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Vegan Courgette Fritters

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.

Vegan courgette fritters topped with spring onion and fresh dill and served with a cool vegan lemony-yoghurt dip.

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?

Vegan courgette fritters

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
Vegan courgette fritters and vegan yoghurt dip

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!

Stack of summer courgette fritters

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.

Vegan courgette fritters baked versus fried comparison

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!

Courgette fritters served with vegan yoghurt

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:

vegan courgette fritters

Vegan Courgette Fritters

Yield: 6 - 7 fritters
Prep Time: 10 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 40 minutes

Deliciously crispy on the outside, and pillowy soft on the inside, these vegan courgette fritters are super easy to make and filled with fresh herbs and spices, Perfect for using up a glut of courgettes!

Ingredients

  • 1 large (or 2 medium) courgette
  • 2 spring onions
  • ~2 tbsp fresh dill
  • ~2 tbsp fresh parsley
  • 1 cup plain flour
  • 2 tbsp breadcrumbs
  • 1 tsp flax seed
  • 1 tsp chilli powder
  • 1 tsp dried oregano
  • salt and pepper
  • 0.5 tsp baking powder
  • 0.5 - 1 tbsp olive oil

Instructions

  1. If you are baking your fritters, preheat the oven to 190 degrees C and grease a baking tray.
  2. Coarsely grate your courgette and use a muslin cloth to squeeze out the excess moisture. Set aside and squeeze one more time before adding to the other ingredients.
  3. Finely chop the herbs and spring onion and add to a mixing bowl with the flour, breadcrumbs, herbs, flaxseed, and baking powder.
  4. Add your courgette and mix together.
  5. Depending on how dry the mix is, add a drizzle of olive oil to help the mix come together. I added a glug approximating 0.5 tbsp. A little water could also work but don't let the mixture become too soggy! It should be like a dough all sticking together.
  6. Once fully combined, take a large spoonful of mixture and roll it into a ball using your hands, then flatten it down into a patty. Place on your baking tray or set aside if frying.
  7. Repeat for the rest of the mixture. Mine made me 7 fritters.
  8. If baking: bake for 30 - 35 minutes, flipping half way through until the fritters are golden brown and have puffed up slightly.
  9. If frying: heat 1 tbsp oil in a non-stick pan and fry the fritters for 2 - 3 minutes on each side.
  10. Serve with vegan sour cream, ranch dressing, hummus, guac - whatever takes your fancy!

Notes

Personally, I think the courgette fritters look nicer when baked, but have more flavour when fried.

These are best served on the day you make them but will keep for a day or two in an airtight container.

Did you make this recipe?

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