Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (2024)

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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 7easy 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?

Theseare not only oil-free, but also gluten-freewith 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-freeZucchini Fritters as much as I did!

Vegan Oil-Free Corn Zucchini Fritters

Brandi Doming

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!

4.94 from 62 votes

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Prep Time 15 minutes mins

Cook Time 40 minutes mins

chill 30 minutes mins

Total Time 55 minutes mins

Course Dinner

Cuisine American, Vegan

Yields 4 patties

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.

Tried this recipe?Tag @thevegan8brandi on Instagram and use tag #thevegan8!

Keyword vegan zucchini fritters, oil-free vegan zucchini fritters, gluten-free vegan zucchini fritters

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Comments

  1. Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (9)SARA

    Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (10)
    This was absolutely delicious. I doubled based on so many good reviews and because it felt like just one serving – so glad I did. The sauce is also amazing, but I am looking forward to using it in baked greens. I want to do these fritters with your pizza sauce next time!

    Reply

    • Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (11)brandi.doming@yahoo.com

      Yay, so happy to hear this Sara!!

      Reply

  2. Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (12)Sue

    Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (13)
    Love this recipe. The almond butter gave it a full flavor and did not overwhelm the zucchini and corn. No leftovers from this first batch!

    Reply

  3. Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (14)Jane

    Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (15)
    Loved it. Especially that it’s oil free. The lemon pepper sauce really complimented the fritters. Highly recommend.

    Reply

  4. Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (16)Susan

    Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (17)
    These are excellent. I appreciated the detailed instructions.

    Reply

    • Vegan Oil-free Zucchini Fritters (18)brandi.doming@yahoo.com

      So happy you enjoyed them!

      Reply

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