Zucchini Feta Fritters (Mücver)
Hello, summer! Time to celebrate zucchini season with Turkish Zucchini Feta Fritters, aka Mücver. Perfect for any meal, these crispy-on-the-outside, fluffy-on-the-inside fritters are a tasty mix of zucchini, feta, and fresh herbs. Let's get cooking!
Servings: 20 fritters
Calories: 74kcal
Equipment
- Microplane Zester
- Food Processor
- Fine Mesh Strainer
Ingredients
For the garlic yogurt sauce
- 1 cup Greek yogurt
- 1 medium clove of garlic grated with a zester or crushed
- the zest of half a lemon about 1 tablespoon of zest
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill thinly chopped
- ⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
For the zucchini feta fritters
- 2 pounds zucchini about 3 medium
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 2 cloves garlic grated with a zester or crushed
- 1 cup scallion (green and white parts), finely chopped
- ¼ cup dill finely chopped
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 cup feta cheese, crumbled
- 3 free-range eggs lightly beaten
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- sunflower oil or any neutral oil such as avocado oil or grapeseed oil, to pan fry
Instructions
Prepare the zucchini :
- Thoroughly rinse the zucchini, pat them dry, and trim the ends off.
- Using the large holes of a box grater or the grater attachment for a food processor, grate the zucchini.
- Transfer the grated zucchini to a fine-mesh strainer or colander placed on top of a large bowl.
- Add 1 teaspoon of salt, mixing with your hands to combine. Set aside for 20 minutes, letting the zucchini water drain.
Meanwhile, make the garlic yogurt sauce:
- In a bowl, add Greek yogurt, the garlic grated with a zester, lemon zest, chopped dill, and salt.
- Stir until well combined and set aside at room temperature.
- Prepare all the other ingredients for the fritters: grate the garlic with a zester, chop the scallion and dill, crack the eggs in a bowl and lightly whisk with a fork, and measure crumbled feta and flour.
Make the fritters:
- Using a spatula or your hands, squeeze the liquid out of the grated zucchini, applying strong pressure to squeeze as much liquid out as possible.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the drained zucchini, grated garlic, scallion, dill, pepper, crumbled feta cheese, lightly beaten eggs, and flour.
- Mix well with your hands.
Pan fry the fritters:
- Heat 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil in a non-stick pan over medium-high heat.
- Place 3-4 ¼ cups (60 g) of batter in the pan and flatten it with the back of the cup (or a spoon) to look like a pancake (about 0.5 cm thick).
- Cook for 4-5 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Feel free to reduce the heat if you notice that the fritters are turning brown too quickly.
- Serve warm with a generous dollop of yogurt sauce and a glass of chilled Assyrtiko wine!
Notes
- Choosing the zucchini: I recommend medium zucchini which are often tastier and have a denser texture than large zucchini.
- Adding salt to the zucchini helps draw out the moisture of the zucchini. Massage the shredded zucchini with salt before letting it sit.
- Squeezing water: excess water is the enemy of fritters and will make them soggy and heavy. Try removing as much water from the zucchini as possible to get the crispest lightest result.
- Pan-frying the fritters on a medium flame allows them to cook evenly. If cooked at too high a temperature, the outer layer might burn while the center will be raw.
- Reducing cooking time: using two non-stick pans reduces the cooking time by half.
Nutrition
Calories: 74kcal | Carbohydrates: 9g | Protein: 4g | Fat: 3g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 0.3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 0.003g | Cholesterol: 32mg | Sodium: 234mg | Potassium: 176mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 255IU | Vitamin C: 10mg | Calcium: 66mg | Iron: 1mg