Air Fryer Recipe

Savory Sweetcorn and Courgette Fritters

• Prep: 10 min
• Cook: 15 min
• Total: 25 min
• Serves: 4
• Category: Snacks
• Print Recipe

Sweetcorn and courgette fritters shine when their edges are crisp and their centres remain soft and sweet. The air fryer is ideal for this dish, as it quickly removes moisture from the surface, ensuring a perfect texture without the courgette making the batter soggy.

Ingredients

• 1 medium courgette, about 220g, coarsely grated
• 1 tsp fine sea salt, divided
• 200g sweetcorn kernels, drained well if tinned, or thawed if frozen
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 1 small garlic clove, finely grated
• 2 medium eggs, beaten
• 70g plain flour
• 25g fine polenta or cornmeal (use dried breadcrumbs if you cannot find it)
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 40g mature Cheddar, finely grated
• 2 tbsp chopped fresh coriander or flat-leaf parsley
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• ½ tsp ground cumin
• ¼ tsp freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp olive oil, plus extra in a spray bottle or for brushing

Method

1. Put the grated courgette in a bowl with ½ tsp of the salt, toss well, then leave for 10 minutes.
2. Tip the salted courgette into a clean tea towel and squeeze firmly over the sink until it feels compact rather than juicy.
3. Pat the sweetcorn dry with kitchen paper.
4. In a large bowl, mix the squeezed courgette, sweetcorn, spring onions, garlic, eggs, flour, polenta, baking powder, Cheddar, herbs, smoked paprika, cumin, black pepper and the remaining ½ tsp salt.
5. Stir in 1 tbsp olive oil.
6. Preheat the air fryer to 190°C for 3 minutes.
7. Line the basket with perforated parchment and lightly brush or spray it with oil.
8. Spoon in mounds of mixture, using about 2 heaped tbsp per fritter, then flatten gently to roughly 1.5cm thick and 7–8cm wide.
9. Leave at least 2cm between each fritter.
10. Spray or brush the tops lightly with oil.
11. Air fry at 190°C for 7 minutes, until the tops look set and the edges are beginning to colour.
12. Turn each fritter carefully with a thin spatula, peeling it away from the parchment rather than lifting straight up.
13. Spray or brush the second side with a little more oil, then cook for 5–7 minutes more.
14. Check doneness: the fritters should feel firm when nudged, have golden-brown edges, and show no wet batter in the centre if one is split open.
15. If they are browned but still soft inside, lower to 170°C and cook for another 2–3 minutes.
16. Transfer to a rack for 3 minutes before serving.

Nutrition

Calories: 250

• #air fryer
• #fritters
• #vegetarian
• #courgette
• #sweetcorn