Crispy Fried Zucchini is a delicious way to enjoy all of that summer zucchini from your yard…or your well-meaning neighbor or coworker. Zucchini is sliced into medallions, coated in a parmesan breadcrumb mixture and fried until crispy!
Zucchini fries, grilled zucchini, zucchini toast, and this fried zucchini recipe are exactly what you should make when you are trying to find new ways to prepare and cook zucchini. You’ll never run out of ways to serve this abundant garden veggie!
How to Make Fried Zucchini
This is the easy part! Make as much as you have zucchini for by doubling up the recipe…oh, and give some away, too! Feel free to make these with panko which is pre-packaged and pre-seasoned. Or make them with breadcrumbs and season them yourself like the recipe below. Easy peasy!
- Wash and dry the zucchini and trim the ends off. Slice each zucchini into ½” medallions.
- Prepare the egg mixture and the breadcrumb mixture (per recipe below).
- Dredge zucchini in flour, dip in the egg mixture, and then coat evenly in the bread crumbs. Press down on them to make sure they are completely coated. Repeat with remaining slices.
How to Fry Zucchini
When it comes to frying zucchini there are a few different ways to do this. You can fry it in a pan with oil, in an air fryer, or avoid the oil altogether and bake them in the oven. No matter how you choose to cook them they will end up crispy, crunchy & delicious!
- In a Pan: Preheat oil in a frying pan, drop the coated zucchini in. Cook on each side about 2 to 3 minutes or until the coating is crispy and golden brown on both sides.
- In an Air Fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 375°F. Place the zucchini slices in a single layer, cooking for 8 mins or until crispy and golden brown.
- Oven-Fried: If baking in the oven without oil, simply place the coins in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and spray with cooking spray. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes in an oven preheated to 400°F degrees.
Drain on paper towels and serve hot with an assortment of dipping sauces. Try them with buttermilk ranch dip, a spicy chipotle mayo, or your favorite dipping sauce!
Still Have Zucchini?
- Zucchini Noodles – a light and refreshing pasta!
- Roasted Zucchini – just 5 mins prep
- Easy Baked Zucchini – tender & crisp!
- Zucchini Casserole – 3 main ingredients
- Easy Stuffed Zucchini Boats – perfect family meal!
- Zucchini Bread – freezes well
Crispy Fried Zucchini
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini about 1 ½ lbs
- 2 eggs
- ¾ cup all-purpose flour
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese.
- 2 cups seasoned bread crumbs
- canola oil for frying
Instructions
- Trim ends off zucchini and slice into ½" slices.
- Beat eggs with salt and pepper to taste. Combine parmesan cheese, bread crumbs and salt & pepper to taste in a separate dish.
- Pour oil into a pan to ½" deep and heat over medium heat.
- Dredge zucchini in flour, dip in eggs and finally dip in bread crumbs. Repeat with remaining slices.
- Add zucchini to the pan, a few at a time (don't crowd) cooking 2-3 minutes per side.
- Drain on paper towels. Season with salt if desired.
Notes
- Air Fryer: Preheat the air fryer to 375°F. Place in a single layer, cooking for 8 mins or until crispy and golden brown.
- Oven-Fried: Preheat oven to 400°F. Place in a single layer on a parchment-lined baking sheet and spray with cooking spray. Bake for 18 to 20 minutes until crispy or golden brown.
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Side Dish
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This recipe was great. I ran into a problem when I found out I did not have regular flour so I substituted with coconut flour and they were excellent
Yummmmmmo
Do you have any problems with them getting soggy since they hold so much water?
If eaten right away, we do not find them to be soggy. Leftovers can release a bit of water but I find reheating them in an air fryer makes them crisp again.
A kind neighbor gave us some zukes. Made these using some panko, italian bread crumbs, parmesan and plenty of seasoned salt. The Badia brand is the best imo. Also, used the seasoned salt and pepper in the egg wash, the flour and the breadcrumbs. I can’t stress enough to SEASON everything unless you like plain. fried in refined coconut oil.These were thee BOMB!! Served with Marzetti ranch from refrigerated section. SO YUMMY & CRISPY!! Next time, I’m going to make ZUCCHINI parm. A play on Eggplant parm.
Yum! That sounds delicious, thanks for sharing.
I made this exactly as written. Oh. My. Gosh. It was crispy, flavorful and so much better than fried zucchini strips. It could be an appetizer, side dish or main dish if served with pasta and marinara sauce.
So glad you enjoyed it!
Very crispy and delicious. Very easy to make and went well with my meatball sub.
I made this last to use up zucchini I had. This recipe was super easy and so delicious!! I made a dipping sauce from Ranch Recipe & Chipotle sauce. Soooo good! I did not have parmesan cheese on hand so I omitted. But that will only add more flavor the next time I make this! Delicious!!
That sounds delicious, Michelle! So glad you enjoyed it.
Yum yum. Made the fried zucchini to eat while watching football. This is the best I have tried. They were just the right crispness at 2 minutes.
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?
Likely they just needed a bit more time to crisp up Janet.
Love it
Looks fabulous! When baking in the oven do you need to turn half way through the baking process? Curious if both sides get crunchy, thank you.
You can flip them if you’d like but I don’t usually.
Can I prep a bunch of the fried zucchini and then freeze and cook them later? Like in different batches?
I’ve never tried freezing ahead of cooking these Natalie. For already fried zucchini, I wouldn’t recommend freezing. I’d refrigerate and then reheat in a frying pan or in the oven.
I make these all the time in big batches and freeze them in layers on a cookie sheet (with tin foil between layers) so they don’t stick together. Once they are hard I put them in a bag and back into the freezer. I once put them straight in the bag and into the freezer and they got deformed and some stuck together. I actually think they come out better when they are frozen first cause the inside doesn’t get all mushy while the outside browns, the way it does when I bake them fresh. We eat them all the time and it’s super easy for my bf to throw them in the oven as a side dish when I’m out of town. A little olive oil mayo with sriracha and green onion is a go to 1-minute dipping sauce that pairs great.
Yes, I make these in big batches and freeze all the time. Just make sure to lay them on a cookie sheet first then put them in a bag once they are hard. I put them straight in the bag once and they got deformed and stuck together. I actually think they come out better from frozen cause the inside doesn’t get all mushy when browning, the way it does when they’re fresh. I serve them with a 1-minute olive oil mayo and sriracha dip. It’s also great to batch a lot for my bf so he can throw some in the oven as a side when I’m out of town.