Greek Zucchini Fritters

Greek Zucchini Fritters
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
Total Time
1 hour 20 minutes, plus 1 hour's refrigeration
Rating
5(1,009)
Notes
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These zucchini fritters are based on a recipe I learned from the cookbook author Diane Kochilas. A classic mezze served in Greek taverna, they’re like a Greek version of latkes.

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Ingredients

Yield:Serves six to eight
  • 2pounds large zucchini, trimmed and grated on the wide holes of a grater or food processor
  • Salt
  • 2eggs
  • ½cup chopped mixed fresh herbs, such as fennel, dill, mint, parsley (I like to use mostly dill)
  • 1tablespoon ground cumin
  • 1cup fresh or dry breadcrumbs, more as necessary
  • Freshly ground pepper
  • 1cup crumbled feta
  • All-purpose flour as needed and for dredging
  • Olive oil for frying
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 servings)

365 calories; 31 grams fat; 7 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 19 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 16 grams carbohydrates; 2 grams dietary fiber; 5 grams sugars; 8 grams protein; 436 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Salt the zucchini generously and leave to drain in a colander for one hour, tossing and squeezing the zucchini from time to time. Take up handfuls of zucchini, and squeeze out all of the moisture. Alternately, wrap in a clean dish towel, and squeeze out the water by twisting at both ends.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, beat the eggs and add the shredded zucchini, herbs, cumin, bread crumbs, salt and pepper to taste and feta. Mix together well. Take up a small handful of the mixture; if it presses neatly into a patty, it is the right consistency. If it seems wet, add more breadcrumbs or a few tablespoons of all-purpose flour. When the mixture has the right consistency, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and refrigerate for one hour or longer.

  3. Step 3

    Heat 1 inch of olive oil in a large frying pan until rippling, or at about 275 degrees. Meanwhile, take up heaped tablespoons of the zucchini mixture, and form balls or patties. Lightly dredge in flour.

  4. Step 4

    When the oil is very hot, add the patties in batches to the pan. Fry until golden brown, turning once with a spider or slotted spoon. Remove from the oil, and drain briefly on a rack. Serve with plain Greek style yogurt if desired.

Tip
  • Advance preparation: The mixture can be assembled up to a day before you make and fry the fritters. Martha Rose Shulman can be reached at martha-rose-shulman.com.

Ratings

5 out of 5
1,009 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

Baked them instead of frying them. Turned out really well.

I have two other very similar recipes for zucchini fritters with feta, but they both use flour as a binder. I liked that this one used bread crumbs and I used panko that I had in the pantry. I used 4 large zucchini, which yielded 8 large fritters and I fried them in much less olive oil on medium high heat, 4 minutes per side. Served with tzatziki (Greek yogurt, garlic and cucumber sauce) on the side. Delicious!

It worked fine with much less oil. Like a third of an inch instead of an inch.

I've made these often and really like the addition of the feta, unlike other similar recipes I've tried. today I didn't have 2lbs of zucchini so I added some fresh corn cut from two cobs, adjusted the eggs to 3 and it was excellent. Martha's suggestion to just serve with Greek yogurt works very well. Delicious.

These are great! A desert island food for me. Added finely chopped scallions, and used a mixture of dill and mint. Made a batch fried (not much oil) and the other baked (23 minutes at 425 degrees on one side, 20 minutes on the other), both turned out delicious. Also great the next day.

I made this as one giant fritter. I added a shredded potato to the mix so the fritter would get brown and crispy. I baked it on a 14" cast iron pizza pan at 425F for 25 minutes. This is really good! I served the fritter with some homemade pesto on top. My husband and I sliced it like a pizza and we enjoyed it very much. I will make this again with whatever vegetables I have on hand.

I used less oil than called for and got great, crispy fritters -- but found the Tablespoon of cumin to be too much. And I like hot, spicy food! I'll cut the cumin in half next time -- also added fresh cut corn to 1/2 the batch and was very pleased with the results.

These fritters were delicious, but mine came out slightly under cooked. I suggest leaving them a little longer than you would based on the 'golden brown' rule of thumb. Next time I'll lower the heat and leave them an extra minute + also maybe add a little crushed garlic to the mixture, for an extra kick.

