These Greek Zucchini Fritters (Kolokithokeftedes) are a savory side dish, or appetizer that uses zucchini in a different way. I really like the combo of zucchini, creamy feta cheese and Japanese panko crumbs, with fresh dill and mint. This very simple side dish makes a pretty presentation. The Greek Tzasiki sauce is made with Creamy Greek Yogurt, with some refreshing cucumber, dill and a touch of cumin and lemon. It’s all so refreshing, and pretty darn healthy!
Last weekend, I got a little carried away grating fresh zucchini to make a Pineapple-Zucchini Cake— which my husband and son ate with great relish! I don’t like to waste food, so I pondered what to make with the leftover grated zucchini. I must’ve read dozens of recipes a week, so my subconscious mind reminded me of “zucchini fritters”. I’ve never made them, but it seems like a great idea. My google searched found several versions for Greek Zucchini Fritters. Some of my favorite Greek ingredients are feta cheese and lemon. I try to keep Greek Yogurt in my fridge, at all times. I began by making my tried & true very quick Tzatziki Sauce.
Mix Greek yogurt ( find that the nonfat version works great), a grated clove of garlic, cucumber, the juice of 1 lemon and ½ teaspoon cumin. That’s it! I do add fresh dill– but I held back on that because I was putting it into the fritters. I also serve this sauce with my Ground Gyros recipe– which is also very flavorful and one of my husband’s favorite quick week night dinners.
I show you how I grate zucchini in a food processor, and how I use a ricer to drain all the excess water right here. Otherwise, use a box grater for the zucchini, and it’s important that you squeeze the excess water with your hands, or by wringing it with a tea towel or cheese cloth. Soggy zucchini makes soggy fritters and that is not very appetizing! NOTE: Use young zucchini, not ones that have grown to the size of a baseball bat! The younger, the sweeter. The older, the more bitter (hmmm, sounds like me!) Chop some green onion. Add some Feta Cheese. For the herbs, you can use fresh mint and fresh dill. My husband doesn’t like mint, so I cut fresh dill (from my Spring garden) and flat leaf parsley.
Add one beaten egg, about 1/2 cup of flour (I added less, figuring I could add more if I needed to), 3-4 Tablespoons Japanese panko crumbs and combine this with a fork. Easy! The batter should be wet enough to bind together. I didn’t need a full 1/2 cup of flour.
I like to use an ice cream scoop to make my patties even. There!
I heated enough olive oil* to evenly coat the skillet– make sure the oil is very hot and shimmering. Cook the patties for 3-4 minutes, or until they are golden brown. *For those of you who fear cooking with oil as being “fattening”– olive oil is the healthiest choice because of the Omega-3 in it. It’s my #1 choice of cooking oil.
Greek Zucchini Fritters and Tzatziki Sauce (Kolokithokeftedes)
Ingredients
For the Tzatziki:
- 1 cup Greek yogurt*
- 1 small clove garlic grated
- 1/4 cucumber peeled and grated
- 1/2 teaspoon cumin
- 1 lemon juiced
For the fritters:
- 2 medium to large zucchini coarsely grated
- 1/2 cup feta cheese crumbled
- 4 green onions, including green parts chopped
- 3 tablespoons fresh mint finely chopped (optional, I didn’t use)
- 2 tablespoons fresh dill finely chopped
- 1 large egg lightly beaten
- 1/2 cup flour
- 4 tablespoons Panko bread crumbs
- Salt
- Olive oil
Instructions
For the sauce:
- Mix yogurt, a grated clove of garlic, cucumber, the juice of 1 lemon and ½ teaspoon cumin. Refrigerate, to allow the flavors to marry, while you prepare the fritters.
For the fritters:
- Wash the zucchini. With skins on, grate them with the coarse side of a grater (or a food processor, which I prefer).
- Remove the zucchini by the handful, squeezing to remove as much liquid as you can. NOTE: You can also use a tea towel or cheese cloth. I use a ricer, which works brilliantly to remove a lot of liquid! This is important, or you could end up with soggy fritters.
