Zucchini Pancakes

Zucchini Pancakes
Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Simon Andrews.
Total Time
30 minutes
Rating
5(3,748)
Notes
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Mucver (pronounced moosh-vair) are delicate, crisp zucchini pancakes popular in Turkey. This version has not just shredded zucchini, but also tiny clouds of feta and a sprinkling of minced fresh dill and scallions. They are crisp on the outside, tender within and subtly herbaceous. The trick to making the pancakes crisp and not soggy is to squeeze all the water out of the zucchini before mixing it with the other ingredients. A little brute force is required. —Elaine Louie

Featured in: Zucchini Pancakes, Turkish Style

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Ingredients

Yield:12 pancakes

    For the Pancakes

    • 3medium zucchini (about 1 pound), shredded
    • Salt
    • freshly ground black pepper
    • 3large eggs, beaten
    • ½cup all-purpose flour
    • 1tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
    • 1cup crumbled feta cheese
    • 3scallions, finely chopped
    • cup finely chopped dill
    • 1teaspoon baking powder
    • 4 to 6tablespoons vegetable oil, more as needed

    For the Yogurt Sauce

    • cup plain yogurt
    • 2cloves garlic, finely chopped
    • ½teaspoon salt
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

149 calories; 11 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 6 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 7 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 2 grams sugars; 5 grams protein; 217 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Preparation

  1. For the Pancakes

    1. Step 1

      Preheat oven to 250 degrees. Place zucchini in a colander over a bowl, and mix with ½ teaspoon salt. Allow to drain for five minutes. Transfer to a cloth kitchen towel, and squeeze hard to extract as much moisture as possible. Squeeze a second time; volume will shrink to about half the original.

    2. Step 2

      In a large mixing bowl, combine zucchini and eggs. Using a fork, mix well. Add flour, ½ teaspoon salt, olive oil, feta, scallions, dill and ½ teaspoon black pepper. Mix well, add baking powder, and mix again.

    3. Step 3

      Place a cast iron skillet or other heavy skillet over medium heat. Add 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Place heaping tablespoons of zucchini batter in pan several inches apart, allowing room to spread. Flatten them with a spatula if necessary; pancakes should be about ⅜ inch thick and about 3 inches in diameter. Fry until golden on one side, then turn and fry again until golden on other side. Repeat once or twice, frying about 5 to 6 minutes total, so pancakes get quite crisp. Transfer to a plate lined with paper towels, and keep warm in oven. Continue frying remaining batter, adding more oil to pan as needed. Serve hot.

    4. Step 4

      For yogurt sauce: In a small bowl, combine yogurt, garlic and salt. Mix well, and serve on the side or on pancakes.

Ratings

5 out of 5
3,748 user ratings
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Cooking Notes

The authentic recipe is much simpler and less fattening: Use one egg only. Scallions, cheese, olive oil, baking powder, black pepper are not needed. Add 1 Tbsp of dried mint. Dill weed can be dried also (1 Tbsp). The consistency of the batter: You should be able to drop the batter into the pan easily. This is not supposed to be doughy. Once in the pan, slightly flatten it with a fork/spoon. Definitely squeeze out the water of zucchinis really hard before mixing the other ingredients.

How much (in weight) is "3 medium zucchini"? PLEASE give more concrete measurements?

To easily get excess moisture out of zukes:
-wrap shredded zukes in a tea towel, then spin them in the lettuce spinner

Or for more fun:
-wrap shredded zukes in a tea towel, then step out outside and swing the towel around in a large circle at your side. Helps if you have a teenager around.

I replaced the regular flour with chickpea flour - equally delicious and suitable for the GF intolerant...

Back home (Turkeyj we also cook a healthier version in the oven instead of frying them. We use only one egg, 3 is waay tooooo much. Add a shredded potato and only 1 tablespoon of flour. And I add about a half cup of shredded nutty cheese, back home it’s kaskaval, over in the states I use manchego. 350 oven for about 40 minutes or until the top browns. And then enjoy. It’s good warm and cold.

Hmmm. Why don't you buy 3 medium zucchini, stick them on the scale and tell us?
Seriously though, when you use something like zucchini in a recipe like this where the exact amounts are not critical, it would be silly to specify an exact weight. You'd have people grating 2-3/4 or 3-1/4 zucchini and sticking the rest in the fridge, left wondering what to do with it. Makes far better sense to say "3 medium".
Besides that, people buy zucchini by the each, not by the weight.

I made a couple as waffles to avoid the additional fat from the oil and they were even better than the pancake version. Light and crisp!

Use potato ricer to squeeze out excess liquid. Works great for spinach as well!

