Easy Vegetable Fritters with Chipotle Mayo

Crispy on the outside, tender and flavorful on the inside! These vegetable fritters take minutes to make and are perfect for snacking. Serve them with smoky chipotle mayo that’s good enough to eat from a spoon!

Stack of Vegetable Fritters with dish of chipotle mayo and skillet in the background.

Warmer weather is on the way! This means an abundance of fresh veggies for many of us. I know my fridge is generally overflowing with fresh veggies all year round, but once I start buying summer produce things can really get out of control.

This is a great recipe to have on hand for those occasions when you end up with an overabundance of veggies that you don’t know what to do with.

I adapted this one from my vegan zucchini fritters recipe. The flavors in these vegetable fritters are similar, but this recipe is actually simpler, with fewer steps.

The fritters turned out deliciously crispy and super flavorful. I paired them up with a super easy chipotle mayo that’s so rich and creamy (but totally egg and dairy-free!). They make a perfect light lunch, side dish, or easy appetizer.

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Ingredients You’ll Need

Plate of Vegetable Fritters with water glass and skillet in the background.

For the Chipotle Mayo

Vegan mayonnaise. Look for brands like Just, Vegenaise, or Hellman’s vegan mayo.
Hot sauce. Use a vinegar-based hot sauce such as Cholula, Frank’s, or Crystal. I’m a big fan of Cholula in this recipe.
Chipotle chile powder.
Smoked paprika.
Salt.

For the Fritters

Vegetables. Obviously! The recipe calls for broccoli and carrots, but you can certainly experiment and use what you have on hand. Cauliflower, beets, parsnips, and sweet potatoes all make great choices. Avoids veggies that are leafy, soft, or watery, like spinach, cucumber, zucchini, and tomatoes.
Scallions. Also known as green onion or spring onions, these add lots of flavor to the fritters.
Garlic.
All-purpose flour. I think you could get away with substituting whole wheat flour, but I can’t guarantee results with any other variety of flour.
Panko breadcrumbs.
Spices. We’re using ground cumin, paprika, and cayenne pepper.
Salt & pepper.
Water.
Lemon juice.
Peanut oil. Just about any high-heat oil could be substituted here, such as canola oil, corn oil, olive oil, or coconut oil.
Chives. These are just for serving the veggie fritters, and are totally optional!

How They’re Made

Vegetable Fritters on a plate with a dish of chipotle mayo.

This is so easy!

First, prep your veggies. This means shredding your carrots and mincing your broccoli. You can do this by hand or using a food processor (which is much quicker). The recipe also includes some scallions, so chop those up as well.
Stick all of your veggies into a large mixing bowl and add some garlic, cumin, salt, panko breadcrumbs, and flour. Stir everything to coat the veggies.
Now drizzle in some lemon juice and water, then give the mixture another stir.
Test the mixture in your hands: can you squish the mixture into a ball that holds together? If so, it’s ready to go! If it’s too crumbly, add more water. If it’s too wet, add more flour.

Collage showing 4 steps for mixing Vegetable Fritter batter.

Heat up some oil in a skillet.
When the oil starts to shimmer, start shaping your veggie mixture into 2-inch patties and placing them in the skillet.
Fry the patties for a few minutes on each side, until golden brown and crispy.

Collage showing 2 stages of Vegetable Fritters cooking in a skillet.

I recommend serving your crispy vegetable fritters right away, along with some chipotle mayo for dipping.

Hand dipping a Vegetable Fritter in a dish of chipotle mayo.

Tip: While the chipotle mayo is super easy to whip up, you could use another pre-made dipping sauce such as vegan sour cream, yogurt or plain vegan mayo to save time if you’d like.

Leftovers & Storage

Vegan vegetable fritters are best served immediately, but if you do have leftovers, store them in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. To reheat, place them under a broiler until they’re hot and crispy again.

More Vegan Fritter Recipes

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