zucchini-ricotta-fritter-0132I had very little expectations about this zucchini ricotta fritters recipe. I was 85% sure the recipe wouldn’t work, the ricotta wouldn’t be firm enough to bind the ingredients and, in the end, the patties/fritters would crumble and take apart in the pan. I was mentally prepared for the disaster.

zucchini-ricotta-fritters-0096It worked, instead. Against all the odds.

Was I just lucky? No. It seems that mixing the right amount of ricotta, eggs and breadcrumbs can lead to one of the best recipe for zucchini cakes that you’ll ever have.

zucchini-ricotta-fritters-0105To my great surprise, I could shape spoonfuls of the zucchini batter into 3-in. (diameter) patties with hands without leaving any ingredient behind. Without shouting in my head “Why the hell did I start making this?”, I mean. A question that I happen to ask myself almost every time I leave the more familiar field of pasta-based recipes.

zucchini-ricotta-fritters-0120Seriously, this recipe is very easy. I find it more complicate to describe! After carefully dropping the cakes onto the sizzling pan and waiting a couple of minutes for each side to become firm and golden, it’s all about eating zucchini cakes with a melt in your mouth texture, creamy but not in the heavy way.  I believe that along with a side, these fritters would be a perfect addition to a healthy quick lunch.

zucchini-ricotta-fritters-0122

Are you a ricotta lover like me? What’s your favorite ricotta-based recipe?

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3.45 from 9 votes

Zucchini Ricotta Fritters

Servings: 7 -8 fritters

Ingredients

  • 2 medium zucchini washed and thinly cut into sticks
  • 1/3 cup ricotta drained
  • 1 egg
  • 1/2 to 1 cup panko breadcrumb depending of the consistency of your ricotta
  • 4 tablespoons olive oil
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • lemon zest from a lemon

Instructions

  • In a large bowl, combine the zucchini (cut into sticks), ricotta, egg, lemon zest and 1 teaspoon each of salt and pepper. Stir well, then stir in the breadcrumbs just until incorporated. Let the batter rest for 20 min in the fridge.
  • In a large skillet, heat 1/4 inch of olive oil until shimmering.
  • Shape spoonfuls of the zucchini batter into 3-in. (diameter) patties with your hands (careful, if you make them too thin they will break apart). Working in batches, add the patties in the pan with 1-2 tablespoons of oil. It is easier to flatten the patties with a spoon while in the pan, so you can try to flatten a little more at this point.
  • Fry over moderately high heat, adding more oil when necessary, turning the patties once, until browned and crisp, about 3 minutes per side. Drain the fritters on the paper towels and serve right away, with lemon wedges.

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  1. 5 stars
    Family favorite, served with soft boiled or poached eggs for brunch!
    Made as written with the addition of 2 scallions, a bit of garlic and onion powder! Stayed together and cooked perfectly! Thanks for sharing.

  2. These are super tasty 😋 I will say however, these cook like a pancake, not a fritter.
    I shredded the zucchini, added a few T of flour and grated parmesan cheese. Do not add salt until they are done cooking, salt will draw more unwanted moisture out of the zucchini. I did not fry them in oil but straight onto a nonstick pan. Make them Small (but not too thin) and pat the mix gently with a spoon. Letting them get really brown before you flip helps them stay together. Letting them cool completely also helps them stay together. I topped mine with Sr. Cream and green onion. I recommend not skipping the lemon zest if possible! Delicious

  3. 4 stars
    Lovely tasty fritters and a different way to use up me courgettes from the allotment. I added garlic and chili powder for an extra kick. I would also remove some of the liquid from the courgette. I found the mix a little too loose to stay together. But very tasty and will make them again. Just one question……do they freeze?

  4. My fritters felt apart in the frying pan. The batter did not stick together at all. Any suggestions?

  5. 5 stars
    Cooking sometimes isn’t an exact science and I think this recipe is a good example of that. This is a great base for fritters but you’ll need to adjust as needed. Here is how I modified it (normally I hate doing that but I think I it’s called for here): I used store-bought shredded squash and chopped it up even more (about 2 cups), 2/3 c ricotta, 3/4 Pablo breadcrumbs and 1 egg. I added about 1/4 Parmesan cheese and 2 T chives. I cooked them on pretty low heat. They’re addicting and I love them. They’d be great appetizers or as a side. Thank you for this recipe!