- Put the grated and drained zucchini into a bowl with herbs, feta and green onions. Mix with a fork.
- Add the lightly beaten egg and stir. Add flour and panko bread crumbs. The mixture should be wet but not watery.
- Mix in a small dose of salt– I prefer kosher salt. NOTE: Feta cheese already has some saltiness, so I went easy on the salt and I am glad that I did!
- Heat olive oil in a pan about 1/8 inch deep covering the entire pan. When the oil hot and shimmering, scoop out a spoonful of the zucchini mixture ( I used an ice cream scoop) and put it in the pan. Let the fritters cook about 3-4 minutes or until brown and then flip them. Cook another 3-4 minutes until browned.
- Remove fritters and place on a paper towel -lined plate to remove some excess oil. Serve hot with tzatziki sauce.
Notes
They look delicious! I tagged some zucchini fritters in a cookbook the other day thinking they sounded good but these sound even better. 😉
Fabulous fritters – and with that tzatziki sauce all I need is a tall glass of beer.
Deb,
I made zucchini fritters last year and we LOVED them!
Thanks for reminding me to make them again, and that Tzatziki sauce looks delicious! (I have rasPberries on today, I always think of you!).
I love zucchini but have never tried using it to make fritters. These look so tasty, Debbie, especially with a nice dollop of tzatziki sauce.
We like zuke fritters but never had the Greek version. Since we like Grrek food and they look fantastic, this is a must try.
I am so glad they worked well for you! I am craving them again from your wonderful photos. I love your step by step.
Happy Cooking!
Those fritters look amazing!! The sauce really puts them over the top – I can't wait to try them. And thanks for introducing me to a new blog. I'll be checking it out immediately!
Great idea! I love zucchini and Tzatziki Sauce therefore, I will be making this to enjoy. I love your collages!! Thank you for sharing.
These are definitely my favourite way with a zucchini.
Oh my gosh my mouth is watering! I can't wait for my zucchini to come in so I can make these. Not sure if I can wait that long…I might just go out and buy some today. Thank you for this fantastic blog and for sharing you wonderful recipes and photographs.
How delicious looking and I'm sure tasting.What beautiful pictures.
Debby, fantastic job on thisi post. Love the pics. I am wanting to make these zucchini fritters now — they look and sound fabulous, especially with the sauce. Thanks so much for posting.
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Mmm, these look good!
~ingrid
Go, TEAM ZUCCHINI! The fritters look fantastic – I could eat a dozen!
I'm pretty sure these are bites of fried zucchini heaven! I love the tzatziki sauce…I always have Greek yogurt on hand as well. Thank god you had leftovers from that cake.
Love the zucchini fritters. They look amazing with the tzatziki sauce! I could easily scarf up quite a few of them;D
Such beautiful photos, Debby! These look like luscious little morsels & now I can't wait for my dill patch to start showing some sprouts. DH ♥'s Greek foods so this is on my "must try" list.
Thanks for sharing it & your easy recipe for the tzatziki sauce, too.
Sorry I didn't join the SBS this weekend. I did post a family bread recipe, though from my own files. I'll play along next week for sure!
Yum! I'm making this one today! It looks amazing.
These fritters look amazing. My last batch looked awful. You've inspired me to give this another go.
I love veggies cakes like this. I love the tip about the ice cream scoop.
Those fritters look so tasty!
I did everything you said, and they came out so BITTER! I mean bitter bitter bitter, what could have caused this?
It's hard to say, but I would venture to guess that you zucchini wasn't fresh? I use fresh baby zucchini and bitterness has never been a problem for me. I've found that if I use Zucchini that has grown a bit too long, it can taste on the bitter side. Sorry to hear you didn't have success with the recipe.
Love zucchini and tzatziki sauce so I'm sure I would love these fritters. I'm putting these on my to do list. They look absolutely delicious! Hope you're feeling better, Debby!