A fantastic way to use up all of your courgettes, these delicious vegan courgette fritters are golden and crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. So easy to make and packed with fresh herbs for a beautiful light dinner or side dish.

For the past two years that my family and I have been growing our own fruit and vegetables on our allotment, this time of year has delivered the same problem/blessing (depending on what way you look at it!): an absolute abundance of courgettes. These beautiful vegan courgette fritters are just one recipe I’ve been making to use them up!

Currently, we’re getting about 3 large courgettes every other day. They’re a crazy-easy vegetable to grow and guarantee a great harvest every year, but with that many courgettes (or zucchinis, if you hail from the other side of the pond) to pick, the question begs: how do I use up my courgettes?

If you’ve got lots of runner beans to use up, try this easy runner bean recipe!

These vegan courgette fritters are:

• The perfect way to use up a harvest of courgettes
• Really easy to make
• Bursting with fresh herbs and spices
• Made from healthy ingredients you’ll have in your pantry
• Deliciously crispy on the outside and soft in the middle
• Amazing on their own as a light lunch with a dip, or great as a side dish for a BBQ or family gathering
  

Making these vegan courgette fritters

The key to making great courgette fritters is getting the moisture out of your courgettes…otherwise you’re going to end up with a soggy mess.

Start by grating your courgette on the coarse side (for a rougher grate) to prevent the courgettes going to mushy. Then, place in a muslin cloth and squeeze out as much of the liquid as you can.

I then set the grated aside and pat it with paper towel a couple of times.

Want a sweet option for using up an abundance of courgettes? Make sure you’ve tried my epic courgette brownies!

Then, in a bowl you’ll combine the courgette with:

• Freshly chopped dill and parsley
• Finely chopped spring onion
• Flour (I used plain flour but a gluten-free alternative such as chickpea flour could work great)
• Breadcrumbs (I used gluten-free as that’s what I had in my cupboard)
• Flax seed, which is a fantastic egg substitute to bind everything together
• Baking powder
• Chilli powder for some kick
• Dried oregano
• A drizzle of olive oil

When combined, the mix should be almost dough like, all clinging together in the bowl. If your mix is too soggy, the fritters will just fall apart – so add more flour and breadcrumbs if this happens.

If this mix is too dry, add a little more oil or a touch of water, but add slowly.

Baking versus frying vegan courgette fritters

I tested this recipe by both baking and frying my fritters – you can see the comparison below.

As you can see from above, the baked courgette fritter looks better. The fritters puffed up in the oven thanks to the baking powder, and were golden brown when cooked (I had mine in the oven about 35 minutes, flipping halfway through).

However, the fried version did taste a little better, in my opinion. I only used about a tablespoon or two of oil to fry the fritters so while not necessarily unhealthy, this version isn’t as healthy as the baked version – so I suppose it’s not unsurprising it tastes a bit more flavourful!

Take this as you will – the baked ones are still great, but if you are interested in taste over presentation, frying up a batch might be a good route for you to try.

What to serve with these vegan courgette fritters?

Pictured, I served these fritters with a vegan-version of ranch dip, with coconut cream, fresh dill, garlic salt, lemon juice, salt, and parsely.

However, these fritters would also be fantastic with vegan tzatziki. guacamole or fresh avocado, hummus, aubergine dip, sour cream, or served as a side with a beautiful Mediterranean stew or mezze platter.

Recipes these fritters could pair great with:

• Greek pasta salad
• Summery chickpea salad
• Vegan tofu feta