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Imagine if you will that a katleta (meat patty) married a zucchini fritter and they had babies = Chicken Zucchini Fritters. I’m not sure why I hadn’t thought of this sooner. They are healthier than regular kotlety; being half meat and half veggie and they are super juicy and flavorful.
One of my readers, Nataliya, wrote in with this recipe. I was convinced I needed to make them when she mentioned that her kids loved these patties. I get so much inspiration and ideas from you all, so thank you! Low and behold, my son loved these too, and so did the Mr. and so did I, oh and my sister and brother and law too. I’ll stop now. 🙂 Thank you Nataliya for this great recipe!
Ingredients for Chicken Zucchini Patties:
2 medium zucchini (about 1 1/4 lbs), grated (I used a green zucchini and a yellow squash)
2 tsp salt, divided
1 lb ground turkey or chicken
1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
1/4 cup green onions or chives, finely sliced
1 large egg
2 cloves garlic, pressed,
8 oz ricotta cheese (or 1/2 of the 15oz tub)
Olive oil to saute
How to Make Chicken Zucchini Fritters:
1. Place zucchini in a colander. P.S. my OXO colander/bowl set 
2. Add 1 lb fresh ground turkey or chicken, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 cup finely sliced green onion, 1 egg, 2 pressed garlic cloves and 8 oz ricotta cheese.
3. Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add 3-4 Tbsp extra light olive oil. Place a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into your hand and form a round patty about 1/3-inch thick. Cook over medium heat uncovered for 3 minutes, then flip, cover and cook for another 3-4 minutes more or until cooked through. Add more oil to the pan as needed for subsequent batches.
Enjoy!
Chicken Zucchini Fritters Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini, about 1 1/4 lbs, grated (I used a green zucchini and a yellow squash)
- 2 tsp salt, divided
- 1 lb ground turkey or chicken
- 1/4 tsp freshly cracked black pepper
- 1/4 cup green onions or chives, finely sliced
- 1 large egg
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed,
- 8 oz ricotta cheese, or 1/2 of the 15oz tub
- Olive oil to saute
Instructions
- How to Make Chicken Zucchini Fritters:
- Place zucchini in a colander or bowl. Sprinkle grated zucchini with 1 tsp salt and let stand for 10 minutes, then squeeze out as much juice as you can from your zucchini, squeezing it out by the fistful to get out the most juice out. You'll be amazed how much juice actually comes out of these babies. Transfer drained zucchini to a large bowl. Discard drained juice.
- Add 1 lb fresh ground turkey or chicken, 1 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp pepper, 1/4 cup finely sliced green onion, 1 egg, 2 pressed garlic cloves and 8 oz ricotta cheese.
- Heat a large non-stick skillet over medium heat and add 3-4 Tbsp extra light olive oil. Place a heaping tablespoon of the mixture into your hand and form a round patty about 1/3-inch thick. Cook over medium heat uncovered for 3 minutes, then flip, cover and cook for another 3-4 minutes more or until cooked through. Add more oil to the pan as needed for subsequent batches.
you can make a gin martini using the zucchini juice, a dash of kosher salt and a little lemon juice.
hi!
Do you think this recipe would work with Feta Cheese instead of Ricotta?
Looks Delish!
I think feta would have too strong of a flavor for the fritters, although I haven’t tried it myself.
Hi, can’t wait to try these. I’m a university student so wondering if a big batch can me made and frozen? Has anyone tried this?
Thanks!!
I haven’t tried freezing them, anyone else?
Mix the squash juice with Greek yoghurt garlic and dill. Use as a sauce for the meatballs
That sounds wonderful Tony, thank you for sharing. Do you cook the sauce first?
OMG! These are soooo good! I had some ground beef and turkey, so I used that instead of chicken. The fritters came out moist and fluffy…mmhhh. I can’t stop eating them…. hahahah
Thanks Natasha; you rock!
Thank you for a great review Olesea, I’m happy to hear that you are enjoying them :).
I just did these like an hour ago and loved them..I was surprised that my picky eater didn’t pick out the ‘green stuff’.I put it on thin slice of bread with tomato. They are so juicy! Will make more in the future. I’m sure hubby will fall in love with them too as I did ; ) Thanks a bunch! It’s nice to do something different for a change.
