Healthy Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters
Healthy Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters is packed with protein - I swapped regular flour with almond flour and added quinoa to the mix—the result is soft, tender and absolutely tasty!
Servings 7 Fritters
Calories 95kcal
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups grated zucchini (about 1 medium)
- ½ cup thinly sliced red onion
- ½ teaspoon salt or to taste, divided
- 1 cup cooked quinoa (Click link to get the method)
- 1 egg, large
- ½ cup almond flour
- 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
- ¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper powder or more
- Olive oil, as needed to fry
Instructions
- Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater and measure 1 and ½ cups for the recipe.
- Add grated zucchini, sliced red onion and ¼ teaspoon salt into a bowl and toss to combine. Leave aside for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes, squeeze handfuls of zucchini over the sink to remove extra water (It helps to wring it out in a cheesecloth if you have one). Alternatively, place the zucchini in a fine mesh sieve and press over the sink to remove excess water.
- Add the squeezed zucchini back into the bowl, add all remaining ingredients (except oil) and mix well until well combined. Tip: Mix in a touch of more almond flour or 1 egg white, if the mixture is not holding together and looks too dry (it will depend on the texture of your cooked quinoa and the moisture in your zucchini)
- Heat 2 tablespoon oil in a non stick pan or cast iron skillet over medium heat. Drop a scant ¼ cup batter in the pan (an ice cream scoop is perfect). You can cook 3 to 4 fritters at a time, depending on the size your pan.
- Flatten lightly with spatula to about ½ inch thick (I like to adjust the edges, to get a more even round fritter).
- Cook for 3 to 4 minutes until underside is deep golden (adjust heat if browning too quickly). Flip and cook the other side for about 3 minutes. Transfer to a plate. 👉 Wait for the fritters to develop a deep golden crust on the bottom before turning. If you flip it too soon, then it might begin to break. The crust helps to hold it together.Pro tip: Handle with a gentle hand! Flip gently because this zucchini fritter recipe has no binding ingredients like flour, breadcrumbs or cornstarch.
- Add about a tablespoon of more oil before cooking the next batch.
- Serve with marinara sauce, ketchup, sriracha, yogurt sauce, dollop of yoghurt or sour cream.
Video
Notes
No almond flour? Use plain all purpose flour instead of almond flour. Mix in ¼ cup and increase by tablespoon increments, if the batter feels too wet.
No quinoa? Use about ½ cup of panko bread crumbs and increase almond flour.
Don't use flax eggs - Eggs offer main binding in this gluten free recipe, so flax eggs will not work here.
Don’t cook too many fritters at once, unless you are using a large griddle. It gets difficult to flip and you have a higher chance of breaking them.
Cook over medium heat. High heat will cause the zucchini fritters brown too quickly before it has a chance to cook on the inside.
Nutrition
Serving: 1fritter | Calories: 95kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 5g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Monounsaturated Fat: 0.4g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 23mg | Sodium: 180mg | Potassium: 142mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 126IU | Vitamin C: 6mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 1mg