These crispy zucchini potato fritters are packed with vegetables, easy to customize, baked or air-fried, and totally eggless, gluten-free, and meal prep-friendly!
Why I Love These Crispy Zucchini and Potato Fritters
When I first shared this recipe, vegetable fritters had won me over as a low-budget, nutrient-dense way to use summer zucchini (alongside zucchini stir-fry and vegan zucchini brownies) while still endlessly versatile – perfect for customizing with your favorite herbs, spices, and vegetables. Now, as a new mom, I love them even more – They’re crispy outside, tender in the middle, and packed with flavor, fiber, and nutrients- great for baby weaning and serving veggies in a crowd-pleasing, kid-friendly form.
Better yet, they require just a handful of basic ingredients and come together quickly with little effort. With no eggs or gluten, they’re allergen-friendly, too, and baked or air-fried instead of deep-fried for a lighter, healthier option. They’re also meal-prep and freezer-friendly and are a satisfying appetizer, side dish, or light main. It’s a win-win-win.
And, if you’re as fritter-obsessed as I am, you might also enjoy chickpea vegetable fritters, carrot fritters, cauliflower patties, or red lentil patties.
The Ingredients
- Potato: Use starchy varieties like Russet potatoes for better binding. Avoid waxy potatoes; Yukon Gold potatoes may work. You can also try sweet potato, butternut squash, or pumpkin—adjust the flour amount and add a flax egg if needed.
- Zucchini: Small-medium zucchini tend to have fewer seeds and work best. Large zucchini may require de-seeding to avoid soggy zucchini and potato patties.
- Carrot: Any color will work, so should parsnip.
- Chickpea flour: This helps bind the mixture. It’s naturally gluten-free and adds extra protein and fiber, though all-purpose flour or white whole wheat flour should work.
- Seasonings: These zucchini and carrot fritters use a simple yet flavorful blend of onion and garlic powder (or finely minced garlic/onion, chili powder (optional), paprika, and salt & black pepper.
Recipe Variations
- Other vegetables: These vegetable patties are super versatile. You could add corn, peas, red pepper, shredded broccoli/ cauliflower, leafy greens (kale/spinach), eggplant, etc. Frozen veggies work, too, if fully thawed and well-drained.
- Fresh herbs: e., Green onion, parsley, chives, dill, basil, or cilantro for herby depth.
- Nutritional yeast: 1 tablespoon adds umami, nutty/cheesy flavor to the zucchini potato patties in place of parmesan cheese.
- Vegan cheese: Try vegan feta, mozzarella, cheddar, etc., for extra richness.
- Garlic: Boost the garlic flavor with 1-2 minced garlic cloves.
For the full ingredients list, measurements, complete recipe method, and nutritional information, read the recipe card below.
How to Make Zucchini Potato Fritters
- First, grate the zucchini, potato (if preferred, peel it), and carrots using the medium holes on a box grater.
- Transfer the mixture to a nut milk bag, several layers of cheesecloth, or clean kitchen towel, and squeeze out as much liquid as possible. Meanwhile, preheat a skillet over medium-low.
- Add the veggies and spices to the pan and cook, covered, for about 10 minutes.
- Stir in the chickpea flour off-heat, then let the mixture cool until safe to touch.
- Divide the vegetable mixture into six and shape into 1.5cm/1/2-inch thick patties.
- Finally, cook the zucchini potato fritters in a single layer, with space between:
- Air Fry: at 380F/190C for around 15 minutes, flipping after 10 minutes. I recommend spraying the air fryer basket with a little oil first.
- Oven: Bake at 400°F/200 °C for 35-40 minutes. For the crispiest results, lightly spray with oil and flip halfway.
- Skillet: Add a layer of oil to a skillet and heat over medium heat. Fry the patties until golden brown and crisp (4-5 minutes per side). Drain on paper towels, then enjoy.
How to Store Vegetable Fritters
Store: Zucchini fritters are crispiest fresh, but leftovers store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–4 days.
