Zucchini fritters
Use up some of your extra summer zucchini by making crispy, delicious fritters.
The end of summer marks the time of year when farmers markets and home gardens are overflowing with zucchini. This recipe, inspired by the Smitten Kitchen blog, offers a perfect way to use some of the extra summer bounty. Enjoy the fritters as a light dinner, served with a green salad and crusty piece of bread. Leftovers work well for breakfast or lunch. Feel free to add whatever herbs and spices you have on hand.
Servings: 4, as a side or starter
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 20 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 pounds zucchini (4 to 5 medium-sized zucchini), grated
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 large carrot, peeled and shredded
- 1/2 cup scallions, chopped
- 1/2 cup fresh herbs (your choice of cilantro, basil, parsley — or a combination), chopped
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- Black pepper, to taste
- Olive oil or canola oil for sautéing
Sauce (optional):
- 1 cup nonfat plain Greek yogurt
- 1 to 2 teaspoons lemon juice
- Pinch of salt
- 1 small garlic clove, minced or crushed
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 200 degrees.
- In a large mixing bowl, gently toss together the zucchini and the salt. To draw out excess liquid, let the mixture sit for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Remove extra water from the zucchini by squeezing handfuls of it tightly over the sink. The more moisture you can remove, the better!
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the zucchini, carrot, scallions, fresh herbs, and eggs.
- In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and pepper. Then, add the flour mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir well.
- In a large cast-iron or nonstick skillet over medium-high, heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Once the oil is hot, use a tablespoon or ice cream scoop to add portions of the zucchini mixture to the pan. Saute each fritter for 3 to 5 minutes per side. If they brown too quickly, reduce the heat, but be careful not to undercook.
- Drain briefly on paper towels. Transfer the fritters to a baking sheet and then into the warm oven until ready to serve. Repeat this process, keeping the pan well-oiled, with the remaining batter. Keep fritters in the oven for 10 minutes or so to firm them up.
- While the fritters are in the oven, if desired, make the yogurt sauce by mixing yogurt, lemon juice, salt, and garlic.
- Serve the fritters with yogurt sauce or a squeeze of lemon.
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Nutrition information (per serving)
- Calories: 220
- Total fat: 6 g
- Saturated fat: 1.5 g
- Cholesterol: 95 mg
- Sodium: 220 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 34 g
- Dietary fiber: 3 g
- Total sugars: 6 g (Added sugars: 0 g)
- Protein: 10 g
Sauce
- Calories: 35
- Total fat: 0 g
- Saturated fat: 0 g
- Cholesterol: 5 mg
- Sodium: 95 mg
- Total carbohydrate: 2 g
- Dietary fiber: 0 g
- Total sugars: 2 g
- Added sugars: 0 g
- Protein: 6 g
Note: Nutrition information for sauce calculated using nonfat plain Greek yogurt.