These Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters are not only oil-free, but baked, not fried and also gluten-free and just 8 easy ingredients and topped with a Creamy Lemon Pepper Sauce!
VEGAN OIL-FREE ZUCCHINI FRITTERS
Finally! You can eat a vegan corn zucchini fritter without oil or frying them. There are a bazillion zucchini cake or fritter recipes online, but they all have oil in them or are fried in oil. Guess what? You don’t need oil to make a delicious recipe!
I debated on calling these zucchini burgers, because they bake up and form a really similar burger texture. I would totally slap 2 of these beauties in between 2 buns and call my life complete.
In fact, this is one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever created. Maybe it’s because zucchini is my favorite veggie or maybe it’s the wonderful combo of sweet corn combined with zucchini. Maybe it’s the amazing spices of garlic and onion and smoky paprika that enhance these little cakes. OR, maybe it’s the out-of-this-world creamy lemon pepper sauce. Ok. It’s all of the above! Did I sell you on these yet?
HOW TO MAKE VEGAN ZUCCHINI FRITTERS
To make these amazing vegan oil-free zucchini fritters, you need just 7 easy basic ingredients.
- zucchini
- corn
- almond butter
- oat flour
- onion powder
- garlic powder
- smoked paprika
Only veggie you have to fool with is shredding the zucchini, which takes all of 5 minutes. Then mix everything up in a bowl as pictured below, form patties, chill them and then bake. SO easy.
I love easy recipes, don’t you?
These are not only oil-free, but also gluten-free with a wonderful crispy exterior. Baking them long enough on each side helps them crisp to perfection and also allows the veggies to really soften and cook through. This provides so much flavor. Frying them cooks them too fast and doesn’t really allow the zucchini to cook through.
Almond butter is another secret to these delicious cakes. The almond butter deepens the flavor of these, helps bind the patties and also helps them to crisp up.
Just because I’m so good to you guys, I’m sharing 2 recipes with you today. While these zucchini cakes are incredibly delicious on their own, if you are a person who loves to put sauce on everything, then you will love this Creamy Lemon Pepper Sauce.
The combo of lemon and pepper is a classic and adding it to a creamy base and a touch of onion powder made this sauce a new favorite. It would honestly be delicious on most anything.
I hope you love these Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters as much as I did!
Vegan Oil-Free Corn Zucchini Fritters
Ingredients
- 2 small zucchinis, shredded (274g is the weight BEFORE ringing out excess water, you will need 2 1/2 cups loosely filled of the shredded zucchini)
- 2/3 cup (90g) corn
- 3 tablespoons (48g) creamy almond butter
- 1/2 cup (64g) gluten-free oat flour
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 2 teaspoons onion powder
- 3/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
CREAMY LEMON PEPPER SAUCE
- 1/2 heaping cup (80g) raw cashews (cooked in boiling water for 10 minutes or soak overnight if you don't have a high-powered blender like a Vitamix. Drain, rinse and proceed.)
- 2 tablespoons (30g) fresh lemon juice
- 6-8 tablespoons water
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/4-1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt
- I use this scale.
Instructions
- First you will need to shred your zucchini and weigh 274 grams. Make sure you are using the larger wholes on your grater and not the tiny holes. Refer to photo above, but basically use the 1/4 inch size holes on your grater. You want them in the shredded strips, not the super fine grated. After shredding, loosely fill 2 1/2 cups to accurately measure.
- Place your shredded zucchini into a strainer and place a couple of paper towels on top and press down really hard squeezing out all the excess water beneath the strainer. Then wrap the zucchini in a papertowel and squeeze out any more. You don't need to obsess over every drop, just get most of the water out so the cakes cook up and aren't too watery. Place the dried zucchini into a large bowl.
- Add the corn and almond butter.
- In a separate small bowl, combine the oat flour (make sure it is finely ground into a powder if making your own), garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper and smoked paprika and stir until well mixed.
- Add the dry mixture to the zucchini mixture and stir for a good couple of minutes until it all comes together. It will seem too dry at first, but keep stirring and pressing the batter with the back of the spoon and it will start to stick. It should be moist and somewhat sticky. It will seem like they won't hold, but trust me, they bake up and become much more firm.