I made this with chickpea flour (I am gluten-free), parmesan, cilantro and used one egg; also added lemon zest and garlic. I served it with avocado crema, recipe below.

1 avocado, peeled and pit removed (chop into pieces)
1/4 cup sour cream
2 cloves garlic
2 green onions, chopped
Zest of half a large lemon
1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice (use less if you want thick crema)
1 teaspoon sea salt
freshly ground pepper
chopped fresh cilantro, basil or parsley for garnish
Pulse in food processor.

the trick here is to make them super crispy. don't skimp on the time you allow and be sure to flip them several times. i found the ingredients perfectly balanced. first batch i rushed and they were not particularly great. but when i really let them brown, and brown again, and again...WOW...they were fantastic!

For those seeking more specifics on quantity, just made these using 4 zucchini with total weight of 1.75 lbs. Shredded with medium disk of Cuisinart & squeezed out the liquid strenuously using a cotton napkin. Only substitute was 1 T dried dill weed instead of fresh - all else the same. So delicious, they needed nothing, not even the leftover yogurt tahini sauce I had from a previous meal. Served as a side with tonight's dinner, could have been a meal in itself. To be repeated!

I wish all NY Times recipes featuring fruits or vegetables would include approximate weight as well as general size.

I drain in my salad spinner....gets all of the liquid out in a sec....good for many other things also....

Made these last evening. Stunningly easy to make and incredibly delicious. Subbed tarragon for the dill. Will add diced jalapeño next time for some spice. Subbed sour cream with a good grind of black pepper for the yogurt sauce. Panfried in a large cast iron skillet on a gas grill. Kept the splatter and the heat out of the kitchen. Sat on the patio, looking at the zucchini plants from which the pancakes were made—and ate them as they came out of the pan. A wonderful meal. Thank you!

The best way to get the water out of zucchini is to grate it, freeze it, then thaw and drain it. Magic. Let temperature do the work. Zucchini doesn't suffer in freshness. I haven't tried this recipe but I've been making muçver for a long time, and this way works without you having to work.

We used seasoned flour which was way too salty. Omit salt from the sour cream as well.

2 eggs 1.5# zukes, shredded in food processor Salted and drained Flour per recipe (1/2c?) Goats milk cheese 4 oz = approx 1 c Two trays in air fryer on parchment paper; 425 degrees, reg convection (not rapid); about 5’ flip 5’ flip 5’. Browned, not crispy. Really tasty!!!

Delicious.

Less feta. Also fine with yellow squash.

We are a veggie family with a big garden always looking for new recipes to try. These were good. Reduced no. of eggs from 3 to 2 per comments that there were too many, and added fresh mint and oregano, dried dill, chopped jalapeño. Served with the garlic sauce and harissa, and sliced pan fried potatoes with cumin seeds and paprika on the side. Good stuff.

When I used 3 eggs, it was too runny and ended up tasting more like a frittata. I tried again using only one egg and substituted 1 cup of panko breadcrumbs for the flour and the texture was much more to my liking.

Whoever said use a waffle iron is a genius. I have a small round one that separates into quarters. Makes a great looking app.

Used goat cheese instead of feta, sour cream not yogurt. Delicious!

This recipe is pretty flexible in that I didn’t measure everything to the exact and only had 2 zooks…and they turned out great. I opted out of the yoghurt sauce bc it didn’t sound enticing and used a tzatziki I had floating around in the fridge, merveilleux!

The eggs were way too much. I’d go with some folks recommendations to only use one. I also used chick pea flour and it was just as good as regular flour. Overall these weren’t phenomenal but it might be because too many eggs.

Why am I preheating the oven? This is weird.

Went with King Arthur Measure For Measure GF flour, and the recommendation to use one egg...sooooo good! Otherwise, everything was followed. Will ponder baking instead of frying, and the addition of a potato for the future. I had done a search for "Turkish" of NY Times Cooking recipes, which turned out to be a very fun rabbit hole. Made the Turkish Shepherd's Salad to accompany the pancakes. Highly recommend.

I took other’s suggestions, using only 1/3 c flour and 2 eggs, which made a perfect batter. It made 18 pancakes. I ran out of time so didn’t get the last batch to crisp up as well but I’m thinking a few minutes in a convection oven or air fryer next time would help. They were delicious regardless. I also added some zatar to the sauce.

I made this using just 1 very large zucchini. I substituted a Trader Joe‘s High Protein pancake mix for the flour and they came out very well.

Incredibly delicious! I made these dairy free, subbing 1/4 c yellow miso paste for the feta cheese. I also added minced garlic and green garlic shoots& scapes to the pancakes themselves and served without sauce. Sooo good!!

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Credits

Adapted from Aytekin Yar, Dardanel

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