We’re kind of coming full circle here, with Budget Bytes. I started this blog as a log of what I was cooking up in my kitchen with my limited budget and over the years it has grown into a massive recipe development project. But now, with limited grocery access, I’m returning to just showcasing the things I’m cooking up in my kitchen with what I have. These Vegetable Fritters are one of the things I’ve made while isolating at home. It’s just a mish-mash of the vegetables I had on hand in my fridge and freezer, fried up with a simple batter, and served with a sour cream based Garlic Herb sauce. It’s simple, delish, and a great way to use up your leftover vegetables so they don’t go to waste!
Shown with the small enamelware tray (affiliate link).
What Vegetables Can I Add to the Fritters?
Some other vegetables that would be excellent in these fritters include cauliflower, cabbage, spinach, mushrooms, spinach, potatoes, zucchini, eggplant, and bell pepper. For really soft, high-water-content vegetables, like eggplant, zucchini, and frozen spinach, you probably want to sauté them first to eliminate some of the excess moisture before adding to your fritters. No matter what mix of vegetables you choose, you will need about 4 cups of finely chopped or shredded vegetables for this recipe.
No matter what vegetables you plan to add to your fritters, make sure to shred them (using a large-holed cheese grater or food processor), or chop them finely so the fritters hold together better.
Other Add-ins
If you want to make these cheesy fritters, you can add some grated Parmesan (about ¼ cup) or some shredded cheddar (½ cup) to the batter. Another option is to change up the seasoning. I made my vegetable fritters super simple because I actually enjoy being able to taste the individual vegetables, but you can also experiment with adding different seasonings like ranch powder, Cajun seasoning, or a basic seasoning salt like Lawry’s. Just make sure that if you’re adding a seasoning that already contains salt that you also reduce the salt added to the batter.
How to Serve Vegetable Fritters
Vegetable fritters make a great appetizer or side dish to just about any main. I’d serve them next to something like meatloaf, Glazed Chicken Thighs, Sloppy Joes, Portobello Burgers, or just serve them right on top of a pile of creamy Garlic Herb Mashed Potatoes (in place of the dipping sauce)
Can I Bake the Fritters?
No, these will not turn out well if baked. They definitely need to be fried in oil to create the correct texture.
How Are the Leftovers?
As with any fried food the fritters do not stay crispy on the edges, but I still find the leftovers to be quite flavorful and delicious! As long as you’re not expecting a crispy fritter, I think they’re quite enjoyable as leftovers. I reheated mine using a microwave, but you could also heat them in a skillet over medium-low heat until heated through.
Vegetable Fritters with Garlic Herb Dipping Sauce
Servings 3 3 fritters eachIngredients
Garlic Herb Dipping Sauce
- 1/2 cup sour cream ($0.22)
- 1/2 tsp dried parsley ($0.05)
- 1/4 tsp dried oregano ($0.03)
- 1/4 tsp dried basil ($0.03)
- 1/8 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp onion powder ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp salt ($0.02)
- 1/8 tsp pepper ($0.02)
Vegetable Fritters
- 1/2 lb. frozen broccoli florets ($1.30)
- 1 cup frozen corn ($0.35)
- 1 carrot ($0.07)
- 3 green onions ($0.30)
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder ($0.02)
- 1 tsp salt ($0.05)
- 1/2 cup all purpose flour ($0.08)
- 2 large eggs ($0.47)
- 3 Tbsp cooking oil ($0.12)
Instructions
- Make the garlic herb dipping sauce first, so the flavors have some time to blend. In a small bowl, stir together the sour cream, dried parsley, dried oregano, dried basil, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, and pepper. Refrigerate the dip until ready to eat.
- Allow the broccoli and corn to thaw, or use the defrost function on a microwave thaw to them. Finely chop the broccoli. Peel and grate the carrot using a large-holed cheese grater. Slice the green onions.
- Add the broccoli, corn, carrots, and green onion to a large bowl. Also add the flour, eggs, garlic powder, and salt. Stir until everything is evenly combined.
- Heat 1 Tbsp cooking oil in a large non-stick skillet (cast iron, ceramic, or teflon) over medium heat. Once the skillet is hot and the oil is shimmering, add the vegetable fritter batter to the skillet in ¼ cup dollops, pressing the mixture down to a flat pancake once it's in the skillet. Cook the fritters for about 3 minutes on each side, or until deep golden brown on both sides. Cook 3 or 4 fritters in the skillet at a time, adding another tablespoon of oil between batches. Transfer the cooked fritters to a paper towel lined plate.
- Once all the fritters are cooked, serve while still warm, with the garlic herb sauce for dipping.
See how we calculate recipe costs here.
Notes
Nutrition
Have you tried this recipe?Mention @budgetbytes or tag #budgetbytes on Instagram!Scroll down for the step by step photos!
How to Make Vegetable Fritters – Step by Step Photos
Make the garlic herb dipping sauce first so the flavors have a little time to blend. This is basically just sour cream plus my All-Purpose Garlic Herb Seasoning (a half batch). It also makes a great chip dip! Stir together ½ cup sour cream, ½ tsp dried parsley, ¼ tsp dried oregano, ¼ tsp dried basil, ⅛ tsp garlic powder, ⅛ tsp onion powder, ⅛ tsp salt, and ⅛ tsp pepper. Refrigerate the dip until ready to serve.
