Every garden season I plant zucchini and every time I promise to myself I will not let any zucchini grow to be the size of my leg. And every season I have a few that get way too big. Maybe my subconscious makes me do it because I actually love to find things to do with shredded zucchini. So far I’ve made zucchini bread, a zucchini cake with cream cheese frosting, and two types of fritters.
There are two types of fritters – the “falafel type” fritter and the latke type fritter. Both are good, but I love the thin and crispy latke style. These fritters were quick to come together, crispy on the outside and gooey on the inside.
Easy Zucchini Fritters (Gluten Free, Vegan)
Preptime: 45 minutes
Cooktime: 30 minutes
Makes: About 10-12 fritters
4 cups grated zucchini
1 tsp salt
1 cup chickpea flour
1 tbsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp baking powder
Juice of 1 lemon
~3/4-1 cup finely chopped chives or green part of green onion
~2-4 tbsp liquid (I used almond milk)
Salt and pepper to taste
Olive oil for frying
For serving: Lemon wedges, sour cream, lemon-dill yogurt sauce, tzatziki, sliced tomatoes, cucumbers, etc.
Place the zucchini in a colander or bowl, sprinkle with salt and let rest for ~30 minutes at room temperature or longer in the fridge (I actually left mine for about 5 days in the fridge). This will release a lot of moisture from the zucchini. Once the zucchini looks like it’s giving off moisture, transfer it to a dish towel and squeeze as much moisture out as you can. I twist the towel up really tight and roll it back and forth in the bottom of the sink to really get the moisture out.
In a large bowl, add the chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, lemon juice, and chives and mix with your hands or a spoon. Add in the liquid and mix until a very thick paste forms. It should be very thick, so just add enough liquid so that it just comes together and is not dry. Add in the zucchini and season with a bit more salt and some pepper. Use your hands and squeeze the zucchini into the paste. It should be thick and hold together.
Heat a thin layer of olive oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat until it gets very hot. Then turn the heat down to medium low and let the skillet cool down just a bit. Using a ~1/4 cup cookie scoop or eyeball it, place 3 balls of the mixture into the skillet and flatten it out into a thin layer, maybe a 1/4 inch thick. The goal is to have something that will be crispy on the outside and cooked on the inside so they shouldn’t be too thick. Cook for 3 minutes on each side or until the outside is nice and brown and the inside is cooked through. Drain on a wire rack with paper towels underneath for crispiest results. Add more olive oil as needed for the batches.