• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar

Loving It Vegan

  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Free Ebook
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Home
  • About
  • Recipe Index
  • Free Ebook
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » Entrees » Vegan Zucchini Fritters

    Vegan Zucchini Fritters

    Published: Jan 17, 2019 Modified: Sep 25, 2019 by Alison Andrews This post may contain affiliate links

    Jump to Recipe
    23.5Kshares
    Vegan zucchini fritters

    These delicious vegan zucchini fritters are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside with a perfect savory flavor. Quick and easy light meal. 

    Vegan zucchini fritters topped with vegan sour cream and chopped spring onions on a white plate.

    Vegan zucchini fritters are here. 

    Well I guess I shouldn’t act as if I’m the first person to ever make vegan zucchini fritters, there are definitely others that have come before, so maybe I’ll rephrase that. My version of vegan zucchini fritters are here! 

    From the start in testing this recipe, these fritters tasted amazing. Beyond amazing. So much flavor. 

    Vegan zucchini fritters topped with vegan sour cream and chopped spring onions on a white plate.

    Perfectly crisp vegan zucchini fritters

    But I had a little challenge with them being a bit too wet on the inside, even without adding any actual liquid to the recipe. Zucchini is a ‘very’ wet ingredient. If you use it in a cake or brownies, it creates amazing moistness in the texture. 

    But for these fritters, where they just fry a little on each side until browned, rather than baking like cakes or brownies, they didn’t dry up enough to be the right texture and were just a bit too wet on the inside. 

    So I got a little inspiration from Recipe Tin Eats who has a non-vegan version of zucchini fritters, and she lets the grated zucchini sit in a bowl with a little salt for 10 minutes and then squeezes the excess moisture out of the zucchini. 

    This worked great!

    Vegan zucchini fritters topped with vegan sour cream and chopped spring onions on a white plate.

    I did have to add a bit of moisture back IN though, in the form of some melted vegan butter. But that ended up with a really good texture. Crispy on the outside, soft and moist on the inside, but not wet. 

    And always with that ridiculously delicious flavor! 

    The other recipe that provided inspiration for this was our vegan corn fritters (which are great!). 

    Step by step process photo collage of making vegan zucchini fritters.

    Tips for making your vegan zucchini fritters

    Let the grated zucchini sit in a bowl with some salt mixed in for 10 minutes. Then squeeze it out by hand and move to another mixing bowl, leaving all the excess water behind. 

    Now, I don’t have strong hands, Jaye however has very strong hands! He plays guitar and does workouts that involve serious grip strength, so when it came to squeezing out the excess water from the zucchini, he was the one who did it. I started doing it and a couple of weak squeezes later I was like: ‘ow, my hands are sore!’

    So, whoever you have in your household with strong hands, get them to do it. 

    If you don’t squeeze the excess moisture out well enough, then compensate by using a little less melted vegan butter. You only need this batter to just pull together, from crumbly, into a batter.

    If your zucchini was a little more wet you’ll see that it will mix into a batter more easily so you can then just use less melted vegan butter. 

    Fry at high heat. Let the pan get nice and hot with a little oil before you add in your fritters.  And then let them get nice and browned on each side. 

    Use a cookie scoop. The batter is very thick, so the best way to do it is to use a cookie scoop which is the same thing as an ice cream scoop, to scoop out the batter, that way you also get fritters that are pretty much the same size. 

    You scoop the batter so the fritters are in a ball shape when they go into the pan but then you flatten them with your spatula as they fry. 

    If you don’t have a cookie scoop, you can just estimate it as around 1/4 cup of batter per fritter. 

    Keep warm in the oven. While you’re cooking your second batch, your first batch can be staying warm and crispy in the oven. Preheat your oven to 210°F (100°C) and line a tray, preferably with a grill rack on top of it as below, with parchment paper.

    Place the cooked fritters on there in the warm oven while you cook the rest of your batch. If you have anything else to do when the fritters are cooked then you can do it safe in the knowledge that they are staying warm and crispy.

    Weigh your whole zucchinis before you grate them, to get roughly the right amount, and then again after grating to ensure accuracy. But definitely weigh it before you have squeezed out the excess water. Our weight is based on the grated zucchini before any squeezing has occurred. 

    Weigh your flour for the best accuracy as flour measures can be tricky. 