Thaw ½ lb. frozen broccoli florets and 1 cup of frozen corn. Finely chop the broccoli florets.
Peel and shred one carrot (about 1 cup once shredded). Slice 3 green onions.
Add the broccoli, carrot, corn, and green onion to a large bowl.
Also add 2 large eggs, 1/2 cup all-purpose flour, 1 tsp salt, and ¼ tsp garlic powder.
Stir until everything is evenly combined and coated in batter.
Cook the fritters in batches of 3 to 4 at a time, in a non-stick skillet (any type of non-stick, like cast iron, ceramic, or teflon). Add 1 Tbsp cooking oil to the skillet before each batch and heat over medium until the skillet is hot and the oil shimmering. Once hot, add the batter, ¼ cup at a time, pressing it down into a pancake once it’s in the skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes on each side or until deeply golden brown.
Transfer the cooked vegetable fritters to a paper towel-lined plate before cooking the next batch.
Once they’re all cooked, serve warm with the garlic herb sauce for dipping!
Brilliant, Beth!
I have, in the past, MacGyvered vegetable fritters when we had no flour in the apartment… but had crackers.
I shredded the veggies as you did, added a couple of beaten eggs… and then realized we had no flour. So I rummaged around and crushed up some crackers until I had bit more than half the same volume of crackers as of vegetables. Mixed them together and let them sit for a while, so the crackers could soften and the vegetables release some of their juices to help that process along. After maybe half an hour, I fried them up and they were great. The crackers already had salt, and they were perfectly light and tasty.
Pantry cooking at its best!
I made a quadruple batch of these for my family of 6. 4 boys (big eaters)/young men. These were SO GOOD. Honestly, meals without meat usually aren’t as popular, but these are rich enough that it didn’t matter. And I was able to use up so many veggies. I did use a block of frozen spinach. But rather than sauté as recommended, I squeezed it dry. I also used a head of cauliflower, a bag of corn, some red onion, scallions, a bag of mixed “California” veggies. I honestly preferred the more straight veggie flavor of the 3 batches I made without corn. I also used locally milled whole wheat flour for the binder. The dipping sauce reminded me of my favorite Lebanese restaurant. And it went really well over the brown rice I served to finish the meal. Thank you! My first comment…been following you around for years.
Super simple. Good way to use up frozen veggies. Dip also versatile and delicious (subbed dried chives for parsley and used plain yogurt as it’s what I had on hand).
This is just the inspiration that I needed! Thank you!
I was looking for something to round out our meal of pulled pork sandwiches and potato salad. This was a perfect accompaniment! The only thing I subbed was chives for the green onions..
The fridge in our apartment is kind of old and produce seems to go bad really fast, and I don’t really enjoy most frozen or canned vegetables, so I had just been worrying about how I was going to get my vegetables while only doing a limited shop once a week when I saw this recipe posted. It’s perfect because I can use whatever vegetables are going bad, and also the texture I don’t love with the frozen ones isn’t really noticeable. I also love that it is a very vegetable-heavy fritter, with just enough batter to glue the veggies together. I will definitely be making these again. Thank you so much for posting these things that help us get through quarantine.
Delish! Added red onion (didn’t have green) and edamame
I made these earlier today and they turned out fantastic! I let the dipping sauce mixture sit in the fridge for a few hours, which intensified the garlic flavor. I accidentally bought medium eggs at the grocery store, so my batter was not as adhesive as it should have been, but once I put the portioned batter onto the pan and it fried for a few minutes, they only lost a few corn kernels or carrot shavings. Both my roommate and I loved them.
I’m curious about using only fresh veggies as opposed to frozen. Would you change anything in the recipe if fresh were used instead? Thanks! I can’t wait to try these fritters! 🥰
You can use fresh vegetables, they may just not be quite as tender in the finished fritter. :) I’ve made similar fritters with raw cabbage and they were great!
It was incredibly delicious! Thanks for the recipe!
Cool Kitchen Utensils
It’s so yummy and easy! My favourite dish now!
Omg was super excited to make these.. just used the leftover veggies we had in the fridge.. so cauliflower rice match stick carrots corn a bit of broccoli and bell peppers and onions from fajitas… YUM YUM YUM!! I didn’t have enough sour cream so I decided to use a bit of mayo n the last bit of Greek yogurt I had for the sauce.. my new fave veggie side! Also reheated in the skillet and they crisped right up ! THANK YOU!!
Holy smokes, these were incredible!! I used a shallot because I ran out of green onions and they were phenomenal. I made them for lunch and my toddler gobbled them up. Thank you for another yummy and healthy recipe!
This looks great, thank you! Would you mind giving an estimate of around how many cups of veggies total you used? That would help me when I substitute cups of various other veggies instead. Thank you!
Delish!! We made this for dinner tonight, and it was the only thing we ate. We started with a frozen vegetable medley and added a can of mushrooms. We let it sit out to thaw and then chopped it up finely and added some cheese that was starting to get a little tired. It was so yummy! I wanted to eat more and more, …. BUT now I have some in the fridge for tomorrow!!
Oh! We substituted the sour cream and used plain Greek yogurt. I asked the hubs if it needed anything, and he said, “No, I can’t wait to try it on the fritters!”