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Crispy Zucchini Fritters Recipe (Herbed Sour Cream Sauce)

Carrot and zucchini fritters that are crispy on the outside and tender on the inside.  We’re sharing the recipe and tips to make them perfect every single time!

If you have a plethora of zucchini in your garden, or your just looking for another way to cook zucchini, THIS is the zucchini recipe to try! We promise that you won’t be disappointed.

Every summer both Debbie and I look forward to our zucchini fritters!  They are, hands down, my favorite zucchini recipe of all time and they are made even better by the addition of carrots and the herbed sour cream sauce that goes on top.

a plate of zucchini fritters with sour cream sauce on the side and a glass of wine

I had a good crop of zucchini this year so I am a little embarrassed to tell you how many of these zucchini fritters I ate so far this summer, but it was a LOT.

These are the perfect summer appetizer or light lunch to serve to vegetarian friends or to those that just appreciate a veggie forward dish!

They taste amazingly fresh just on their own or with a little butter, but they are over the top good with a good dollop of the chive and basil sour cream sauce!  I cant even tell you,  you just have to try it…

Fritter Ingredients

Lets talk about the ingredients for a second:

  • zucchini – we used yellow zucchini here, but green is fine too.  I just prefer the yellow and thats what I have in my garden.
  • carrots – these are easy, any carrots will do.
  • flour – see below for options on making these with gluten free flour
  • eggs – please try to use free range eggs!  If not for ethical reasons, just because they are better for you!
  • salt – the salt is important in this recipe!
  • oil – see below for more information about the oil

Ingredient Options

There are a whole bunch of ingredient options you could add to your fritters, just using this recipe as a the base.  Here are a few:

  • corn
  • garlic
  • bacon
  • chunks of ham
  • green onions
  • white or red onions
  • add a little broccoli or spinach
  • potato
  • cauliflower
  • cheese – especially parmesan!

Use your imagination!

Make These Gluten Free

You can easily make gluten free zucchini fritters using the same recipe below.  Even though we call for flour in our recipe, the flour can be changed out for a gluten free flour.  Just use the same amount.

I have made these vegetable fritters gluten free many many times and they are just as amazing!

A couple gluten free flours you could try are:

Photos showing the process of making the fritters

How to Make Crispy Fritters

  1. Mix salt into the grated zucchini and carrot.  The salt will help draw out the water.
  2. Let the grated veggies strain for as long as possible.  You can even leave them overnight.  I’ve done this lots.
  3. Dump the strained veggies onto a cloth and wring them out as much as possible to remove the excess water.
  4. You shouldn’t need to add more salt to the zucchini fritter batter.  Make sure to taste it before adding any more salt!
  5. You can make the batter and then just fry up the fritters as you want to eat them.  The batter will keep covered in the fridge for a couple days.
  6. OR… you can fry them all up and store them in the fridge.  Then when you want one, you can just throw them in the pan and crisp them up again.

Tips for Making Perfect Fritters

You can use these tips to get any kind of vegetable fritters crispy!

  1. The number one tip is to make sure to get as much water out of the veggies as possible.
  2. Use enough oil!  Use too little and the sides wont get nice and crispy.
  3. Don’t crowd the pan.  Make sure the zucchini fritters aren’t touching each other in the pan.
top down view of zucchini fritters on a plate with three of them dolloped with herbed sour cream sauce

Best Oil for Frying

The best oils to use for pan frying, or deep frying for that matter, are oils with a high smoke point and a mild flavor.  These are our favorite oils to use for frying:

  1. Avocado Oil
  2. Coconut Oil
  3. Peanut Oil
  4. Blend of Avocado, Coconut and Safflower Oil

Note: smoke point is the temperature when an oil starts to smoke.  Since frying is at high temperature, you want an oil that’s not going to make a smoky mess in your home!

Tools You Need

You will need these tools to make our vegetable fritters recipe.  I’ve also listed options where applicable:

pictures showing all the herbs in the herbed sour cream sauce

The Herbed Sour Cream Sauce

We love this sour cream sauce because it’s so damn easy and it just tastes amazing with these carrot and zucchini fritters.  It would also taste amazing with any vegetable fritters you might be making.

It’s so easy to make with the only ingredients being sour cream, chives, basil and salt.  I think you could use whatever herbs you might have on hand, but chives and basil are the best combination that we have tried!

