If you are looking for an appetizer or a snack, this is a great recipe for that. These baked zucchini cakes are perfect as a main dish, with salad or as a side dish. And not only that, they are soft and packed with flavour but they are also easy to make and vegetarian as well.
Another good thing about these zucchini cakes is that you don’t fry them, but you bake them. As a result, they are not greasy, but still crunchy on the outside and soft on the inside. All you need is zucchini, bread crumbs, garlic and some cheese. However, in this dish, the zucchini is the star!
Zucchini contain a lot of water. Therefore, you should plan ahead. First, you need to wash and grate them, sprinkle with some salt and let them sit like that for at least 30 minutes. They will release the water in excess, yet you will still need to squeeze the remaining water out of them.
I love this baked zucchini cakes. They are really tender with a lovely golden crust and a soft cheesy inside. Yummy! The reason, why are they so tender, is the combination of zucchini and panko breadcrumbs.
Zucchini adds the moisture (sometimes I add some zucchini in meatballs to keep them moist; check this cranberry meatballs recipe), panko breadcrumbs absorb the moisture and that’s what makes the zucchini cakes so fluffy and soft. Of course, also the melting cheese helps a lot.
Moreover, during baking, they tend to flatten a bit. Therefore, when forming the zucchini cakes, form a ball and this will become a “cake”. Wink.
You’ll have the baked zucchini cakes on your table in no time. They go great with a home-made aioli dip, with grilled vegetables or they are a lovely addition to a salad.
However, you can still serve them along with some lovely roasted potatoes, with a soup, with a couple of slices of sourdough bread or with meat. They can be combined with everything.
Ingredients for about 15-20 baked zucchini cakes :
- 2 zucchini (grated, drained)
- 2 garlic cloves (chopped)
- 100-150 g grated cheese (Gouda or something similar)
- 3-4 Tsp of bread crumbs (panko)
- olive oil
- salt and pepper
Start with preparing the zucchini. Grate, salt and drain out the excess water. You can do that with your hands or simply by putting the zucchini in a clean cotton kitchen towel and squeezing the water out.
Afterwards, put the zucchini back in the dry bowl and add the chopped garlic and the grated cheese. Yummy! Mix until well combined.
Then, add the bread crumbs one spoon at a time because they help to reduce the moisture. The mixture should be a little moist and not too dry and the ingredients should stick nicely together.
Place a baking paper on a baking tray and preheat the oven to 190ºC. Sprinkle your hands with some water or olive oil and start forming the cakes (4-5 cm). Place them directly on the baking paper and put in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
Serve the baked zucchini cakes warm with some green salad, meat or just with a lovely dip of your choice.
Enjoy!
PS
If you like the recipe, if you make the recipe or if you have any new ideas how to improve or change it, let me know in the comments section below or alternatively share your photos and reactions with me on Instagram (@Passionspoon), Facebook or Twitter (@PassionSpoon1). Simply use the hashtag #passionspoonrecipes in your posts. I would love to see them! (wink)
