These Baked Keto Zucchini Fritters are the perfect thing when you're looking for something light, low carb, AND vegetarian. Super tasty, too!
Every summer, we end up with SO much zucchini.
We’ll order some with our groceries, end up seeing really nice looking zucchini at the farmer’s market... and invariably, someone grows too much, passing some to us.
Easy zucchini recipes are our favorite way to use up that summer bounty, and we’re always open to good ideas!
A few years ago, I happened across a recipe for Crispy Baked Zucchini Patties with Lemon Tahini Dip, from a fellow Canadian food blogger.
It looked like a great way to use up some zucchini, and it was an easy recipe, so we gave it a go - and it immediately became a summer staple here.
On their own, they’re great for a light lunch. For an easy meal with a bit more protein we’d treat the patties as more of a side dish, serving with a fried egg or a little piece of meat.
... and then I went on a keto diet. As fantastic as it is... this was not a low carb recipe!
Keto-ifying Zucchini Patties
Recently, I was craving them and decided to convert this favourite to a low carb zucchini fritters recipe. It didn’t take a lot to make her zucchini fritters keto, mostly just swapping out the panko, and making sure that my swap didn’t ruin the texture.
In the end, we came up with a keto zucchini fritters recipe, suitable for pretty much any low carb diet.
These are the best zucchini fritters possible, at such a low carb count.
While they’re not quite as crispy as the source material - when baked - you can fry them for some added crispiness. (See post for alternative cooking instructions!)
We generally don’t bother deep frying, preferring to keep these low carb zucchini patties as a light meal.
Baked Keto Zucchini Fritters Ingredients
The beauty of this recipe is that it takes such simple ingredients. That said, I do have some notes for you:
Fresh Zucchini
You’ll need 3 cups of shredded summer zucchini, which will end up being 3-4 medium-sized zucchini. I prefer using small or medium zucchinis over large ones, as texture and seed size from the large ones... aren’t great for this recipe.
Zucchini has so much liquid in it, that it needs to be salted and squeezed out. More on that in a bit!
Red Onion
I use red onion because that’s what the source recipe - which we loved as-is, before I went keto - used.
If you want to slightly lower the carbs (or just prefer the flavour), feel free to swap thinly sliced green onions in.
They can be added with the remaining ingredients, rather than included in the salting/squeezing step.
Grated Parmesan Cheese
While some zucchini - or veggie in general - patties include different cheese like Mozzarella cheese, cheddar cheese, or Feta, I stuck to Parmesan cheese when converting this recipe.
It crisps up in a nice way, which prevented me from having to add a crust of pork rinds, etc.
The Other Ingredients
Regular salt (Or sea salt)
Almond flour
Coconut flour
Mayonnaise (Try my Homemade Keto Mayo!)
Large eggs
Dijon mustard
Crushed chilis
Salt and black pepper to taste
How to Make Low Carb Zucchini Fritters
The full recipe follows, here is the pictorial overview:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
Prepare The Zucchini
Using a box grater, shred your zucchini. You can use a large shred or a small one, depending on your preference.
Depending on what else I’m doing that day, sometimes I’ll use the grating option on my food processor, to make even easier work of it.
The best way to ensure crispy keto zucchini fritters is getting as much water out of the zucchini as possible, so be sure not to skip this next step:
Measure shredded zucchini, onion, and salt into a bowl, toss well to combine. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
Once the time is up - a handful at a time - squeeze as much excess water out of the grated zucchini as possible, transferring drained zucchini to a large bowl. (Note: A dry bowl!).
I will generally use bare hands to do this, but placing the zucchini shreds into a clean kitchen towel and basically wringing it out is another option for removing excess moisture. Paper towels are yet another option.
This step may seem fussy, but it's key to having a great texture!
Make the Zucchini Patties
Measure the remaining fritter ingredients - except salt, pepper, and eggs - into the large mixing bowl. Using a large spoon, stir well to combine, then season with salt and pepper, to taste.
