Cheesy veggie fritters

These cheesy veggie fritters are the perfect easy vegetarian lunch, with plenty of vegetables and crispy cheese! A great fridge clearer.

Ahh, veggie fritters. My loves. They’re great for an easy lunch, and a fun way to use up the veg in the fridge. Oh, and not forgetting – they’re delicious. Especially these cheesy veggie fritters, because what better way is there to make something even better than by adding crispy cheese?

What is a fritter made of?

A fritter is essentially just stuff bound together with eggs and flour, then fried to become little crispy pancakes.

I say ‘stuff’ because really, fritters can be made from whatever ingredients you like. All sorts of vegetables make a great fritter, different types of cheese, even beans!

Anything that can be mixed into batter can be fritterised.

How to make cheesy veggie fritters

Start by preparing your veg.

Grated courgette (zucchini) is one of my favourite ingredients to include in vegetable fritters, as it keeps them nice and moist inside, and bulks them out so they don’t end up too dense or heavy.

I also included sweetcorn and peppers, but really the choice is yours. Whatever vegetables you have lingering in the fridge, chuck them in!

My only stipulation would be, don’t use anything that you wouldn’t be happy to eat raw, as the veggies will only be having a quick fry in a pan – if you want to use something like parsnip, it will need pre-cooking.

Chop all your veggies up nice and small (pieces that are too big will stop your fritters from forming properly), and stick them in a big bowl.

Fritter batter

The batter is a super simple mixture of eggs and flour – just dump them in with your veg (not forgetting the cheese too, of course!), and mix well.

If the mixture is too dry you can add a tiny splash of milk, but really you want it to be fairly thick and sticky, otherwise it will all spread out into thin pancakes, rather than dollop into nice small fritters.

Cook it in a pan until your cheesy veggie fritters are nice and crispy on both sides.

Can you make these fritters without the cheese?

The cheese in these fritters is technically optional – fritters are still delicious without the cheese. If you’re skipping it, you might just want to add some fresh herbs (chives are awesome), some spices (smoked paprika!!), or something else to help make your fritters equally tasty.

That said, I would really recommend including the cheese if you have some! It’s obviously delicious, but it also helps the texture of your fritters – they’re beautifully soft and gooey in the middle, and crispy on the outside.

Crispy cheese is just heaven.

What do you eat with fritters?

We usually serve our veggie fritters for lunch, with some salady bits on the side – cucumber, tomatoes, coleslaw, a dollop of hummus, that kind of stuff. Just a snacky lunch, with the cheesy veggie fritters being the star of the show.

Fritters also make a tasty appetiser, if you’re the fancy sort of person that makes a starter before your main course. Just stack a few small fritters on a small plate, topped with a dollop of sour cream and some fresh herbs for garnish – beautiful. A dollop of chutney also works really well, like I did with my 5 ingredient cheese fritters.

Can you freeze vegetable fritters?

Yes! Fritters are brilliant for freezing, so feel free to batch cook your fritters by doubling or tripling the recipe, then freezing them to reheat later.

Unless you’re sure you’ll want to defrost all your fritters at the same time, it’s a good idea to freeze them individually. Spread them out in a single layer on a baking tray, and pop them in the freezer for at least a few hours, or overnight.

Then once they’ve frozen, you can transfer them to a freezer bag, and they won’t stick together into one huge block. Pop a square of nonstick paper in between them, if you want to be extra sure you’ll be able to separate them later. Then you can just grab however many fritters you want to reheat.

How to reheat frozen fritters

You can reheat frozen veggie fritters straight from the freezer using any method you like, depending on whether you’re more concerned with speed or quality. Each method has pros and cons:

• microwave – very quick, but gives a soft fritter rather than a crispy one.
• frying pan – takes a little longer (you’ll need to cook them on a fairly low heat so they can slowly defrost), but helps the fritters to crisp up again
• oven – very hands-off, but can cause the fritters to dry out a little

Really, all three methods work well – I can’t promise the fritters will taste exactly like they did when they were fresh, but if you want a quick and easy lunch ready to go any time, frozen fritters are a really good option.

What vegetables would you put in your cheesy veggie fritters?

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5 from 3 votes

Cheesy veggie fritters

These cheesy veggie fritters are the perfect easy vegetarian lunch, with plenty of vegetables and crispy cheese! A great fridge clearer.

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Total Time: 30 mins

Servings: 3 people

Ingredients

• 1 medium courgette (zucchini) (~ 200g / ~ 7 oz)
• 70 g cheddar cheese, grated (~ 2/3 cup when grated)
• 60 g (~ 1/3 cup) tinned sweetcorn
• 1 bell pepper, finely diced (I used orange)
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten
• 100 g (~ 3/4 cup) plain flour
• Black pepper
• 3 tbsp oil for frying

Instructions

• Grate the courgette (zucchini), and spread it out on a double sheet of kitchen paper. Use another couple of sheets to press out any excess water. You don’t need to be super thorough.
• Add the grated courgette to a mixing bowl, and add the remaining ingredients (not including oil). Mix thoroughly until well combined.
• Heat a dash of oil in a large frying pan, add dollops of the fritter mixture (1-2 tablespoons per fritter), and gently flatten each dollop into a fritter shape. Don’t overcrowd the pan – you’ll need to cook in batches (I cooked 3 at a time). I made 12 fritters in total, but this will depend on how big you make them.
• Cook the fritters over a medium heat for a few minutes each side, until golden brown and crispy. You can add a little more oil to the pan in between batches, if needed.
• If you need to keep the fritters warm while you’re cooking the next few batches, place them on a plate in a warm oven.

Course: Light lunch

Author: Becca Heyes

Note: Nutritional information is approximate, and will depend on exactly what ingredients you choose. Information above is for 1/3 of the recipe (approximately 4 fritters).

These spicy roasted chickpea wraps are another easy and delicious vegetarian lunch idea!