Enjoy some delicious crispy goodness with this Best Fried Zucchini Recipe! The zucchini is quickly sliced into fries, coated in a simple panko or bread crumbs, and then fried to a golden brown. Sprinkled with Parmesan cheese and served with marinara sauce it is the ultimate summer treat when zucchini is in season.
We all love to indulge once in a while with some golden deep-fried food like these Best Crispy Fried Pickles and these Stuffed Meatballs! This is what Fridays or game nights are for! You may also like Soft Pretzels with Cheese Sauce or Pepperoni Pizza Dip for other game day winners!!
Hi there, it’s Melanie from Bon Appét’Eat. It’s been a lot of fun to be part of the Noshing with the Nolands team. I do have some goodness like this to share on the blog too! Check my Portobello Mushroom fries, you will not regret it. And I absolutely love zucchini and so do my kids with these Zucchini Roll Ups, 4-ingredient zucchini fritters, or Delicious Stuffed zucchini.
Fried zucchini is easy to prepare with very few ingredients and you can adapt and vary the flavor endlessly. Make this yummy fried vegetable to enjoy as an appetizer or side dish.
Helpful Items for This Recipe
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Stainless steel spider for frying
How To Make Fried Zucchini
The steps to making the best crispy fried zucchini recipe are really simple. If you have kids, they can help until it is time to deep fry the veggies, let’s leave that for the adults.
Zucchinis
Try to choose the same zucchinis for uniformity and cooking time. Wash them well and cut the ends off.
How to Cut Zucchini Fries?
Slice the zucchini in half and then cut in 2 length-wise and then in fry shape. It yields 12 fries with each vegetable. Alternatively, you can make slices like coins using the thickness of a quarter of an inch or even make thin chip treats.
The Preparation
Place all the zucchini sticks on a plate and add some salt to it. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare 3 shallow plates: one for the flour, one for the beaten eggs, and one for the panko.
Your next move will be to pat dry your zucchinis as the salt released some moisture. Then, roll in the flour, shake the excess. Place your zucchini stick in the beaten eggs, make sure it is evenly covered in the egg. Lastly, coat the zucchini with panko.
How To Fry Zucchini? How Long To Fry Zucchini?
In a pot, wok, or frying pan, pour some vegetable oil and bring it to 350 degrees Fahrenheit on medium heat. Delicately, to avoid any splash, place the coated zucchini in the oil away from you and deep fry for 2-3 minutes or until it is golden brown.
Sprinkle with sea salt or Parmesan and enjoy when hot!
Cooking Tips for Fried Zucchini
Do you peel zucchini?
No need to peel the zucchini for this recipe in fact, the skin is thin enough to enjoy.
How do you keep fried zucchini from getting soggy?
There are 2 important tricks to avoid sogginess. The first one is to do the very first step of the recipe listed above: putting salt on the zucchinis and letting them sit for 10 minutes. The other one is to enjoy the fried zucchinis right away, they may release some moisture while cooling down. It will still be delicious but less crispy.
How do you get breading to stick to vegetables?
Again, tackling the moisture is key here, make sure to tap dry the zucchinis with paper towel before rolling them in flour.
Help, I don’t have a thermometer!
No worries, wait a few minutes to allow the oil to warm up and throw some panko crumbs (choose some ‘wet’ ones in the shallow plate), if you see the oil cooking it right away, it is ready. If the crumbs just float, wait for a little and try again. Or buy yourself the best thermometer around for every use in the kitchen. *affiliate link.
Can I bake my zucchini fries?
Absolutely! Spread them on a baking sheet, drizzle some olive oil on each stick or use a cooking spray – for some crispiness! I would recommend to set the oven to 425F, nice and hot, and bake for 10-15 minutes or until golden.
Can I cook my fried zucchini in the air fryer?
Yes, make sure to spread them as a single layer. You will need to make a few batches.
Variations To The Recipe
Vegetable: Any other veggie from the squash family would work for this recipe.
Shape: You can choose between zucchini slices or sticks.
Breading: You can substitute panko for bread crumbs. You can add flavour to it: Italian seasonings, garlic powder, or parmesan cheese.
Sprinkle: My sprinkle of choice is sea salt, but Parmesan would be great on these tasty fried zucchinis. Also, feel free to add some fresh or dried herbs like thyme or rosemary.
What Goes Well With Fried Zucchini?
Marinara sauce: You can make your own or use a store bought one. This is a combo made in heaven! You can even choose cold or warm marinara, both very tasty ways to eat it.
Dip and sauce: A great Mexican dip would be a nice pairing and if you wish to stick to vegetarian food, this spinach and artichoke dip would work well too. Ultimately, my choice would be towards this buttermilk ranch dressing, a nice drizzle on the platter would be quite a success!
Pin it HERE!!
Pin it HERE!!
Best Fried Zucchini Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 zucchinis
- 2 tsp salt
- 1 cup flour
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup panko or bread crumbs
- 3 cups vegetable oil
- Sea salt
- Dipping sauce of your choice marinara, buttermilk ranch, etc.
Instructions
- Wash the zucchinis and cut the ends off.
- Slice the zucchini in half and then cut in 2 length-wise and then in fry shape. I made 12 fries with each.
- Place all the zucchini sticks on a plate and add the salt to it. Let it sit for 10-15 minutes.
- In the meantime, prepare 3 shallow plates: one for the flour, one for the eggs, beaten, and one for the panko.
- Pat dry your zucchinis as the salt released some moisture.
- In a pot, pour your oil and turn the stove on medium-high.
- One by one, roll the stick in the flour, shake the excess. Place your stick in the beaten eggs. Then, coat the zucchini with panko.
- Using a thermometer, check that the temperature has reached 350F.
- Gently place the coated zucchini in the oil and deep fry for 2-3 minutes or until it is golden brown.
- Sprinkle with sea salt or parmesan, enjoy!
- Serve with your favorite dipping sauce.
Equipment
Comments & Reviews
dinosaur game says
I made the easy baked zucchini and they were delicious but they were not crispy. I cut thyem about 1/2 and followed the time in the recipe. Should I have left them in the broiler longer?
Tara Noland says
Yes, you may need to bake them longer or make sure they are covered with a light spray of oil. Also if you have an air fryer that would get them crisper too.
S J Brown says
Was looking for rhubarb recipes…found this wonderful site!! Made the rhubarb bars and not dissapointed. They are perfect bars and soooo easy to make!! We see deer on our 5.5 acres in Pennsylvania and I agree they are graceful and beautiful. They never destroy anything. Can’t wait to try more recipes!
Tara Noland says
So glad you enjoyed the dream bars. They have been a big hit. Happy baking!!