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.
Well Brandi, I finally did it, my neighbor gave me a very large zucchini from their garden and I made a double batch of your fritters. All I can say is OH MY GOSH they were unbelievable. I would not change a thing. The fritters held together so well and came out crispy on the outside and perfect(not mushy) on the inside. Thank you so much for your hard work and expertise, my daughter and now have awesome leftovers for lunch tomorrow!😀
Amazing! Made this twice the first day just because it was delicious and couldn’t get enough. My kids loved it too. Two days later making a double batch. Your recipes are incredible.
Yay, awesome to hear Nena!
I made these for my family tonight and they were perfect!! I also made the lemon pepper sauce and it was delicious as well. Thank you for a great recipe!!!
HOLY. CRAP. This was SO DELICIOUS! I used a combination of cashew butter and tahini since that’s what I had on hand, and I made 5 instead of 4. I made up the sauce but didn’t even use it – they didn’t need it! My zucchini plant is producing SO many zucchini’s this summer so I’ll definitely be making this again! Thank you for the awesome recipe!!!
Yay, really happy to hear that Suzanne!!
I came to your web site because I saw the delicious recipe for the zucchini fritters I have just started a veggie diet with no oil and I can’t wait to try your recipe. Thank you for your wonderful ideas!
Thank you Miriam!!
These get so crunchy and are a big hit!! Thanks again for the recipes!!
So thrilled you loved these Quizeen!
Hi Brandi, You are a flavor genius! I made these 3 nights ago and we’re having them again tonight. (Our garden has given us an abundance of zucchini.) My zucchini was a little wetter so added extra oat flour, otherwise exactly as you wrote it. Today, I graded the zucchini ahead of time and will make the sauce in advance too so I’m not scrambling around and dinner time. Today we will take the first ear of corn from the garden so these may or may not have fresh corn. Thank you for your creativity and deliciousness!
Aww so very kind Pat, I’m so happy to hear how much you loved these!! Thank you for your kind words!
Hi Brandi,
Thanks for your fabulous recipes. I haven’t tried these yet but will soon. Do you see any issues with using all purpose flour instead of oat flour?
All the best.
I made these today. It was easier than I first thought. Delish!
I did not make the sauce. Instead, I made my fav vegan avocado ranch sauce and served with sliced fresh tomatoes over a bed of lettuce. Yum! I will definitely make this again.
So awesome to hear, thank you Susan!
I’m addicted to these! I swap white bean puree for the almond butter to make them fat free. I like to make them thin and bake in the air fryer, no flipping needed.
SO happy you love these Jean, thank you for the feedback!
I made this tonight and they were awesome. I was looking for something new to make that was summery and these were perfect. Even my carnivore college student liked them – will def be a regular this summer. BTW – first time I used one of your recipes and can’t wait to try the pizza this weekend. Love no oil!
Yay, really thrilled to hear that!
Is there anything I could substitute for the corn? Thank you!
The corn adds some much needed sweetness to balance the overall flavor, so you could try finely diced carrot instead. Not sure how it will compare, but you can try that!
so yummy! served with salsa. I think next time I’ll try substituting some bean puree for some of the almond butter to try and reduce some fat content.
Awesome to hear, yay!
Want to try these but don’t have any almond butter (or any any other suitable nut butters) in the house. Do you think tahini would be a good substitute? I have some walnuts… I supposed I could use my food processor to make walnut butter, but tahini would be so much easier
Hi Elisabeth, tahini is very bitter, and while I love tahini, not so sure that would taste great in these since almond butter is on the sweeter side. Walnut butter might be better. It will definitely taste a bit different than almond butter though.
A FANTASTIC recipe!!! Cooked for Greek Easter for the family who are fasting – i’m vegan but them going off foods which at the moment includes oil – is something they don’t find easy. I think they will want to be fasting all the time to get me to cook your great recipe!. Was tempted to add herbs but on reading all the reviews just decided to follow both the patties and sauce receipt both of which were perfect (just reduced the salt in patties). I couldn’t believe that they bound so well. Will definitely be making them again and checking out more across your site. Thank you!!
That is amazing to hear Carolyn, thank you so much for the amazing review!
Can I substitute garbanzo flour for oat flour? Thank you! So excited to try these, they look amazing!!!!
Hi Sarah, I have never used garbanzo flour so I have no idea if it would work well here or not! You can always try it, but I can’t guarantee results!
