Healthy meets delicious!
I love recipes that can be delicious and healthy at the same time, like my Healthy Zucchini Pancakes with Greek Yogurt and Feta. Plus, they’re a great way to use up all of the zucchini in your garden in the summer, or to take advantage of any great sales you seen on zucchini at the supermarket. These Healthy Zucchini Pancakes can also make great appetizers, or they make a great vegetarian meal, too.
And MY Healthy Zucchini Pancakes are particularly good because you make them in three steps in the food processor and YOU DON’T HAVE TO WASH IT OUT before you move to the next step!!! How great is that? In fact, the sauce remaining in the food processor (step 2) really adds a nice texture and flavor to the pancakes (step 3).
Easy steps to help you save time!
In this post, I’ll also talk you through how to shred zucchini, make the yogurt sauce and mix up the pancakes all in the food processor without having to wash it. If you follow the steps in order you will save yourself a lot of time and trouble by only washing the food processor at the end.
You should begin making the Healthy Zucchini Pancakes by draining the Greek yogurt. Even though Greek yogurt has less water than traditional yogurt, it still has a good amount of water, and that water would make your pancakes really soggy. To drain the yogurt, I prefer to line a strainer with an 8″ x 8″ square of cheesecloth, which I then place in a bowl. I let the yogurt drain in the refrigerator while I prepare the rest of the ingredients for the Healthy Zucchini Pancakes.
As the yogurt is draining, I shred the zucchini using the medium blade of the food processor. Once the zucchini is shredded, I salt it and let it drain for about an hour so that it releases all of its juice and the pancakes do not end up soggy. I also add a bit of baking soda to my pancakes so they do not turn out well, “flat as a pancake.” You want them to have a little bit of puff and and not lay on the plate like a hockey puck.
Add a bit of dill and yogurt sauce for a bit of excitement!
I serve the Healthy Zucchini Pancakes with a dill and yogurt sauce just so they are not boring. Sprinkling them with crumbled feta cheese at the end gives them a nice salty bite and adds a bit of protein to this vegetarian dish. I like it when the sauce that accompanies the pancakes mirrors the ingredients in the Healthy Zucchini Pancakes themselves so I like to add dill, cilantro, and mint to the yogurt sauce and to the pancakes as well just to keep all the flavors in harmony. You can mix any combination of herbs into the pancakes and the sauce or leave out one or more of those ingredients if you do not like them.
If you’re looking for other creative ways to cook with zucchini, check out my recipes for Insta Pot Skinny Turkey Bolognese Sauce Over Spiralized Zucchini, Spiralized Zucchini Salad with Nectarines, Summer Tomatoes and Corn, and Grilled Vegetables with Goat Cheese and Spinach Fettuccine.
Healthy Zucchini Pancakes with Greek Yogurt and Feta
This is a great family dinner. Kids love pancakes for dinner and these are full of veggies. You can serve these with homemade chicken tenders and a baked sweet potato for a satisfying kid or adult friendly meal.
Ingredients
Yoghurt Sauce
- 1 1/2 c. Greek Yogurt any type is fine including fat-free or full fat
- cheesecloth
- 3 T. Hellman's mayonnaise
- 1/3 c. fresh cilantro, mint and dill and/or parsley all of the herbs you choose should fill 1/3 cup when finely chopped. If you do not like these, you can just use parsley or any combination of them
- salt and pepper to taste
Zucchini Pancakes
- 6 zucchini pick extra firm and not too large as those tend to be bitter
- 2 eggs beaten in a separate bowl
- 1 small onion grated
- 1/3 c. flour
- 1 1/2 t. baking powder
- 1/2 t. each of salt, pepper and nutmeg (optional)
- 1/3 c. olive oil or butter or a combination
- 1/3 c. fresh cilantro, mint, dill and/or parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 c. crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
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Cut a piece of cheesecloth 8" x 8" square. Line a strainer with the cheesecloth and, with the strainer placed on top of a mixing bowl, put the yogurt in the middle. Draw up the sides and tie with cotton string. Refrigerate for one hour. Don't leave the yogurt much longer than that or you will have CHEESE. That is for some other time........
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While yogurt is doing its dripping thing in the refrigerator, pulse the herbs in the large work bowl of a food processor.
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When the yogurt has drained after an hour, add the yogurt and all of the rest of the ingredients to the food processor bowl. Pulse the mixture but do not let it spin and spin as it will become watery. Just a few pulses will combine the already chopped herbs and the yogurt and mayonnaise. Add salt and pepper to taste.
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When yogurt mixture is all blended, scrape it into a plastic container with a lid and refrigerate while you make the pancakes. No need to wash the work bowl.
Zucchini Pancakes
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Preheat the oven to 300 degrees and oil a foil lined cookie sheet. Set aside.
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Shred the zucchini in the food processor (with the remains of the yoghurt sauce still there) with the medium shredder blade. In a large mixing bowl, put the grated onion, two eggs (beaten), flour, salt and pepper and baking powder. Make sure that the egg mixture all blended first before you add the zucchini.
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Remove the zucchini by handfuls from the food processor, squeezing it as hard as possible to get the water out. Add zucchini to the bowl with the egg mixture and mix it with your hands.
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Mix in the chopped herbs, salt, pepper and a few grinds of fresh nutmeg if you like it.
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In a large frying pan over medium high heat, heat about 1/3 of the amount of the olive oil, butter or a combination of them. You will make three batches of pancakes so it is best to just eyeball the oil or butter and divide it by the number of batches. I used an ice cream scoop to put the zucchini pancake batter into the pan when the oil was hot.
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Cook the Healthy Zucchini Pancakes until the bottoms are brown and the tops begin to firm up. Flip the pancakes over and allow the other side to brown. When the pancakes are done, put them on the oiled, foil-lined cookie sheet and put in the oven. Continue to make the batches in the same way until all of the batter is used.
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When the Healthy Zucchini Pancakes are all done, place 3 on each plate and dollop a spoonful of yogurt sauce on each pancake. Sprinkle with feta and garnish with chopped dill if you want it to look fancy schmancy.
