These spiced Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters are so easy to make and are ready in under 30 minutes. They're crispy, filling and delicious. Perfect for lunch or as a tasty appetiser.
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These zucchini fritters are lightly spiced, you can taste the spice but there is zero heat and loads of flavour, which is perfect for kids. Fritters are a great way to introduce new vegetables to kids, we love them, and even my Parsnip Fritters go down a treat with my family! Vegetable fritters are also a great way to introduce new flavours and spices, just remember to keep the heat down.
I serve these with a minty, garlic and lemon yoghurt sauce. It's so easy to make but tastes amazing! They are also great with a spoon or two of mango chutney or a splash of sweet chilli sauce. This is one of my favourite recipes for using up a glut of courgettes. And the whole family loves them.
🛒 What You'll Need For The Fritters
- Courgettes - you will need three small or two medium courgettes. Look for firm courgettes that are not bruised. Use a box grater to grate or shred the courgettes.
- Sweetcorn - you will also need sweetcorn for this recipe, canned corn is absolutely fine for this recipe.
- Eggs - two large eggs will help the fritter mixture stick together.
- Flour - I use plain all-purpose flour for this recipe but you could also use chickpea flour if you like.
- Spice - ground cumin and ground coriander are the spices you will need for this recipe. This is a mildly spiced recipe so you can add more if you like.
- Other Ingredients - you will also need olive oil for frying and salt and black pepper for seasoning. Lemon wedges and mango chutney for serving.
🛒 What You'll Need For The Yoghurt Sauce
- Natural yoghurt - plain full-fat natural yoghurt is best for this sauce. If you use low fat it will end up to thin and watery.
- Lemon - you will need the juice of half a lemon along with the zest.
- Garlic - one clove of garlic is fine for this recipe but you can use more if you like.
- Mint - you will also need fresh mint for this sauce.
🔪 How to Make Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters
Please see the recipe card below for full instructions and an ingredient list.
1. Grate the courgette - use a box grater to grate the courgettes. Add the grated courgettes to a large sieve, add a good pinch of sea salt and mix with your hands. Place the sieve over a large bowl, and leave for at least 10 minutes, this is to drain off some of the excess liquid from the courgettes.
2. Make the yoghurt sauce - while the courgettes are draining, make the yoghurt sauce. This is as easy as adding all the sauce ingredients, yoghurt, lemon juice, lemon zest, garlic chopped mint and salt and pepper, all together in a small bowl and then letting it sit in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
3. Make the batter - use your hands to squeeze out any excess water from the grated courgette. Add the courgette, sweetcorn kernels, and spring onions to a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and stir well.
4. Add the courgette, sweetcorn, and spring onions to a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and stir well. Sieve in the flour, baking powder and spices then add the salt and pepper and mix well. You should have a sticky batter now.
5. Cook the fritters, heat a little oil in a large non-stick pan on medium heat. Add two tablespoons of the batter to make one fritter, to the pan, cook the fritters for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, they should be golden brown and cooked through. I cooked these in batches of four. You can keep them warm in the oven if you need to.
👩🍳 Top Tips
- Try and get as much water as you can out of the courgettes, you'll be surprised at how much water will come out just from draining them first.
- Use young smaller courgettes, older and larger courgettes don't have as much flavour.
- When buying courgettes look for firm courgettes, with bright, shiny and unblemished skin. If a courgette feels soft and looks dull, it usually means it’s no longer fresh.
- Don't let that batter sit for too long, ideally, you should make the fritters straight away. If you leave the batter to sit for too long you will end up with doughy fritters!
- The baking powder lifts the batter and this results in a fluffier crispy fritter, so, if you can don't leave that out.
- Use light-flavoured oil for cooking these, I use light olive oil.
💭 FAQs
Yes, you can freeze any leftover fritters in a freezer-safe bag or container for later use. Place some parchment paper between each fritter and use them within 3 months. You can cook these from frozen if you wish.
To reheat the fritters, place them on a baking tray and pop them in the oven at 180C / 350F for about 10 minutes or until crispy again. If you have an air fryer then you can heat them at 180°C / 350°F for 4-5 minutes or until crispy again.
If your fritters are soggy it could be that the oil was not hot enough in the pan.
It could also be that the courgettes were not adequately squeezed and drained.
If the fritter mixture appears to be too wet, add a tablespoon or two of the flour before frying.
🍽 Serving Suggestions
We usually have these Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters on their own with that minty yoghurt sauce, but if you want to make more of a meal of this then these black pepper and rosemary fries are great with these fritters along with a simple green salad.
