This handy Air Fryer Zucchini Fritters recipe is a fantastic way to get your kids to eat their veggies without any resistance! Crispy, flavorful, and nutritious, these zucchini cakes utilize the power of delicious shredded zucchini for a filling and delicious snack or side.
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👩🏻🍳 Why You'll Love This Recipe
This air fryer zucchini fritters recipe is what you've been missing in your life! It results in adorable little zucchini pancakes that are crispy and packed with flavor, and best of all, they're not all that bad for you!
Guilt-free and perfect to serve as a snack or appetizer, zucchini fritters are a quick and yummy way to get some veggies into your kids. Pair them with your favorite dipping sauce; they go with just about anything.
And if you're like me and just love zucchini in the air fryer, you also have to try this recipe for Air Fryer Zucchini Fries, or this one for Air Fryer Zucchini Chips, for amazing nutritious and tasty snacks! For another simple and easy side, try Air Fryer Frozen Vegetables.
For a great vegan main dish recipe with zucchini, try this Baked Hummus Casserole. It's hearty, filling, and healthy! Or make this One Pot Zucchini Mushroom Pasta for a quick weeknight option.
🥘 Ingredients Needed
- zucchini - a mild-flavored and super healthy vegetable that's perfect for recipes like this one!
- egg - helps the zucchini fritters stick together.
- flour
- Parmesan cheese - packs the fritters with salty, cheesy goodness.
- baking powder
- garlic powder
- Italian seasoning - a simple and easy way to pack lots of flavor into your fritters.
- green onions - provide some more color and a little bit of grassy flavor to pair well with the zucchini.
- salt
- sour cream and additional green onions - these ingredients are optional but made for a great simple topping for your zucchini cakes.
🔪 Instructions
- Shred the zucchini using a grater, catching the pieces in a strainer placed over a towel. Salt the zucchini and toss it to coat well. Allow the zucchini to sit.
- Combine the egg, flour, Parmesan cheese, baking powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and sliced green onion in a separate bowl.
- Dry the zucchini and add to the bowl with the other ingredients.
- Mix thoroughly until you have a sort of batter.
- Lightly spray your air fryer basket to prevent sticking, then form the zucchini mixture into cakes roughly the size of burgers.
- Air fry at 375 degrees F for 15 minutes, flipping them over at the 10 minute mark.
👪 FAQs
One reason could be too much moisture in your zucchini, so be sure to salt it enough and let it sit so the moisture leeches out. You may also want to add some extra of the dry ingredients in the batter.
One surefire way to avoid this is to be sure your cooking surface is well-oiled. If the fritters stick while they cook, they'll probably fall apart while you try to remove them from the air fryer. Fritters that are too soggy are also prone to falling apart.
If you're in a rush, you can actually use a French press to really get the water out of your zucchini. But another great way to do it is to salt your zucchini and allow the salt to naturally pull out the moisture from the zucchini. You can also use the back of a large spoon and press the zucchini against a sieve, and of course a good pat down with paper towels couldn't hurt!
Your fritters should be golden brown and nice and crispy on the outside. Some people like them a little moist on the inside still, so it may do you good to cut into one to see the quality of the inside. If you want it crispier all the way through, go ahead and cook it for another couple of minutes.
💭 Other Helpful Tips
- If you don't own an air fryer, these fritters can also be made in a skillet or in the oven. For the skillet, just heat up some oil of your choice and fry on medium heat, about 5 minutes per side. Or, for the oven, preheat to 400 degrees F and baked on a lightly oiled baking sheet for around 20 minutes, flipping once halfway through.
- For a crispier fritter all the way through, press the zucchini pancakes flatter before you fry them.
- I can't emphasize this enough: the secret to crispy fritters is removing as much moisture as possible! Keep that in mind while you're preparing this recipe and you'll be good to go.
This zucchini fritters recipe is a perfect snack or appetizer, and they would even work as a delicious lunch! These fritters are flavorful and they pair well with a wide variety of entrees, so don't be afraid to try as many combinations as you like!
📖 Variations
- Serve with a dollop of sour cream and some extra sliced green onions for a classic and delicious take on these zucchini fritters!
- For a fancier take on sour cream, combine it with some minced garlic and lemon juice.
- Some other sauces to try with your zucchini fritters: soy ginger sauce, blue cheese, apricot dijon dipping sauce, or go for something simple and classic like ketchup.
🍴 Suggested Entree Dishes
This hearty and filling Garlic Butter and Steak Bites meal is delicious on its own, but paired with these zucchini fritters, it makes for a well-rounded and impressive dinner. Or served with Air Fryer Corn Ribs, you'll have a full and satisfying meal!
For something that's super easy and with little cleanup, pair with this One Skillet Ground Beef with Orzo, or this Chicken Tray Bake with Potatoes.
