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.
OMG I made these last night and seriously just wow. I love these little zucchini cakes. They are just amazing and prefect, seriously. They have such a beautiful and savory flavor. I absolutely love the use of the smoked paprika it gives it such a depth of flavor. But all the flavors combined so well together. You really have such an amazing understanding of how flavors go together. Amazing. I substituted the almond butter with potatoes and I absolutely thought the cakes were out of this world good. I am curious to try it with zucchini next time. But I like them so much with potatoes it is good that I can make them low fat most the times I make it and yet still have such amazing flavor. Yum. For the sauce I used macadamia nuts in place of the cashews and the sauce was still good but you were right and I sure could detect a strong macadamia nut flavor. The sauce wasn’t ruined it was still tasty but I think I want to try it with tahini next time to see if it comes out better. If I were to use tahini instead of whole nuts how much tahini do you think I should use?
Hahaha I mean I am curious to try the cakes with tahini next time. I said above I am curious to try them with zucchini. Hahaha my brain is so weird it just fires randomly I guess. Hahahaha
I want to make this recipe next. Do you think pecan butter would work? If not I might just make it with the potatoes or tahini. Have you tried it with either the potatoes or tahini? If potatoes work well it might be nice to keep it fat free. At least for some of the times I make it. Also for the sauce has anyone given you feedback using white beans? I was thinking of maybe trying macadamia nuts but I don’t know.
Oh yes, just do the potatoes! Tahini would work as well. Many readers do the potato option and love it! Of course, way lower-fat that way too 🙂 I have one reader that I know makes this with white beans all the time, but I would definitely say that is a personal preference on taste, as I cannot stand the texture that white beans leave behind when it’s solely the beans being used. But some people don’t mind it. Otherwise you can try the macadamia nuts, but again, I don’t like their strong taste, lol! But I really think it boils down to personal taste. Let me know which way you try it. 🙂
(ops, I mean, I was talking about the sauce in the previous comment :P)
Loved it, Brandi! Since I don’t have a super blender and I hate that cashews never get smooth with mine, I used 1/3 cup of cashew muss and it was perfect 😀 My falafel sandwich rocked with it!!!
Oh, so happy to hear that, thank you for the feedback Barbara!
I’m so excited to make these! I’m on the appetizer committee for our preschool holiday party and since we’re the only vegans I want to make something that A) we can eat and B) will blow their socks off…these sound like they fit the bill! It’s a nut free school so I’ll try all the subs and let you know how it went.
Oh wonderful Elyse! Can’t wait to hear! These have been one of my most popular recipes with readers and it is truly one of my favorite recipes I’ve ever made. Can’t wait to hear how it went, thank you so much!
Just made these for my second time in a week. 🙂 This time I made a double batch! These are so delicious I can’t stop eating them! I love them with and without the sauce. I am so grateful I found your site and so grateful that you share your amazing recipes with us. I only recently found you and have just made two recipes so far, this and the smoky white bean and potato stew. Love them both and have shared the recipes with others that I thought would enjoy them. After I made these today I spent some time on your site and have bookmarked a ton of recipes I want to try. I have a feeling they are all going to be amazing. 🙂 Thanks again, Brandi!
Wow Angie, you made my day! I absolutely appreciate hearing from my readers and your feedback was so sweet and thoughtful. I’m so happy to hear the recipes you’ve tried so far have been such hits, I love it! Thanks so much for taking the time to let me know and for trying them out!
WOW! Just made these & they’re AMAZING! I’m so glad I doubled the recipe – I can’t see these lasting very long 🙂 I didn’t have almond butter, so I used half tahini and half peanut butter. Definitely one to made again!
Wonderful Tracey! I’m so happy to hear you loved this recipe! They are my favorite too!
Hi Brandi–
Just a quick question about the corn. Did you cook the frozen corn, or just thaw it?
Thanks!
Yes, I just used it frozen, no need to thaw!
Hi Brandi~
I have an over abundance of zucchini right now and your Corn Zucchini Cakes popped into my head. Do you think they would be good if I froze them after baking? Or used frozen, thawed, drained zucchini? Just trying to be creative! 🙂 Thanks!
Yes, I think they’d be just fine to freeze after cooking them! Then I would just reheat them on low (300 degrees) until warmed through 🙂 I would definitely cook them first.
Brandi
Found your blog via Talk of the House yesterday which showed your Fourth of July parfait.
