Whether I’m buying it at the farmers’ market or growing it in my backyard, I always end up with an abundance of zucchini this time of year. My intention is usually to make zucchini noodles - they make a great lunch tossed with homemade vegan pesto and garden tomatoes. But even after I’m all zoodled out, I’m still up to my eyeballs in zucchini. I know I can’t be the only one! If it’s too hot to bake zucchini bread, I encourage you to try this recipe for garlicky vegan zucchini fritters. Topped with vegan sour cream and fresh green onion, they make a fantastic summer appetizer or light lunch.
One of the biggest gripes I’ve heard about making zucchini fritters is that they’re soggy or don’t hold together. This is almost always because the moisture content is too high. For perfect zucchini fritters that are soft on the inside and crispy on the outside, it’s super important to release as much water from the zucchini as possible. I sprinkle my shredded zucchini with salt and let it draw out the moisture for about 10 minutes before I start squeezing. A thin dish towel or nut milk bag is perfect for releasing every last drop.
Once the zucchini and onion are thoroughly squeezed, it’s smooth sailing. A flax “egg” holds everything together and allows you to form nice little patties that you’ll fry up on the stove.
These garlicky zucchini fritters are best enjoyed warm and crisp right from the stovetop. If you need to reheat them before serving, fire up your cast iron skillet again and cook for a minute or two on each side, just until they’re heated through.
Garlicky Vegan Zucchini Fritters
- Prep Time: 30 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 12 fritters 1x
- Diet: Vegan
Description
Topped with vegan sour cream and fresh green onion, these Garlicky Vegan Zucchini Fritters make a fantastic summer appetizer or light lunch.
Ingredients
- 1 ½ pounds zucchini
- ½ yellow onion
- 1 ½ teaspoons salt, divided
- 1 ½ tablespoons ground flaxseed
- 2 tablespoons water
- 4 garlic cloves, minced (or 2 teaspoons minced garlic from a jar)
- ¼ cup whole wheat flour
- Few twists of black pepper
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- ½ cup vegan sour cream, for topping
- Green onion, thinly sliced, for topping
Instructions
- Drape a clean kitchen towel over a large bowl. Grate the zucchini and onion on a box grater and scoop into the towel. Sprinkle with a teaspoon of salt and toss; allow the grated veggies to sit for 10 minutes.
- Twist the top of the towel shut and begin squeezing moisture from the zucchini and onion. When you think you’re done, keep squeezing! It’s an arm workout, but you want to release as much liquid as possible.
- Combine the flaxseed and water in a small bowl and stir to combine. Set it aside to firm up, about 3 minutes. It should be very goopy and sticky when set.
- Spill the zucchini and onion into a large mixing bowl and add the garlic, flour, black pepper, and remaining ½ teaspoon of salt. When the flax egg is set, add that to the bowl and use your hands to mix everything together.
- Form the zucchini mixture into patties about ½ inch thick and set them aside on a plate. You should be able to make 10 to 12. Line another plate with a few paper towels.
- Heat the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. To make sure the oil is hot enough, add a little fleck of zucchini - it should sizzle on contact. Begin cooking the zucchini fritters in batches, 2 to 3 minutes on each side, until brown and crisp. Transfer to the paper towel-lined plate to soak up any excess oil.
- Serve the zucchini fritters immediately with a dollop of vegan sour cream and thinly sliced green onion.
Notes
We used Follow Your Heart Dairy-Free Sour Cream to calculate the nutrition information.
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 202
- Sugar: 0.7 g
- Sodium: 904.5 mg
- Fat: 14.5 g
- Saturated Fat: 5.3 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 14.9 g
- Fiber: 3.7 g
- Protein: 6.3 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
Katie Koteen
Hey Stellings! We haven't tried baking them, so I'm not really sure if it would work or for how long. If you give it a try, let us know how it goes.
Stellings
not into frying - could you bake these. Temp? How long?
Yelitza Leon
The best ! Love it 🙂
Jordyn Connelly
Not bad at all! Quite oniony but not in a bad way! I enjoyed them extra crispy! I didn’t use the sour cream but instead spread some garlic hummus on top and it was amazing! Thanks for the great snack!