Crispy air fryer zucchini fritters are the perfect light snack or appetizer packed with savory onions, carrots, and melty cheese. These cook up mess-free in the air fryer in minutes!
Prep Time1 hourhour20 minutesminutes
Cook Time15 minutesminutes
Total Time1 hourhour35 minutesminutes
Ingredients
3cupsgrated zucchini, approx 1 1/2 pounds
1carrot, grated
½medium onion, grated
1teaspoonminced garlic
2teaspoonssalt
6tablespoonsall purpose flour
½teaspoonblack pepper
1large egg
½cupshredded cheddar cheese
1teaspoonminced parsley, optional
Sour cream, optional for serving
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Instructions
Combine the zucchini, carrot, onion and garlic together in a sieve or small holed colander. Salt and stir. Let it sit for 1 hour to drain all the liquid from the vegetables.
Squeeze the vegetables to remove any excess liquid, then place vegetable mixture in a clean tea towel (or cheese cloth) and squeeze again to get out as much liquid as possible.
Preheat the air fryer to 375°F for 3 to 5 minutes.
While the air fryer preheats, combine the vegetables, flour, pepper, egg, cheese and parsley in a large bowl. Stir until well combined. Form small round patties with a tablespoon of the fritter dough.
Spray the air fryer basket with cooking spray and place the fritters in the basket, making sure not to overcrowd. You may need to do this in batches depending on the side of your air fryer.
Spray the tops of the fritters with cooking spray and place the basket in the air fryer.
Cook for 10 minutes at 375°F. Turn the fritters over, spray with cooking spray, and cook for an additional 3 minutes.
Serve immediately, with sour cream if desired!
Notes
Preheating: Not all air fryers requirepreheating, but some do. If you do preheat the air fryer (three minutes is roughly the standard), the fritters won’t need as much time to cook.
Salting: It is very important to get as much of the liquid out of the vegetables as possible, so they will fry quickly and get crispy rather than mushy. Salting the vegetables helps draw out the water.
Sour Cream: I like to serve these with sour cream. They’re also good with any creamy dressing.