These were amazing. I had them leftover this morning with scrambled tofu and vegan pepper jack scooped on a patty and WOW! Next time I make them I think I’ll season them like sausage so they are a breakfast food. I can think of a million uses for this recipe. LOVED IT!!!
Omg that all sounds so amazing!! Great idea! So glad you loved them!
These were the top rated item on our plates tonight and for the last several days. LOVE the texture and the flavors were incredible. The lemon pepper sauce is delightful. We will be making these again! I tripled the recipe and will be testing a few in the freezer . So happy I found this. Thanks Brandi for another wonderful meal!
OHHHH, THESE ARE FABULOUS! Both the fritters and Lemon Pepper Sauce!
I see this was posted a couple years ago, but I just found these recipes by looking at a new recipe which lead to another recipe link which lead to another recipe link, etc. 😁 This is definitely one of my families favorites!! Have already told several people about this recipe.
Thank you! You are an amazing and inspirational cook 👩🍳!
Hi Brandi
Since everyone said it’s a good tasting recipe I made a double batch right away.
Thank you! It’s definitely a repeat for me! I will decrease on the salt for myself next time but I think most people like more salt.
Tried to make my own almond butter in the vitamix but it wouldn’t quite liquify but I added the almond mush just as it was and it still worked for me. I didn’t want to add extra oil like it said on the vitamix recipe for almond butter.
Great Ursula! Yes, reduce salt next time, if you prefer. Oh, as far as nut butters go, I never have success in a Vitamix, a food processor works much better. Here is my guide: https://thevegan8.com/how-to-make-homemade-roasted-almond-butter/
Hello! Sauce is great! Looking for nutrition info…is that available in the cookbook? I cant locate the book (for under $59) online –which means it must be popular! Thanks so much!!
Hi, no this recipe is just on my blog, not in my cookbook. However, the Lemon cream sauce IS in my book, which has the nutrition. The fritters I do not know the nutrition, but you can always check it with a nutrition calculator online like verywell.com. As far as the book, here is an update I put out a couple of weeks back on Facebook and Instagram. My book sold out and also my publisher merged with another company, so there is major delays in printing another batch. You cannot buy the print book currently, but can buy the kindle version. Here is an update on my cookbook order page: https://thevegan8.com/the-vegan-8-cookbook/
We made these tonight with local zucchini. I doubled the recipe and between three of us, we finished all eight! They were better than expected! I also doubled the sauce and will use the remainder for my daily salads. I sure hope I am gifted more zucchini this summer!
Yay, wonderful to hear Amy!
Next, the fritters…crunchy on the outside, soft and incredibly tasty on the inside…PERFECTION!! The smoked paprika gave them a wee kick, and the corn (I shaved corn-on-the-cob) kernels offered a nice sweet snap against the creamy zucchini. Last but never least, I smothered them in lemon sauce. YUM with a capital Y!! Thank you for both of these scrumptious recipes, Brandi!!
Thank you so much Colleen, I love your description of them! Thank you for the glowing review!
First, the sauce…THE perfect blend of lemon (I added 40 g this time b/c my family members are lemon freaks!;) , pepper and onion. I licked the spoon. I licked the lid of the blender. I licked the spatula that scraped every precious drop out of the blender. This simple sauce is perfect on these fritters and your new chili recipe, Brandi! LOVE IT!!
I made the fritters last night and they definitely did not disappoint. Love them. I didn’t try the sauce as I had some green chili sour cream made that I needed to use. Very good with that and a little cilantro on top. I’ll try the lemon sauce next time. Do you have any tips on how to get the almond butter out of a jar without making a huge mess? It’s so oily it’s really hard to stir together. The last time I used it to make your almond cake and ended up on the top of my dogs head. 😋
Hi Chris! Yes, for the almond butter, I always scrape everything from the jar into a separate container, then stir it all together until fully mixed and smooth. It’s impossible to do it inside those jars. This is how I store my nut butters. Much easier! Glad you loved the fritters!
I was looking for some veggie recipes with courgettes as we have a few in our garden and came upon this. So we tried the fritters last night and WOW…. they are delicious!!! Unfortunately I didn’t have enough cashews in house to make the sauce but that’s no biggie as we’ll definitely be enjoying these fritters again in the future and can make the accompanying sauce then. I just wanted to pop in and say how fab this recipe is (I don’t usually leave comments on recipes)
Thank you so much Viv, so glad you loved them!!