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Vegetable Fritters

By Kelly Myers, from the Kelly Myers collection

Serves

4 to 6

Introduction

Fritters can be made of almost any vegetable (just avoid wet ones like tomatoes). In this recipe you fry them pancake flat, in a shallow depth of hot oil until their edges become lacy and crisp, much like a potato pancake. Depending on the vegetable(s) you choose, you can serve fritters with tart accompaniments like salsa, tomato sauce, chutney, Greek yogurt, or just sliced and salted tomatoes.

Ingredients

For the batter:

	1	large egg
	½	cup cold water
	¼	cup all purpose flour
	⅓	cup cornstarch
	~	Salt
	~	Ground black pepper

For the vegetables:

	4 to 5	cups grated, diced, or finely chopped vegetables (see Notes)
	~	Optional seasonings: 1 tsp. minced garlic, chopped herbs, minced green onion, or spices

For frying

Vegetable oil, such as canola

Steps

Crack egg into a small bowl. Add water, flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper. Whisk together until batter is smooth.
Put vegetables and any desired seasonings into a medium size bowl. Add batter and stir mixture.
Heat a wide skillet with 3-4 Tbsp. oil over medium high heat until the oil is very hot but not smoking. The surface of the oil will shimmer or ripple when it is ready.
Very carefully add 2 heaping Tbsp. fritter mixture to skillet and flatten with the back of a fork until fritter resembles a pancake. Repeat, leaving room between the fritters. Cook for about 2 minutes each side, or until fritters are golden brown. Use a spatula to remove fritters from skillet onto a plate lined with paper towels. Continue cooking the fritters in batches. Add additional oil as needed. Fritters may be held in a warm oven but are at their best when served freshly fried.

Notes

Grate firmer vegetables such as winter squash, zucchini, and root vegetables. Zucchini should be salted, drained, and squeezed of excess liquid to prevent fritters from spitting in the hot oil. Trim and finely chop or dice wild and cultivated mushrooms. Finely chop peppers if using. If using sweet corn, boil kernels for 3-4 minutes before adding to fritter batter. Strip greens from their stems, and chop the leaves.

This content is from the Kelly Myers collection.

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There are 9 comments on this item

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Average Rating 5

33% recommend this recipe

1. by argus on Oct 16, 2009 at 8:59 AM PDT

Thanks for the idea! I did a batch of grated zucchini and corn fritters, spiced up with chopped spring onion and red hot chilli, today; they’re so delicious. The next time I’ll try the flour mix with wheat flour and rice flour to see how it differs. Rice flour is supposed to make the texture even lighter or softer.

2. by chocophile on Oct 19, 2009 at 11:52 AM PDT

Hi,
Can I use arrowroot powder in lieu of the cornstarch?
Thanks,
Nicole

3. by argus on Oct 21, 2009 at 2:13 AM PDT

I’ve tried it with rice flour instead of cornflour and it gave a tenderer texture or bite.

4. by Will on Oct 27, 2009 at 5:31 PM PDT

Looks tasty! Why do you use part flour, part cornstarch? Why not just use all (whole wheat)flour?

Here in St. Louis we don’t seem to have most of the pepers mentioned. I think I will use pobalano rajas.

5. by kelly on Oct 28, 2009 at 6:44 PM PDT

I think the cornstarch lightens the mixture, and helps it become crisp. I have been surprised how crisp these fritters can get, and have attributed it to the cornstarch. I’ve never tried it with arrowroot, though, or with rice flour.

Will, I think any pepper will do. The whole idea with fritters is that you use what you have available, or what sounds good to you. Peppers of any kind are a good counterpoint to the sweetness of the winter squash.

6. by debra daniels-zeller on Jan 25, 2010 at 9:13 AM PST

Very cool and decadent for vegetables. I love this idea.

7. by anonymous on Nov 5, 2011 at 4:34 AM PDT

I know this post was from 2009 but it must stand the test of time because it is now 2011 and I tried this last night after stumbling upon it looking for the right fritter mix. Most people seem to be using way too many eggs for my liking in theirs and yours seemed like it sounded just about right.

I had no cornstarch so I used half all purpose and half wholewheat. I also left out the salt because I fried them in butter.

I also added a dash or teryaki sauce and spinach.

They were a huge hit!! Especially in a household that is home to a vegetarian and a picky eater!!

Thank you! xx

8. by kelly on Nov 5, 2011 at 8:55 AM PDT

Anonymous, I’m glad you enjoyed it. You hit upon what makes this recipe work--it’s mostly vegetable and not much else, and just enough egg to bind it.

9. by anonymous on May 22, 2012 at 5:29 PM PDT

These were delicious and my boys loved them. I added dry ranch dip mix and it gave it a nice flavor. Does anyone know what the calorie count is on these.?

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