These easy vegan zucchini fritters are baked rather than fried for a healthy (but still totally delicious) dish. Paired with a creamy, dairy-free yogurt sauce these little morsels are totally irresistible!
I was lucky enough to take a trip to Greece last year, where I was inspired to create a whole series of vegan Greek recipes.
I kicked off the series recently with this vegan moussaka - and these vegan zucchini fritters are the latest addition.
I first encountered zucchini fritters in Crete. In Greece, this is a fairly traditional dish called Kolokithokeftedes.
It was love at first bite for me. These little morsels have that perfectly crunchy exterior and that melt-in-your-mouth interior that is totally irresistable.
I decided to make the dish a bit healthier by baking my vegan zucchini fritters rather than frying them in oil. They tasted every bit as good.
These zucchini fritters are:
- 100% vegan and vegetarian friendly
- dairy-free
- loaded with fresh zucchini
- baked, not fried
- healthy!
- served with an irresistible dill dipping sauce
- easy to make gluten-free (just use gluten-free baking flour)
These fritters are perfect for a healthy vegan lunch or a simple vegan dinner. Heck, they're even perfect for a savory vegan breakfast.
While you're here, be sure to grab our FREE 5-Day Meatless Meal Plan. It's packed with tasty recipes to make vegetarian cooking easy and delicious!
What are fritters, anyway?
A fritter is a pretty common food, and is served up many different ways with many different flavors all throughout the world.
Fritters are typically a fried dish, consisting of a light batter with a variety of ingredients mixed in. Sometimes they're sweet (like apple fritters), and sometimes they're savory.
These vegan zucchini fritters are savory, and they're also baked for a healthier twist.
How to Make Baked Vegan Zucchini Fritters
Yes, this recipe has a lot of ingredients, but it's actually fairly easy to make.
So let's get started!
Start by preheating your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Then, line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray with olive oil cooking spray (or whatever type of cooking oil you prefer).
Then take your shredded zucchini and place in a colander where you can toss it with 1 tsp of salt.
Shredding zucchini can be quite the task, but I like using a spiral slicer, which gets the job done quick!
Then let this sit for 10 to 15 minutes. This will help draw out the moisture in the zucchinis.
Nobody likes a soggy fritter!
After it's done sitting, use your hands to squeeze as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible. But be gentle so you don't turn the zucchini into a pulp.
Set the zucchini aside, and start mixing the other ingredients in a large bowl.
Combine the onion, olive oil, water, baking powder, flour, dill, parsley, and black pepper.
This will form a batter.
Then you can add in your zucchini.
At this point it may not look like it will turn out like a delicious fritter, but trust me, it will!
Once the zucchini is all mixed in, use a large spoon to scoop out some of the mixture.
Use your hands to roll it into a ball, and place the balls on the baking sheet. Then, using your hand or the back of the spoon, gently flatten the ball into a small pancake shape.
Do this will the rest of the batter.
Once all your vegan zucchini fritters are lined up on your parchment paper, you'll need to lightly spray the tops of the fritters with olive oil spray.
Then, you pop your cooking sheet into the oven and bake them for 15 minutes. Halfway through 15 minutes, make sure you flip them over so that both sides turn out tinged with golden brown.
And while your vegan zucchini fritters are cooking in the oven, you can make this delicious dairy-free yogurt dipping sauce!
It's simple. Just mix everything together!
In a small bowl, combine the dairy-free yogurt, zest and juice from one lemon, dill, and parsley. Then you can top it off with some sprigs of dill or parsley for decoration.
And there you have it! Once those vegan zucchini fritters come out of the oven, they'll be nice and hot, so let them cool a bit before eating them.
Dipped in the dairy-free yogurt dipping sauce - these are just divine, so don't skip the sauce!
Need more fritters?
Alright, I may be a bit of a fritter addict now that I think about it. If you liked this recipe, check out these other fritter recipes:
Happy cooking!
Recipe
Ingredients
FRITTERS:
- 3 medium zucchini shredded
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 small onion finely diced
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp water
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ cup all-purpose flour or gluten-free flour
- ¼ cup dill chopped
- ¼ cup parsley chopped
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- Olive oil cooking spray
YOGURT DIPPING SAUCE:
- 1 cup dairy-free plain yogurt
- Zest and juice from one lemon
- 2 tbsp dill chopped
- 2 tbsp parsley chopped
Instructions
FRITTERS:
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and spray lightly with olive oil cooking spray.
- Place the shredded zucchini in a colander and toss with 1 tsp salt. Let this sit for 10-15 minutes – this will help draw the moisture out of the zucchini, so the fritters are not soggy.
- After allowing the zucchini to sit for 10-15 minutes, use your hands to gently squeeze as much moisture out of the zucchini as possible.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine the zucchini, onion, olive oil, water, baking powder, flour, dill, parsley, and black pepper. Stir to form a batter.
- Scoop a large spoonful of the mixture, and use your hands to roll into a ball.
- Place on the baking sheet and press down gently to flatten slightly into a patty shape. Repeat the process until you’ve used all the batter.
- Lightly spray the tops of the fritters with olive oil spray.
- Bake for 15 minutes, or until golden brown, flipping them over halfway.
DIPPPING SAUCE:
- Whisk the zest and juice from one lemon, dill, and parsley into the dairy-free plain yogurt.
Jett Tritton says
This food is healthy & delicious ..Thanks for sharing this information ....
molly says
Love the idea, I will definitely need to try it soon...Thanks for sharing....