Crispy Fried Zucchini with Dipping Sauces

These crispy fried zucchini are coated with a parmesan breading and pan fried to perfection. Served with a creamy parmesan dipping sauce and perfect with marinara, this restaurant-style appetizer is simply delicious!

What Makes This Recipe So Good

• The double breading on the fried zucchini chips makes them SO crispy, and the seasoned breadcrumb coating adds a lot of delicious flavor. This is going to be your new favorite way to eat zucchini!
• Fried zucchini is so easy to make, and you can easily double or triple the recipe if you’re feeding a group.
• The easy creamy parmesan dipping sauce complements the fried zucchini chips SO WELL. There’s a little parmesan in both, and the creaminess of the sour cream & mayo mixture is an absolute dream with the crispiness of the fried breadcrumb coating. You’ll want to use this sauce on everything. You could also dip your fried zucchini into ranch dressing or marinara if you prefer!
• This a great recipe for make-ahead meals or snacks-on-hand. Refrigerate the zucchini in an airtight container up to 5 days. To reheat the chips, bake them at 375° Fahrenheit so they crisp up again, or reheat them in the air fryer.

Key Ingredients

Zucchini – This recipe calls for 2 medium zucchini, which are generally about 6 to 8 inches long. I cut the zucchini into discs this time because they’re just so easy, but you could also cut them into slivers (matchsticks) so you’ve got zucchini fries instead! If you end up prepping too much zucchini, freeze the leftover unbreaded zucchini to use later.

Breadcrumbs – These give the zucchini that perfect crisp coating. You could also use panko, or for gluten free fried zucchini, use gluten free breadcrumbs (and gluten free flour).

Parmesan – There’s just the right amount of parmesan cheese mixed into the breading to complement the savory breadcrumbs and Italian seasoning. It’s perfect.

Chef’s Tips

• Make sure your oil is hot enough before you put the zucchini discs in it! If the oil isn’t hot enough, the zucchini won’t fry – they’ll just soak up the oil. If it’s too hot, though, the zucchini will burn. 350°-360° Fahrenheit is usually the best target range for fry oil.
• For a lighter option, you can fry your zucchini discs in the air fryer instead of a pan. Prep the fried zucchini as instructed below, spray them lightly with air-fryer-safe cooking spray, then air fry the battered discs for 10 minutes in an air fryer preheated to 380° Fahrenheit. After 10 minutes, flip the discs over and fry them another 5 or so minutes, then serve them with marinara and creamy parmesan sauce!
• Use a really sharp knife or a mandoline to cut up the zucchini into evenly-sized discs. If they’re not evenly-sliced, they won’t cook evenly, so keep that in mind! The thinner the slices, the crispier the fried zucchini chips will be! You can slice them up to ¼-inch thin.
• To freeze the zucchini chips after they’ve been cooked, let them cool completely, then spread them out on a baking sheet and place them in the freezer to set up for an hour or so. After that, you can toss them into a sealable freezer bag. To reheat, bake them in the oven, broil them, or fry them in a pan or an air fryer until they’re warmed through and crispy again.

Other Delicious Recipes You’ll Love

• Blistered Shishito Peppers with Lemon-Garlic Aioli
• Easy 7 Layer Salad with Homemade Dressing
• Keto Zucchini Bread
• Asparagus Casserole
• Broccoli Cornbread

Recipe By: Cheryl Malik

5 from 3 votes

Crispy Fried Zucchini with Dipping Sauces

Prep 15 minutes minutes

Cook 15 minutes minutes

Total 30 minutes minutes

These crispy fried zucchini are coated with a parmesan breading and pan fried to perfection. Served with a creamy parmesan dipping sauce and perfect with marinara, this restaurant-style appetizer is simply delicious!

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Equipment

• Cutting board
• Sharp knife
• 4 bowls
• 3 whisks or silicone spatulas
• Large pan
• Tongs
• Large plate or cooling rack
• Paper towels

Ingredients

For the Creamy Parmesan Dipping Sauce

• ▢ ¼ cup mayonnaise
• ▢ ¼ cup sour cream
• ▢ 1 clove garlic minced
• ▢ ¼ cup grated parmesan
• ▢ 1 pinch salt
• ▢ ground black pepper to taste

For the Fried Zucchini

• ▢ 2 medium zucchini sliced into ½-inch-thick discs
• ▢ 2 large eggs
• ▢ 1 teaspoon salt
• ▢ ground black pepper to taste
• ▢ 1 ½ cups breadcrumbs see Notes
• ▢ ½ cup grated parmesan
• ▢ 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
• ▢ 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• ▢ ½ cup all-purpose flour
• ▢ olive oil or other neutral oil, for frying

Optional

• ▢ marinara for serving

Instructions

For the Creamy Parmesan Dipping Sauce

• Combine all dipping sauce ingredients in bowl.
  
• Stir thoroughly until smooth. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
  

For the Fried Zucchini

• In one bowl, beat together eggs, salt, and pepper to taste. Set aside. In another bowl, combine breadcrumbs, parmesan, Italian seasoning, garlic powder, and additional salt and pepper. Set aside. Add all-purpose flour to third bowl. Set aside.
• Pour enough oil into pan to create ½-inch-deep layer and place pan over medium heat.
• Dredge zucchini discs through flour. Tap disc against side of bowl to shake off excess flour, then fully dip floured zucchini in egg mixture, coating both sides. Let excess egg drip back into bowl, then dip zucchini in breadcrumb mixture.
  
• Coat both sides of zucchini disc thoroughly, then set aside and repeat with remaining discs.
  
• When oil is hot, add discs to pan in batches, being careful not to overcrowd pan. Lay discs in a single layer so they don't touch or overlap.
• Cook zucchini discs 2 to 3 minutes, then flip and cook another 2 to 3 minutes. Remove fried zucchini discs and place on plate lined with paper towels or on cooling rack set over paper towels, to drain any excess oil. Repeat until all zucchini discs are fried. If desired, season fried zucchini discs immediately with additional salt. Serve with parmesan dipping sauce and/or marinara.

• Make it Gluten Free: Use gluten free breadcrumbs instead of traditional breadcrumbs, and gluten free flour in place of all-purpose flour.

 

Recipe yields approximately 8 servings. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes. Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving of fried zucchini out of 8, using the ingredients listed. Nutritional values include information for the parmesan dipping sauce but not the marinara. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by 8. Result will be the weight of one serving.

Nutrition Info

Approximate Information for One Serving

Serving Size: 1servingCalories: 271calProtein: 10gFat: 15gSaturated Fat: 4gTrans Fat: 1gCholesterol: 61mgSodium: 660mgPotassium: 229mgTotal Carbs: 24gFiber: 2gSugar: 3gNet Carbs: 22gVitamin A: 304IUVitamin C: 9mgCalcium: 175mgIron: 2mg

Nutrition Disclaimers

Number of total servings shown is approximate. Actual number of servings will depend on your preferred portion sizes.

Nutritional values shown are general guidelines and reflect information for 1 serving using the ingredients listed, not including any optional ingredients. Actual macros may vary slightly depending on specific brands and types of ingredients used.

To determine the weight of one serving, prepare the recipe as instructed. Weigh the finished recipe, then divide the weight of the finished recipe (not including the weight of the container the food is in) by the desired number of servings. Result will be the weight of one serving.

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