Zucchini Parm Fritters
Look. I love zucchini as much as the next guy, but when you have zucchini coming out your ears in August, it’s not enough to just make zucchini pancakes.
After all, zucchini pancakes taste like, well, zucchini. And while I love zucchini, I’m not doing back flips over it. I don’t wake up in the morning salivating for that first shred of zucchini. That doesn’t happen.
But it’s a good start. Toss in some real flavors like chives and Parmesan cheese and now we are talking about something I can get behind, like these Zucchini Fritters.
Zucchini Parmesan Fritters
Classic zucchini fritters that are flavored with Parmesan cheese and fresh chives. These fritters make a perfect summer brunch item!
Ingredients
Helpful Equipment
Directions
1) Wash zucchini and shred them. Using some paper towels, pat zucchini shreds until they are mostly dry.
2) Mix zucchini with egg, flour, and other ingredients. Stir together well.
3) Add 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil to a cast iron skillet and heat over medium-high heat.
4) Once hot, add zucchini batter in 1/3 cup fritters. Gently press them into circles on the pan. Do not crowd the pan. You will probably only be able to do three at a time.
5) Cook fritters until edges are brown, about 4 minutes. Then flip and cook for another 3-4 minutes.
6) Remove and continue cooking until you used all the batter. If the skillet looks dry, add another drizzle of oil.
7) Serve fritters immediately with greek yogurt and chives.
Zucchini Fritters
Preppin’ the Zucchini
The good thing about zucchini, if you are dehydrated, is that it’s mostly water.
The bad thing about zucchini, if you plan to cook with it, is that it’s mostly water.
If you don’t get some of that water out before you cook the stuff in fritter form you’ll be left with a big soggy mess.
So to start the zucchini, just run it through a box grater to get some nice strands. You need about two cups but you can totally eyeball it and add more if you are left with a strange piece of zucchini or something.
Shred it up!
Now for the annoying part… take some paper towels and rub them all over the zucchini. Really press on them and try to get out as much moisture as you can.
This is a totally annoying step, but it’s probably the most important step in the recipe.
The dryer your zucchini is, the better your fritters will be.
Important step!
Actual Flavor!
I love zucchini as much as the next dude, but it isn’t known for having a lot of pizzazz.
But we can add in a few other flavors like Parmesan and chives that will really bump up the flavor on our cakes.
Other stuff.
The batter for these cakes is about as straight forward as it gets. Just stir the dry ingredients together in a small bowl just to make sure they are evenly distributed.
Then stir everything together. Once you have your base fritter batter done, add in some chopped chives and as much grated Parmesan as you feel like.
Action shot.
Cooking the Zucchini Fritters
You could use any large skillet or griddle to cook these bad boys, but I like to use a handy cast iron skillet for mine. Just heat it up over medium heat and add a small drizzle of olive oil.
Then scoop in fritter batter. I used about 1/3 of a cup of batter for each of my fritters.
Cast iron baby.
After about four minutes, they should be ready to flip.
Assuming you have a nonstick skillet or well-seasoned cast iron skillet, these should just lift right off the pan.
As you can see, I didn’t exactly have even heat on my pan because I didn’t have the pan centered on the burner.
So it goes…
Oops.
Cook them for 3-4 minutes on side two and they are ready to serve!
Serve these guys with some Greek yogurt and extra chives and they are pretty hard to beat.
Hard not to like these.
Rejoice! Zucchini pancakes that taste like more than just zucchini!
9 comments on “Zucchini Parm Fritters”
Thanks for the reminder, Nick. I haven’t made any zucchini fritters in ages. We’re finally getting some rain here in the East, and now the zucchini plants are going into overdrive. Picked 8 zukes this morning. I make this gluten-free version: http://lifeonthefoodchain.blogspot.com/2012/04/another-grainless-wonder-curried.html?showComment=1335790722382#c7788055088182736767. I’m going to try them with your seasonings, subbing Parm and chives for the curry seasonings.
These look really good–I’ve never made fritters before but these look like something I could manage. My kids both love zucchini but when I make it “in” things (we have it sauteed as a vegetable a LOT, but that’s usually served plain) it’s usually something sweet so this could be a fun change.
These look really epic. Sadly, living in the city, I don’t have zucchini coming out of my ears and I love it. So I may buy some just to make these. Also, I totally dig that you point out the annoying parts in recipes. Sometimes, I wish I could hire someone just to complete the annoying bits of recipes.
Erin – ekcantcook.blogspot.com
These look great. Extra Zuchs? Try zuke bread using the same technique of drying out the shredded zukes as much as possible. Make, cool and freeze for those winter months and your breakfast bread or 4PM tea. Yummy. Barb
I made these tonight for dinner… Mine were REALLY dry and flour-y so I added a second egg and that worked… Don’t know if I did something wrong (Probably). They were DELICIOUS as a side for a grilled brat. Yum.
I want to make these tonight, but after Marjorie’s comment I have a question. Did you add any liquid/milk to your batter? Your raw fritters look nice and moist and pancake-y in the pan, and it seems to me one egg wouldn’t suffice for achieving that.
Hey Jesseline, I didn’t because my zucchini had so much water in it, but you might need to. If the batter is really dry, add in some milk by the tablespoon until the batter is like a thick pancake batter. Good luck!
Thanks Nick!
I get nostalgic with every recipe I find on here using those plates – I grew up with the exact same ones. :-)