Freeze: Flash-freeze until solid, and store in a Ziplock for 3 months. Thaw in refrigerator overnight.
Reheat: For the best texture, reheat the baked veggie fritters in the oven/air fryer for a few minutes or in a skillet with a bit of oil. Avoid the microwave to prevent ‘sogginess.’ A broiler can increase crispiness.
Serving Recommendations
Enjoy veggie fritters as an appetizer, side dish, or light main. My favorite pairings include:
- As a stack: With vegan sour cream, yogurt (optionally with pesto, avocado, hot sauce, or herbs), applesauce, and/or green onion.
- With a dip: These zucchini patties work well with creamy dips, like vegan yogurt-based dips, vegan tzatziki, vegan ranch dip, garlic aioli, etc. Tomato chutney also works.
- At breakfast/brunch: With tofu scramble, vegan sausages, avocado toast, etc.
- With bread: Aka, in my gluten-free pita or a burger with lettuce, tomato, and sauce.
- With salad: i.e., leafy greens, a simple cucumber tomato salad, a hearty chickpea or lentil salad, or in a salad bowl.
FAQs
Can I freeze the zucchini potato fritters before baking?
Yes! Freeze raw, shaped patties on a tray. Once solid, transfer to a Ziplock for 2–3 months. Bake from frozen with extra time.
Can I fry vegetable fritters?
Yes, but you’ll need more oil to avoid sticking, which is why I avoid it. Swirl oil to coat the bottom of the pan, then fry the patties (as many as fit) over medium until golden brown (4-5 minutes per side). Drain on paper towels. Enjoy.
What if they aren’t binding?
Chickpea flour binds everything really well. But if you’d like extra hold for these vegan vegetable fritters, you can add some aquafaba or a flax/chia egg (1 tbsp ground seeds + 3 tbsp water, mixed and set aside for 10 minutes to gel).
Are vegetable zucchini fritters healthy?
It’s made almost entirely of veggies, with added fiber, protein, and iron from chickpea flour, making vegetable fritters that are wholesome, satiating, and loaded with nutrients. Best yet, they’re baked or air-fried, not deep-fried- so much lower in fat.
Recipe Notes and Tips
- For quick prep: Use a food processor grating disk to shred veggies in seconds.
- Drain veggies well: Removing excess moisture helps avoid mushy, wet zucchini potato fritters.
- For even-sized patties: Weigh the mixture and divide by weight.
- For the crispiest results: Cook the potato and zucchini fritters with a light spray of oil, avoiding overcrowding. Pan frying gives crispier results but uses much more oil.
- Experiment with veggies: The potato starch helps bind. Otherwise, you can make vegetable fritters with a wide choice of veggies as long as the volume stays the same.
More Veggie Patty Recipes
- Millet fritters
- Indian onion bhaji
- Stuffed potato cakes
- Vegan hash browns
- Vegetable pakora
- Chickpea broccoli nuggets
If you try this zucchini and potato vegetable fritters recipe, I’d love a comment and ★★★★★ recipe rating below. Also, please don’t forget to tag me in recreations on Instagram or Facebook with @elavegan #elavegan—I love seeing them.
Vegetable Fritters
Video
Ingredients
- 1 large (375 g) zucchini
- 2 medium (300 g) potatoes (Yukon Gold or Russet)
- 1 medium (80 g) carrot
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp chili powder
- ½ tsp ground cumin
- ½ tsp paprika powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
- ½ cup (50 g) chickpea flour
Instructions
- You can watch the short video for visual instructions.Grate the zucchini, potatoes, and carrot. Then squeeze out as much liquid as possible using a nut-milk bag, cheesecloth, or a clean kitchen towel.
- Add the veggies to a skillet and stir in all spices. Cook the veggies over low-medium heat with a lid for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, then turn off the heat.
- Add in the chickpea flour and stir with a spatula to combine. Let the mixture cool, until you can touch it.
- Shape the mixture into 6 patties, using your hands. You can choose between the following three cooking methods:
Pan-Fry
- Heat some oil in a frying pan and place 3-4 patties in it. Fry on both sides until crispy (about 4-5 minutes per side).
Air-Fry
- Cook at 380 F (195 C) for 15 minutes in your air fryer (flip after 10 minutes). I recommend spraying the basket of your air fryer with a little oil before adding the patties, otherwise, they may stick.
Bake
- Preheat the oven to 400 F (205 C) and bake the patties for 35-40 minutes on a lined baking sheet (flipping after 20-25 minutes). For a crispier result, I recommend spraying the patties with a little oil before baking and after flipping.
- Enjoy with a dip of choice, e.g. this vegan ranch dressing.
Notes
- Read the blog post for substitutes, serving suggestions, storing tips, and FAQs.
Nutrition information is an estimate and has been calculated automatically
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Excellent flavors! I added some ginger, and a handful of buckwheat flour with King Arthur gluten free bread flour 1:1 substitute as that’s what I had 🙂
I did use the medium grating plate, as it does seem to make getting moisture out easier- up to now I’ve always used the larger grating plate, I was surprised at the difference it made.
That sounds amazing, Janet! The ginger must have added such a nice zing, and the mix of buckwheat with the GF bread flour is a clever swap — I bet it gave a lovely nutty note too. Thanks so much for sharing your tweaks, super helpful for others too!
easy to follow, I had all ngredients and a scale.. They were a hit. I’ll be making these again soon.
That’s wonderful to hear, Russell! I’m so glad they turned out well for you and were a hit.
Excellent & versatile recipe. Held together really well even as very large fritters. I batch cooked 4 x quantity using different herbs spices & veggies I had on hand. Elas version, curried with frozen peas corn & carrot; & fresh dill versions. Also grated red onion into mix & added vegetable bouillon powder instead of salt. Oven baked. Im so pleased with this recipe & wanted to so thank you so much for sharing it Ela
Wow, that sounds amazing, Skye! I love how creative you got with the variations! 😍 So happy to hear they held together well and worked in the oven too. Thanks so much for your lovely feedback and for trying out the recipe! 💚
I haven’t made these yet but they look delicious. I have a question. if I don’t have chickpea flour can I use oat flour?
Hi Cheryl! Yes, oat flour should work as a substitute for chickpea flour (though I haven’t tried it myself). Keep in mind that the texture might change slightly, but it should still work fine. Let me know how it turns out! 😊
Oat flour makes them very soft and mushy. It tastes good, but they are mushy.
I pressed my down into silicone cups and baked for the given time. They are not crispy but I’m freezing them to fry as I wish. I like how they turned outl i did bake a few and they were crisp; I used a greased cookie sheet.
Is it normal for the patty to be soft and mushy on the inside?
No, it’s not. Maybe you didn’t squeeze out all the liquid, or you baked them instead of pan-frying/air-frying?
These were good! I tweaked them to suit my family’s taste. Firstly, I skipped step 2 (frying the veggies before adding them to the batter). I just added the raw, squeezed, grated veggies straight into the batter.
Also, the suggested add-ins should be mandatory! Definitely add in 2 cloves of minced garlic, 1 T (heaping) nutritional yeast, one chopped scallion, and 1/2 cup of any fresh herbs lying around (I used 1/4 cup of chopped parsley and 1/4 cup chopped dill). I also had some button mushrooms, so I diced up four of those and threw them into the batter. In the future, I think I will make these bigger and eat them as veggie burgers. Thank you for another delicious recipe!
You are very welcome! Thanks for your feedback. 🙂
I didn’t cook the veggies. This really made them flavorful and cut the cooking time by about 20 minutes! It was wonderful in the air fryer. Made a double batch. I can’t wait to make them again.. I used the other ingredients you listed. It was a hit with everyone. They were the 1st to disappear off of the table. I am a vegan. I found this recipe from Young Man Cooking. 1 cup vegan mayo and 1/4 cup Sriracha. it’s hot, but is cooled by the mayo. I don’t tolerate hot. This is nice. I can’t wait to find the next thing to eat with it. ☺
I’m so glad to hear you loved them, and that the air fryer method worked so well! Thanks so much for sharing your tips and feedback. 🙂
Made these just as the recipe stated! I air fried the fritters with some oil spray and they turned out so good! I was very surprised (in a good way!). Next time I may add some cauliflower, broccoli or corn and double the recipe so I can have some in the freezer. Amazing recipe!
