Must-Try Easy Zucchini Fritters in Air fryer (or Pan) with Tahini Dipping Sauce

The Bumkins team is grateful to be headquartered in the beautiful Southwest with some of us scattered around. I am extremely fortunate to be living in sunny Southern California. Even luckier to have a garden that furiously produces Zucchinis without me really asking. The only downside to a Southern California summer is that I have no A/C. So turning on my oven during this recent heatwave was a hard no. And life, as always, is busy.

So my three criteria when cooking food lately have become: 1. Healthy 2. Quick 3. Not breaking a sweat. These Zucchini Fritters with Tahini Dipping Sauce easily fall under all three categories. And they’re delicious!

Hot tip: if you have an Air Fryer, you can make these without adding oil. Your kitchen will also be less hot!

The following recipe is very loosely adapted from this recipe. I like to reduce the amount of dairy and gluten we consume around here, so I have made these dairy and gluten-free!

Yield: 12-18 Zucchini fritters, depending on the size
Time: 20 mins active prep, 20 minutes inactive cooking 

Ingredients:

• 2 big Zucchinis, grated (about 3 cups)
• 1 tsp Salt
• 2 Tbsp of almond flour
• ¼ Cup of GF all-purpose flour (sub-regular, glutenous flour if you’d like)
• 2 Tbsp of nutritional yeast (sub Parmesan if you’d like)
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 2 Tbsp of olive oil if pan frying
• Optional - I added about 2 Tbsp of gluten-free bread crumb mix, made of nuts and seasoning. Completely optional but great for flavor!

How to Make Your Zucchini Fritters

1. Grate zucchini and place in a colander, and add salt. Let sit for 10 minutes while the water drains from it. Using a clean dish towel or cheesecloth, drain the zucchini completely. Don’t skip this step! There’s a lot of water that comes from the zucchini.
2. In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except frying oil and add salt and pepper to taste.
3. If using an air fryer, heat to 350 and shape fritters { with our dippers!!} into 3-inch patty shapes and place on tray. These don’t expand too much, so your air fryer can take 3-4 at a time, depending on the size. Flip the fritters after about 5 minutes to cook evenly.
4. If using a frying pan, put heat on medium-high and add oil to the pan and make sure your pan is nice and hot before adding fritters. Cook for about 2-3 minutes on each side on medium.

Easy Tahini Dipping Sauce

• ¼ cup of Tahini
• 1 Tbsp of lemon juice or apple cider vinegar (or any acid you like!)
• 2 Tbsp of water
• 1 Tbsp Olive Oil
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Use a whisk to combine the first 3 ingredients in a medium-sized bowl. If your Tahini is still thick, add more water until it loosens. Be careful not to dilute too much! Add a teaspoon of water at a time until you achieve the right consistency, pre-olive oil.
2. Add olive oil slowly and add salt and pepper to taste. The consistency should be like light whipped mayo!

The Bumkins Realness:

These are super easy to make and very easy to play around with different seasonings and additions. If you choose to go with the recommended air fryer recipe, they will take a bit longer, but we find they cook more evenly and come out more “nugget-like.” If the option is available, use both methods to speed up the process, and see which one you like best!

Love zucchini? Try these Quick + Cheesy Zucchini Boats!