  6. calorie count? I’ve looked a few times for the nutritional info and I still can’t find it!

  7. Can these be frozen? I ask just in case I have any leftovers. Ha! I doubt it though.

  8. 1 star
    Really badly made. I usually shred zucchini with a grater but this time tried this way. What a complete disaster it was. After cooking in the frypan, I’ve thrown into the oven to cook. The ingredients don’t match the correct quantity you need as well.

  9. 4 stars
    Looks delicious 💜 and reminds me Ukrainian squash pancakes. But I like the combination of ricotta and squash that is new for me.

    In my case 1/3 cup ricotta wasn’t enough to get the batter consistency. I ended up with 1 1/3 cup ricotta. Looking forward to fry them and taste.

  10. Flavor is good but ingreidents list is off. had to use much more ricotta. had a hard time getting them to “stick” together.

  11. I did them today and they were amazing! I used grated zucchini and squeezed it to take out all the water, used the drained ricotta like you said and at the end, I only needed 1/2 cup of breadcrumbs. I also added a little bit of grated carrots to make it more colorful and “veggie-ful” haha. They turned out perfect and soft, great taste. I made them for my 20 month old girl. Thank you very much for sharing.

  12. Made these today. Even though I used an extra half cup of breadcrumbs as the mix seemed wet, these totally fell apart and were a bit of a disaster.

  13. I LOVE these. And so do my 4 kids!! I changed a few things just because 1. I didn’t have bread crumbs the first time I tried them so I subbed rolled oats (2/3 cup to 1/4 cup crumbs), and 2. I’m not a fan of lemon but added garlic salt in its place. I also shredded the zucchini be ause I was in a hurry. AMAZING! Thank you for posting this!😍

  14. I just made these for lunch. They were wonderful. One of the commenters replied that 80 g equaled 1 cup. It actually equals 3/8 cup but I added 1/2 ricotta cup with no ill effects. I also reduced the grated lemon zest to just one third of a lemon, chopped up one green onion and found that to be a good balance for me. I pan fried in olive oil and butter on a medium low setting and let them take their time getting nice and crusty on the outside. Heavenly and creamy on the inside the ingredients compliment each other well.

  15. I have just made them to take to a breakfast on the Copacabana Beach tomorrow morning to offer to my fellow swimmers.
    I hope they will like it. I’ll be serving it with tsatsiky souce. Cheers!!

  16. Recipe does seem to be disorganized. For my American eyes, using 1/2 cup of something and 4 tablespoons of something else, then throwing a curve ball of 80 grams of ricotta ??? I have absolutely no idea of how much in cup measurement?? So part of this recipe is doable, and a very important ingredient is suddenly in European measurement! Sorry, not about to waste my time or money on this one!

    1. You do realise that when the rest of the world uses an American recipe, we have to look up lbs and oz and convert them to metric right? It’s really not that hard.

    1. Mark 1 st cut into long slices .. then lay the slice flat and cut into short looking matchsticks

  17. Can you bake these instead?
    Have you or anyone else tried to do this?
    I’m trying to reduce the intake of extra fats.

  18. I shredded my zucchini, used panko breadcrumbs, and even skipped the 20 min in the fridge and didn’t have any issues with them falling apart. I cooked them slower over lower heat with olive oil and they were delicious. Ate them with a little bit of tomato sauce. Thanks!

  19. I’m wondering why the zucchini are cut into sticks as opposed to, say, shredded? They must be little sticks; otherwise, how can you “form” them into cakes? Other than that, I’m going to try this recipe tonight. It sounds delicious! Thanks.

  20. Can’t wait to try sounds good other things I have tried too watery or to much breadcrmdlkbs

  21. I have no idea how you got these to stay together. Mine were a crumbly mess. I tried frying and baking. Typically I would grate zucchini and drain it first, I think I will need to try this next time. Cutting them into tiny sticks just takes so long too. They didn’t really have a flavor so will definitely spice them up also.

  22. I may be confused because I think there is a big problem with mine in comparison. The first half of my batch fried up pretty rough without any olive oil in the batch. I used 1 egg, 1/3 c ricotta cheese and Italian bread crumbs and they seemed to do better after adding some e.v.o.o. I may try adding a spring onion and grated zu. Not giving up. Thanks for the recipe and inspiration. They were not too bad but I need more practice. 🙂

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  24. This looks and sounds delicious. Can you explain tho what you mean by “sticks”? How should I get the zucchini cut into sticks best, and what size/length/thickness should they be roughly? Especially since the patties are only 3 inches wide when formed.

