Conch Fritters are delightfully crispy and golden brown on the outside, tender on the inside with a bold flavor and satisfying crunch.
Flavorful, crunchy Conch Fritters are the Perfect Appetizer that you and your family won’t be able to get enough of. For more seafood favorites, try my Shrimp Boil and Beer Battered Fish Tacos next.
Sabrina’s Conch Fritters Recipe
If you’ve ever been to the Bahamas or Key West, then you may have tried Conch Fritters before. This addicting fried snack is a classic way to prepare conch meat into the perfect finger food. Conch is a type of seafood native to South Florida and the Caribbean. It has a lightly sweet and briny flavor that tastes wonderful when prepared with this savory and spicy batter. Serve with comfort food classics like Coleslaw, Creamy Macaroni and Cheese, and Sweet Potato Fries. Finding conch can be a task, so read my tips below on how to source it.
Recipe Card
Ingredients
Conch Fritters:
- Oil for frying
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup whole milk
- 2 large eggs , beaten
- 1 tablespoon vegetable oil
- 2 cups conch meat , chopped
- 1/2 cup celery , minced
- 1/2 cup yellow onion , minced
- 1/2 cup green bell pepper , minced
- 2 cloves garlic , minced
Spicy Creamy Dipping Sauce:
- 1/4 cup ketchup
- 1/4 cup mayonnaise
- 2 tablespoons lime juice
- 1 tablespoon hot sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon coarse ground black pepper
Instructions
Conch Fritters:
- In a large Dutch oven using a candy thermometer as a guide heat 4 inches of vegetable oil to 350 degrees.
- In a large bowl mix together the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and cayenne.
- Whisk in the milk, eggs, oil, conch meat, celery, onion, bell pepper and garlic.
- Spoon about 1 tablespoon sized spoonfuls of dough into the oil per batch and let them cook for 2-3 minutes, then remove with a slotted spatula.
Spicy Creamy Dipping Sauce:
- In a medium bowl add ketchup, mayonnaise, lime juice, hot sauce, salt, and black pepper.
- Stir well, then cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.
Nutrition
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Chef’s Note
Conch can be tricky to find, especially since harvesting local wild conch from Florida waters is heavily restricted or banned. However, it is legally imported from the Caribbean and neighboring countries, and finding this seafood frozen is much easier. You can either ask your local seafood market, or order online from a reputable seafood vendor. Defrost the frozen conch meat before starting this recipe.
Table of contents
Can this be made ahead of time?
Conch Fritters taste best served freshly cooked, but you can prepare the batter up to three days in advance. Just mix the ingredients, cover the bowl, and keep the batter in the fridge until you’re ready to fry.
How to Store
- Store: Leftover fritters can stay good in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.
- Reheat: You can reheat on a baking sheet in the oven or in the air fryer. For the air fryer method, preheat it to 370 degrees and pop in the fryer for 3 minutes.
Tips & Tricks
- Keep the fritters crispy
- You’ll need to fry the fritters in multiple batches. To keep the cooked fritters crispy while you fry the others, place them on a wire rack over a baking sheet. This is preferable to placing them on paper towels or newspapers as the paper will absorb excess oil and make the fritters soggy.
- Perfect golden brown fritters
- Make sure that you use a thermometer to check the cooking oil temperature reaches 350 degrees before adding the batter. If the oil is too low, it won’t cook the fritters properly. If the temperature is too high, the outside will brown too quickly before the inside of the fritters cook.
- Prepare conch meat
- To prepare the conch fillets, you can use a meat mallet or food processor to gently break the meat apart. You can also opt for ground conch meat, which is easier to prepare.
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