I bought the zucchini and found out too late that we needed to double the recipe because more were arriving for dinner. I added the following:
1 mined large shallot
2 cans of chickpeas drained and dried
1/2 cup roughly chopped pistachio nuts
Zest of 1 lemon
1 head roasted garlic mashed and roughly processed with dried chickpeas nuts salt pepper to taste

Then added 4 beaten eggs to zucchini plus chickpea mixture and it all pulled together. Oven fried at 4:25 deg 20 minutes per side on cast iron

These pancakes taste great but require some flour to stick together. I also took out the cumin and let the fresh herbs (I used dill and basil) flavour the dish for a more subtle taste.

Love the recipe as it is...but, wouldn't a little grated onion & some minced garlic enhance the flavor? I just added zucchini and feta to my weekend shopping list. Can't wait to try these!!

Substituted almond meal for the bread crumbs, and cooked on a lightly greased cast iron griddle on the outside gas grill. I experimented with different patty sizes, and thought the tablespoon size best for cooking time as well as serving.

Delicious. I forgot to add the chopped herbs to the mixture, so instead I added them to the yogurt, with some chopped garlic, as a topping.

Made twice: once as written and once with the tweaks found here in the reviews. Both are 5-star delicious, but when making this again, I'll be tweaking it again. Here is what I came up with: -Added a 1/2 grated walla walla sweet onion to draining zucchini. -Decreased the cumin to 1 heaping tsp. -Added 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper -1/8 cup of mint, the rest was parsley -1/2 inch sunflower oil (olive oil smokes) -Served with 1 cup greek yogurt, 2 tsp lemon juice, lemon zest, salt, pepper

I used this recipe last night and it turned out fabulous! Served it with ground turkey bolognese on the side as a dipping sauce and plain greek yogurt. The only addition I made was adding a teaspoon of baking powder, and I also didn't let the mixture sit in the fridge for an hour. My only regret is that I used TOO much olive oil on the first batch, which came out a little soggy on the inside. You can get away with just a pinch on medium heat - they won't burn!

I love these- have baked and fried and always make them gluten free! Great side dish are Greek Potatoes ( air bake) and of course a Greek salad / dialed down with no feta.

this is like… top tier. I know the whole milking your zucchini and then drying it in a colander sucks but just do it. I used panko and fried in about half the oil recommended. Chefs kiss xx

These were delicious. I veered from the instructions in two ways: 1. I baked them on parchment and brushed them with olive oil. Baked at 425 for 25 minutes, then flipped them, and baked for another 20. I switched the placement of the racks as well. 2. I used my round metal pizza pan to, first drain the salted zucchini, then to press the mixture, allowing the excess water to drain through the holes in the pan. They came out perfectly crisp and had a great internal texture. Just wonderful.

Cuisinart grated zucchini is easy

For me, this works out to be three almost too-large zukes, grated in a Cuisinart. I used mint from my garden and a bit of leftover dillweed I had. It's a great, reliable recipe. If you are pressed for time, you can steal a little from the colander sit-in and the chilling of the fritter dough in the fridge. The important thing is to wring as much water as you can from the zucchini before you mix it with the other ingredients. I used a white kitchen towel and really squeezed hard.

The must is dill. A lot of it with some mint. Excellent recipe.

I make a bowl of homemade tzatziki in the morning, so by the time I get the fritters ready, the flavors have had time to meld...great Summer dinner with a simple salad

Mine turned out extremely mushy - despite significant draining. Even after cooking - they were crispy on the outside but mushy on the inside - also cumin taste was really strong. Not sure where I went wrong as I followed recipe and actually drained zucchini quite a bit

Love this recipe as is. Also, when I’m lazy and want more protein, add 8-12 eggs and turn into a frittata (add oil to a preheated 8 inch cast iron pan, add egg mixture to pan, sprinkle with paprika, cook briefly on stove to set bottom and then bake in 350 oven for 20-30 minutes)

Baked at 350 for about 25 minutes then browned on the stove in olive oil

Be careful to roll them pretty small- the recipe says a tablespoon per ball/patty and you definitely don’t want to go any bigger. I made them a little too large and never got the centers cooked/heated, so they were a dud.

Great way to use up that giant zucchini I missed in the garden! Egg whites only to keep it healthy. Mint, parsley and marjoram. Shallow fried. So yummy.

I am just here to say, the size of the grating holes truly does make a difference. I used the smaller setting thinking it might work better, but they turned out stringy (like spaghetti squash texture). I added a clove of minced garlic and made a yogurt sauce alongside and thought flavors were nice. Overall, a good way to use up excess zucchini, especially if you’re tired of zucchini bread.

Baked at 425 for 40 minutes, flipped halfway

The NYTimes zucchini pancake recipe is similar, but, I think, easier to make and tastier.

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