Zucchini Cheddar Pancakes are made with fresh zucchini and shredded cheddar cheese. These tasty zucchini fritters are perfect eaten as an appetizer or a side dish.
I didn't grow up eating zucchini pancakes. I never even had a zucchini pancake until several years after Rod and I were married. He grew up eating zucchini pancakes. We had a bumper crop of zucchini and were trying to eat as much as possible.
Rod decided to make zucchini cheddar pancakes. They were an instant hit and have become a staple every summer since.
Summer is starting to wind down for us. The kids' first day is the Tuesday after Labor Day, but I am already back at school, planning for the upcoming school year.
The tomatoes, zucchinis, cucumbers, peppers, and yellow squash are all producing like crazy and I have no time to use up all this amazing produce.
I keep thinking - maybe if school were to start in October, I'd be able to spend more time canning, freezing and dehydrating what we grow. I don't think the school year is going to change for my garden 🙂
So instead I have to adapt. We pick and can in the evenings and weekends. We freeze as much as possible and we eat as much as we possibly can eat!
Zucchini cheddar pancakes are perfect for this time of the year. They use up some of our zucchini and are fast and easy to make and everyone loves them! I've also been using up some of the zucchini by making chocolate zucchini muffin, whole wheat zucchini bread, fried zucchini and zucchini and ricotta stuffed chicken breasts.
Zucchini is approximately 95% water. All that water can ruin a good zucchini pancake and as much as possible much be removed from the zucchini.
How to make zucchini less watery?
- Trim ends off zucchini
- Grate zucchini in a bowl
- Sprinkle with salt and let rest for 10 minutes
- Squeeze zucchini with your hands
- Discard liquid
Can I use a different type of cheese?
Yes, these zucchini pancakes would be delicious with a pepper jack cheese or for a very different taste, try a Swiss cheese.
My kids love these savory pancakes. I love to top them with a light cilantro lime crema. The kids like to top them with maple syrup! I'm not kidding. When they first heard zucchini cheddar pancakes, all they heard was pancakes. They brought out the syrup! I can't get them to eat them with anything else! Oh, those crazy kids!
How do I make Cilantro Lime Crema?
To make the crema, take ¼ cup sour cream and mix in juice from ½ lime, zest from ½ lime and a tablespoon of chopped cilantro.
What to serve with zucchini pancakes?
I like to eat these just by themselves, but they'd also be perfect with Tomato Soup, or eaten as a side dish with Beer Can Chicken.
Are they called pancakes or fritters?
These delicious zucchini pancakes are also called zucchini fritters. You can call them either name.
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Zucchini Cheddar Pancakes
Ingredients
- 2 whole medium zucchini (grated)
- 1 teaspoon salt (for sprinkling on grated zucchini)
- ½ cup flour
- 1 cup cheddar cheese (grated)
- 2 whole eggs (lightly beaten,)
- ⅛ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Place grated zucchini in a colander. Sprinkle with salt and let sit for 10 minutes allowing excess moisture to drain off zucchini.
- Squeeze zucchini and place in a clean, dry towel. Squeeze off all excess moisture. Place zucchini in a mixing bowl.
- Sprinkle flour over zucchini and toss to coat.
- Mix in cheese.
- Add eggs and mix until incorporated.
- Mix in salt and pepper.
- Place heaping scoops of mixture onto a hot, greased skillet. Flatten out scoop to make a flat pancake.
- Cook for approximately 3 minutes per side.
- Serve with cilantro lime crema or maple syrup!
Notes
- 2 medium zucchini is approximately 2 cups of shredded zucchini.
- To make the crema, take ¼ cup sour cream and mix in juice from ½ lime ( 1 Tablespoon) , zest from ½ lime ( 1 teaspoon) and a tablespoon of chopped cilantro.
Nutrition
Update: This post was originally published in August 2016. The post and recipe have been updated.
Linda in Oregon says
This was fantastic! My husband said it is now his favorite way to prepare zucchini, and my 13 year old daughter ate every bite. I made no alterations at all to the pancake recipe, but I did alter the creme. First, I used greek yogurt instead of sour cream. Then I thought, why not put maple syrup IN the sauce? Then you have sweet and tangy. I added in just a drizzle, probably about 1tsp, maybe 1-1/2. I was also out of fresh lime, so subbed fresh lemon (but I bet lime with the maple would be just as good, will try next time), and just a small pinch of salt to make the flavors pop. Will keep this sauce in mind for lots of future veggie dishes. Thanks for this great recipe!
Kathy says
Thanks so much, Linda! I love what you did with the sauce! Such a brilliant idea adding the maple syrup! My kids would love it! Thanks for your comment! 🙂
Jenny Lovette says
These were really good! I also substituted almond flour for regular flour with good results to make them Keto-friendly. The only thing that confused me is that it didn’t say “sprinkle the shredded zucchini with 1tsp. salt” so I just sprinkled some on and waited the 10 min. Then when it came time to mix everything I added the 1tsp. salt to the batter and it was too salty. I learned my lesson.
Kathy says
Hi Jenny,
Thanks for leaving a comment. These are one of our favorites to make with all the garden zucchini we get! I've updated the recipe slightly to make the salt less confusing. Sprinkle the full teaspoon over the shredded zucchini and add 1/8 of a teaspoon of salt to the patties themselves. Hope that helps, Kathy
Kathy says
This is my first time at your website. I have not made the zucchini pancakes yet, but still gave it 5 starts because the person that linked the recipe to your site said they were amazing. She has a you tube channel, and is keto. So to make your recipe keto friendly she just subbed out the regular flour for almond flour.
I will be making them soon but after looking over your recipe, I wanted to also say thank you for including in the notes section that the 2 medium zucchini should yield about 2 cups of shredded zucchini. I find that SO helpful because you never know what size zucchini the stores might have. I've always wondered why other recipe creators don't do this. But I did notice you didn't do that with the lime juice and zest. Because some times I get a tablespoon from a half of lemon or lime and other times I get two tablespoons , depending on how juicy it is. So that would be another appreciated hint if you could include the amount of juice you used in your crema . I'm definitely going to make that too, because it sounds delicious.
Kathy says
Thanks for you comment! I appreciate your feedback. You will need approximately 1 Tablespoon of lime juice and one teaspoon of lime zest. I will update the recipe card. Let me know how these turn out! 🙂
Kathy says
Came back to let you know that I made them tonight. I made a half recipe, so I shredded and measured out 1 cup zucchini, sprinkled 1/2 tsp salt over them in a colander as the recipe says. After ten minutes I squeezed them and was afraid I hadn't shredded enough zucchini because after squeezing there seemed to be a little over 1/4 cup of zucchini after the water got squeezed out. But mixed them up with the other ingredients and fried them and they were really good.
My husband tried one , he's the big one in our family for fried zucchini . He just slices them and then dips them in egg and cracker crumbs and fries them. He says he likes these better then his way and wants to make some tomorrow night 😀 So I'd say you got lots of thumbs up from this house. And we both loved the crema as well. I was sad I didn't have fresh cilantro, but it was still great. Will be getting some cilantro next store order. Thank you so much!
Kathy says
Thanks so much! So glad it was a hit in your house. I appreciate you leaving a comment and letting me know. 🙂
Julie Hurrell says
Just eating them now, they are delicious
Kathy says
Thanks, Julie! 🙂