The spoonful vegetable fritters are delicious bites crunchy on the outside and soft inside, very quick to prepare and generally also liked by those who do not particularly love vegetables. This versatile recipe allows for the use of a variety of fresh vegetables, making the fritters suitable for any season: for example, I used zucchini, carrots, and onions, which are generally available all year round, but in winter these mixed vegetable fritters can be made with cauliflower, pumpkin, broccoli, boiled spinach, napa cabbage…
It will be enough to grate the vegetables with a grater with large holes and bind them together with a batter based on eggs, flour, and very sparkling water. The mixed vegetable fritters will then be fried in spoonfuls in deep oil until they become puffy and crispy. This recipe allows you to make the most of seasonal vegetables by preparing a dish suitable as a snack or appetizer or as a vegetarian main course. Try this recipe and enjoy the fresh taste of vegetables in a completely new way.
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- Difficulty: Very Easy
- Cost: Very Cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 4 people
- Cooking methods: Frying
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: All Seasons
- Energy 165.22 (Kcal)
- Carbohydrates 21.50 (g) of which sugars 1.71 (g)
- Proteins 6.88 (g)
- Fat 6.50 (g) of which saturated 1.99 (g)of which unsaturated 4.11 (g)
- Fibers 1.68 (g)
- Sodium 162.26 (mg)
Indicative values for a portion of 87 g processed in an automated way starting from the nutritional information available on the CREA* and FoodData Central** databases. It is not food and / or nutritional advice.
* CREATES Food and Nutrition Research Center: https://www.crea.gov.it/alimenti-e-nutrizione https://www.alimentinutrizione.it ** U.S. Department of Agriculture, Agricultural Research Service. FoodData Central, 2019. https://fdc.nal.usda.gov
Ingredients for about 20 mixed vegetable fritters
If you are celiac, you can prepare gluten-free vegetable fritters using superfine rice flour; make sure it has the “gluten-free” label.
- 4.2 oz zucchini
- 3.5 oz carrots
- 0.4 oz onion (or scallion)
- 1 egg (medium)
- 3/4 cup all-purpose flour (or rice flour for the gluten-free version)
- 1/3 cup carbonated water
- 1 tbsp Parmigiano Reggiano DOP
- 2 pinches salt
- to taste pepper
- as needed peanut oil
Tools
- 1 Cutting Board
- 1 Knife
- 1 Grater with large holes
- 1 Sieve
- 1 Whisk
- 1 Spoon
- 1 Pan non-stick
- Paper Towels
How to prepare grated vegetable fritters
To prepare the mixed vegetable fritters, start by washing and trimming the zucchini. Grate them with a grater with large holes (1). Then place them in a sieve. Scrape the carrots, trim them, and also grate them with a grater with large holes (2).
Put the grated carrots in the same sieve with the zucchini. Using the back of a spoon, squeeze both the carrots and zucchini well to remove the vegetable water, otherwise, the fritters might become soggy (3). If you prefer, you can squeeze them with your hands a little at a time.
Cut the onion into thin slices, then finely chop it with a knife (4). Then proceed to prepare the batter that will be the “binder” for your grated vegetable fritters: in a bowl, crack the egg and add two good pinches of salt and a grind of pepper.
Beat it vigorously with a whisk or a fork, then add the grated Parmesan cheese (5). Mix it into the egg, always using the whisk or fork, then add the flour (6).
Start to mix it into the eggs and, as soon as the mixture is no longer workable, add the sparkling water – preferably very cold and freshly opened – little by little (7), mixing with the whisk. The amount of water may vary slightly depending on the type of flour used, so it’s best to add a little at a time and gauge by eye.
In the end, you should get a smooth, homogeneous, and rather thick batter (8). Then add the vegetables (9) and mix with a spoon to incorporate them into the batter (10).
Proceed to fry your fritters: in a non-stick pan or in a fryer, heat plenty of peanut oil very well. If you have a kitchen thermometer, you can check the oil temperature, which should be around 350°F. If you don’t have one, test with a small amount of batter: if it bubbles and rises to the surface in a few seconds, the oil is at the right temperature.
When the oil is at temperature, let a level spoonful of batter slide into it, forming the fritters (11). First, test with just one fritter to check the consistency; if it falls apart as soon as it’s immersed in the oil, the batter is too liquid: just add a level spoonful of flour and mix well to adjust.
Fry the mixed vegetable fritters a few at a time, to not lower the oil temperature too much, for 3-4 minutes and turn them a couple of times (12). When they are puffy and golden, drain them (13) and let them dry on a sheet of kitchen paper.
Serve the spoonful vegetable fritters immediately, as an appetizer or main dish, or as a snack to accompany the aperitif.
Storage
Like all fried foods, these vegetable fritters are best served as soon as they are made; as the hours go by, they lose some of their crispness, but if there are any leftovers, you can keep them at room temperature until the next day.
Tips and Variations
As mentioned, these mixed vegetable fritters can be made with your favorite seasonal vegetables – zucchini, carrots, onion or scallion, bell peppers, napa cabbage, pumpkin, cauliflower, Romanesco broccoli – which you can add raw, after grating or slicing very thinly. Other types of vegetables – spinach, Swiss chard, escarole, chicory, savoy cabbage, broccoli rabe – should be boiled and squeezed very well, then chopped with a knife and added to the batter.
FAQ
Is leavening necessary for these fritters?
No, if you use very sparkling water, it is not necessary to add leavening. Moreover, the water should always be very cold and preferably freshly opened, otherwise, it loses some of its gas over time. If you don’t have sparkling water, you can use still water and add a pinch of baking soda to the batter. Another alternative is to use beer.
What flour should be used to make gluten-free fritters?
If you need to make gluten-free vegetable fritters, I recommend using superfine rice flour (always check that it says “gluten-free”): it blends well with the liquids in the batter, has no strange aftertaste, and is best for frying because it doesn’t absorb much oil and ensures crisp and dry fryings.
