Zucchini tots! These golden, crispy little fritters perfumed with garlicky oregano flavours might nicely turn into your new favorite zucchini recipe. Belief the Greeks to take one thing as plain as zucchini and switch it into one thing fabulous! Serve them for dinner, or go them round at a celebration.
That is an previous, previous, previous recipe from 2015 that desperately wanted a spruce up – and most significantly, a Lifetime of Dozer part added!
Greek Zucchini Tots
10 years in the past in 2015, I discovered a recipe for Courgette Rissoles (ie. Zucchini rissoles) from Alonnisos in Greece in a e book known as The Meals and Cooking of Greece that I stumbled throughout after I was searching the cookbook part at my native library.
Do you do this? Borrow cookbooks out of your library? It’s an undiscovered secret. 🙂 You see, an obsession with cookbooks poses two issues – finances and house. What number of cookbooks have you ever purchased, solely to seek out you solely use just a few recipes from it? And as for storage…my cookbooks are in every single place. My bookshelf is overflowing!
As a cookbook creator, I totally respect the irony of encouraging individuals to borrow cookbooks from the library. 😃 However I do, and so does my group. Fairly positive JB‘s on a primary identify foundation with the workers at our native library!
So, that’s the place I discovered The Meals and Cooking of Greece, filled with conventional home-style recipes. These cute little Greek Zucchini Tots (aka courgette for the Europeans!) caught my eye as a result of they appeared like humble, on a regular basis meals made with common substances, however secretly scrumptious.
Plus, zucchinis are a cut price year-round right here in Australia, particularly in case you head to the Scruffy Veg part (my first cease, at all times!).
Components in Greek Zucchini Tots
Right here’s what you’ll want to make these. Through the years I’ve made them since I initially printed the recipe in 2015, I’ve discovered that it’s a really versatile recipe – simply make it gluten free, substitute inexperienced onion for herbs, change parmesan for different cheeses, and oregano for different dried herbs.
1. FOR THE BATTER
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Flour – I exploit plain flour / all-purpose flour. I additionally tried it with gluten free flour and it labored completely, you wouldn’t even know the distinction,
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Egg – The egg is what holds this batter collectively when it bakes. The very best (pure) food-glue recognized to man sort!
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Panko breadcrumbs – I’ve a sense the unique recipe known as for normal breadcrumbs. However the bigger sized panko breadcrumbs make the within softer.
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Parmesan cheese – That is what offers these fritters a savoury flavour enhance so it’s not bland inside, in addition to making them bake up with a golden crust. I completely cheat and use the shop purchased sandy sort of parmesan (from the fridge part, not pantry – if it’s on the shelf, it’s not pure cheese!). The advantageous strands would additionally work, and for these extra virtuous than me, shred your personal. 🙂
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Dried oregano – Greece’s favorite herb? 🙂 We’re utilizing an entire tablespoon right here, an excellent quantity! Substitute with the identical quantity of dried parsley or dill, or 2 teaspoons dried thyme, or herb mixes (like Italian, herbs de provence or a generically named “combined herbs”).
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Garlic – Is it actually Greek if there’s no garlic in it? No! 🙂
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Feta cheese – Ideally Greek!
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Inexperienced onion – For freshness and flavour. Substitute with finely grated pink onion or eschalots (US: shallots), or 1/2 cup tightly packed roughly chopped child spinach or kale (this works nice, I’ve performed each), or 1/2 cup loosely packed parsley.
2. YES you want Zucchini too!
Oh WAIT! I nearly forgot – you additionally want zucchini. 😂 And salt to sweat extra water out so the tots don’t find yourself a watery soggy mess that by no means crisp up.
You’ll be able to see on this picture (hopefully!) how the within is sweet and moist because of the zucchini however that the surface is crispy.
Different greens – I’ve additionally made this with carrots they usually have been fabulous. I used to be tempted to publish that however I resisted as I needed to spruce up the unique zucchini one first. Carrots coming subsequent! So helpful – I at all times have carrots in my fridge.
Learn how to make Greek Zucchini Tots
The standard recipe is made by shallow frying them. However I discovered it took fairly some time (so many tots!!) and likewise, as common readers know, I’m selective about deep frying.
So I attempted baking them as a substitute. And what are you aware, it labored fabulously! A spritz of oil is all that’s required to create a golden crunchy crust, and it stays deliciously moist on the within. 🙂
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Grate the zucchini utilizing a normal field grater.
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Sweat the zucchini for half-hour to take away extra water. To do that, you simply toss the zucchini with 1/4 teaspoon of salt (you actually don’t want a lot) then depart it in a colander set over the sink or a bowl to let extra water drip out.
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Squeeze – Then seize handfuls and squeeze extra water out. Observe: there isn’t any have to be 100% meticulous right here and squeeze to loss of life, you simply need to get most of it out. In truth, the remaining water within the zucchini is what retains these tots very nice and moist inside.
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Combine – Put the squeezed zucchini right into a clear bowl and add the remaining batter substances besides the feta. I combine that in later to stop it from getting fully smashed when mixing as I feel it’s good to have some little seen pops.
So, combine every part else first till it’s nicely mixed, then gently stir the crumbled feta by.
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Batter performed – That is what it appears to be like like when it’s combined up. It appears to be like a bit scruffy however holds when pressed collectively.
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Tots – Dollop heaped tablespoon mounds onto 2 trays lined with baking paper (parchment paper), then press into tater-tot / potato gem. I get 29 in whole (one in need of 30 didn’t trouble me after I filmed it nevertheless it’s bothering me right now….). Then spray generously with olive oil. The extra beneficiant you might be, the higher they brown!
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Bake for half-hour in a sizzling 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced) oven, switching the trays on the 20 minute mark, till the floor is golden and crispy. You could discover the underside tray wants just a few additional minutes.