🍟 More Air Fryer Recipes
- Air Fryer Eggplant Parmesan - No need to worry about fried chicken for your chicken Parmesan, air fry some eggplant instead!
- Air Fryer Avocado Grilled Cheese - Did you know it's super easy to make grilled cheese in your air fryer? Try this great variation with avocado and you'll never make it another way!
- Air Fryer Eggplant Fries - Eggplant also makes for a great ingredients to turn into fries.
Got extra zucchini? Learn how to freeze zucchini so that it doesn't go bad before you can use it! Plus that way you will always have zucchini on hand for when you want to whip up some of these zucchini fritters!
Air Fryer Zucchini Fritters Recipe
Love this recipe? Awesome! Please give it a 5 star ⭐ rating below! And if you make this, snap a photo and tag me on Instagram. You can find me at DizzyBusyandHungry or #dizzybusyandhungry!
📋 Recipe Card
Air Fryer Zucchini Fritters
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 egg
- ⅓ cup flour (or substitute almond flour)
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1 green onions, finely sliced
- Sour cream and additional green onion for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Shred the zucchini with a grater into a strainer placed over a towel. Add the salt to the zucchini and toss to coat. Let the zucchini sit with the salt to remove the water.2 medium zucchini, 1 teaspoon salt
- While the zucchini is resting with the salt, combine the egg, flour, Parmesan cheese, baking powder, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, and the sliced green onion in a large bowl.1 egg, ⅓ cup flour, ⅓ cup grated Parmesan cheese, ½ teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon garlic powder, 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning, 1 green onions, finely sliced
- Dry the zucchini with a towel, then add to the bowl with the other ingredients and toss to combine thoroughly.
- Preheat the air fryer to 375 degrees F. Lightly spray the air fryer basket with oil to prevent sticking.
- Form the zucchini mixture into 4 cakes (about the size of burgers) and add to the air fryer. Air fry the fritters for 10 minutes, then flip and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Serve topped with sour cream and sliced green onion, if desired.Sour cream and additional green onion for garnish
Notes
- 2 medium zucchini should yield about 2 cups when shredded.
- Oven instructions: preheat to 400 degrees F, prepare the fritters as instructed, then bake them on a slightly oiled baking sheet for about 20 minutes, making sure to flip halfway through.
- Press your fritters flatter before frying to make them even crispier.
- The secret to crispy fritters is removing as much moisture as possible.
Video
Nutrition
Nutritional information is an estimate. The nutritional values for your final dish may vary based on measuring differences and products used.
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Happy cooking!
Linda
Would it be ok to use shredded cheddar cheese? Or shredded Pepper Jack cheese?
Kristin King
Yes, I think those would be great! Using those cheeses will change the texture a little as they get more melty and stretchy than Parmesan cheese, but I don't think that will make a huge difference. I haven't tried using other cheeses myself, but it sounds like a delicious variation!
Lori
Wish I could try this but getting this error message: 😢
"Access Denied - Sucuri Website Firewall" You might want to check your Sucuri settings. They're keeping eager cooks out. Bummer 😢
Kristin King
Oh gosh, thanks for letting me know! I will look into that!
Jess
Would this work without the parmesan? My child has a dairy allergy. Thanks!
Kristin King
Hi Jess! You might want to try using nutritional yeast so that you still get that cheesy flavor that you would normally get from the Parmesan cheese. Generally I use about half the amount of the Parmesan cheese, so in this case you would start with about 1/6 cup nutritional yeast (about 2 1/2 tablespoons). You can see how it turns out and adjust the amount if needed for the next time. I hope that helps!
Kathy
I like this recipe because it uses parmesan, which I always have in the freezer. I also keep a few cheese cloths so I can squeeze the big ball of zucchini shreds before salting it. It gets a lot of water out.
Kristin King
That's a great idea! I'm so glad you like this recipe. Thanks for stopping by!
Amanda
How many cups is 2 medium zucchini? I grew huge ones in my backyard this year. 2 cups??
Kristin King
Yes, a medium zucchini will yield about 1 cup shredded. So this recipe calls for 2 cups. I will add that into the recipe card as well, I think it is more helpful to specify the amount since evaluating the size of a zucchini is a little vague!
MARY LOCKE
The pancakes came out wonderful. Great recipe!! thank you.
Kristin King
So glad you like it! 🙂
Patti
Could you tell me how many cups of zucchini two regular z amounts to?
Kristin King
2 medium zucchini will give you about 2 cups when they are shredded. I hope that's helpful!
KIM Teresa
How long to Let the zucchini sit with the salt to remove the water?
Kristin King
If you have the time, the longer you let it sit the more moisture will be removed. I am usually pretty impatient, but ideally you would want to let it sit for an hour or so.