Zucchini Patties with Ground Meat

Name: Zucchini Patties with Ground Meat
Ingredients: 500 g zucchini; 2 eggs; 120 g flour; 60 g sour cream; 0.3 tsp baking soda; salt, pepper; spices to taste (I used oregano and garlic); 250 g ground meat; 150 g onion; salt, pepper; ghee for frying, or a half-and-half mix of vegetable oil and butter

Zucchini season is in full swing, and that's always exciting. You can make a countless number of dishes with zucchini — even sweet ones. Today I made these unusual little patties using a zucchini-based batter. The batter is essentially similar to the one used for zucchini fritters — I actually have recipes for those too: Zucchini Fritters and Zucchini Pancakes. For the filling, I used a half-and-half mix of ground pork and beef, but feel free to use whatever ground meat you like — chicken works too, though I think a heartier ground meat is the better choice here. These patties turned out absolutely amazing — they disappeared from the plate one after another! This recipe made 12 patties.

Ingredients:

Batter:
500 g zucchini
2 eggs
120 g flour
60 g sour cream
0.3 tsp baking soda
salt, pepper
spices to taste (I used oregano and garlic)
Filling:
250 g ground meat
150 g onion
salt, pepper
Also:
ghee for frying, or a half-and-half mix of vegetable oil and butter

How to cook zucchini patties with ground meat

Grate the zucchini on a coarse grater and sprinkle with a little salt. Set aside while you prepare the filling.

Make the filling. In a preheated skillet, sauté the finely chopped onion until lightly golden. I fry in ghee.

Add the ground meat and cook, breaking it up into small pieces, until it turns opaque. Season with salt and pepper. Then cover and simmer until fully cooked — I simmered for about 10–15 minutes. The time may vary depending on your ground meat. Taste it — the meat should be tender and juicy. If all the liquid has evaporated, add a splash of water and continue simmering.

Make the batter. Thoroughly squeeze the zucchini to remove as much moisture as possible. I do it in batches, squeezing handfuls firmly before transferring to a separate bowl. Add the eggs, sour cream, salt, pepper, baking soda, and spices. I used 0.3 tsp each of oregano and garlic powder — fresh garlic works great too.

Stir to combine.

Add the flour and stir to combine. You may need a little more or less flour — the batter should be on the thin side.

Fry the patties. Heat a small amount of oil in a skillet — I use ghee. You can also use a half-and-half mix of vegetable oil and butter, or just vegetable oil. Spoon the batter into thin rounds, but make them thinner and wider in diameter than you would for regular zucchini fritters. Place some of the filling on one half of each round.

Immediately fold the other half over the filling.

Cover with a lid and cook the patties for about 3 minutes per side. The patties will have a classic half-moon shape.

Alternatively, here's a second shaping method. Spoon small rounds of batter into the pan and top with the filling.

Cover with a small amount of batter.

Flip and cook on the other side until done. This method gives you round patties.

Serve hot. They're also delicious at room temperature, but I liked them even better fresh off the pan. These zucchini patties with meat are incredibly juicy, soft, and tender. So good!