- Divide into 4 sections and form balls and then flatten out into little patties about 1/2 inch thick. Place onto parchment paper and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes to firm up some.
- Once the time is almost up, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Bake the patties for 25 minutes, carefully flip them over with a spatula (they will be tender but should flip easily) and bake for another 10-15 minutes depending on how crispy you want them. They should be a very golden brown color. Let cool about 10 minutes before serving.
- While they are baking, prepare the creamy lemon pepper sauce!
FOR THE SAUCE
- If you do not have a high powered blender like a Vitamix, then you will need to soak the cashews overnight in a bowl of water to really soften them, otherwise the sauce will be gritty. I repeat, your sauce will be gritty if you do not have a Vitamix or soak them. Drain and rinse and add them to a blender. I believe a food processor will work better than a standard blender if you don't have a Vitamix.
- Add the cashews, lemon juice, water, onion powder, pepper and salt. Blend until completely smooth. You will need to scrape the sides a couple of times during blending. Taste and adjust spices if necessary. I thought it was perfect as is. It has a nice balance of lemon and black pepper flavor. Feel free to make it extra spicy if you like. This sauce also makes a great salad dressing!
- The sauce will thicken the longer it sits and especially after being stored in the fridge. Just thin out with a tiny amount of water if desired.
I made these last night for me and the hubs and they were every bit as delicious as was described in the recipe. A silly thing to say, but they were also just as pretty! I hate it when I can’t make my food as pretty as the pictures shown… it makes me feel like a loser in the kitchen, haha. But these babies took on a dark golden crust and crisped up beautifully.
I followed the recipe exactly except I couldn’t find creamy almond butter and had to use the kind you grind at the supermarket. I don’t think it had any detrimental effect on them whatsoever. Also, I doubled the lemon pepper sauce so we could use it as salad dressing for a side green salad. We each ate 2 cakes slathered in the sauce, and with the salad, we both agreed we overate. LOL.
Thank you for such a great recipe. Since I overbought zucchini, I’m going to make the spicy zucchini soup next. I’ve only ever used zucchini in ratatouille and roasted in the oven, so your different applications of what I always thought was a rather boring vegetable are intriguing to me.
Thank you again, these are really just outstanding.
Lol, that made laugh Caroline at the “loser” comment! I know what you mean though! So many people have made these on Instagram and I love seeing how they all turned out just perfect like the photos in my post, they just are so easy to make! I’m so happy you loved these so much and I truly appreciate you taking the time to leave such wonderful feedback!!
Looks fantastic ! I just wanna dive in, yummy!
Once again: DELICIOUS! Easy, healthy, and very satisfying. The smell when they’re baking is almost too much to handle. I love the delicate cashew sauce, a perfect combo. I made them twice in 2 days! For my second round of the recipe, I didn’t have enough zucchini so I crossed my finger and shredded some carrots to fill the measurement (because heaven forbid I cut the recipe in half!), and it totally worked! It was still mainly zucchini. Thank you for the delicious recipe to add to my favorites!
Yay!! Liz, thank you so much for the awesome review!! I’m so happy to hear carrots worked too, thank you so much for sharing!! 🙂
what would be a good substitute for the corn? any ideas? thank you. they look great.
Hi Wanda, any sturdy vegetable similar in size that won’t become mushy would work. You could try peas or carrots, but if you use carrots, just make sure they are chopped small like the corn kernels, so they cook through all the way! Let me know if you try them!
Hi Brandi, I saw someone who made these on instagram. It looked so good and then I saw that it was your recipe….I should have known! I love adding smoked paprika to dishes. Such a great flavor and that creamy lemon sauce sounds delicious! Once I get sick of your alfredo (which might be never!) I’ll have to make this over and over again 🙂
Thank you so much Vanessa! Yes, it’s been exciting seeing so many people make them and love them as much as we do! I hope you will love them too!
