Golden brown zucchini fritters with the salty tang of feta cheese. A great way to use up zucchini and a perfect low carb appetizer or side dish.
You wouldn’t know it from the way I have taken over the kitchen, but my husband is actually an excellent cook. He doesn’t get much opportunity these days, because I have commandeered almost all aspects of our meal preparation. Some of this is for practical reasons, as he works outside the home and it makes more sense for me to be doing the majority of the food prep. And some of this is because cooking, which was always a love of mine, has become an all-consuming passion. But when I do relinquish the reigns, he is quite proficient and has come up with some lovely dishes. He has a good understanding of flavour and how to bring out the best in fresh foods, and he doesn’t just follow a recipe, but considers how to change and improve it. Quite some time ago, back when we used to eat wheat, he took a somewhat ho-hum recipe for zucchini fritters and added feta. He made some other changes as well, and it quickly became a family favourite.
So when I decided to try low carb zucchini fritters, I used that recipe as my gold standard. I wanted to capture the same flavours without the gluten, so obviously the wheat flour had to go. I wanted something relatively neutral in flavour, so as not compete with zucchini and herbs, but I didn’t think almond flour would hold together well enough during frying. A small amount of flax and coconut flour, as well as an extra egg, did the trick.
And I absolutely had to keep Tim’s addition of feta. In fact, I doubled the feta, just for his sake. Because my husband has an abiding love of feta and will add it to almost any recipe he can. When I start kicking around meal ideas with him, I will list out ingredients I might use and his eyes will light up as he says “And how about some feta?”. I am not sure where this love of feta comes from, but it’s highly amusing to me. And he does have a point. That salty, crumbly cheese really can add a new dimension to a recipe. I don’t quite think it belongs in everything, as he seems to, but it’s good stuff and it makes for really tasty zucchini fritters.
And how did the low carb version turn out? Fantastic. Beautifully browned and a bit crispy, with wonderful flavour from the herbs and the feta. A perfect low carb appetizer or side dish. We will be making them again as soon as I can hit the farmer’s market for some more zucchini!
Zucchini and Feta Fritters – Low Carb and Gluten-Free
Golden brown zucchini fritters with the salty tang of feta cheese. A great way to use up zucchini and a perfect low carb appetizer or side dish.
Ingredients
- 2 cups finely shredded zucchini
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup golden flax seed meal
- 2 tbsp coconut flour
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 1 tsp ground marjoram
- 3/4 tsp pepper
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1 cup crumbled feta
- 1/4 cup scallions, chopped
- 2 large eggs
- 6 tbsp coconut oil or butter
- 1/4 cup Greek yogurt for garnish (optional)
Instructions
- Place zucchini in a fine-mesh sieve and sprinkle with salt. Toss a few times and let drain 1 hour. Then press on zucchini to release as much moisture as possible. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, combine flax seed meal, coconut flour, oregano, marjoram, pepper and salt. Stir in feta and scallions, then stir in drained zucchini and eggs until thoroughly combined.
- Form mixture into patties about 3 inches in diameter and 3/4 inch thick. You should get 12 to 14 patties.
- In large skillet, heat half of the oil or butter over medium high heat until shimmering. Place half the zucchini fritters into the pan and cook until browned and cooked through, 3 to 4 minutes per side.
- Remove to a paper towel lined plate and repeat with remaining oil and remaining fritters. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
Serves 6. Each serving has 6.3 g of carbs and 3.3 g of fiber. Total NET CARBS = 3 g per serving.
With all the hoards of zucchini I know I’ll be getting in my CSA Box, this recipe is definitely come in handy Carolyn. Hope you’re having a terrific summer!
I run the gamut of wishing Hubby could cook to being glad he doesn’t because it means I don’t have to share the kitchen with him. That being said, if he would come up with dishes like this one, I’d give him free rein! They look delicious….gluten free or not….plain ole delicious.
Slide a stack my way! These look phenomenal, and I looove the feta addition!
Delicious! Can’t believe you make them gluten free. You rock!
I make zucchini fritters all the time because they like to go crazy in my garden… them and the mint are taking over!! 😀
I must be the only person in the world that can kill a mint plant. I give up!
That’s because your name is Rosemary and not Mint! :-))
You really made me laugh out loud.
I love that you added feta. So yummy looking!
These look gorgeous! I’m with Tim, FETA ALL THE THINGS! There is almost nothing that tangy salty flavor doesn’t go well with! And I love the addition of scallions in these, I can imagine how they taste in my head and can’t wait to try them!
These look wonderful! I will have to try them!
Tim is too funny with his love of feta cheese! Looks good! 🙂
I have a TON of zucchini from our garden this year! Looks like I know what I’m making tomorrow!!!
Lovely stacks of deliciousness 🙂
The zucchini and feta combination is a classic Greek recipe – that was how my mother always made her fritters growing up and its how my family in Greece makes them today. my toddler loves zucchini fritters so they are frequently on the menu at my house. You can also do a baked casserole version of this dish – it’s called a zucchini pita that is basically your recipe above less the flour binder additions. And generally its a 2:1 ratio zucchini to feta and so very satisfying! It was a light dinner in my house tonight actually 🙂 its a nice option when you don’t want to be at the stove or feel like frying.
