Keto Zucchini Fritters – crispy, gluten free

Keto zucchini fritters are easy cheesy, crispy patties made of cheese, eggs, and grated zucchini. They are a delicious light keto dinner or side dish. Bonus, these zucchini fritters that are very similar to pancakes are also gluten free, and ready in 20 minutes so keep reading to learn more!

Are Zucchini fritters keto?

Yes! In fact not only are zucchini fritters low-carb, but they are perfectly keto-friendly with as low as 2.7g of net carbs per serving!

How to make crispy keto zucchini fritters?

This easy zucchini fritters recipe is crispy, delicious, and ready in 20 minutes using only a few wholesome ingredients.

Let me explain what you need and how you can adapt this recipe, just in case there are a few ingredients you are missing to make these low carb zucchini fritters:

• Grated zucchini – the key to making crispy zucchini fritters is to use drained, pat-dried grated zucchini to extract all their juice. The less zucchini water you leave, the crispier these keto zucchini fritters will be. You can also use this recipe with other keto vegetables like spaghetti squash.
• Eggs – the recipe doesn’t work without egg, you need large eggs to make crispy zucchini fritters.
• Grated cheese – I tested a lot of different cheese. The best is a combo of hard shredded mozzarella and grated Parmesan cheese. Mozzarella adds the best chewy texture to those zucchini fritters but it is not very flavorsome. That is why I recommend using half mozzarella and half strong flavor cheese like Parmesan, old cheddar, or french Emmental.
• Almond flour – or the same amount of sunflower seed flour for a nut-free fritter recipe.
• Whole/ground psyllium husk – you can use either, whole or ground psyllium husk in this recipe. This is the magic ingredient to make the best crispy fritters. In fact, the husk is 100% fiber and it absorbs all the water that the zucchini will release after being in contact with salt.
• Parsley – fresh parsley adds a delicious Italian flavor to these fritters. It is optional but highly recommended.
• Salt
• Garlic powder
• Onion powder
• Italian herbs
• Avocado oil or coconut oil to fry these keto fritters. The key is to use an oil with a high smoke point to avoid burning the oil.

This keto zucchini fritters recipe is not only gluten-free, low carb and keto, it is also vegetarian!

Prepare the zucchini

Zucchini is a wonderful keto vegetable to make so many keto casseroles like my alfredo zucchini casserole or pizza casserole. However, zucchinis are 95% made of water and therefore, it can release a lot of liquid into your dish if you don’t prepare them well. This would ruin your keto fritters!

Let me explain the 4 simple steps to follow to make crispy zucchini fritters that are not watery.

Grate the zucchini

First, choose firm, fresh zucchini, green or yellow squash are perfect. For this recipe, you need about 2 small zucchinis or 1 large one. Then, grate the zucchini as finely as you can. You can use a food processor with the thinnest grater attachment or a hand grater.

Drain the zucchini in a towel

That is the most important step to create crispy fritters. There are many techniques to drain a zucchini. Some people like to press the grated zucchinis in a sieve or simply squeeze them with their hands. But let me tell you something, this is not enough to extract all of the 95% of water in the zucchinis.

The best method, the one that results in crispy fritters is the towel method. Place the zucchini in the center of a clean towel. Then, gather the four corners of the towel with one hand and hold the zucchinis with the other hand.

Turn and squeeze as hard as you can, placing a bowl under the towel to gather all the liquid. You can discard the liquid or reuse as a vegetable broth.

Measure the zucchini

Always measure the zucchini after squeezing all the water out. You can pack the grated zucchinis into a measuring cup or weight with a scale.

Shape and fry the patties

On a keto diet, we like to know exactly how many carbs each keto zucchini pancake contains. The best way to make even patties is to scoop the batter using a measuring cup.

One zucchini fritter uses 1/4 cup of fritter batter and contains 2.7g net carb.

First, scoop the batter with the measuring cup. Then, transfer the batter into your hands and shape a lovely round patty. It would not be thin at this point that is fine.

Drop the patty into the hot oil. After 1 minute, start to gently flatten the fritter with a spatula.

Finally, when the sides of the fritters are dry and set, flip the fritter with a spatula. Keep pressing the fritter with the spatula to flatten into a thin disc of 0.5 mm (0.02 inches).

How to make crispy keto zucchini fritters

There are 6 necessary steps that make these zucchini pancakes crispy:

1. Drain the vegetable before adding it into the batter.
2. Add flour into the batter to absorb excess water released by the vegetable.  For keto low carb fritters any keto flours can be used like almond flour, coconut flour,  psyllium husk, or a combination of them.
3. Fry in hot, high smoke point oil using a non-stick frying pan. Surprisingly, olive oil is not the best to fry food, avocado oil or coconut oil have a higher smoke point.
4. Fry only 2 or 3 fritters at a time – too much batter added at once decreases the oil temperature quickly. As a result, the fritters soak the oil and would not fry instantly.
5. Press the fritter many times while frying – a thick fritter stays very moist and watery, press it to make it crisp.
6. Drain the fried fritters into paper towels – removing the frying oil on the surface of fritters is a quick and easy way to avoid the fritters to soften after frying.

How to serve keto fritters?