I honestly cannot wait to try these, Brandi! I <3 Zucchini cakes! I tried making them before from a traditional recipe by just replacing the eggs with flax and it was a major fail aka they fell apart in the pan and ended up being more of zucchini scramble lol! I love how you've developed this recipe to vegan perfection! 🙂 And I AM one of those people who prefer everything with sauce! Cannot wait to try both of these recipes! Adding them both to the "to make from the vegan 8" list that keeps on growing!!
Thank you so much Ceara!! Yes, I know and these don’t even have an egg replacer. The almond butter helps to bind them as they bake up. They seem really loose while forming the patties, but baking them at the time specified magically makes them form a nice solid, crispy cake! They truly are one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever created, hope you love them!
These were great. I’ve made them twice now. I didn’t have smoked paprika so I used regular paprika and 1/4 t liquid smoke.
Wonderful Kathleen! Thank you so much for letting me know, I’m so glad you enjoyed them!
I made these tasty beauties & that lovely drizzled sauce too!
It was the perfect combination of tasty flavors, dear Brandi!
DELICIOUS & even FABULOUS! xxxx
Awesome Sophie, thank you so much!!
Okay. I made this last night, but I messed up. I hadn’t read the recipe before hand and thought I could whip this out at 5 pm. The flavor profile is AMAZING !!!! My mistake was in not allowing them to ‘set’ in the fridge for 30 min…I tried to do a quick set in the freezer for 5 minutes…and then, because my husband and daughter were sooooo hungry I wasn’t able to bake them to the point of drying the centers out (25 min. first half, flip, then add’l 15 min) …so my cakes came out doughy and gooey in the middles. I will need to try this again and make them as you directed!!! Sheesh… I think I may have made them too thick as well.
Hi Joy! So glad you loved the flavor profile! Yes, definitely cook it for the specified time, as that is precisely how it becomes cooked through and crispy, otherwise, yes it will still have a raw taste. Cook it next time as 25 mins/15 mins and I promise you’ll notice a difference. Also, I have noted to flatten them about 1/2 inch thick, so that will help them cook through as well. Thank you! 🙂
Thank you for a such nice recipe and idea.Was lovely and tasty.I love the sauce too,i will do it very often now,cant wait to use it as salad dresing! : )
I’m so happy you loved the recipe Mikejla, thank you so much for providing feedback!
I made these 2 nights ago and they were so delicious!! Can’t wait to make them again. I was short on time so after I refrigerated them, I put them in a pan with a little bit of avocado oil and flipped as needed. They came out great. Thanks for the great recipe!!
Yay! SO glad to hear the wonderful feedback Tammy, thank you so much for letting me know, I really appreciate it!! 🙂
Holy moly! This looks heavenly. I absolutely loveee lemon pepper and homemade sauces. I go through raw cashews like you wouldn’t believe. I actually just recently threw together a roasted red pepper sauce and am going to start using it as a salad dressing as well!
P.S. – I would totally slap 2 of these beauties in between 2 buns and call my life complete. <– Favorite sentence in this entire post.
Haha! Thank you Ashlee!! I’m so serious too, they are that good!!
YUM! This looks amazing! Great recipe! …also thanks for your informative comment on my blog! I ate all plants based today 🙂 Hoping it will help my digestive system to eat less meat and dairy!
You are so sweet Cailee! Thank you! I hope I didn’t blab too much, I just wanted to share what I have learned since I know many people (just as I did) only typically think of meat/dairy as the only protein sources, but there are such an abundance! xo
these look so good!! I’m going to try them – thinking of incorporating them into a dinner – do you have any suggestions what to serve along with the cakes? Thanks so much for all of your great recipes! We absolutely LOVE the chili cheese fries! 🙂
Hi Julie! If it were me, I would serve either some mashed potatoes or roasted potatoes and a salad perhaps. The sauce is so good, that it would excellent to just go right over a salad as well. Hope that helps! Please come back and let me know how they turn out and I’m so happy to hear you love the chili cheese fries!
