The Best Zucchini Pancakes • Keeping It Simple Blog

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Zucchini pancakes are a delicious summertime recipe when zucchini is abundant. These delicious pancakes are easy to make and big on flavor and come out perfect every time.

This is my family's favorite way to eat zucchini and for good reason, it is delicious.

This recipe for zucchini pancakes I find it to be a little lighter than zucchini fritters (which use a lot more oil) but just as amazing. If you have picky eaters like I do and zucchini can be tough to get them to eat, you should check out my Italian zucchini too.

I have to make lots of these pancakes to keep up with the demand in our house because they are that good!

Most of the year I make these in a skillet or on a griddle on the stovetop. In the Summer, you can find me making these pancakes on my Blackstone griddle so I can make lots at one time.

They are that good!

What You Will Need

The ingredients in this easy zucchini pancake recipe are very simple. You will probably already have all of them in your kitchen.

Zucchini: Any variety of zucchini will work.
Eggs: These are a binder. I always use large eggs for my recipes.
All-purpose flour: This helps hold the pancakes together.
Baking powder: Make sure your baking powder is not old or it will not work as well in the zucchini pancakes. You should purge baking powder that is older than 1 year.
Parmesan Cheese: I like to use parmigiano reggiano.
Kosher salt: If you do not have kosher salt, you can use regular table salt but make sure to use only half the amount.
Vegetable oil: This is for cooking the pancakes.
Green Onions: The onions add so much flavor to the inside of the zucchini pancakes. I also like to garnish with them.
Sour cream (for serving).

How to Make Zucchini Pancakes

Zucchini pancakes preparation from shredding the zucchini, squeezing out the excess moisture then adding the zucchini to a bowl with dry ingredients.

Shred zucchini: You want to start by shredding all of the zucchini.
Remove excess moisture: Squeeze out excess liquid from zucchini. I like to use a cheesecloth for this step but you can press out the excess liquid by adding the zucchini to a colander and pressing it out with the bottom of a coffee mug.
Mix in dry ingredients: In a mixing bowl, add dry ingredients to zucchini which is the flour, baking powder, salt and pepper and cheese.

Zucchini pancakes preparation from mixing all of the ingredients together to cooking them in a hot pan.

Add eggs: Just mix until it is incorporated.
Scoop out batter: Using a measuring cup (I like to use a ¼ cup measure), scoop out the zucchini batter onto a skillet with oil that has been pre-heated on medium heat.
Cook both sides: Flip and cook the zucchini pancakes on both sides until crisp and golden brown.

These pancakes make a great weekend meal (or side dish) that you can start in the late afternoon and start cooking around dinnertime. The only time-consuming part is grating the zucchini and drying it out.

Recipe Faqs

Can this recipe be made gluten-free?

You can make this gluten-free by using gluten-free flour in place of the all-purpose flour.

Why did my pancakes fall apart?

If your zucchini pancakes fall apart, it is likely because there was too much moisture in them from the zucchini. Make sure to squeeze out as much moisture from the zucchini as you can to prevent this.

Can this recipe be made in the oven?

Zucchini pancakes are best made on the stovetop where they come in direct contact with a hot pan giving them a nice crisp outside. I do not recommend making them in the oven since they will not hold together as well.

Variations And Optional Toppings

I like to use this recipe as is but sometimes mix it up a bit. Here are my favorite ways to change it up:

Add other shredded vegetables: Add some shredded potato or sweet potato to the pancakes.
Make them garlicky! I love adding in some garlic to these pancakes and serving them with a side of marinara for an Italian version.
Top them with a delicious avocado yogurt dip instead of sour cream.

Storage Instructions

If you have leftovers, allow them to cool then store them in an air-tight container, making sure they sit side by side and not stacked. They will last for a few days in the fridge this way.

Pro-Tips

Like my ricotta pancakes or any pancakes that you make, when you are making these, make sure your pan is nice and hot and much like making regular pancakes, the first batch never comes out as nice 🙂
To avoid mushy zucchini pancakes, give your shredded zucchini time to drain properly in a colander over a bowl. From time to time, press (or squeeze out excess liquid) until the zucchini begins to dry out a bit.
To make a large batch like I do on an outdoor griddle, just pre-heat the outdoor griddle on medium heat for 10 minutes. Lightly oil the griddle then follow the recipe for cooking the pancakes.
To keep warm, place the cooked zucchini pancakes on a large baking sheet and keep warm in a preheated 175-degree oven.

More zucchini recipes

Print Recipe

5 from 17 votes

Zucchini Pancakes Recipe

Zucchini pancakes are a delicious summertime recipe when zucchini is abundant. They are easy to make and big on flavor.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Servings: pancakes

Author: Melissa Oleary

Ingredients

4 cups grated zucchini dried well
4 large eggs slightly beaten
4 tablespoon green onion diced
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup vegetable oil divided
For serving: 1 cup of sour cream and finely diced green onions

Instructions

Pre-heat your oven to 175 degrees (warm). Place an oven proof cooling rack on top of a large sheet pan and place inside your oven to warm. This will be where you keep your pancakes warm as you make your batches on the stove top.
Place grated zucchini in cheesecloth or a double layer of strong paper towels over a large colander.
4 cups grated zucchini
With your hands or the back of a large spoon, press down on the zucchini to remove as much moisture as possible. Do this a few times until the zucchini begins to dry out a bit and you see liquid coming through the colander.
Now take your strained zucchini and add it to a large bowl.
Mix together the flour, Parmesan cheese, baking powder and, salt. Mix this into your zucchini mixture.
1 cup all-purpose flour, ½ cup grated Parmesan cheese, 1 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon salt
Now add your eggs and onion to zucchini mixture and mix well.
4 large eggs, 4 tablespoon green onion
Heat about 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium- medium low heat.
Scoop ¼ cup of zucchini batter on to the hot skillet making sure to flatten the pancakes to about a ½ inch thick and cook until deep golden brown, about 3-4 minutes per side.
Place on a cooling rack that sits on a sheet pan and then place in warm oven while you make the rest of your pancakes.
Continue to cook the remainder of the pancakes. You will need to add a little more oil to the pan before each new batch of pancakes.
Serve pancakes with a generous dollop of sour cream on the top or side and garnish with the extra green onions.
For serving: 1 cup of sour cream and finely diced green onions

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