Flourless Zucchini Fritters

Name: Flourless Zucchini Fritters
Ingredients: 400 g zucchini; 60 g cheese; 1 egg; salt, pepper; spices to taste (I used garlic and green onions); oil for frying

Flourless zucchini fritters are a delicious, fuss-free dish made from a wonderfully nutritious vegetable. Online, recipes labeled "flourless zucchini fritters" often just swap out regular flour for starch. But regular wheat flour is about 70% starch, so replacing a spoonful of flour with a spoonful of starch won't make your fritters any lighter. Rice flour is another common substitute, but by most measures it's inferior to wheat flour — its only real advantage being that it's gluten-free. There are plenty of other similar swaps too, like semolina, rolled oats, cornmeal, oat flour, and so on. But my zucchini fritters today are truly made without any flour or flour-like substitutes whatsoever. You can of course use regular zucchini in place of the zucchini called for here. The recipe uses cheese, which adds a rich, bold flavor to the otherwise mild-tasting zucchini. For the same reason, I also added garlic and green onions. If you're worried that flourless zucchini fritters will fall apart — don't be. Follow the recipe closely and everything will turn out great, as my step-by-step photo recipe clearly shows!

Ingredients:

400 g zucchini
60 g cheese
1 egg
salt, pepper
spices to taste (I used garlic and green onions)
oil for frying

Preparation

Grate the zucchini on the fine side of a box grater so you get very fine shreds — a coarse grater is not recommended here. Young, tender zucchini work best; if yours are more mature, peel them first. Salt the grated zucchini and let them sit for 10–20 minutes.

Then squeeze the grated zucchini thoroughly to remove as much liquid as possible. You can wrap them in cheesecloth and wring it out, or squeeze them by the handful and transfer to a separate bowl. Squeezing out the excess moisture is a necessary step in any zucchini fritter recipe, but it's especially important in this one. From 400 g of zucchini, I ended up with 200 g after squeezing — exactly half.

Add the cheese, also grated on the fine side of the grater, to the zucchini. The quality of the cheese matters in this recipe — a cheese that melts and runs out completely when heated won't work here. A good-quality hard or semi-hard cheese made from real dairy won't do that. Also add the egg, finely chopped green onions (or fresh dill if you prefer), and garlic (I used dried). Season with just a pinch of salt and a generous amount of pepper.

Mix the vegetable mixture together thoroughly.

Heat oil in a skillet — I used a mix of butter and vegetable oil. Shape the fritters by hand, pressing them together lightly, and place them in the hot skillet. Cook over medium-low heat until golden brown and set.

Then carefully flip them to the other side. Flourless zucchini fritters are softer and more delicate than flour-based ones, so flipping takes a little care — but it's very doable. Cover with a lid, reduce the heat to low, and cook through for another 5–10 minutes. Serve hot or at room temperature.

The finished zucchini fritters can be served with any topping that goes well with classic zucchini fritters. A sauce made from sour cream and garlic is a perfect match. They're also great alongside any meat dish. Flourless zucchini fritters are a simple yet incredibly tasty and wholesome dish!