    1. This is exactly what I was wondering. But the only question that hasn’t been answered, that I can see. Did you come up with anything?

    2. Adam when you slice the Zucchini in long slice ‘s, then lay them flat using a knife cute the slices into thin matchsticks ..

  25. Love zucchini fritters…make them very often; but, never with ricotta. Will give it a try. I usually grate my zucchini though….I’m sure that would work also, right?

  26. Hi Daniela,

    The Fritters look amazing. I am currently watching my carb intake. Is it possible to skip the breadcrumbs and just use almond flour to bind? Do you have any other suggestions?

  27. I’ve had plenty of disasters dealing with ‘patties’ or ‘fritters’ and some of them tend to be soft, crumbly or fell apart completely after one bite. I used to be a ricotta fan before I became a vegan. Ah I miss these beautiful zucchini flowers that I had my eyes on back Torino and they were one of the most attractive produces I’ve ever came across. We made meals using zucchini almost every other day and they are such a versatile vegetable! Stunning pictures!

  28. This recipe is extremely close to one a former co worker taught me. She also added about 1 teaspoon(ish) chopped fresh mint or 1/2 teaspoon dried and served them just like Latkas (Jewish Potato Pancakes) with sour cream and applesauce. She also grated the zucchini rather than cut it into small strips. This is one of my favorite go to recipes for zucchini.

  29. I’ve been collecting various zucchini fritter recipes and this looks like the winner I’ve got to try today! I have ricotta cheese to use and more than enough zucchini too. I love recipes that are easily customized, I might add some onion, herbs, lemon zest and attempt to bake in oven. The possibilities are endless! Yum!

  30. Wow, Daniela! You’ve really outdone yourself here! These zucchini ricotta fritters look amazing. I’m definitely going to bookmark these because I LOVE zucchini squash & if it’s baked, well, shoot, I love it.

    The recipe looks simple enough. The photos are beautiful as per usual. I’m very jealous of your little setup. I wish I had a better one myself.

    1. Thank you Tiffany! I wish I had a real setup for food photography but I’m leaving this tiny apartment soon…
      I’m jealous of the atmosphere you create with your photography and I’d love to learn some post-processing techniques from you!

      1. Look it up ! 80 grams = 1 cup. Is that what is wrong with the recipe because it’s a mess . Don’t waste your ingredients.

  31. There are large gaps in the list of ingredients. Now I see you say to add the flour but I don’t see anything about where the bread crumbs should be added?

  32. Like many people this time of year, I have lots of zucchini I need to use up. This is definitely going on the rotation! Also, I can certainly relate to your inner shouting of “why did I try making this?!” with more complicated recipes 🙂 Haha. I’m glad to hear this is an easier one.

  33. Hi!!!

    These look amazing but in your recipe you speak of adding garlic ,lemon zest and flour and those ingredients are not on the ingredient list. Could you please specify the amount of these ingredients? Thank you!!!

    1. Hi Shannon. Thanks for your comment. The recipe is really easy (all ingredients together) and doesn’t call for garlic (totally optional!). I just added one tablespoon of flour, I realize it not necessary at all! Adding enough breadcrumbs to reach a firm consistency, that’s the important step!

  34. These look great Daniella! I think these are the perfect size and portion for a girl’s night – you know, when The Husband isn’t around and you want something light and wonderful? They look gorgeous too. I am loving the pictures! I know that my next ‘alone’ night, I’m putting these on the menu! 🙂

    1. I so can’t wait to try this. It sounds so good & looks so good too. Thank u for sharing.

    2. These look delicious but I have a few problems -breadcrumbs, and all that Olive Oil. I would sub the Olive Oil for frying with lard or Avocado Oil as the Olive oil isn’t meant for frying (in my eyes) Also subbing the breadcrumbs for a almond or sunflower flour as I allergic to gluten.

      1. Olive oil is greatly used in Europe. Its better than vegetable oil. And its better for your heart. I must say l have issues with avocado bc it’s very fattening. Panko breadcrumbs is not that bad. I eat thus and l am Vegetarian

    3. There are not many recipes that will make my mouth water just by the reading of them. This is one that does exactly that!