My family and I have just started the vegan way of eating since school let out in June. My husband who has health issues has had wonderful numbers …blood pressure and sugar. In 3 weeks he has lost 26 pounds and hasn’t been hungry at all! Two of our five children are still living home and have loved all the foods I am preparing.
My reason for writing is to thank you for your wonderful blog and delicious, easy (8) recipes. Today is the fourth and we had the zucchini fritters in whole grain burger buns with your kale and white been salad with yummy dressing.
So very glad to have found your blog!
Fondly,
Mona
Mona, so sorry I missed this message! Thank you so much for the sweet comment, I’m so glad you found me and loved the fritters, that makes me very happy!!
That’s perfect! My boyfriend loves these kind of appetizers and I love oil-free recipes ^_^
Awesome! I’m so glad to hear that and let me know if you try these! They are really delicious and full of flavor!
Brandi I made these tonight and holy cow they are delicious. Crunchy and sweet and great texture. I’m rotating these in. The only change I made is used white beans instead of cashews in the sauce and it still was wonderful. Doubling the whole recipe next time. Hubby loved it too.
I’m so happy to hear you loved these as much as we do Estee! They are truly one of my favorite recipes! Thank you so much for leaving feedback and I will definitely try your bean idea for the sauce next time. I have actually made a couple of sauces recently with beans and they were delish!
Holy moly, that sauce looks amazing! It’s definitely going on my to-make list. I can see about a million ways to use it. Yum!
Thank you so much Nichole! It really is such a versatile sauce, let me know if you try it!
Hi! I really would like to make these amazing zucchini recipe but I lack the nut butter. Do u think I can sub it with flax egg, a ripe avocado or just use a gluten free flour? Thanks so much again for making and sharing your wonderful recipes to all of us. We appreciate all your time & effort. Thanks again.
Hi Mars! You can sub with tahini or if you don’t have that, some readers have had success with my suggestion in the “notes” of using 1/4 cup of mashed cooked potato in place of the nut butter. Hope that helps and let me know how it turns out! 🙂
Works great! Made ma a happy girl lol =) Thanks so much Brandi. =)
Hey Brandi,
By far one of my fav recipes from your collection!!! The patties were so easy to make and I was literally drinking the lemon papper sauce! I had a bunch left over and used it for so many other things. Thanks and keep em coming!!
Sharon Jalysa
Yay! That is so awesome to hear, thank you so much for letting me know! Too funny….I feel the same way about that sauce!!
I made these tonight and subbed in 1/4 cup sweet potato for the almond butter and they were HEAVENLY!!! The lemon pepper cream made them even better. Thank you so much for this delicious recipe!!
Awesome Sara!! I’m so glad to hear that my suggestion of potato sub worked and even better that you used sweet potato…that sounds delicious! Thank you so much for the feedback, I truly appreciate it! SO glad you loved them.
Hi Brandi,
I made these three nights ago and they were delicious!!! My husband gobbled them up and actually said, “That was good!” Yay! My hubby has a lot of nut allergies so I had to sub the cashews with sunflower seeds in the cream sauce and it was still creamy goodness! In the zucchini cakes I subbed the almond butter and smoked paprika with black beans and liquid smoke. (weird I know, but it was great.)
Thanks so much Brandi for making such wonderful, simple recipes that even I can do! xo 🙂
I’m so happy you loved these so much Paula, thank you so much for the feedback!!
As expected, these were AMAZING! Easy to make, full of flavor and the lemon pepper sauce was a perfect partner for these delicious cakes. We’ll definitely be making them again! The sauce is wonderful on potatoes, veggies and salads – I love a good versatile recipe! Hope you’re having a great weekend!
I made the sauce with tofu and it came out perfect! I had to stop myself from eating the sauce right there.
Brandi these were delicious! I followed your recipe to the letter and they came out perfectly. I used the grater attachment on my food processor to grate the zucchini. I also (of course) made the lemon pepper sauce and it was wonderful. I kept it very thick because I wanted to use it as a spread (like mayo). The next day we had the cakes as sandwiches on toasted seed bread with the sauce as the spread. Loooooved this recipe!!!
Made these tonight for my husband and my mom, and we all LOVED them! Great flavor profile and we scarfed them down! I will definitely be adding these into my regular rotation!!
Awesome Tracy! I’m so happy to hear that, thank you so much for leaving feedback, I really appreciate it!
Isn’t cashew cream the best?! These look delicious, I’m putting them on my list of must try soon recipes.
Thank you Linda! Yes, it is. I use cashews for so much…I don’t know what I’d do without them, lol. These zucchini cakes are to die for, I hope you try them!