Conch Fritters
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Conch fritters have become one of my ultimate go-to menu choices when down in southern Florida. I had never had them (or even heard of them, for that matter) before my Chief Culinary Consultant clued me in on what I was missing. Before our first trip down to Florida together about two and a half years ago, he really talked them up, and told me I had to try them. I’m usually game for fried anything, so I promised I would give them a try. I think we ended up having them at no less than three different places that week. Needless to say, I was hooked! We just came back from our fourth trip down there, and they continue to be a staple of ours. We’ve finally settled on a favorite (Benny’s on the Beach in Lake Worth), but started talking about tackling them at home. I promised to try them before we left, and on our last night in Florida, I whipped them up. I was pleasantly surprised (shocked, really) that the flavor was dead-on and the dipping sauce was near perfection. Now there’s no excuse for waiting to get to the ocean before having conch fritters!
I kind of thought that being less than 10 minutes from the ocean would mean that conch would be readily available at most markets. I thought wrong. Finding conch ended up being a wild goose chase. The good news is that I’ve already scoped it out in Pittsburgh and found that Wholey’s in the Strip District carries a five-pound box of frozen conch. Conch fritters in the ‘Burgh, look out! If you can’t find conch, shrimp makes an excellent substitution. (I would recommend using the frozen, cooked shrimp. Thaw according to the package directions, and then remove the tails before mincing.)
I think I spent an entire day flipping through cookbooks and Googling conch fritter recipes. I never found one recipe that seemed like a dead ringer for the fritters we’ve grown to love, so I ended up improvising. I used some basic fritter ratios of flour, baking soda, egg, and milk and then added in the ingredients and seasonings that we love. The result was an amazing, raging success. We like our conch fritters spicy, and these definitely have a nice bite, but we’d probably ratchet up the heat just a tiny bit more. The dipping sauce lends heat as well, so go by your own personal preferences. You can add or omit cayenne to get to your desired level of spice.
If you’ve never had a conch fritter, I insist that you must try them the next time you see them on a menu. You won’t know how you ever ate before they came into your life! Or instead of waiting for them to appear on a menu, make them at home 
They come together really quickly – the longest part of the recipe is waiting for the oil to heat up. Make yourself a mojito or rum runner and have an island party in the kitchen with these conch fritters!
One year ago: Oreo Cheesecake Cookies
Two years ago: Easy Vanilla Bean Buttercream
Four years ago: Caramel-Topped Flan
Five years ago: Oreo Cheesecake
Conch Fritters
Yield: 12 large or 24 small fritters
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Total Time: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
For the Conch Fritters:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 egg, lightly beaten
6 tablespoons buttermilk
8 ounces conch, finely minced
1 jalapeño, finely minced
¼ cup finely minced white onion
¼ cup finely minced red bell pepper
¼ cup finely minced carrots
1 clove garlic, minced
¾ teaspoon Creole seasoning
Vegetable oil, for fryingFor the Dipping Sauce:
½ cup salsa
1 cup mayonnaise
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon dried basil
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepperDirections:
1. Make the Dipping Sauce: Puree the salsa in a blender. Transfer to a medium bowl and add the mayonnaise, garlic powder, basil, salt, cayenne, and pepper and whisk well to combine. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before serving. Stir well before serving.
2. Make the Fritters: Pour oil into a small frying pan or deep skillet, so that it comes at least one inch up the sides of the pan. Heat the oil to 350 degrees F.
3. Meanwhile, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and egg in a large bowl and stir well (the combination will look shaggy). Add the buttermilk to create a thick paste (the mixture should be the consistency of muffin batter). Stir in the conch, jalapeño, onion, red pepper, carrots, garlic, and seasoning, making sure that the ingredients are evenly distributed.
4. Using spoons or a cookie scoop, drop 1-inch balls of batter into the oil. Fry, turning with a slotted spoon, until golden brown, about 2 minutes for smaller fritters, up to 4 minutes if you made them a little larger. If you need to, work in batches so that you don't over-crowd the pan.
5. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the fritters to paper towels to drain. Serve immediately with the dipping sauce.
Note: If you can't find conch, you can substitute shrimp.
(Recipe for dipping sauce adapted from South Florida Sun-Sentinel)
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I have been chomping at the bit for conch fritters for a couple of years. Sadly, no conch available here
I’ll just stick with crab cakes until the conch float up this way. Recipe looks awesome.
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Yum!! They look amazing! Haven’t heard of them, (I’m in Australia, could explain it!) have pinned the recipe to try them!
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These look so good! I loved all your restaurant photos from your last post..of course they made me want everything!
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Oooh, what a winner! I’d happily indulge in a serving
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Oh, throw me one (or three) please! I’d love to have a plate of these right now!
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What a fun recipe! Yum!
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The inside of those puppies look positively bursting with flavor – oh my goodness!
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I guess living down here we are so spoiled and just take conch fritters for granted huh? I’ve never tried making them but the next time I see conch for sale I will have to try it! You are soooo lucky to have the Strip District They truly have EVERYTHING!
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These look yummy!
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Although I live in TN now, I was raised in FL and just looking at these (and the coconut shrimp) makes me happy. Those two together are always a fine meal, and for what it’s worth, the orange marmalade often served with the shrimp is also delicious with the conch fritters!
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I’ve never had Conch Fritters before but they sound amazing! Great recipe.
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I’m Bahamian (where conch fritters originate
and your recipe is very different from what I know. Try adding some thyme to the batter and switch out the jalepeno for a habanero (to taste). You’ll be surprised how it enhances the flavour.
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Yum! I do not eat fried foods, due to getting a stomach ache, but I’m making an exception to the rule! This looks like a great for my Friday night dinner! I’m going to pick up some shrimp today and make this! Thanks for the recipe! Have a fabolous wekend!!
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I drooled over your FLA post and this recipe looks devine.
I wont bother looking for conch up here in Ontario, Canada.
To make these safely I would use uncooked shrimp and do the extra step of cooking etc from fresh/uncooked frozen. All of the pre-cooked frozen shrimp contain sulphites, and hence I avoid them as they cause seizures in a family member. As pre-cooked thawed shrimp probably came from a bag of frozen, I simply avoid all pre-cooked shrimp.
Love your posts…. Happy Easter!
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A few years ago I had these at a restaurant called The Hot Tuna. They were fantatic! Yippee! I can now make them at home. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us.
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Michelle,
I love you for posting these! They always make me think of my spring break trip to the Bahamas in 2001. They also make me even more excited about my upcoming trip to Key West! I’ll be making these soon. Yum!
~Amanda
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These photos are making my mouth water! Delicious! Buzz buzz.
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Speaking of the Strip…just had an awesome conch fritter appetizer at Kaya! If you haven’t been there, you should try it. Great food!
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Though I can’t eat any seafood, I can still look and admire it. Your conch fritters look amazing!
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Oh, wow! I’ve never 1) had them 2) heard of them… but the flavors sound fantastic. Great job recreating them!
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Oh Darlin’ these look so good! Ive eating conch since I was a kid everytime we visited my grandparents in FL. Never thought of making them back home! Will defenitely be giving these a try.
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Oh wow!! I didn’t know they had conch @ Wholey’s. I LOVE conch fritters. Had my first ones at My Bar @ Sunset House Dive Resort in Grand Cayman. Thanks for the recipe – I see a trip to the Strip in our future.
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So I love these! But I never considered making them myself…I’m not sure why…thanks for the constant inspiration!
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The first time I ever had Conch Fritters was on my honeymoon in St. Thomas, USVI. At the hotel bar. When my hubby and I got to the hotel, we were starved, as the food on the plane was just awful and in small portions. We immediately went down to the bar. On their menu were the fritters so I said let’s order some and we did. They were amazing.
The only kind of conch I can find here in NJ is canned in a 28 oz can and it is $11 for the can so I buy it once in awhile but I have never made fritters with it – I’ve made Scungili Fra Diavolo with it. Also a winner BTW.
Next time I feel like spending the money on the conch, I will try the recipe. I adore anything fried.
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That looks really good!!
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Oh this makes me miss all the years when I had to spend a week, every other month, in the Caribbean for business…it was a tough life, especially with my daily intake of conch fritters and conch chowder…I will now dream about them for weeks on end…
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I made conch fritters before and posted the recipe on my blog if you want to try another version. I’m from the Bahamas, so I like to think they’re pretty authentic
Don’t mind the pics. It’s an old post before I got fancy with things! Love your post! I was so excited to see a Conch Fritters recipe pop up in my Google Reader.
http://thebitchinkitchin.blogspot.com/2009/07/conch-fritters.html
Ellie
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Michelle on April 6th, 2012 at 8:00 pm
Thank you for sharing, Ellie, I will definitely check them out!
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I absolutely love following you blog, but I must say that I am deeply disappointed that last week included a recipe for conch. While not yet formally considered an endangered species, conch has become more and more rare over the past few years due to overfishing and the ignorance of the public, who still think that consumption of this food is acceptable. Encouraging people to eat this organism is irresponsible.
I urge you to encourage anyone who reads your blog to check out the Monterey Bay Aquarium’s seafood watch list, a guide that shows which seafoods are ecologically ethical to consume and which should be avoided for the good of the planet. Currently, this advisory lists queen conch under the red category, meaning it should not be consumed by anyone who cares about the future of our oceans.
Regional guides that show which seafoods are environmentally sound and which are irresponsible choices can be found at: http://www.montereybayaquarium.org/cr/cr_seafoodwatch/download.aspx
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I would have believed you if you’d gotten my name right. Now I’m sad.
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Ellie @ The Bitchin' Kitchin' on April 8th, 2012 at 6:17 pm
Hi Allie,
I believe Michelle’s response was actually for me, regarding my own Conch Fritters post. But with respect to your post, I’ve had a lot of success making Corn Fritters, using the same recipe but substituting corn instead of conch. It’s a good alternative to using conch in this recipe. Hope you get to try this!
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So glad you enjoyed your time in South Florida. I have called Palm Beach County home for many years and Benny’s is such a great spot! Thank you for re-creating the recipe.
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@Shannon
Kaya’s conch fritters really are incredible! I’m definitely trying to replicate them!
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I don’t get Conch (Santorini) here but I am tempted to make these without Conch. YUM!
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First time at your site – making clam fritters tonight and looking forward to incorporating your recipe. I love Pittsburgh and actually had conch fritters at Ray’s Marlin Beach Bar and Grill when I lived there ~ not sure it it’s still open… (FYI: it’s an “alternative” place, so some folks might not feel welcome but we had a great time – they had a little sand beach under the bar stools – so cool).
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why did my conch batter turn black over night,it looks like mole but it dosent smell bad and the conch is fresh
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Michelle on November 20th, 2012 at 11:49 am
Hi Jay, I’m not sure, but I’ve never left the batter to sit for any length of time; I just make it right before I’m about to fry the fritters. I’m guessing some type of chemical reaction caused the color change.
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