I made these last night…and it will be on repeat! These are so yummy! I loved the crisp/crunch to them, the lemon pepper sauce ~ I served with mashed potatoes and veggies on the side and we just drizzled that sauce of yumminess over all. Thanks for another(! ) great recipe. 😉
Yay! I’m so glad you loved them so much! Thank you so much for the feedback, I love hearing it!
Made these last night and my omnivore husband LOVED them. And I may have eaten a few spoonfuls of the lemon pepper sauce.
Thank you so much for leaving wonderful feedback! I’m so glad to hear they were a hit!
I love everything about these cakes: the corn, the zucchini, the creamy, the lemon, and the pepper. 😉 Yum yum YUM! I need to make (and eat) these ASAP.
Thank you so much Meredith!! They are really honestly one of my favorite recipes so far!!
Oh. My. Word!!!! These look and sound fantastic! I’m sold! Making these next week for sure. I can’t wait!!
Yay!! I think you will love them Mandy! Especially the lemon pepper sauce!
Oh wow, these look goooo….ooood! I’m so amazed you can continually come up with all of these incredible recipes Brandi!!! I love zucchini and lemon pepper sauce on top sound incredible.
Aww you are so sweet Melanie, thank you so much for your compliment!!
Wow I love that these don’t have to be fried! I actually think that my super picky omni boyfriend might like them too (he loves corn and zukes!). Of course I’d have to leave the lemon pepper sauce off his (he hates condiments, lol who hates condiments?! That’s just not right!), but I’ll douse mine with it for sure!
Yes, no frying needed, seriously! Awesome, let me know if you try them please! If he loves corn and zucchini, I would definitely think he would like these, they are so full of flavor!
I will totally make these! They look amazing and the almond butter sounds really tasty in there. I would never have thought of that but I bet it works. The sauce I can’t do because cashew allergy but I bet they are good even without it. I’ll be tagging you when I Instagram my pics of these 🙂
Thank you Jen! You don’t taste the almond butter at all, just lots of flavor! It also really helps to bind and crisp up the cakes, so it’s a needed ingredient. You could make any sauce you like, or just eat them as is, they are honestly delicious without it. If you try the sauce without cashews, it’s not going to taste creamy at all….maybe try subbing with beans or tofu (I mention in the notes) and that might work!
Beautiful Brandi, delicious and love that sauce. I think I would love those zucchini cakes any way I could get them.
That’s a towering stack of zuke goodness right there! Gorgeous!
Aww thank you Annie!
So I know you and I have drooled over lemon pepper together!!! I love it and put it on everything!!! So yes yes on the sauce!! And I’m not joking when I say I grew up on zucchini cakes. My mom made them a lot, greek thing. I’ve been making a vegan version of hers for the boys and we love them! Need to try yours for sure!! Great one friend! And the fact that they are VEGAN and DELICIOUS is the bomb
Thank you so much Sophia!! I actually never even had a zucchini cake before I don’t think, but I’ve seen them around all over the place…always containing wheat flour, eggs and oil of course….yuck! So, I just put in what I thought I would love and dang, they are the bomb, LOL!!
I opened this link the second I got the email. First, my stomach growled (loudly) as the page opened. Then I saw that stack of cakes drizzled with sauce and my mouth actually fell open. Then I started to laugh like a maniac, and finally, my eyes teared up. This is what your recipes do to me! I am making these as soon as I can get to the grocery store for ingredients! Hooray for The Vegan 8!
Liz, your comment made my day!!! I’m so happy my recipes provoke such a wonderful response, haha! That means so much to me!!
How did you shred them? I usually use a grater so I’m not sure how you shredded them – in a food processor?
Hi Carol! I just used one of those handheld graters that have 3 different sets of hole sizes, basically just make sure you are using the larger holes, not the tiny ones. The right hole size is about 1/4 inch thick. You can see the shreds in the photo of the bowl. Grated technically means tiny or powdery size and I just wanted to make sure people got the right size. Your grating device is probably the larger holes. Hope that helps!
Hey I have a couple of questions first what is the serving amount for this recipe, secondly the sunbutter is on recall is there another butter I could use that’s nut free, and lastly could these be cooked and then froze sorry for all the questions lol