It is zucchini season over here and while I don’t grow my own food yet, I know that zucchini – once it takes – tends to give prolific harvest and so I always get avid gardeners asking for zucchini recipes. This baked zucchini fritters recipe is as if Greek zucchini fritters and hash browns had a baby. They are delicious and easy to make but instead of frying – as I tend to avoid frying myself – they are baked in the oven to crispy perfection.

These baked zucchini fritters only feature a handful of simple ingredients and aren’t hard to make at all, but like with most zucchini recipes there is a single pain point. Yes, you guessed it, it’s the squeezing, wringing dry or whatever else you want to call it. Zucchini is ridiculously watery and sneaky about it too – at least with a cucumber you can tell with its almost translucent flesh – so you really need to apply yourself to squeezing all of the excess moisture out of zucchini and potato mixture in this recipe if you want it to come out well.

You can wrap the mixture in a muslin cloth or a clean kitchen towel, twist the fabric above it and squeeze. Or you can go slowly and meticulously, handful by handful, and get rid of all of the water that way. If you use the second method, be sure to do it twice – there is no such thing as zucchini mixture that’s been overly squeezed…

Once your shredded vegetables are dry, combine them with the rest of ingredients, shape into fritters and bake till golden and crispy. Serve with your favourite dip – I went for this deliciously creamy basil (and I added a bit of dill too) dip – or seasoned yoghurt.

MORE ABOUT THE INGREDIENTS

ZUCCHINI: Grated zucchini or courgette (as it’s known in the UK) is what these baked zucchini fritters are all about. Be sure to grate it on a coarse setting and then to squeeze all of the excess moisture out well.

POTATO: Grated potato is used mainly for texture here. As opposed to zucchini, it’s a vegetable rich in starch so it helps these fritters to get nice and crispy.

LEMON ZEST: I zested a whole lemon to give these fritters a hint of citrusy flavour, I recommend using an unwaxed, well cleaned lemon for this application. If you haven’t got one, don’t worry, you can skip this ingredient.

SPRING ONIONS: Spring onions (or scallions) add a mild oniony flavour to these fritters. Chop them up finely and add directly to the mixture.

DILL: I flavoured these fritters with a generous handful of finely chopped dill as it goes beautifully well with both zucchini and potatoes. You can use dried herbs if you prefer, I would start off with a teaspoon and add more if desired.

CORNSTARCH: Starch is what helps these fritters keep together and help them crisp up. I used cornstarch (also known as cornflour in the UK), but you can also use potato starch.

OIL: These fritters are baked instead of fried so they really are a healthier option, but you will still need to brush them with a bit of oil to make them crisp up nicely in the oven. I used mild (cooking grade) olive oil, but any vegetable oil will work just as well.

Make these baked zucchini fritters in no time at all by grating your veggies in a food processor or you could also do it by hand if you don’t mind a bit of tedium. Go for a coarse grate for best results.

Salt grated zucchini and potatoes with generous amount of salt and leave them to stand. Salt will extract excess moisture out of the veggies and getting rid of it makes these crispier.

After 10-15 minutes, squeeze all of the excess water out. You can either place all of the veggies inside a clean muslin cloth and kitchen towel and wring them dry, or you could grab small handfuls of the mixture and squeeze them dry, be thorough – that’s the most important step of this recipe. Both vegetables, but especially zucchini, contain crazy amount of water. I squeezed almost a cup and a half out of the mixture.

Pre-heat your oven to 220° C / 425° F and line a large baking tray with baking paper, then combine all the ingredients in a bowl and mix them together thoroughly.

Shape the fritters using your hands. Divide the mixture into 12 equal size fritters (I used scales). Grab each portion of the mixture and squeeze it in the palm of your hand so that the mixture sticks together then gently shape it into a flat disc. Arrange shaped fritters on the prepared baking tray and brush with generous amount of oil on both sides.

Bake the fritters until crispy and golden, flipping them once at a half way point and moving them around the tray if your oven has clear hot spots.