These colourful Baked Zucchini Carrot Fritters are delicious as side or as a meal all on their own! Made with ingredients like chickpeas, zucchini, carrot, green onion and dill, you will love these savoury patties!

These fritters taste amazing dipped in my easy Lemon Yogurt Sauce!

A stack of 7 zucchini carrot fritters on a cream coloured plate next to dill garnish and half a squeezed lemon

Aren’t these zucchini carrot fritters pretty? Most of my recipes to this point aren’t stackable, so I had way too much fun taking pictures of them! But I would argue they taste even better than they look. The fritters use chickpeas as the base of the batter, so they kind of remind me of falafel, but in pancake form. And the nutrient profile is way better. Baking the fritters means we’re using far less oil and they are jam-packed full of veggies.

Because these fritters aren’t fried, they aren’t overly crispy. If you want the crispiest outside, eat them right out of the oven. Typically I’m making these for meal prep, so I don’t mind that they’re not crisp. I’ve actually been eating these for breakfast, kind of like a savoury pancake.

You will love these zucchini carrot fritters because

you can bake them all at once (baking = less oil and less standing over stove)
the chickpeas add protein and fibre, which keeps you feeling full for longer
you get a healthy dose of colourful veggies
they have an amazing bright lemon and dill flavour

Ingredients

Zucchini – 2 cups grated, about two medium-sized zucchini
Sea salt – 1 teaspoon to salt the zucchini and 1/4 teaspoon added to the batter
Gluten-free all-purpose flour – or regular all-purpose flour if you don’t follow a gluten free diet
Baking soda
Ground cumin
Carrot – 1.5 cups grated (I used one giant carrot and it was enough, but this is probably four normal medium-sized carrots)
Chickpeas – one 15 oz can, drained and rinsed
Garlic – three cloves, minced
Eggs – two, whisked
Green onion – diced, white and light green parts only (one bunch / six stalks)
Lemon juice – freshly squeezed
Fresh dill – 2-3 tablespoons chopped, to suit your taste

How to make them

Step one: Prepare the zucchini

Preheat oven to 400 °F and line two baking sheets with parchment paper. Spray the paper with cooking spray.
Using the grater attachment on a food processor or a box grater, grate enough zucchini for 2 cups and place zucchini in a colander over a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon of salt and toss to coat. Set the zucchini aside to drain while you prepare the remaining ingredients (at least 10 minutes).

Salted grated zucchini in a white colander

Step two: Prepare the batter

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking soda, cumin and 1/4 teaspoon of sea salt. Set aside.
In the food processor, grate the carrot, then add it to the bowl with the flour. Add the chickpeas and minced garlic to the food processor and pulse until you have small pieces of chickpea. You don’t want a hummus-like paste, or the fritters will be too dense. Add the chickpeas to the large bowl with the remaining ingredients.

coarsely pulsed chickpeas in a food processor

Using your hands, squeeze excess water from the zucchini. Do this for a couple minutes, but note that the zucchini does not need to be completely dry.
Add the zucchini to the large bowl, along with the whisked eggs, green onion, dill and lemon juice. Stir everything together until well combined.

Ingredients for zucchini carrot fritters in a silver bowl

Step Three: Scoop and bake!

Scoop six fritters onto each baking sheet. I used an ice cream scoop (heaping spoonfuls), but you could also use a quarter-cup dry measure to scoop. Flatten out each scoop to look like burger patties:

uncooked zucchini carrot fritters on a sheet pan

Bake for 15 minutes, flip, then bake an additional 10 minutes. Serve immediately with a side of greek yogurt, for dipping. Or, if making for meal prep, divide fritters among four glass containers, cool completely and store in the refrigerator. I like to use a little dip dish inside the container to store greek yogurt (see photo below). Enjoy them within four days.

zucchini carrot fritters in a glass meal prep container with a side of greek yogurt

How do I reheat fritters?

Microwave on high for about a minute. (Be sure not to microwave your greek yogurt, if you have it in the same container!)

Why do we salt the zucchini?

Salting helps to draw the water out of the zucchini. Adding salt to the outside of the zucchini makes the concentration of salt higher on the outside the zucchini than the inside. Water travels across the membrane of the zucchini cell walls to equalize the concentration of salt between the inside and outside of the cells. This process is called osmosis. (This is my science nerd moment of the day haha)

Other side dishes you may enjoy