Hey, that’s a great idea, I need to try that!
These were a big hit! I ate them with the greek yogurt but DH liked them with chutney too. I think I have made more delicious food from your website than any other at this point! Thanks for all the great recipes 🙂
Thanks so much!
So I made these tonight – My husband LOOOOOOOVED them! SO easy – SO good!
(Sorry to leave this in a comment. I had it all typed into your contact form but the captcha code wouldn’t load. Feel free to delete from here.)
Hi there,
I would love to feature this recipe for Meatless Monday at BlogHer in the upcoming weeks: https://alldayidreamaboutfood.com/2013/07/zucchini-and-feta-fritters-low-carb-and-gluten-free.html
It would be your photo, my description of the recipe, and a link to get the recipe from your site.
To do that, I need you to e-mail me a statement that says I have permission to use the photo as long as there is credit and a link to your site, *and* I need a photo that’s 465×287 for their slideshow. I can crop and re-size or you can send me a photo, assuming you are ok with this.
Thanks,
Kalyn
Love the zucchini cakes! The feta is unexpected but delicious. Note for other feta lovers – try it in chili instead of cheddar and sour cream. I make my chili rather spicy but stir in some feta at the end. Yum.
My husband LOVE chili. He’d love it with feta…great tip.
I bet this would be yummy with potatoes instead of zucchini. You know, just because I don’t do veggies. 🙂
And now I want fried potatoes. Mmm!
Do you have to us coconut flour for this recipe?
No, but I think the texture may change some without it.
I can’t get coconut flour. The texture may change but what about I use plain flour. I don’t need gluten free.
Sure, that would work!
Oh yes… these look so perfect and crispy. The feta is a lovely addition!
I am so hungry looking at these! I am loving your version of zucchini fritters, they look perfect!
I made these last night – they came out great! Total hit – will make again. I only got 10 small fritters out of it though… Might add more zucchini next time.
That definitely doesn’t sound like enough fritters! 🙂
I’m a feta lover too, these fritter sounds right up my alley!
I just made these for breakfast. YUM! What a fantastic idea to add the feta; that takes it over the top.
Nice. I may have to change a thing or two to make this Paleo.
I really, really don’t want to go to the store…I normally don’t like messing with a recipe the first time around but I don’t have coconut flour on hand. Do you have any suggestions for a substitution? I just bought some feta with Mediterranean herbs yesterday and I think it would be amazing in these!
How about 1/4 cup almond flour? I think that would work.
I ended of just making them with no binding agents other than eggs (the cheese helped too as it melted) they were great! I will be picking up some coconut flour to keep on hand the next time I go shopping though. Then I’ll make them again the proper way 🙂
The coconut flour is more for making them a bit drier, not as “eggy”…but so glad it worked your way too.
Prepared these for dinner late last week and they were a huge hit. I even ate one of the leftovers cold, straight from the fridge. Yum! I thought I was making them small enough, but I only ended up with 8.
I will definitely be making these again soon.
8 big ones sounds good to me anyway!
Served these with dinner tonight – they were delicious and filling, and prep was so quick and easy! We devoured ours with tzatziki sauce, but I think next time we’ll go with your suggestion, as the tzatziki was a little overwhelming.
Hope you don’t mind answering a question from an older post. Do you remove the zucchini skin before grating?
Thanks.
No, I never do. I like it.
Thanks, Carolyn. Excited to make your fritters.
If you’re not vegetarian, add a can of drained wild salmon to make these into a main dish. Mix some crumbled feta with herbs (especially dill) and plain Greek yogurt for a quick and tasty sauce.
Oh yum, nice idea! I adore salmon. Did you see my salmon giveaway going on right now? Well, it’s not for the salmon itself, but for some cedar planks to grill it.
We liked these so much I featured them on my blog promoting vegetarian and Krishna conscious recipes! Check it out here: http://discoveryourselfinyoga.blogspot.com/p/vegetarian-recipes.html
Thanks!
Excellent-made these just now and they are so delicious. I shredded the zucchini yesterday then got sidetracked and just made them now. Overnighting zucchini in fridge was no problem. I didn’t have marjoram on hand so I subbed thyme. Thanks for this yummy side dish that’s using up the summer zucchini.
I found the oregano over powered everything else. Couldn’t even taste the feta. Next time I will leave that out.
Happy Friday! Just letting you know I featured this recipe for my weekly Low-Carb Recipe Love on Fridays post. I hope a lot of my readers will click over and try your recipe; looks great!
Thanks, Kalyn!
I’ve mad these twice. The first time I thought that the ratio of flax meal made it a little bitter. The second time I adjusted it by cutting the flax in half and using almond flour for the other half. I also add a bit more zucchini because I wanted it to be more veggie structured. I used an air fryer. and if you haven’t tried that yet, I’m saying run, don’t walk to purchase one!!! OMG!! I’ve been on a quest to find the perfect fritter, and I’ve tried them on the stove, but the air fryer takes it up to a completely different level!! To die for!!