Zucchini Tots with Korean Ketchup

Zucchini Tots

When I was a kid, a tot if you will (haha) my mom would make these little zucchini pancakes that she would fry.  Lately I’ve seen all sorts of alternative “tot” recipes floating around the internet and I wondered if I could tweak her pancake recipe and turn them into tots.  The longer I pondered frying a “tot” shaped item the more I realized that seemed like a lot of time and that they needed to be baked while I whipped up some type of main dish, if you know me, this escalated quickly into a full blown pub grub dinner.

Ingredients

1 large zucchini, large shredded, and with the moisture squeezed out.  I put mine in a tea towel or cheese cloth and SQUEEZE it until I can’t get any more liquid out

½ small onion, finely minced or shredded (this works best if you have a Cuisinart or other type of food processor and aren’t doing it manually)

1 medium to large carrot, finely shredded

2 large eggs

¼ to ½ cup panko breadcrumbs (I used whole wheat panko)

1/3 cup finely shredded cheese (I used finely shredded mild cheddar)

½ tsp. garlic powder (a few shakes)

½ tsp. paprika

Salt and pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees and spray a large baking sheet with cooking spray and set aside.

In a bowl combine the strained zucchini, onion, carrots, eggs, breadcrumbs, cheese and spices and mix with until well combined.  Depending on the sizes of your vegetables you will have to see how they can stick together in “tot” shape.  Roll them in your hands and shape into that signature “tot” shape and place on the sprayed baking sheet.  Bake at 400 degrees for approximately 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown.

I served these with my We Rub You gochujang mixed with ketchup, figure 3 tablespoons ketchup to 1 teaspoon (to tablespoon depending on how spicy you like) gochujang, and stir until combined.  When I was a “tot” we would serve the pancakes with honey, or Tabasco but another delicious idea is to combine honey and hot sauce and use them as a dip too! These were so good I made a double batch the following night!