    Serve with vegan sour cream. Well, this is entirely optional but some vegan sour cream is really delicious with this.  Plain vegan cashew cream would also be great. 

    Vegan zucchini fritters on a parchment lined oven tray.

    Vegan Zucchini Fritters FAQ

    Can this be made gluten-free? I haven’t tried it yet but a gluten-free all purpose flour blend should be fine as a direct swap for the regular flour in these. If your mix is too dry (gluten-free flours can absorb more moisture), then add a little more vegan butter. 

    Do I have to use vegan butter? You can probably use coconut oil (melted) instead of vegan butter. Or use a homemade vegan butter. See our notes above about possibly using less if you didn’t squeeze as much moisture out of the zucchini. 

    I don’t like/am allergic to nutritional yeast, what can I use instead? I used nutritional yeast because it added a wonderful cheesy flavor to these fritters. The flavor balance is really GREAT on these.

    So if you don’t use nutritional yeast, I would recommend perhaps trying to use the same amount of grated vegan cheese. If there is a brand of vegan cheese that you like (a vegan parmesan would be awesome) then grate that up and use it in the same quantity (1/4 cup). This is untested but I think could work here. 

    What are spring onions? They’re salad onions! Also called green onions or scallions. So they might not be called spring onions where you are, but you should be able to get them. 

    I think chopped chives would also be good in these zucchini fritters. If you want to mix it up, you could try those as well. 

    How To Store Vegan Zucchini Fritters

    They are best served hot, crispy and fresh. But if you do have leftovers, keep them covered in the fridge for up to 3 days and warm them up by giving them a quick re-fry in a hot pan. 

    Vegan zucchini fritters topped with vegan sour cream and chopped spring onions on a white plate.

    More vegan zucchini recipes

    Zucchinis are such a great ingredient, and you’ll love them in all these recipes:

    1. Vegan Zucchini Muffins
    2. Vegan Zucchini Bread
    3. Vegan Chocolate Zucchini Cake
    4. Vegan Zucchini Brownies
    5. Zucchini Noodles with Tahini Sauce
    6. Vegan Zucchini Soup

    Vegan zucchini fritters on a white plate. Slice of vegan zucchini fritter on the end of a fork.

     

    Print
    clock clock iconcutlery cutlery iconflag flag iconfolder folder iconinstagram instagram iconpinterest pinterest iconfacebook facebook iconprint print iconsquares squares iconheart heart iconheart solid heart solid icon
    Vegan zucchini fritters

    Vegan Zucchini Fritters


    ★★★★★

    4.9 from 55 reviews

    • Author: Alison Andrews
    • Prep Time: 15 mins
    • Cook Time: 12 mins
    • Total Time: 27 minutes
    • Yield: 8
    Print Recipe
    Pin Recipe

    Description

    These delicious vegan zucchini fritters are crispy on the outside and moist on the inside with a perfect savory flavor. Quick and easy for a wonderful light meal.


    Ingredients

    For the Zucchini Fritters:

    • 3 and 1/2 cups (490g) Grated Zucchini (measured/weighed before squeezing out excess water)
    • 1 tsp Salt
    • 1 cup (125g) All Purpose Flour
    • 1/4 cup (15g) Nutritional Yeast
    • 1 and 1/2 tsp Baking Powder
    • 1/2 tsp Crushed Garlic
    • 2 Spring Onions (Chopped)
    • 1/4 cup (56g) Vegan Butter (Melted)
    • 2 Tbsp Olive Oil (for frying)

    For Serving (Optional):

    • Vegan Sour Cream
    • Chopped Spring Onion

    Instructions

    1. Grate the zucchini and then add it to a mixing bowl. Sprinkle over the salt and mix in. Then leave it for 10 minutes. The salt will help release the excess water from the zucchini. Then use your hands to squeeze the zucchini and drain off excess water. Place the squeezed zucchini into another bowl and leave the water behind.
    2. Once the squeezed zucchini is in a fresh mixing bowl, add in the flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, crushed garlic and chopped spring onions and mix together. It will be very crumbly.*
    3. Add in the melted vegan butter and mix into a thick batter.
    4. Preheat the oven to 210°F (100°C) and place some parchment paper over a grill rack on a baking tray. This is where you’ll place your fritters to keep them warm.
    5. Add 1 Tbsp of olive oil to a frying pan and let it get hot. Once hot, use an ice cream scoop/cookie scoop to scoop out even sized amounts of batter into the frying pan. If you don’t have a cookie scoop just use around 1/4 cup for each fritter. Use your spatula to press it down from the top and flatten. Depending on the size of your pan you can cook a few at a time. I was able to do 4 at a time.
    6. Let it cook for a few minutes and then flip over – around 3 minutes per side. When both sides are nicely browned, then transfer your cooked fritters to the baking tray in the warmed oven to stay warm.
    7. Add the remaining Tbsp of olive oil to the frying pan and repeat with your next batch.
    8. Serve with some vegan sour cream and chopped spring onions.

