Crispy pea fritters
This recipe was born from an emergency breakfast situation. The fridge was extremely bare, I didn’t have bread, I only had one egg and I don’t eat cereal. A freezer rummage produced a scruffy bag of peas leftover from last weeks’ Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup and it will surprise no one that I had plenty of cheese on hand. Cheese can solve any meal dilemma, my friends! 😇 And today, we’re using it to turn an un-assuming bag of frozen peas into a stack of crispy cheesy golden fritters.
Very little batter and lots of raggedy crispy cheese edges
The batter is based on my beloved crispy corn fritters recipe which uses equal parts flour and cornflour/cornstarch to make a crispier fritter, with just enough batter to hold the fritter together. We’re not making pancakes here – we want to taste peas, and cheese, not fluffy cakey crumb! I also switched out the parmesan for pre-shredded cheese because I didn’t have the motivation to shred at the time these fritters came into existence (I was still in my PJ’s), and found that the fritters cooked up with jagged cheese-laced edges. Very rarely in life does less effort get rewarded with better results, so I’ll take that!
What you need
Here’s what you need to make crispy pea fritters using frozen peas.
Frozen peas – Just regular frozen peas or baby peas, it works fine for both. No need to thaw or pre-cook. Frozen peas are cooked before being frozen so there’s no need to cook it beforehand, they just need to be heated which happens in the time the fritter takes to cook on the stove (3 – 4 minutes).Fresh peas – For show offs who want to use freshly harvested home-grown peas , blanch the peas, drain well, cool, then use per recipe. No, I’m not jealous at all. Cheese – Any melting cheese other than mozzarella can be used (it’s not flavoured enough). Cheddar, tasty cheese, colby, Monterey Jack, pepper jack. Packet shredded cheese is fine, no need to shred your own like I sometimes (strongly!) recommend. I use a 3 cheese blend (mozzarella, colby, parmesan), see photo above. Cornflour (cornstarch) AND regular flour – This recipe calls for both because cornflour makes the fritter crispier, but if you just use cornflour then the batter is too gluey and has an unpleasant texture. So the flour adds lightness to the batter while cornflour adds crispiness!Can you skip the cornflour? Yes you can. The fritter is still fairy crispy thanks to the cheese, but it’s crispier with the cornflour. But if I was out, I wouldn’t hesitate to make the recipe!Gluten-free flour – I haven’t tried it myself but a reader reported success, saying you wouldn’t even know the difference! Given how little batter there is compared to peas, this makes sense. 🙂 Baking powder – This lightens up the batter a bit so it’s not overly dense inside. You can substitute with baking soda (bi-carb). Egg and milk (or water) – To make the batter. The egg holds everything together (the ultimate food glue!) and the milk is to loosen the batter a touch to get the right consistency. Garlic powder – For a touch of earthy garlic flavour. Substitute with fresh garlic pressed through a garlic crusher or very finely chopped (if the pieces are too big, they won’t cook through sufficiently). Green onion – For a touch of freshness, though I wouldn’t hesitate to make this if I was out. Substitute with onion (regular or red) – sauté it in a little oil then let it cool before mixing it into the batter (I would add finely minced fresh garlic too).
Lemon yogurt dipping sauce
I’m actually quite happy munching away on the pea fritters plain. But there’s no denying a dipping sauce elevates it! I like to use a simple Lemon Yogurt Sauce (love the touch of lemony garlicky flavour) though even just plain yogurt with a swish of olive oil would suffice. Fresh peas – For show offs who want to use freshly harvested home-grown peas , blanch the peas, drain well, cool, then use per recipe. No, I’m not jealous at all. Packet shredded cheese is fine, no need to shred your own like I sometimes (strongly!) recommend. I use a 3 cheese blend (mozzarella, colby, parmesan), see photo above. Can you skip the cornflour? Yes you can. The fritter is still fairy crispy thanks to the cheese, but it’s crispier with the cornflour. But if I was out, I wouldn’t hesitate to make the recipe! Gluten-free flour – I haven’t tried it myself but a reader reported success, saying you wouldn’t even know the difference! Given how little batter there is compared to peas, this makes sense. 🙂 Substitute with onion (regular or red) – sauté it in a little oil then let it cool before mixing it into the batter (I would add finely minced fresh garlic too). Here’s what you need for the Lemon Yogurt Sauce. For the yogurt, use a plain, unsweetened yogurt (I like to use Greek or Greek-style yogurt). I always use full-fat but low fat will work fine too.
How to make Crispy Pea Fritters
Here’s how to make it. I love that the only thing you need to pull out the cutting board for is to slice up some green onion! Have these as a meal, serve as a starter, a hearty snack or for breakfast with a runny egg. 💡TIP: Don’t skimp on oil for fritters. Heat enough oil into your pan so the base is covered completely. Remember, oil thins out as it heats up so it will spread more. If you don’t use enough oil, your fritters will end up burnt rather than golden and crispy which is so disappointing. Whatever time of the day it is, the moment you bite into the crispy golden crust may be the best part of your day. And to think that all it took was a bag of frozen peas!! I love these sort of emergency recipes. Very handy when you need to eat, right now, without going to the store. – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
My fritter life
You can fritter almost anything! Mashing also does not improve the pea flavour. You get the most pea flavour from biting into the whole peas rather than mashed and mixed into the batter. Cooking geek-out! Why it can matter: Pre shredded cheese is coated with anti-caking agents which prevents the cheese from melting as nicely as freshly shredded. It also causes sauces (like béchamel cheese sauce used in Mac and Cheese) to be slightly grainy. The extent of graininess varies from brand to brand, depending on what and how much anti-caking agent they use. Also, most pre shredded cheeses tend to be fairly chunky batons rather than thin strands like you get with freshly shredded cheese grated using a box grater. What this means is that 1 cup (100g) packet shredded cheese will cover less surface area than the same volume of freshly shredded (because thicker batons = less cheese strands than more finely shredded cheese). See? I did warn you this was a geek-out moment! The frozen mixed vegetables (like I use in fried rice) come to mind as a handy alternative (and so colourful too!). For watery vegetables like zucchini, different steps are called for (eg shred, salt, squeeze out excess water). See below the recipe card for more fritter recipes!
Life of Dozer
In real time – shot from this morning. Not looking thrilled about the prospect of going into the office today! 🤨 Little does he realise all the cooking I’m doing at work today! And one from last week that I’m still traumatised about – Ikea fail and Dozer looking extremely concerned (rightly so!). Simple little kids’ bench I deemed as perfect to be Dozer’s new eating table* I managed to completely stuff up. I was wondering why I was left with 3 screws leftover at the end……??? I had to disassemble the whole thing and start again. 🤯 I’ll stick to cooking!
- Dozer now eats and drinks from an elevated height, a precaution for one of his increasing number of old-man problems he’s riddled with these days! Yet, I love him more with every passing day. ❤️
