These Easy Zucchini Corn Fritters are crispy, cheesy, super flavorful and a great meal prep idea for a weekday dinner night. They are loaded with zucchini, corn, bell peppers, and seasonings and served with sour cream and green onions.
This recipe is the perfect make-ahead candidate and fritters freeze beautifully.
Serve these nutritious fritters as a side dish or as they are with sour cream, red hot salsa or your favorite dipping sauce, chopped green onion.
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We love all kinds of fritters and patties for a quick weeknight dinner. From our Healthy Zucchini Fritters, Fried Salmon Patties, Chicken Zucchini Fritters to our Vegetarian Patties With Broccoli and Cauliflower.
Ingredients
My few comments on the ingredients + don't forget to read the Tips section!
The full recipe and ingredients can be found in the recipe card below this post.
Instructions
Medium grate the zucchini with a box grater and transfer it into a linen cloth on top of a fine-mesh strainer.
Season generously with salt and let stand for 15-30 minutes. Remove the liquid by wrapping the linen around the zucchini and squeezing the excess moisture out as much as possible. This way fritters will be crispier.
Transfer shredded zucchini to a large bowl and add eggs, corn, cheddar, bell pepper, chives, garlic, flour, and seasoning. Mix to combine.
Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of batter to the pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until crispy and golden brown.
Transfer to a large plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess liquid.
Cook your first fritter and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper to the batter if needed.
You will need to do this in batches ensuring fritters don’t touch each other.
Don’t forget to wipe down the pan each time before the next batch and add new oil if needed.
Keep the fritters warm in a preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until ready to serve.
Serve warm with more chives, parsley, sour cream or ketchup
Tips
- The zucchini corn fritter batter should be not very thick and not too watery either. When you spoon the batter onto a hot pan it may look like it’s too watery but it is correct. The batter is not like a thick fluffy pancake batter, if it is, you may have added too much flour, and the fritters will be dry-looking and taste the same.
- The oil in the pan should be sizzling hot (but not too hot that fritters will burn in an instance!) because in a pan that is not hot enough the batter will spread out fairly quickly and the fritters will lose their round shape.
- Crispy fritters - if you didn't drain the zucchini and the other is too much liquid the fritters will just not stick to each other and won't be crispy.
- You can also make smaller fritters, about 1 tablespoon size. The cooking time will need to be adjusted.
- Corn - frozen corn or canned sweet corn works the same great as freshly boiled or grilled corn. See my recipe for Cajun Corn On The Cob. Any leftovers can be easily turned into zucchini corn fritters.
- Vegeta seasoning - this is my go-to all-purpose seasoning. But any of your favorite seasoned salt mixes will work here perfectly.
- Gluten-free blends I'd recommend Measure For Measure and 1 to 1 Bob's Red Mill and any of the Schar flours.
Serving Suggestions
What do you top Zucchini Fritters with?
I like to top my fritters simple - with sour cream, green onions, and a little red salsa or a drizzle of hot sauce such as Frank's.
Don't forget to add lemon wedges to the serving! Freshly squeezed lemon juice on top of these fritters make one delicious combination.
Freezing And Storing Instructions
- Store. Once the fritters are cooked, let them cool completely and store in a food airtight container for 3-4 days. Store any leftover zucchini in the fridge.
- Reheat in the oven (best results), air fryer at 400 F for 5 minutes, microwave, or in a nonstick skillet with very little oil.
- Make ahead. Zucchini fritter batter is very easy to make ahead. Zucchinis can be grated 1-2 days in advance and stored in the fridge. Any leftovers from corn on the cob (if used) will keep in the fridge for 3 days easily.
- The zucchini corn fritters batter mixed with all the ingredients will chill beautifully in the fridge for 2-3 days and will be ready for cooking. The chilled batter makes slightly crispier fritters!
Freeze. Transfer cooked fritters to a glass container with a lid (add layers of parchment paper in between the fritters) and pop them into the freezer.
They'll be good for up to 2 months.
FAQ
In most cases, your zucchini fritters are soggy if you haven’t squeezed out all the water from the zucchini. It is best to leave the grated zucchini in a fine-mesh strainer for at least 30 minutes. Then pour out the water and follow the recipe instructions. Another reason is not enough flour and too much oil when frying. In reality, it is not deep frying, so you don't need to add 2 inches of oil to the pan.
To make sure your fritters are crispy, add only a little oil to the pan. Just the right amount to cook each fritter batch. Also if you have time, keep the mixed batter in the fridge for 20-35 minutes before frying.
Zucchini fritter batter is very easy to make ahead. Zucchinis can be grated 1-2 days in advance and stored in the fridge. Any leftovers from corn on the cob (if used) will keep in the fridge for 3 days easily. The zucchini corn fritters batter mixed with all the ingredients will chill beautifully in the fridge for 2-3 days and will be ready for cooking. The chilled batter makes slightly crispier fritters!
Easy Appetizer Recipes
Easy Zucchini Recipes
For more easy gluten-free side dish recipes check out my Side Dish recipe index here.
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Recipe
Easy Zucchini and Corn Fritters
INGREDIENTS
- 2 ½ cups fresh zucchini (grated with skin on)
- 1 cup corn (cooked fresh corn kernels or canned sweet corn)
- 2 large eggs
- ½ cups gluten-free flour blend if using or all purpose flour
- 1 cup cheddar cheese (mild or sharp, grated)
- 1 large garlic clove (minced)
- ¼ cup red bell pepper (diced)
- ¼ cups chives (chopped)
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sweet paprika
- ¼ teaspoon cumin
- ½ teaspoon vegeta seasoning or bouillon cube
- good quality olive oil or avocado oil for cooking
INSTRUCTIONS
- Medium grate the zucchini with a box grater and transfer it into a linen cloth on top of a fine-mesh strainer. Season generously with salt and let stand for 15-30 minutes. Remove the liquid by wrapping the linen around the zucchini and squeezing the excess moisture out as much as possible. This way fritters will be crispier.
- Transfer shredded zucchini to a large bowl and add eggs, corn, cheddar, bell pepper, chives, garlic, flour, and seasoning. Mix to combine.
- Heat 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add about 2 tablespoons of batter to the pan and cook for 5 minutes on each side or until crispy and golden brown. Transfer to a large plate lined with paper towels to absorb the excess liquid. Cook your first fritter and taste for seasoning. Add more salt and pepper to the batter if needed.
- You will need to do this in batches ensuring fritters don’t touch each other. Don’t forget to wipe down the pan each time before the next batch and add new oil if needed.
- Keep the fritters warm in a preheated oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit until ready to serve.
- Serve warm with more chives, parsley, sour cream or ketchup.
PRIVATE NOTES
(Nutrition information is calculated using an ingredient database and should be considered an estimate.)
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
Easy appetizer that can be made in advance and freezes beautifully!
Tania
WHen do you add the flour?
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
sorry Tania, together with the rest of the ingredients.
Tammie Peace
10/10 … Very tasty .. a tad bit spicer than my palette but used a good dollop of sour cream was AWESOME . My daughter ate the just like they were . She’d a bit of a picky eater and not a big fan of zucchini but she devoured these !!
I did end up adding 2-3 more Tbsp of flour to the mix . My first batch didn’t bind real well . Still quite edible though !! .. YUMMM
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
thank you Tammie, yes extra flour can be added as every zucchini is different
CrUSh
Easy and delicious. Served with Greek yogurt with dill dip. Great way to use zucchini and corn at the end of the garden season.
Julia | The Yummy Bowl
fritters are my sons favorite, so easy to make and healthy! Thank you for sharing!