So happy you liked it, Shay. 🙂
turned out good
So happy to hear. 🙂
So delicious! I loved this. I had some issues with crisping up in the middle (my fault due to not getting enough liquid out probably and using parchment paper in my air fryer). Even still I ate every single one….aside from a couple small ones I saved for lunch tomorrow. Definitely going in my rotation! Thank you.
Sounds amazing! Thanks for your great feedback, Aubree. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe Courtney. I am not vegan however, I didn’t have any eggs, hahaha. These turned out delicious using plain flour, adding grated onion and minced garlic instead of onion & garlic powder, extra cumin, paprika and pepper.
I will make this again and again, thank you.
Sorry, Michaela not Courtney.
I am so glad they turned out delicious! 🙂
These were excellent. I had sweet potatoes on hand so substituted for russets. Drizzled creamy sriracha over the crispy top for a pop of heat.. So yummy and thanks for the new go-to recipe.
You are very welcome, Sherry. 🙂
Easy and very good. Because I didn’t want to heat kitchen by using oven, I pan fried, cooking veggie mix (with mushrooms I precooked with garlic & onions! 😍)cooking with rest of veggies and spices another 5 minutes. Then I cooked patties in Evo in my cast iron skillet about 7 minutes total The only change I’ll likely make next time is extra cumin, paprika because I like and believe with my addition of other veggies, will be even better.
Thank you!
Sounds great, Courtney! Thanks for your great feedback. 🙂
Hi Michaela, this recipe looks great & I really like some of your alternative veggie suggestions, if I want to change the vegetables do I just keep the mix to the overall weight in the recipe? Thanks
Hi Sharon, yes, going by weight should work fine. 🙂
Haven’t made this yet. What if one put the mixture in muffin tins?
That should work. Just follow the baking instructions in the recipe. 🙂
Thank you for this recipe. Never made them before and do not have chickpeas at hand so I am wondering…can I use almond flour instead? Or even an egg…I am not vegan, I just try and eat as little meat as possible so an egg is ok for me to use.
Hi Viv, you can use most other flours (e.g. all-purpose flour, etc.). I haven’t tried almond flour yet.
I always heard that with chickpea flour it’s best to let it soak for a while first in water until it stops foaming, but since water isn’t used here I replace that with an almond tapioca flour mix and it was wonderful! Almond flour has done well for me in gluten free baking of any kind. Also, I ran out of zucchini so used very thin sliced and chopped kale with the carrots and was very pleased!
Sounds interesting! Thanks for sharing. 🙂
Almond four has a distinct flavor; as long as that is the flavor you are going for, it can be used. I do not recommend it. Maybe oat four would be okay. I used Chickpea flour mixed in and then regular four on the outside before baking them. I like spicy so we added horseradish on top with a splash of hot sauce.
Did you use a non-stick pan to cook the vegetables? I don’t have a non-stick pan and the vegetables were sticking to the pan.
Hi Melissa, yes, I used a non-stick pan, and you have to stir occasionally. 🙂
Easy and quick to prepare and so delicious. The ranch dip recipe worked perfectly with it.
I baked mine in the oven on the bottom rack at 350 F for about 35 minutes, turning halfway through, and they were nice and crisp, although I agree that an air flyer would be better. On my list to buy.
Wonderful! Thanks for sharing, Oriana. 🙂
Thanks for the recipe. Haven’t tried it yet, but can’t think why I didn’t think of it before. Will definitely try it soon. Guessing the veggies have to be really wrung out well. Thanks again for your recipes.
Yes, I recommend it! Enjoy. 🙂