Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters with Chicken

Name: Gluten Free Zucchini Fritters with Chicken
Prep time: 5 min
Cook time: 10 min
Total time: 25 min
Ingredients: 1½ lb zucchini (finely grated); 1 tsp sea salt; 1 lb ground chicken; 1 large egg; 1/2 cup green onions (chopped); 2 garlic cloves (minced); 1 cup mozzarella cheese; 3/4 cup gluten free all purpose flour (or regular all purpose flour); 1/2 tsp ground black pepper; 2 tbsp avocado oil (or your favorite cooking oil — plus more if needed); 1/3 cup mayonnaise; 1 garlic clove (minced); 1 tbsp lemon juice; 1/4 tsp sea salt; 1/8 tsp ground black pepper

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A plate of gluten-free zucchini fritters garnished with green onions and a side of garlic aioli. — *Photo: Loren Runion*

These gluten-free zucchini fritters get an extra boost of protein from ground chicken and melty mozzarella, and they come together in just 25 minutes with a creamy garlic aioli for dipping. They’re crispy, made with simple ingredients, and a great way to use up summer zucchini – plus, my kids love them just as much as I do. I like to make them as an after school snack or even a simple, lazy dinner.

Why You’ll Love These Zucchini Fritters

Most zucchini fritters are a side dish at best, but adding ground chicken and mozzarella turns these into a real high protein snack – about 4 grams of protein in each small fritter. And you’ll easily end up eating 5 or 6 in one sitting. They’re that addicting.

They’re also an easy way to sneak vegetables past picky eaters, just like my hidden veggie chicken nuggets. And if you love crispy pan-fried veggies like my Korean vegetable pancakes (yachaejeon), these fritters will be right up your alley.

Ingredient Notes

Gluten-free zucchini fritters recipe ingredients laid out and labeled on a light gray counter top.

Zucchini: Finely grated, and no need to peel it – the skin practically disappears into the fritters. Don’t skip salting and squeezing out the liquid – it’s the secret to crispy fritters instead of mushy ones. And if you’re still swimming in zucchini after these, my gluten free chocolate zucchini bread is a delicious way to put it to work.
Ground chicken: This is what makes these fritters so filling and high in protein, and hearty enough to pass as dinner.
Gluten free all purpose flour: Regular all purpose flour works exactly the same way if you don’t need these to be gluten free. I haven’t tested this recipe with almond or coconut flour, so I can’t say for sure how they’d turn out.

Recipe Variations

Make them classic. For a more traditional vegetarian zucchini fritter, leave out the ground chicken. Add a second egg to help everything bind, since the chicken does some of that work, and cook about 3 minutes per side, until golden brown.
Cook them in the air fryer. Grease the basket well or line it with parchment since the batter is wet, then air fry at 400°F for 8-10 minutes, flipping halfway through, until golden brown and the chicken is cooked through.
Add fresh herbs. Dill, chives, or basil would all be yummy mixed into the batter.
Swap the protein. Ground turkey should work in a pinch, though I haven’t tested it myself.
Make them spicy. A pinch of red pepper flakes or gochugaru (Korean red pepper flakes) mixed into the batter would give these a nice little kick.
Change up the dipping sauce. The garlic aioli is optional, so sour cream or Greek yogurt work in a pinch. Or take these in a jeon direction with a simple soy-vinegar dipping sauce.

Looking for more easy high-protein patties? My Whole30 salmon cakes are another veggie-packed option that cooks up in one skillet, and these simple and easy tuna patties come together with pantry staples.

How to Make Gluten-Free Zucchini Fritters

Grated zucchini with sea salt tossed in a colander.

Step 1: Toss the grated zucchini with sea salt in a colander and let it sit for 10 minutes, then squeeze all the moisture out in a kitchen towel or cheesecloth. Really squeeze – there will be way more water than you expect. So much water.

Creamy garlic aioli ingredients mixed together in a small white bowl.

Step 2: If you are making the garlic aioli, mix all the ingredients together until smooth and place it in the fridge until ready to serve. It comes together during the 10 minutes while the zucchini sits – easy peasy.

Squeezed zucchini, ground chicken, egg, green onions, garlic, mozzarella, flour, and ground black pepper in a large bowl.

Step 3: Place the squeezed zucchini in a large bowl, then add the ground chicken, egg, green onions, garlic, mozzarella, flour, and ground black pepper. Mix until combined.

Five golden-brown, crispy chicken zucchini fritters arranged in a large skillet.

Step 4: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat, until it shimmers. Add the zucchini chicken mixture a heaping tablespoon at a time (or use a 2 tablespoon cookie scoop) without crowding the pan, flattening each one into a patty about ¼-½ inch thick. Cook for about 4 minutes per side, until the outside is golden brown and crispy and the chicken is cooked through. Repeat with the rest of the mixture, adding more oil if needed.

Gluten-free zucchini fritters on a pink plate with green onions, creamy garlic aioli for dipping, and two lemon wedges.

Step 5: Serve warm with the garlic aioli. The creamy aioli with the crispy fritters is SO good.

These fritters work as an appetizer, a snack, or a light dinner with a big salad. They also make a yummy side dish for anything coming off the grill.

Recipe Tips

Squeeze out ALL the liquid from the zucchini. Too much liquid will lead to mushy fritters, and there’s no fixing that after they hit the pan.
Keep the fritters thin. Flatten them to less than ½ inch thick so they crisp up nicely. When I cooked these into thicker patties, the texture was more soft and they weren’t as tasty.
Don’t crowd the pan. The fritters need a little space around them to crisp up instead of steaming. Work in batches – it’s worth the extra few minutes.
Look for a crispy, golden brown outside. That’s how you know the fritters are done and the chicken is cooked through.
Keep finished fritters on a wire rack. Piling them on a plate traps steam and softens the bottoms while you fry the rest of the batches.
Using a giant garden zucchini? Scoop out the seedy core first. The watery center adds extra moisture without much zucchini flavor.

Storage

Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 4 days. Warm them back up on the stovetop or in the air fryer for about 3-4 minutes at 400°F so they crisp back up.

To freeze, cool the fritters completely, then freeze them in a single layer on a baking sheet before transferring to a freezer bag. They’ll keep for up to 3 months. Reheat straight from frozen in the air fryer or oven until crispy and heated all the way through.

Zucchini fritters topped with green onions served on a pink plate with creamy garlic aioli.

Recipe FAQs

Why did my zucchini fritters turn out mushy?

Almost always, it’s liquid left in the zucchini. Salt it, let it sit for the full 10 minutes, and squeeze out as much moisture as you can before mixing the batter.

What binds zucchini fritters together?

The egg and the flour do most of the binding here, with some help from the mozzarella as it melts. That’s why I don’t recommend skipping the egg in this recipe.

Can I make gluten-free zucchini fritters without an egg?

I haven’t tested these without the egg, so I can’t say for sure. The egg is doing a lot of the work holding the ground chicken and zucchini together, so I wouldn’t recommend skipping it here. A flax egg might hold up in a veggie-only batch, but with a pound of ground chicken in the mix, I wouldn’t risk it.

Can I use regular flour instead of gluten free?

Yes! Regular all purpose flour swaps in 1:1 if you don’t need these to be gluten free.