Fabulous Fritters. Fabulous Fritters. Fabulous Fritters. (Go on, say that three times fast.)
These Cheezy Broccoli Bean Fritters are tender and moist on the inside, crisp crumbly crust on the outside. They kinda actually melt in your mouth. And I don't usually say that about broccoli.
The bright green broccoli is rustic and hearty, yet minced into tiny velvety bits that caramelize as they cook. Nutty nutritional yeast, bright cider vinegar and savory vegan cheese in each cozy bite. Crave the broccoli and "cheese" flavor - a classically awesome combo. Grab this recipe...
Healthy Fritters! The power-food combo of beans and broccoli makes these cute little fritters quite filling and nutritious!
My fabulous fritter kick continues. Actually, you could call it a fritter, croquette and cake kick. It all started with these addictively yummy Pumpkin Chickpea Fritters. And then I rolled out these Cheesy Pumpkin Chickpea Veggie Sunflower Seed Croquettes - tender and amazing. And today I took a break from pumpkin (I know, I know, why would I want to do that?) and tried some broccoli fritters. I loved them! Delicious way to get a hearty serving of healthy broccoli.
Ingredients Note: Many of you have asked about nutritional yeast. Get my Nutritional Yeast 101 here. You can find at most health/natural grocery stores including Whole Foods. They even have a 365 brand version. I like Kal brand and you can buy online at e-stores like One Lucky Duck.
For the hemp seeds, the same is true - Whole Foods carries them.
Substitutions? You can add more vegan cheese in place of the nutritional yeast for flavor. And you can sub the hemp seeds with sunflower. Add in some flour to dry out the mixture if you you are not using nutritional yeast (but really, it ROCKS! So try to find some or buy online. It will change your life and food. It will!)
Cheezy Broccoli Bean Fritters
vegan, makes 7-9 fritters
4 cups minced broccoli (from whole florets)
1 ½ cups cannellini beans, drained from one can
¼ cup vegan Monterey Jack (or cheddar) cheese shreds
⅓ cup nutritional yeast
2 tablespoon hemp seeds
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1 tablespoon hot sauce
½ teaspoon garlic powder
salt and pepper to taste
for frying: ¼ cup safflower oil
bread crumb coating: panko or fine plain bread crumbs
To Make:
1. Mince florets in a Vitamix or food processor until finely chopped into flaky bits. I used one medium head of broccoli - mostly the florets and a few stems.
2. Add the beans and minced/chopped broccoli to a large mixing bowl. With a large fork or potato masher, mash the beans until at least 75% of them have been mashed together with the broccoli.
3. Add in the garlic powder, apple cider, hemp seeds, hot sauce, nutritional yeast, s and p. Fold in the vegan cheese. Fold together until a moist mixture forms.
4. Preheat a few tablespoons of safflower oil in a large skillet.
5. When the oil is hot, for the mixture into golf ball sized balls and roll in the bread crumbs until well covered - pat down into flatter cakes and place in the hot oil - carefully.
6. Continue until the pan is full - leave about an inch space between each cake for easier flipping. Cook on each side only about 2 minutes - or until toasty brown.
7. Transfer cooked fritters to a paper towel to cool. Serve in about 5 minutes after cooling a bit.
*Store in the fridge and reheat in the oven if desired. You can freeze as well. However, these fritters are best hot off the skillet!
And for those of you who tried my Pumpkin Chickpea Fritters, check out what happens when you add in extra pumpkin, use fine bread crumbs instead of Panko, and light fry. Here is the result (softer, cake like patties - yum too!)..
Denise Walts says
I've made cheezy broccoli for my kids and it was delicious
Lina says
I cant wait to make this recipe looks so yummy and easy to make 🙂 I havent had vege fritters in a while
Kathryn Grace says
These were a big hit at Chez Grace last night, and I plan on adding them to my staple list. SO easy to make and utterly scrumptious. Thank you.
Kathryn Grace says
Thank you for explaining this. Mine held together, but just barely, and I was thinking of mashing more beans into them next time and using a little liquid.
Mandy says
I made these tonight! They weren't my favorite but they were still tasty. I added an onion into the food processor with the broccoli, added more hot sauce and nutritional yeast, used less Daiya (pepperjack shred) and baked them in the oven. I did need to add some flour to the mixture which wasn't a big deal. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Sarah says
Hi Kathy! Thanks again for another innovative recipe! These look delicious. In regards to making them hold together better, should I add a liquid and whole wheat flour? If so, how much of each and what liquid would you recommend? What did you add to make yours hold together better?
Alien says
I just made these, instead of frying....after I rolled them in the breadcrumbs I baked them for 20mins at 400 degrees since the ingredients are very similar to your white bean patty recipe (our dinner go-to) and baking seemed a bit more healthy than frying. Came out really good. Recipe yielded 8 smallish fritters.
Melissa O says
Just made these and my first batch fell apart in the frying pan... a combination of too much oil in the pan and not enough liquid or binder in the fritter mix. I added in a bit of your cheese sauce from your "Fake-out Mac & Cheese" recipe and they held together much better! Plus they're more "cheesy" now too.
peaceweaver says
I'm going to experiment with different variations. We are gluten free, so will do gf bread crumbs. I'd like to also try chia seeds, and possibly baking them as an option.
Rcritchie5 says
What vegan cheese do you recommend? I don't use it often bc they are usually so processed ( great for the occasional indulgence only), but from the pics what you use looks sooo close to the real thing! I have to give whatever you used a try 🙂
Mastersnichole says
Daiya is what we use but as you said, a treat!
Dtherrian says
Great recipe! Although I am not a vegan, I recently made these. Mine mostly stayed together but I think next time I will let the oil heat up longer before adding them in. Also, have you tried baking them? I am looking for healthy recipes and wanted to try them even though I feel frying adds lots of calories. Thanks again!