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Serve with plain yogurt or a easy Mint Yogurt on the aspect, or different dipping sauce of selection (sure, even good ole’ ketchup works right here!)
One tip earlier than I log off – these reheat exceptionally nicely. Zucchini is a good moisture retention ingredient so the within stays fantastically moist and delicate even as soon as reheated.
In order that they make an ideal occasion meals as a result of they reheat so nicely, in addition to in fact being very helpful as a make forward meal. They do greatest reheated within the oven although moderately than the microwave, to protect the crispy exterior which does soften because it cools, although this hasn’t stopped me from utilizing a microwave when pace is of the essence. 🙂
If serving as a meal, this may serve 3 to 4, say 8 to 10 tots per particular person. Attempt a recent Greek Salad on the aspect, or for one thing extra substantial, a Greek Marinated Chickpea Salad, Tzatziki Chickpea Salad, a buttery Garlic rice or a zippy Lemon Potato Salad. See right here for many extra aspect dishes, in case you’d prefer to have a browse! – Nagi x
Watch easy methods to make it
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Greek Zucchini Tots
Prep: 20 minutes
Cook dinner: 30 minutes
Zucchini sweating: 30 minutes
Complete: 1 hour 20 minutes
Appetizer, Breakfast, Brunch, Dinner, Lunch
Greek
Servings30 – 35
Faucet or hover to scale
Components
Minted Yoghurt (optionally available)
Stop display screen from sleeping
Directions
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Preheat oven to 200°C/390°F (180°C fan-forced)
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Sweat zucchini – Grate the zucchini utilizing a normal field grater. Place into a big colander, sprinkle with the salt, toss together with your fingers and depart to sweat for half-hour.
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Squeeze out liquid – Working a handful at a time, squeeze out the surplus water (as a lot as you’ll be able to) and place the zucchini in a bowl.
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Tots batter – Add the Batter substances besides the feta and blend nicely to mix. Add the feta and gently stir by.
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Kind tots – Dollop heaped tablespoons 2 trays lined with baking paper / parchment paper (I get 29 in whole). Then use your fingers to form them into cylinder “tater-tot / potato gem” shapes.
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Bake – Spray generously with oil. Bake for half-hour, swapping the trays at round 20 minutes (for additional golden, spray once more with oil), or till golden brown and a crunchy crust varieties on the floor. The tray on the underside would possibly want just a few additional minutes.
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Serve with Minted Yogurt, lemon wedges and sprinkled with recent oregano leaves if utilizing.
Recipe Notes:
Staple at supermarkets in Australia today, often the Asian part (cheaper at Asian shops). Substitute with common breadcrumbs, although it’s not as crunchy.
2. Range cooking – You’ll be able to pan fry these as a substitute of baking them. Simply shallow fry on medium excessive warmth till golden on either side. I recommend making them in fritter shapes to make it simpler to cook dinner evenly. You could possibly additionally deep fry them, as per the unique recipe.
Leftovers will hold for 3 days although they do soften. They reheat nicely within the oven – 200°C/390°F (180°C fan) for five minutes. Not appropriate for freezing.
Make forward – Finest is to cook dinner then reheat per above. Don’t kind the tots and depart to bake later, the zucchini will sweat and make the batter too watery.
Vitamin per tot. Ridiculously low energy. Let’s eat LOTS! 🙂
Vitamin Data:
Serving: 25gEnergy: 45cal (2%)Carbohydrates: 4g (1%)Protein: 2g (4%)Fats: 2g (3%)Saturated Fats: 1g (6%)Polyunsaturated Fats: 0.2gMonounsaturated Fats: 1gTrans Fats: 0.001gLdl cholesterol: 17mg (6%)Sodium: 145mg (6%)Potassium: 68mg (2%)Fiber: 0.5g (2%)Sugar: 1g (1%)Vitamin A: 112IU (2%)Vitamin C: 4mg (5%)Calcium: 58mg (6%)Iron: 0.5mg (3%)
Initially printed October 2015. Up to date July 2025 with glowing new pictures, fully re-wrote the submit, tidied up the recipe writing, added a recipe video and most significantly, added a Lifetime of Dozer part. That’s how previous this submit was – it was earlier than I began doing Lifetime of Dozer!!
Extra nice zucchini recipes
I’ve a stunning variety of zucchini ahead recipes! Listed below are a few of my favourites:
Lifetime of Dozer
The Mum Cha RecipeTin X Plate It Ahead reader lunch befell on Saturday, and it goes down in historical past as essentially the most profitable occasion we’ve ever performed!
Today, I take a devoted Dozer handler to occasions – for his personal security in addition to the protection of visitor meals, leaving me free to speak to company with out fretting about Dozer. That is Sofie, my assistant’s daughter, who did a superb job as Dozer’s handler on the Mum Cha occasion!
He appeared very dapper in his tux, corsage and all….
….and confirmed his common confidence as he waddled out onto the ground throughout speeches…..
With Dozer nicely into his senior years (he’s 13 years younger!), he often runs out of puff early on today. He waddles round sidling as much as everybody for a pat, however must flop commonly to recuperate.
Because of this, I’m fairly positive Sofie spent extra time on the ground with Dozer than on her ft!
You see? ⬇️ For this reason I would like a devoted Dozer handler. SCAVENGER ALERT! He pulls out his greatest “please can I’ve a nibble, my mom doesn’t feed me” eyes for each visitor. 🙄
I’ll share extra in an replace submit about this lunch as a result of there may be a lot to say. However we’re in spite of everything within the Dozer part, so I needed to maintain this all about him. 🥰
He did so nicely. I used to be so pleased with him! He deserved to spend your entire Sunday like this:
