Zucchini-Corn Fritters
My mom picked 22 zucchini out of her garden on Saturday, and at least half of them are bigger than my arm. True story. There’s a lot of zucchini bread happening in our family this week. However, one cannot live on zucchini bread alone. Sure, it’s easy and a classic, but it’s certainly useful to have some other zucchini recipes on hand for when situations such as this arise. Some of my favorites include beer-battered zucchini fries and zucchini squares, and coming from an Italian family who makes countless fritters for Christmas Eve every year, I absolutely could not pass up this zucchini-corn fritter recipe.
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On Christmas Eve, my grandma always fried up different varieties of fritters – apple, corn and cauliflower. Once in a awhile, she made broccoli, but everyone’s favorite is corn. I had never even thought of adding zucchini to a fritter recipe, but it makes perfect sense! The zucchini flavor is so mild, it’s the perfect accompaniment to the corn and a fabulous way to use up all that extra zucchini! The use of cornmeal gives these fritters an extra oomph of corn flavor and a wonderful crunch. (I used course-ground cornmeal, which are the yellow flecks you see in the photos.)
While I usually associate fritters with Christmas Eve dinners, I’m happy to introduce them to my summer menus!
One year ago: Chocolate Cream Pie
Two years ago: Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Cheesecake Bars
Three years ago: How to Make Pate a Choux
Six years ago: Miniature Italian Meatloaves
Zucchini-Corn Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini, shredded
- ½ teaspoon (0.5 teaspoon) kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- ½ (0.5) small onion, finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, minced
- 2 ears of corn, kernels cut off
- ½ cup (79.5 g) yellow cornmeal
- ½ cup (62.5 g) all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) baking soda
- ¾ teaspoon (0.75 teaspoon) kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon (0.25 teaspoon) black pepper
- ¾ cup (180 ml) buttermilk
- 1 egg
- Vegetable or canola oil, for frying
- Salt, to taste
Instructions
- In a small bowl, toss the shredded zucchini with ½ teaspoon kosher salt. Set aside for 10 minutes, then wrap in a clean kitchen towel or a triple layer of paper towels, and squeeze to release excess moisture. Set aside.
- Place the butter in a large nonstick skillet (I used my Le Creuset 3½-quart braiser) set over medium-high heat. When the pan is hot, add the onion and garlic. Cook, stirring frequently, until the onion has softened, about 4 minutes. Stir in the corn and cook, stirring occasionally, for 3 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat.
- In a small bowl, whisk together the cornmeal, flour, baking soda, kosher salt and pepper. In a second medium-sized bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and egg until well combined. Add the corn mixture and zucchini, and stir to combine. Add the cornmeal mixture, and gently mix just until everything comes together.
- Add enough oil to the skillet to come to a depth of about ⅛-inch. Set the pan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, drop the batter into the pan using a 1/4 cup measure. Use the back of the measuring cup to flatten the batter into a round. Cook for about 3-4 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to drain and sprinkle with salt while still hot. Repeat with remaining batter (you may need to add additional oil as you get to the last few).
Notes
- The fritters can be made up to 2 hours ahead of time. Reheat them in a 375 degrees F oven on a wire rack set inside of a baking sheet.
Did you make this recipe?
Leave a review below, then snap a picture and tag @thebrowneyedbaker on Instagram so I can see it!
Just made them. I used stone ground corn from our grist mill in town. I even bought buttermilk!! These are excellent. Will definitely make again.
Just made these. I used 3/4 cup of frozen sweet corn, Bob’s Red Mill Polenta for the cornmeal, and Bob’s gluten free baking flour. So you can make these in the winter and you can make them gluten free and they are delicious!
Made these yesterday – – -they were wonderful!!!
Thank you so much for sharing the recipe.
Hi Michelle. I’m sorry to be confusing! What I meant was, how many cups of shredded zucchini should be used? Thank you so much.
Hi Tori, I would estimate about 1.5 cups.
Hi! Wondering what the end measurements were for how much zucchini to use? I have corn and zucchini from my garden. Can’t wait to make this! Thank you!
Hi Tori, I’m not sure what you mean by end measurement? You should use two medium-sized zucchini.
I wonder how these would taste if you used mushrooms instead of Zucchini.
I absolutely loved these! I made them while on vacay with my sister and my niece. My sister loved them too! I love ’em so much that I’m making them for my birthday dinner this weekend!
These were delicious!! What a great use of late summer veggies. Unfortunately I had a bit of a mishap making these…as I was flipping one of the fritters, a kernel of corn literally exploded and splashed hot oil on my arm. Luckily its a pretty minor (but painful!) burn. Just wondering if that was just a freak thing or if kernel explosions were common in making these and it was just bad luck that it happened as my hand was nearby? Or maybe I used too much oil? Too hot? Anyway, these were delicious and easy!
Ouch! So sorry about your burn! I haven’t had any kernels explode on me, knock on wood!