More Tasty Courgette Recipes To Try
If you love courgettes then you might like to try my Courgette Risotto with peas and lemon. This is such a lovely summer dinner. Or try my Pesto Gnocchi with Courgettes and peas, this is another great weeknight dinner. Finally for a summer picnic try my Courgette Quiche, this always goes down a treat!
Evan More Tasty Appetizers To Try
Spiced Courgette and Sweetcorn Fritters
Ingredients
For The Fritters
- 2 medium courgettes/zucchini (480g/1lb/17oz) grated using a box grater
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 2 large free range eggs
- 4 spring onions / scallions the white and pale green parts, thinly sliced.
- 1 cup sweetcorn (165g) canned is fine
- 1 cup plain flour / all purpose flour (120g)
- ¼ teaspoon baking powder
- 1½ tsps ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ground coriander
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- oil for cooking
For The Mint Yoghurt Sauce
- ¾ cup plain yoghurt (150ml)
- ½ a lemon, the zest of plus wedges for serving
- 2 sprigs of fresh mint, about 10 leaves leaves removed and chopped
- 1 clove of garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- ½ teaspoon sea salt
Instructions
- Place the grated courgettes into a large sieve add a good pinch of sea salt and mix with your hands. Then place the sieve over a large bowl, and leave for at least 10 minutes, this is to drain off some of the water from the courgettes.
- While the courgettes are draining, make the yoghurt sauce. This is as easy as adding all the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl, stir it well then and letting it sit in the fridge until you're ready to use it.
- Now make the fritter batter. Using your hands squeeze out any excess water from the grated courgette.
- Then add the courgette, sweetcorn, and spring onions to a large mixing bowl. Add the eggs and stir well.
- Sieve in the flour, baking powder and spices then add the salt and pepper and mix well.
- To cook the fritters heat about 2 tablespoons of oil in a large nonstick pan, add two tablespoons of the batter at a time to the pan, and lightly press down the batter with the back of a spoon.Cook the fritters for about 3 minutes on each side, they should be golden brown and cooked through. I cooked these in batches of four. You can keep them warm in the oven if you need.
- When the fritters are cooked place them on some kitchen paper to soak up any excess oil. This batter will make 12 - 14 fritters.
- Serve the fritters with some minty yoghurt sauce and lemon wedges.
Notes
- Nutritional Information is approximate and is calculated using an online nutrition tool. It is based on a serving of 4, which is about 4 fritters each plus yoghurt sauce.
- Batter - try to cook these as soon as you can if you leave the batter to sit for too long it will result in a doughy fritter.
- Courgettes - if you can, use young courgettes/zucchini older courgettes can be a bit too watery and not as firm.
- Sweetcorn, I always use canned sweet corn for these but if you have an abundance of corn then you will need to cook it first.
- Storing - it's really important to cook this as soon as you make the batter. If you leave the batter to sit for too long then this will result in a doughy fritter and that's not what we want here.
- Freezing - you can freeze these once they are cooked and have cooled down but please be aware that there will be a significant change in texture when you reheat them.
Nutrition
*This recipe was first published on June 2016, it has been updated on June 2023 with new photos and more information.
Talia
hello, i was wondering about freezing, how does the texture change and how would i reheat them/ how long would they last in the freezer.
secondly, after cooking and cooling could i place these in the fridge, and if so how long would they be good for?
i'm really looking forward to making these!!
Michelle Alston
Hi Talia, when you freeze fritters they end up being quite soft and sometimes soggy, you will lose all the crispness you get when you cook them from fresh. If you do feeze them I would leave them to thaw overnight in the fridge then reheat them in the oven. I would place the fritters on a baking tray then reheat them in the oven at around 160°C fan oven or 180°C conventional ( 320°F fan / 355°F regular oven) until piping hot. Frozen fritters would keep in the fridge for a month.
After cooking and cooling you can place them in the fridge and they would be good for 2 days.
I hope this helps. Let me know how you get on with them.
Michelle x
Nick
Tasted amazing and so easy to make
I used them as alternative to a onion bhaji with a home made curry
Michelle Alston
Thanks so much Nick, I'm so glad you liked them! Love your idea of serving them with curry, will have to try that 🙂
Marsha
Lovely - all home made. Our own courgette, sweetcorn and spring onions.
Michelle Alston
Thanks so much Marsha, I bet it tasted extra good using all your own homegrown ingredients!
Natalie
What a lovely family summer treat. Super easy to make and so delicious. I bet my kiddo will devour this. I can't wait to make him.
Michelle Alston
Thanks Natalie 🙂 I hope your kiddo likes them, my daughter loves them 😉
Lorie
I feel like an idiot but I googled courgette had no clue Zucchini were called that. Now that I know—I’m gonna love these!!!