Italian Zucchini Fritters
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Italian Zucchini Fritters are the perfect side dish to any Italian meal, especially when zucchini are plentiful. Combine shredded zucchini with onion, eggs, flour, parmesan cheese, and seasonings – and lightly fry them up in a grill pan!
Zucchini Fritters
I’ll admit. I’ve been on a bit of a zucchini craze lately. This is a perfect time to cook with this veggie because gardens (AND grocery stores) are overflowing with them.
This is what I’ve been cooking up with zucchini squash as of late.
- Pesto Vegetable Pasta – a meatless meal, and a great way to get veggies in.
- Chocolate Zucchini Muffins – one of my mom’s recipes and SO good.
- Turkey Zucchini Meatballs – a simple, delicious meatball recipe and healthier too.
- Honey Cinnamon Zucchini Bread – the best quick bread!
When I bake with zucchini, I don’t squeeze the liquid out because it helps to make breads and muffins moist. When I cook with zucchini (like my Grilled Zucchini Turkey Burgers and THIS recipe), I try to get as much moisture out as possible so that the patties don’t fall apart.
Why This Recipe Works:
- SIMPLE – Just five ingredients plus seasonings and a bit of oil is necessary for this simple recipe. These cook up super fast too!
- LOW CALORIE – The majority of these fritters are just plain zucchini which makes these healthy and low calorie. Gotta get those greens in!
- FULL OF FLAVOR – While zucchini alone is pretty bland, the additions of parmesan cheese and tasty seasonings really makes these pop in flavor!
How to prep zucchini for fritters:
- Grate the zucchini (including skins) using a box grater.
- Place in a bowl and add a couple teaspoons of salt – stir to combine.
- Set aside for about 15 minutes. This draws out the liquid.
- Take a clean dish towel and scoop the shredded zucchini inside. Squeeze over the sink, until you can’t get any more liquid out. You will be surprised at how much liquid comes out!
How to make Italian Zucchini Fritters:
Step 1
Prep zucchini. See above!
Step 2
Add ingredients to a mixing bowl. Add the dried zucchini to a mixing bowl, and then add the onion, eggs, flour, parmesan cheese, and seasonings (garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper). Stir well to combine.
Step 3
Form patties. Use your hands to roughly form patties. They will be wet to the touch, but that’s ok. They’ll still make nice fritters!
Step 4
Cook the zucchini fritters. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add some avocado oil (or olive oil) and then add about four patties at a time to the skillet. Use a spatula to flatten and then flip to cook on both sides. Repeat with remaining fritters.
Pro-Tip: Make sure you really flatten these when cooking, using a spatula to press multiple times.
Step 5
Serve. Serve the Italian Zucchini Fritters with some pizza sauce, marinara sauce, or another dipping sauce of your choice. We enjoy my pizza sauce from scratch with this recipe.
Is zucchini healthy?
Zucchini is packed with important vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. It’s high in fiber and has a low calorie count. Fiber is important for proper digestion and may limit the chance of suffering from a variety of GI issues.
What are zoodles?
Zucchini is often used as a substitute for pasta noodles. You can use a device called a “spiralizer” to make these noodles and it’s fairly easy to do.
What is the water content of zucchini?
Zucchini contains about 95% water which is why it’s so important to squeeze it out of these fritters. You want the zucchini fritters to stick together in patties so use plenty of elbow grease to get the water squeezed out before you add the remaining ingredients.
Kitchen Tools Used: (affiliate links)
xoxo ~Sue
Italian Zucchini Fritters
Ingredients
- 4 medium zucchini squash – grated
- 2-3 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 cup yellow onion – grated
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/3 cup parmesan cheese
- 2 large eggs
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- freshly ground black pepper – to taste
- olive oil or avocado oil – to saute
- pizza sauce from scratch – for dipping
Instructions
- Prep zucchini. Cut the ends off the zucchini squash and grate (including skins) using a box grater. Place in a bowl and add a couple teaspoons of salt – stir to combine. Place in a bowl and add a couple teaspoons of salt – stir to combine.
- Take a clean dish towel and scoop the shredded zucchini inside. Squeeze over the sink, until you can’t get any more liquid out. You will be surprised at how much liquid comes out!
- Add ingredients to a mixing bowl. Add the dried zucchini to a mixing bowl, and then add the onion, eggs, flour, parmesan cheese, and seasonings (garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and black pepper). Stir well to combine.
- Form patties. Use your hands to roughly form patties. They will be wet to the touch, but that’s ok. They’ll still make nice fritters!
- Cook the zucchini fritters. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. When hot, add some avocado oil (or olive oil) and then add about four patties at a time to the skillet. Use a spatula to flatten and then flip to cook on both sides. Repeat with remaining fritters.
- Serve. Serve the Italian Zucchini Fritters with some pizza sauce, marinara sauce, or another dipping sauce of your choice. We enjoy my pizza sauce from scratch with this recipe.
Such a simple, tasty and easy recipe. Great for a snack or a light dinner. Perfect for dipping in any sauce, pizza, ranch or I used one that was similar to thousand island dressing. The parmesan cheese is key, made them smell so yummy as they cooked. I love a fritter and these are fantastic!!
That sounds like a delicious dipping sauce idea, Shari! Thanks for giving these a try. 🙂
These are awesome and I love to eat them as a snack!
What another tasty and easy zucchini recipe! The pasta sauce is a nice touch, but the fritters are just as yummy without it!
I agree, Katelynn! Thanks so much for your sweet comments! 🙂
Question: I would be using very large zucchinis. How many cups to shredded zucchini would you use?
I’m not exactly sure, Carol. But next time I have zucchini I’ll do my best to estimate for you.