    Notes

    *If your batter is coming together very well without the addition of the vegan butter, then there was more water left in your zucchinis than in my batch. You can add in less vegan butter in this case, just a tablespoon of vegan butter is enough in terms of flavor, the rest is to make the batter come together, so if you don’t need it, you don’t have to use it. If your batter still seems quite ‘wet’ add in a little more flour. If the batter is too wet, your fritters will be soggy inside. The batter should have only enough liquid to just come together into a batter. But don’t worry, even if your fritters end up a little soggy inside, they will still be delicious and letting them sit in the oven for a bit on the tray will help them dry out more as well.

    *Nutritional information is for fritters only and doesn’t include vegan sour cream.

    *Recipe inspired by Recipe Tin Eats and our own recipe for Vegan Corn Fritters.

    • Category: Entree, Savory, Appetizer
    • Method: Stovetop
    • Cuisine: Vegan

    Nutrition

    • Serving Size: 1 Fritter (of 8)
    • Calories: 142
    • Sugar: 1.6g
    • Sodium: 417mg
    • Fat: 7.9g
    • Saturated Fat: 2.2g
    • Carbohydrates: 14.6g
    • Fiber: 1.3g
    • Protein: 2.9g

    Keywords: vegan zucchini fritters

    Did you make this recipe?

    Tag @lovingitvegan on Instagram and hashtag it #lovingitvegan

    Get Your Copy! It's FREE!
    23.5Kshares
    Alison Andrews

    About the Author

    Hi I'm Alison Andrews, I'm the voice and cook behind Loving It Vegan. I love making delicious vegan food and creating vegan versions of all your old favorites, so that you’ll never feel like you’re missing out. Find out more about me here.

    Loving It Vegan is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. This site may contain some of these links to Amazon.com. If you make a purchase through one of those links, Loving It Vegan will receive a small commission from the purchase at no additional cost to you.
    Previous Post: « Classic Vegan Chocolate Cupcakes Recipe
    Next Post: Vegan Apple Muffins »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. AvatarMary K. says

      March 27, 2021 at 8:55 pm

      I haven’t made these yet. I’d like to know if I can substitute the nutritional yeast with something. Is it in there for flavour purposes only or does it bind too?

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        March 29, 2021 at 10:36 am

        It provides a bit of cheesy flavor, I think you could leave it out.

        Reply
    2. AvatarKat says

      February 28, 2021 at 2:37 pm

      Hi. This looks delish….Can other gluten free flour be subbed? And if so which would you recommen?

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        March 01, 2021 at 8:59 am

        Hi Kat, a gluten free all purpose flour blend should work great in the same quantity as the regular flour. 🙂

        Reply
    3. AvatarIlona says

      February 19, 2021 at 12:19 am

      Thank you so much for your great website. I’ve been looking around for the past few days and I’m so inspired by all the great ideas, especially about all those great cheesy substitutes, yummy!!! I’m a guilty feeling vegetarian who loves (cream) cheese and now I’ve learned a lot more tricks to create happy vegan options. It’s great, very exciting! You’re really doing the world a favor to inspire with those yummy vegan recipes.

      I made the zucchini fritters yesterday and was very happy with the result, it was so easy and delicious! One half I made exactly like the recipe, the second half I added some shredded nuts to the batter. Asked my husband ‘which do you prefer’ and we both definitely go for those with the shredded nuts. It adds a very nice crunch to the fritters and tastes really good.

      Cheers from a sailboat in the Pacific 🙂

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        February 19, 2021 at 9:29 am

        Hi Illona, so glad you’re inspired by the recipes! And thanks for sharing your recipe adjustment, we’ll have to try it like that! 🙂

        Reply
    4. AvatarLisa says

      January 31, 2021 at 7:59 am

      Hi Alison. Thank you so much for this recipe. I have never been successful in making zucchini fritters but these held together perfectly and were the most delicious zucchini fritters that we ever tried!