I have to say that I also really like these fritters with just butter on top.  Or even better, butter AND the sour cream sauce.  Its just pure heaven…

Options for the Sour Cream Sauce

Here are a couple other herb and/or flavor combinations you could try:

  • dill and chives
  • chives and garlic
  • thyme and chives
  • basil alone

a chunk of zucchini fritter being dipped into the sauce

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you keep fritters from falling apart?

The egg and flour in this recipe help to hold the fritters together. Also, when you fry them in the hot pan, a crispy crust will form and this also helps to hold them together.

Can I freeze fritters?

You can. I would freeze them after cooking, not before.

Can I make fritters in the oven?

I think you could, but I wouldn’t recommend it as they wont get as crispy as frying in a pan. They may not even get crispy at all…

How do you reheat zucchini fritter?

You can reheat them in a pan with a touch of oil for the crispiest results. Or you can heat them on a sheet pan in the oven at 375.

How long can you refrigerate leftover zucchini fritters?

You can keep them in an airtight container for up to 5 days. After that they are going to get a little soggy and gross.

Other Zucchini Recipes You Might Like

If you’ve tried this carrot and zucchini fritter recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let us know how it turned out in the comments below.  We love hearing from you!

We love to see your creations!  Tag @Cookswithcocktails if you post a picture of this recipe on INSTAGRAM

Crispy Carrot and Zucchini Fritters (Herbed Sour Cream Sauce)

5 from 2 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer
Cuisine: Canadian
Keyword: carrot fritters, vegetable fritters, zucchini fritters
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Straining Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 4
Calories: 273kcal
Author: Julie & Debbie

Ingredients

FOR THE HERBED SOUR CREAM

  • 3/4 cup sour cream
  • 3 tbsp fresh basil chopped
  • 3 tbsp fresh chives chopped
  • 1/2 tsp salt or to taste

FOR THE ZUCCHINI FRITTERS

  • 4 cups zucchini , grated
  • 1 1/2 cups carrots , grated
  • 1 1/2 tsp Salt
  • 2 large eggs
  • 1/2 cup flour any kind you like, even gluten free
  • 1/4 tsp black pepper
  • 2 tbsp fresh chives chopped
  • 2 tbsp fresh basil chopped
  • 1/2 cup oil for pan frying or cover the pan with 1/4 inch of oil

Instructions

MAKE THE SOUR CREAM SAUCE

  • In a bowl combine chopped basil, chives, sour cream and salt. Mix well and store in fridge until ready to serve.

MAKE THE CARROT AND ZUCCHINI FRITTERS

  • Grate the zucchini and carrots. Place in a strainer suspended over a large bowl, sprinkle the salt on top and toss well with your hands. Let stand and drain for 15 min to overnight.
  • When your ready to make the fritters, pour the liquid out of the bowl, put the veggies into a large cloth and squeeze out the remaining excess liquid.
  • Transfer the drained veggies to a large bowl and combine with flour, eggs, basil, chives and pepper. Mix it well into a batter.
  • Heat a skillet on medium heat with 1/2 cup of oil or enough to cover the pan with 1/4 inch deep. Work in batches spoon 1/4 cup of the mixture into the pan and flatten with a flipper. Or you can form it into a pancake shape in your hand before you place them into the pan.
  • Cook until golden brown about 3 minutes each side. Remove and place on paper towels to drain the excess oil.
  • Sprinkle with salt if desired and serve with a dollop of the herbed sour cream sauce or a little butter.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.25recipe | Calories: 273kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 8g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 128mg | Sodium: 1281mg | Potassium: 594mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 9027IU | Vitamin C: 28mg | Calcium: 103mg | Iron: 2mg

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3 Comments

  1. Get rid of the ads! Really! In order to view the recipe I had to close 3 ads, and scroll past an additional 15 ads. All to view one recipe!!!!!

    You have great recipes, and love your presentation and photos, but it is just too hard to sort the wheat from the chaff here.

    1. Hi Wiley, Im glad you enjoyed the recipe. Since recipes on blogs are available to you for free, ads are a bloggers opportunity to make a little money in order to cover the costs of running a website and a little compensation for the time and effort it takes to create, write, and share these recipes with you 🙂

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