Add eggs, stir well to break up and fully combine.
Use a ¼ cup measure to form patties, compressing them as you go. Place each in a single layer on prepared sheet pan, leaving space between them.
Note: If you have an ice cream scoop, that can work in place of the ¼ cup measure.
Bake for 15 minutes, then flip each fritter and bake for another 15 minutes on the other side.
Serve hot, drizzled with Lemon Tahini Drizzle (Recipe below)!
Lemon Tahini Drizzle
¼ cup Tahini
1 Lemon, zest and juice of
2 Garlic cloves, pressed or finely minced
2 tablespoon Water
2 tablespoon Olive oil
Salt and pepper, to taste
Measure the ingredients into a mini food processor, blitz until thick, smooth, and well combined.
For the entire recipe (Much more than you'll need for the 4 servings of fritters!), here is the nutritional info:
643 calories | 25 grams carbohydrates | 12 grams protein | 60 grams fat (8 grams saturated fat, 17 grams polyunsaturated fat, 32 grams monounsaturated fat) | 26 mg sodium | 449 mg potassium | 6 grams fiber | 3 grams sugar | 65 IU vitamin A | 62 mg Vitamin C | 125 mg calcium | 4 mg iron | 19 grams net carbs
Alternative Cooking Methods
Air Frying
Spray both sides of the patties with cooking spray. Place in air fryer, air fry 380 for about 25 minutes, flipping the low-carb zucchini fritters at the halfway or ⅔ point in time.
Pan Frying
In a large skillet / large frying pan over medium-high heat, heat enough oil to cover the bottom about ¼" deep.
Once oil is hot enough to sizzle when a drop of zucchini batter is placed in it, turn the temp down to medium heat and gently place the keto fritters into the hot oil.
Fry until golden brown on the underside, then gently flip each fritter and continue frying until the second side is also golden brown.
Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate to absorb extra oil before serving.
Final Easy Zucchini Fritters Recipe Notes
- This recipe generally makes 8 patties, and we consider 2 a serving. Each serving has 7 net grams of carbs.
- Yellow squash / yellow zucchini / yellow summer squash should work just fine in place of regular zucchini.
- If you want to skip the lemon tahini sauce, these go great with a dollop of sour cream and some sliced green onions.
- If you have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days. They reheat well - especially in an air fryer.
More Low Carb Vegetarian Recipes
Looking to lower the carbs, but without the meat? Here are some more recipe ideas for you:
Sesame Crusted Smoked Tofu Salad
Paleo Stuffed Grape Leaves
Cilantro-Lime Cauliflower Rice
Keto Mushroom Turnovers
Share the Love!
Before you chow down, be sure to take some pics of your handiwork! If you post it to Bluesky, be sure to tag us - @CelebrationGen. We're also on Pinterest, so you can save all your favourite recipes to a board!
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Well, the published nonsense, anyway!
Baked Keto Zucchini Fritters
Equipment
- 1 Baking sheet
- Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 3 cups Shredded zucchini packed
- ¼ cup Red onion finely chopped
- 1 teaspoon Salt
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese finely grated
- ⅓ cup Almond flour
- 2 tablespoon Coconut flour
- 1 tablespoon Mayonnaise
- 2 teaspoon Dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon Crushed chilis
- Salt and pepper to taste
- 2 Large eggs
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Measure shredded zucchini, onion and salt into a bowl, toss well to combine. Allow to sit for 15 minutes.
- Once the time is up - a handful at a time - squeeze as much water out of the zucchini shreds as possible, transferring drained zucchini to a dry bowl.
- Add remaining fritter ingredients - except salt, pepper, and eggs - stir well to combine, then season with salt and pepper, to taste.
- Add eggs, stir well to break up and fully combine.
- Use a ⅓ cup measure to form patties, compressing them as you go. Place each on prepared baking sheet, leaving space between them.
- Bake for 15 minutes, then flip each fritter and bake for another 15 minutes on the other side.
- Serve hot!
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