and freeze for up to 3 to 6 months.

To reheat, air fry or convection bake at 370°F for about 8-10 minutes, or until heated all the way through.

You can also bake them at 350°F in a conventional oven. Lay frozen fritters on a baking sheet, and bake for about 10-15 minutes, or until cooked through and crispy again.

More Zucchini Recipes You'll Love

• Sauteed Zucchini and Summer Squash - a quick and easy side dish recipe that our family uses every single week in the summer. It really is that good!
• Vegetable Tian - possibly my all-time favorite use for zucchini. It's a little more time-consuming to make, but certainly worth the effort. Sliced vegetables sit elegantly in rows on sautéed onions and garlic and are roasted to perfection and topped with parmesan cheese.
• Zucchini Farfalle Pasta Salad - a quick, simple, and fresh pasta salad that's perfect for summer picnics and potlucks.
• Lemon Zucchini Bread - a classic zucchini bread recipe with a little zing of lemon.
• Creamy Avocado Zoodles - zucchini noodles tossed in a creamy, fresh avocado sauce for a rich, zesty, and even a little spicy vegetarian dish.