Crispy Zucchini Fritters with Feta and Dill

Course: Appetizer, Side Dish

Cuisine: Greek, Mediterranean

Diet: Vegetarian

Prep Time: 20

Cook Time: 15

Total Time: 35

Servings: servings

Calories: 271kcal

Crispy Greek-style zucchini fritters with feta, fresh dill and mint, pan-fried until golden and served with a lemony yogurt sauce.

Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk. Transfer to a fine-mesh strainer or colander set over a bowl. Toss with 1 teaspoon kosher salt and let sit for 15 minutes.
Transfer the salted zucchini to the center of a clean kitchen towel. Gather the corners and twist tightly, squeezing hard over the sink to wring out as much liquid as possible.

You should be left with about 1½ cups of dry, fluffy zucchini. Wet zucchini means soggy fritters, so do not skip this.

While the zucchini drains, whisk together the Greek yogurt, garlic, lemon juice, lemon zest, dill, olive oil and ¼ teaspoon kosher salt in a small bowl. Taste and adjust salt or lemon. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
In a large bowl, whisk together the egg and flour until smooth. Add the squeezed zucchini, feta, scallions, mint, dill, grated garlic, lemon zest, ½ teaspoon kosher salt and black pepper. Stir gently with a fork until evenly combined.

The mixture should be loose but hold together when pressed; if it is too wet, sprinkle in another tablespoon of flour.

Pour 3 tablespoons olive oil into a large nonstick skillet and heat over medium until shimmering. Test by dropping in a small piece of batter; it should sizzle immediately.
Working in batches of 4 to 5, scoop heaping tablespoons of batter into the pan, spacing them apart. Use the back of the spoon to flatten each into a disk about 2½ inches across and ½ inch thick.
Cook undisturbed for 3 minutes, until the edges look set and the bottoms are deeply golden. Flip carefully and cook another 2 to 3 minutes until the second side is golden and the fritters feel set when pressed gently in the center.
Transfer the cooked fritters to a paper-towel-lined plate. Add another tablespoon of oil to the pan if it looks dry, let it heat back up, and repeat with the remaining batter. You should get about 16 fritters total.
Arrange the warm fritters on a serving platter. Sprinkle with flaky salt and scatter with extra mint and dill. Serve immediately with the lemony yogurt sauce and lemon wedges on the side.

Squeeze the zucchini until it feels genuinely dry. If you read the post, I probably said this 12 times, ha. But seriously, wet zucchini is the worst enemy of a crispy fritter.
Do not crowd the pan. Too many fritters at once lowers the oil temperature and causes steaming instead of browning.
Press the fritters into disks about ½ inch thick so they cook through evenly while staying tender inside.
Crumbled block feta works best here. Bulgarian or French feta gives the creamiest texture.
If the batter feels too wet after mixing, add another tablespoon of flour.
Storage: keep cooked fritters in the fridge up to 3 days; the yogurt sauce keeps up to 5 days, and the batter can be mixed up to 4 hours ahead.
Reheating: warm in a 375°F oven until crisp. Avoid the microwave, which makes them soft.