It’s especially nice when a picky eater likes something you’ve worked to prepare. Your comment made me smile. I love that you made a sandwich out of them. Sounds so good right now! 🙂
Made these for my family last night! Sautéed sweet onion with red bell pepper first, and added that to meat mixture (instead of using green onion). Turned out wonderful! Even my 3 yr olds loved them. Awesome!
Isn’t that the best thing? When the little ones love the food we make? Happy Mother’s Day Amelia! 🙂
ALSO ADD SOME GRATED RED OR GREEN PEEPER,JUST TRY
Thanks for the tip!
I like these! Made them couple nights ago, and even my toddler devoured 2 of them right away. Thanks Natasha!
You are welcome Vika and thanks for the great review :).
Can you make these without cheese? I am paleo and cannot eat dairy, just wondering if the cheese was added for any reason other than flavor.
Thanks!
You can omit it and add a splash of the zucchini juice that you’ve drained off if the mixture seems too dry.
I made these tonight!! They were delicious!! I made a garlic sauce with it, a side of potatoes baked in the oven and a mixed greens salad! I can’t wait to try your other recipe!
Oh wow garlic sauce sounds nice! how did you make it?
lol we’re lebanese, so we love garlic sauce with everything, especially, chicken! It’s made with emulsified oil and garlic.
Thank you!!
These were perfection!! I ended up skipping the ricotta cheese, and adding some dill and carrots and they turned out perfect! Thanks Natasha, for another awesome recipe!! 🙂
You are welcome Ani, great job on improvising :).
This recipe was amazing!! I was nervous while frying them, but when my family tried them they fell in love!!!!! I know for a fact mama is gonna ask me to make these again. Thanks so much Natasha! Oh, and whenever I am in the kitchen baking/cooking something new my mom’s like (ce iz natashi?) and the answer is usually yess it is!! where else would I get the lovely recipes? 🙂 hahaha she knows this is my #1 cookbook 🙂
Oh that’s so sweet 🙂 Thank you Irene. You’re wonderful and you just made my evening 🙂
I want to mare these without ricotta because of an allergy what do you think a good replacement would be.
Hi Sam, are you allergic to all dairy? If yes, you could just omit it.
These are so very delicious! I have made them with ground chicken, turkey and beef. I also make them ahead and freeze them between parchment paper. One tip that might help others is to put the zucchini in a double piece of cheesecloth and ring it out. Mine were sloppy until I did that and now they hold together so well. I also used cottage cheese purred when I didn’t have ricotta-equally good. My kids prefer these to burgers now!
I love the tip about using cheesecloth to ring them out. Thank you for sharing 🙂
Want to try to make these. Do you think its ok if I make them today and cook them in the morning?
Yes, you could do that Irina, however I would hold off on adding zucchini until the next morning.
When I make regular kotleti, I roll them in bread crumbs before frying them. I wonder how it’ll be if I do it for these…
Oh you know I haven’t tried it, but if you do, remember to report back on how it worked out.
Instead of ground ground turkey or chicken use spicy sausage, absolutely amazing.
Oooh thank you for the tip!!
Hi Natasha
this recipe is so amazing! my family loved it!!! I added mushrooms and since I didnt have ricotta on hand, I used a little bit of sour cream and I didnt squeeze the juice out of my zucchini. I also added a little bit of flour and fresh dill. they were perfect! my son kept asking for more. last time I made the regular zucchini fritters they seemed dry when i squeezed the juice out so i tried it a little bit different and they were so good. I LOVE your blog!!!!
I’m so glad you enjoyed the recipe. I love to hear when the kiddos enjoy a recipe because I’m a Mama too and I know that feeling when they are asking for more. It’s priceless! 🙂 Thanks Ira!
The recipe looks amazing (yet another one!). I have to replace the ricotta cheese though with something else (dairy allergies ;-( ). What can i replace it with?
Thanks in advance!
Nelli
Oh I’m sad to hear about the allergies. 🙁 You can omit the ricotta all together. I made regular zucchini fritters without it. If the batter seems too dry, you might add back some of the zucchini juice you squeezed out, but you probably won’t have to. 🙂 I hope you love these!