These healthier zucchini & carrot fritters are oil-free and baked, not fried, yet they're crispy and so delicious!
Fritters. Do you love that name as much as I do? It’s such a friendly and cute name for something that I absolutely love to eat. Seriously, how could you not like a fritter? Especially these crispy, baked, vegan oil-free zucchini & carrot fritters. Can you believe it, they don’t have a drop of oil in them, and they turned out this crispy and gorgeous!
The secret to getting a crispy fritter without using oil is lemon juice. Alex makes the most delicious baked home fries with lemon juice, so I thought I should experiment with the fritters to see how they’d turn out. As you can see, they turned out perfect, crispy on the outside and moist on the inside.
The zucchini was freshly picked from my garden, as was the sage, and you guys, I’ve never had a better zucchini fritter in my life. There’s something magical about picking your own vegetables and then eating them right away. Be prepared to see lots of zucchini recipes over the next few weeks because they’re growing like crazy, and I’m planning on having lots of fun cooking up some good stuff to share with you.
My motto is, eat the rainbow. The more color you add to your diet—and I’m not talking about Skittles—the better you’re going to feel. Just look at the colors in this batter. Green zucchini, orange carrots, red onion, and green sage all mixed up to give your body the nutrients it needs and your palate the deliciousness it deserves.
The best part of these oil-free zucchini & carrot fritters is that they’re truly a guilt free food. Because they’re not fried, you can eat as many as you want without feeling like you’ve over done it. Plants rock!
To make these pretty patties, you’ll need a box grater or a food processor. The food processor is the best way to go because you won’t risk taking off skin when you get down to the end of the zucchini and carrots, and it goes so much faster.
Grate one large zucchini and 4 medium carrots until they look like this.
Place the zucchini and carrots on paper towels and sprinkle some salt (to remove excess water) over them and let them sit for about twenty minutes. Now put some paper towels on top of the veggies and squeeze the excess water out and put them in a large mixing bowl.
Add the onion, fresh sage, salt and pepper, flour and two flax eggs to the bowl and stir until it turns into a sticky ball. Scoop out about one-quarter of a cup of the batter and use your hands to mold into a patty. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper (I ran out and they stuck a bit to the pan), put the patties down, and squeeze the top with lemon juice and put in the oven.
Check them every ten minutes and when they’re golden brown flip them and squeeze more juice on top and keep checking them until the other side is golden brown. Remove from the oven and let them rest for about five minutes.
Top them with a dollop of guacamole and sriracha. My husband was a bit skeptical when I told him that I didn’t use oil, but after one bite he was sold. These are so crispy, savory, and perfect. Not to mention, super healthy and easy to make.
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Tell me:
Have you ever had a fritter?
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Vegan Zucchini & Carrot Fritters
Equipment
- 1 food processor or box grater
- 1 sharp knife
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 baking sheet
- 1 Oven
Ingredients
- 1 large zucchini Approximately 3 cups – finely shredded
- 3 large carrots Approximately 3 cups – peeled and finely shredded
- 2 teaspoons of finely ground sea salt
- 1 large red onion – finely chopped
- ¼ cup of fresh sage leaves packed in the cup and then minced
- 2 tablespoons of ground flax seed + 6 tablespoons of water (flax eggs)
- 1 and ¾ cup of stone ground flour or all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon of finely ground sea salt
- 1 teaspoon of ground black pepper
- 1 lemon
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper to prevent the fritters from sticking.
- Shred the zucchini and carrots and place on a bed of paper towels and sprinkle the two tablespoons of salt evenly over the top, then rub the salt throughout. Let sit for twenty minutes until the zucchini and carrots release their water. Squeeze with paper towels to absorb the water.
- In a small bowl mix the flax and water until well combined and let sit. These are the flax eggs.
- In a large mixing bowl combine the zucchini, carrots, onion, sage, flax eggs, flour, one teaspoon of salt, and pepper. Stir until it turns into a sticky ball. Scoop a quarter cup of batter and use your hands to form patties. Place on the baking sheet and squeeze the lemon juice evenly over the top of each patty. Bake for approximately 15 to 20 minutes, checking every ten minutes, until they’re golden brown. Flip, squeeze lemon juice on top of each patty, and bake until golden brown. Remove from oven and let sit for 5 minutes.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Margaret L Ridgeway says
I'm still confused. Is it two tablespoons of salt or 2 teaspoons over the top of the carrots and zucchini?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Margaret, evenly sprinkle the 2 tbsp of salt over the zucchini to draw the excess water out. 🙂
Helen Newport says
I made these using chia seeds instead of flax as I didn't have any. I didn't have any sage so I used mixed dried herbs (we are in lock down). Otherwise I made them as you said and cooked them for over half an hour and they were crisp but the insides were doughy and rather tasteless. Any suggestions?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Helen, we totally understand not having access to ingredients, we're in lockdown as well. The chia seeds may have been the issue as they become gelatinous when they're mixed with anything that has moisture. Chia seeds are great in muffins and cakes, but probably not in this recipe. issue could have been the thickness of the patties. The thicker they were, the longer it would take to firm up on the inside. As far as the lack of flavor, that would depend on how much of the dried herbs and salt & pepper you added. We hope this helps.
Stay well and safe!
River says
When I put these ingredients into MyFitnessPal, the calories for each of 24 servings is 75, not 24. What gives?
Linda Meyer says
Hi River, that's why we say that the nutrition values are an estimate only. Depending on the brand of products you use, and the exact size of the fritter, the calories will vary. Thanks for asking.
Marisa says
Why do you use lemon with zuchinni? It tastes like tin or copper flavor, am I doing something wrong?
Linda Meyer says
Hi Marisa, Hmmm..... I don't taste metallic when I make these and my family and friends haven't either. I'm going to guess that this is just an individual thing. The lemon helps the fritters crisp up but you can leave it out if you don't like the flavor. If you're not opposed to oil just go ahead and lightly brush or spray a bit of olive oil on them. 🙂
Leona says
This sounds yummy!!! Can I substitute flour with arrowroot powder and if so do you know how much? Thank you!!
Linda Meyer says
Hi Leona, I really don't know because I've never tried it with arrowroot flour. I know that 1 tsp of arrowroot flour = 1 tbsp of all-purpose flour. If you try it please let me know how it goes. Thanks so much.
Gemma says
you forgot to mention how many eggs
Linda Meyer says
Hi Gemma, I don't cook with eggs, the flax seed and water mixture is the egg replacement. Thanks for asking. 🙂
Sandra says
You have written ‘flax eggs’ in your recipe instructions. That is why Gemma asked about the eggs:)
Becky says
About how many cups of shredded zucchini should you have? "Large" from one's garden could mean a foot long and 5 inches in diameter, where a large zucchini from the store is probably only like 7 inches long and much thinner.
Linda Meyer says
Great question, Becky! You'll need three cups of zucchini. I'm going to edit the recipe now.
Sean Alibrando says
Should it be 2 teaspoons of salt? I made the recipe with 2 tablespoons and it was definitely too much.
Linda Meyer says
Hi Sean. The two tablespoons should be sprinkled over the carrots and zucchini so that they lose as much water as possible. Much of the salt should be sweated out with the water of the vegetables. I've made this recipe multiple times and never thought that it was too salty. You can definitely reduce the amount next time, but you'll probably have to let the vegetables sweat longer.
Sean says
I see! Thank you. I misread your directions. I'll try it the right way again.
Thank you again!
Sean
Linda Meyer says
It happens to me all of the time Sean. 🙂 Let me know what you think of them.