The hubs is away this weekend and I took full advantage of the chance to experiment with ingredients he hates. So, here we have it, I’m officially outing him as a zucchini hater! But, no need to dwell on his losses, I was more than happy to eat all of these myself!
In preparation for this experiment I found many great recipes and blogs posting bite sized zucchini cake and fritter recipes. I started with The Pioneer Woman who has a pretty straightforward recipe with cheese, garlic, breadcrumbs, and an egg. Further exploring led me to the Smitten Kitchen who suggest using a food processor for the zucchini as it creates a better texture than a box grater does. She also has a few other tips such as topping them with a fried egg! Saving that one for later for sure. Finally, I was impressed with these spiced up fritters from Simply Recipes – she added green onions, basil, thyme, lemon zest and more to these fritters. Taking tips from each of these fine sources I hit the kitchen.
As I began, I was surprised to see how much liquid came out of the zucchini, particularly after adding salt. I let it sit for 20 minutes, as there continued to be more and more liquid in the cu[ every time I checked in. As for the spices and mixture I decided to try a little bit of everything. I beat one egg into a mixing bowl and then used the opportunity to use many of my favorites – flour, thyme, basil, panko, salt, pepper, crushed red pepper, and some garlic!
The result had good flavor, but I wished they had crisped up a bit more. Maybe I should cover them when cooking next time and/or fiddle with them less…
Overall, I’d consider this experiment a success and I will indeed make them again to serve as a small appetizer when folks come over. As a topping I made a yummy garlic and sriracha greek yogurt dipping sauce which complimented them well.
Ingredients:
- 1 medium zucchini (I didn’t measure it, sadly)
- 1 egg
- 1 – 2 Tablespoon of flour
- 1 Tablespoon of panko
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon dried basil
- A sprinkle of crushed red pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon of garlic
- Salt and pepper
Steps and Notes:
- Grate the zucchini on the large side of a box grater
- Place in a strainer over a measuring cup and sprinkle generously with salt. Let sit for 10 – 20 minutes and occasionally press with a wooden spoon to encourage the water to drain.
- Beat an egg in a mixing bowl and then add the flour, panko, thyme, basil, red pepper, garlic, salt and pepper.
- Add some oil to a pre-heated cast iron skilled. Gather a small handful of the mixture and cook for 4-6 minutes per side.
Serve as a snack or appetizer with a yogurt, garlic, and sriracha dipping sauce.
Thoughts for Next Time:
- Dry a second time with a paper towel to get even more liquid out of the zucchini
- Chop some green onions and incorporate into the fritter
- Top with an egg
- Make this Asian dipping sauce
- Add other veggies like shredded carrots, mushrooms, or corn
- Mix cumin and feta into the cakes
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The Pantry Portfolio 
This looks great. Sort of like a zucchini latke.
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Wow, looks awesome and very tasty! When I use frozen thawed spinach, I literally squeeze the spinach dry with my hands. I wonder if that would work with the zucchini?
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Looks great. Not having too much experience with zucchini it’s good to know how much liquid it has. And thanks for stopping by my blog.
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Very much looking forward to following your blog! Also, I was equally surprised with the amount of liquid in the zucchini. Next time I’ll even take the next step to strain them in a cloth after the salt step. Thanks for the note!
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I love zucchini fritters and experiment with them regularly, adding this and that with them.
I use a cloth dish towel to squeeze the water out, I put the grated zucchini in the towel and kind of twist it and squeeze the water out. That part is probably the most time consuming part for me 🙂
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I agree that these fritters seem as though they can be a vehicle for a variety of flavors! I SO appreciate your tip with the towel. I think that an extra squeeze (either by hand or with a towel) will help the final fritters crisp up even better. I was worried I needed a special cloth, but I’m comforted knowing you use a cloth dish towel. Thank for your ideas!
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You are very welcome.:-)
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How can he hate zucchinis, they’re the best veggie around!!! After spinach. I could live on spinach and zucchini!
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Delicious! Zucchini is one of my favorites too – too bad for hubby – he’s missing out big time!! A little hint for crisping them – use a stainless steel frying pan at a medium high temperature to start and then drop the heat to help cook the interior, raise the heat again when you’re just ready to flip and repeat…they end up crispy every time!! Good luck with your next batch – the egg on top sounds delightful 🙂 🙂 🙂
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These look yummy and my sort of food… I usually use gram flour which gives another taste dimension as well as crispness. Have you tried making these with other veg such as carrot, sweet potato or beetroot? Yumyum! 🙂
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I haven’t yet, but that all sounds delicious. That will have to be round 2 of the experiment! Have you made them other ways?
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I’m always making something or another – you inspired me to have a play yesterday so I used broccoli!!! Have a look at these https://lifediethealth.wordpress.com/2015/04/10/i-incredible-invention/
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WOW! That is SO creative and such a great use of various veggies.
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Thank you Deb 🙂 I do love my veggies 🙂 You should try them when you have time – they are so delicious!
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Yum! I just went to grab some zucchini out of the refrigerator, and they had spoiled. Waa Waa! So tomorrow, I am going to the market so I can try your lovely fritters! Can’t wait.
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[…] I’ve most often selected recipes that are quite hands-on from gnocchi to stuffed peppers to zucchini fritters. Cooking is my refuge, and when I get home from a long day at work I enjoy nothing more than […]
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[…] cooked up plain zucchini fritters in the past and the process is pretty straightforward. First, you must grate the zucchini which I […]
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