Keto zucchini fritters can be served as a side dish to grilled meat, fried eggs or as a light dinner with some delicious toppings like:

• a dollop of sour cream or coconut yogurt for a dairy-free option
• Mashed avocado
• Hot sauce
• Homemade sugar-free ketchup

How to store these zucchini fritters?

Any fritters leftover can be frozen in an airtight container or store in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can rewarm fritters in a sandwich press, hot non-stick frying pan or oven at 180C (350F), on a baking tray covered with parchment paper.

Can I bake fritters?

Yes, you can bake fritters on a baking tray covered with a lightly greased parchment paper. But be aware that this recipe would not be crispy if baked and I do not recommend baking them for a crispy fritter.

If you really want to try this option, bake your fritters at 200C (400F) for 15 minutes, flip and bake for 15 more minutes.

More keto zucchini recipes

If you need more low carb recipes to use your summer zucchini, I have plenty of keto zucchini recipes for you to try:

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Have you made these zucchini fritters yet? Share a picture with me on Instagram! 

xoxo Carine

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keto Zucchini fritters

Easy cheesy, crispy zucchini fritters made with almond flour for a light keto dinner

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 6 mins

Total Time: 16 mins

My Macros

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Net Carbs

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Fat

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Protein

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Author: Carine Claudepierre

6 fritters (1/4 cup each)

4.83 from 99 votes

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Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

• ▢ 1 1/4 cup Grated Zucchini unpeeled, drained from their water, measure AFTER water has been removed : 1 cup + 1/4 cup or weight 210 g/7oz)
• ▢ 1/4 cup Almond Flour
• ▢ 1 1/2 tablespoon Psyllium husk
• ▢ 2 large Beaten egg
• ▢ 1/4 cup Grated Mozzarella
• ▢ 1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan
• ▢ 2 tablespoons Fresh parsley finely chopped
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Onion powder
• ▢ 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• ▢ 1/4 teaspoon salt
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon Garlic powder

To fry the fritters

• ▢ 1/4 cup Avocado oil or high smoke point oil like coconut oil

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Instructions

• For this recipe, you need about 2 small zucchinis or 1 medium zucchini. Wash the zucchini, keep the skin on, and trim ends.
• Place the zucchini into a food processor with the grater attachment and grate finely.
• Wrap the grated zucchini into a clean towel, gather the corner of the towel, and squeeze hard to extract ALL the water from the zucchinis. This is really important to ensure crispy zucchini fritters.
• Now measure the amount of grated zucchini required by the recipe which is 1 cup + 1/4 cup or weight 210 g/7 oz.
• Place the grated zucchini onto a large mixing bowl with grated cheese, almond flour, psyllium husk, beaten eggs, chopped parsley, salt, Italian herbs, garlic powder, and onion powder.
• Stir the mixture with a spoon at first, then squeeze with your hands to bring all the ingredients together and form a sticky wet batter. It shouldn't be runny, if so add up to 1 tablespoon extra psyllium husk, adding 1/2 tablespoon at a time. Squeeze batter with your hands after each addition and wait 5 minutes for the husk fiber to absorb the water. The batter should be wet but not runny.
• Heat 2-3 tablespoons of olive oil under medium/ high heat.
• Scoop 1/4 cup of batter, shape a patty with your hands, its wet but not liquid. Place the patty into the warm oil and fry for 2 minutes on one side, pressing gently the patty with the back of a spatula after 1 minute to flatten into a thinner disc. Don't press too hard at first to avoid the patty to break!
• When the borders are set, slice a large spatula under the fritter and flip on the other side. Fry 2 extra minutes until crispy and golden. Keep pressing the fritter to flatten and expand, the flatter the crispier, best thickness is 0.5 mm (0.02 inches). Add more oil if needed as the fritters will absorb some and the more oil the crispier it gets too.
• Place each cooked fritter onto a plate covered with absorbent paper to absorb the extra cooking oil while you fry the following fritters.
• Repeat these steps until the 6 fritters are cooked.
• Serve hot with a green salad on the side and a dollop of sour cream on top.

Storage

• Store in the fridge up to 3 days in an airtight box. Rewarm in a warm oven or in a frying pan.
• Freeze up to 3 months in an airtight box

Cheese: any hard grated cheese can be used like cheddar, Edam, Colby, Emmental

Nut-free option: replace almond flour by the same amount of sunflower seed flour or sesame seed flour

Psyllium husk replacement - not recommended but if you can't eat husk,  you can swap psyllium husk with coconut flour but the zucchini will be fragile and can fall into pieces easily. Adding 1/4 teaspoon of Xanthan gum can help with the coconut flour option.

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Nutrition Facts

keto Zucchini fritters

Amount Per Serving (1 fritter)

Calories 154.1 Calories from Fat 122

% Daily Value*

Fat 13.6g21%

Saturated Fat 2.5g16%

Cholesterol 5.2mg2%

Sodium 170mg7%

Potassium 177.9mg5%

Carbohydrates 5.2g2%

Fiber 2.5g10%

Sugar 1.9g2%

Protein 4.2g8%

Vitamin A 279IU6%

Vitamin C 13.5mg16%

Calcium 90.8mg9%

Iron 0.7mg4%

Net Carbs 2.7g

* Percent Daily Values are based on a 2000 calorie diet.