      Reply
    5. AvatarMonique says

      January 06, 2021 at 5:28 pm

      These were super delicious! I let the zucchini sit for a longer time (30 mins), then squeezed probably two or three cups of water out while wringing it out in a tea towel. I fried them in the morning and then just put them in the oven on a baking sheet for 5-10 mins at 200 degrees before serving at dinner. Delish!

      ★★★★★

      Reply
    6. AvatarLaura Lazar says

      November 16, 2020 at 6:43 pm

      This recipe was amazing, thank you so much for this! I did it and it came out so good! It was sort of like a frittata, mine were a little bigger but it was so good and the tip about removing the excess water was perfect – I could not believe how much water zucchini has in it. Thank you for this great vegan recipe, I loved the taste I will definitely be making it again 🙂

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        November 17, 2020 at 12:17 pm

        Wonderful Laura! Thanks so much for the great review. 🙂

        Reply
    7. AvatarDeborah says

      October 29, 2020 at 11:27 pm

      Very delicious!! We made them for dinner last night, using yellow summer squash instead of zucchini. We will be having them for dinner again tonight. They were good enough for at least two nights in a row. The texture was great and they were easy to make. I searched google for “vegan zucchini fritters” and found the recipe. I am so glad I gave it a try.

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        October 31, 2020 at 11:50 am

        So glad you enjoyed them Deborah, thanks for the awesome review!

        Reply
    8. Avatarjoan says

      October 27, 2020 at 7:15 pm

      These have excellent flavor! Very crispy. The texture is perfect IF the zucchini is squeezed very, very dry. The first time we made them we left them quite wet, and while the flavor was excellent, the texture was a bit too wet. The second time I was able to extract an entire 1c of liquid from it and it made a world of difference. Use a towel to wring the zucchini dry if necessary. Providing the weights of the zucchini and flour is a great help! Thank you. Such a great way to eat zucchini. A wonderful appetizer (or in our case we enjoyed these as our entire meal!)

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        October 28, 2020 at 9:10 am

        Hi Joan! So glad you enjoyed them! The tea towel tip is a great one to get the zucchini really dry. Thanks for the great review!

        Reply
    9. AvatarVivian Gallego says

      October 18, 2020 at 1:28 am

      These were really good! I added some chopped parsley, paprika, and lemon pepper seasoning for extra flavor! They are a bit oily though, would it be possible to use some of the water from the zucchini and use half the amount of butter?

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        October 19, 2020 at 9:33 am

        Glad you enjoyed them! You could of course try that but it might cause them to be a bit soggy.

        Reply
    10. AvatarSarah Scott says

      October 16, 2020 at 1:09 am

      Just made these fritters for dinner. My hubby and I loved them. Thanks you so much. 🙂

      ★★★★★

      Reply
      • Alison AndrewsAlison Andrews says

        October 16, 2020 at 9:40 am

        Awesome Sarah! Thanks so much!

        Reply
    « Older Comments

    Comment Policy: Your feedback is really appreciated! Please do us a favor and rate the recipe as well as this really helps us! The most helpful comments are the ones that give useful feedback for others who might make the recipe, tell about substitutions you made or adjustments you made and how it turned out, or assisting other commenters. Rude or insulting comments will not be accepted.

    Leave A Comment & Review Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe rating ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆ ★☆

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi I’m Alison Andrews! I love making delicious vegan food and creating delicious vegan versions of all your old favorite dishes, so you can have your vegan cake and eat it too!

    More about me →

    Popular Posts

    • The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese (Classic, Baked)
    • Vegan Burrito
    • Super Eggy Vegan Tofu Scramble
    • Sliceable Cashew Cheese
    • Homemade Vegan Butter
    • Classic Vegan Waffles

    Vegan Desserts

    • Vegan Custard
    • Vegan Strawberry Cupcakes
    • The Most Amazing Vegan Chocolate Cake
    • Vegan Banana Bread Muffins
    • Vegan Coffee Cake
    • Vegan Strawberry Cake

    See ALL Dessert Recipes →


    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Terms & Conditions

    Follow Us

    Contact

    • About
    • Contact

    Copyright © 2021 Loving It Vegan

    Get 10 fabulous dinner recipes!
    Absolutely free! Sign up below!
    Get Your Copy! It's FREE!