BYCrispy, tender, salty, flavorful, baked zucchini fries. They’re a perfect little appetizer, side dish for sandwiches, or even a great after school snack. They’re inexpensive, virtually guilt free, and a totally painless way to get your veggies. Try them with you favorite veggie dip, or with our Buttermilk Ranch or homemade Pizza Sauce!
How to Make Baked Zucchini Fries
The first step is to cut your zucchini into little planks. The easiest way to do this is to cut both ends off, then cut into several strips, then cut each strip into the fry shape. Larger fries will be meatier and taste more like zucchini. Smaller fries will cook faster and tend to be crispier.
Dunk and Dip
Once your fries are cut, set up a little dipping station. If you don’t have or can’t find any Italian-style panko bread crumbs, just add 1/2 tablespoon of Italian seasoning, 1/2 tsp. garlic powder, 1/2 tsp. Kosher salt, and 1/4 tsp. onion powder to 1/2 c. plain panko bread crumbs and you’ll be good to go.
Panko crumbs are awesome because they add a lot of crispness and they’re actually lower in calories than traditional bread crumbs. However, they also soak up moisture like a sponge, so if you start dipping the zucchini in the eggs and then rolling the sticks in the entire 1/2 c. of bread crumbs, after a few batches, the bread crumbs won’t stick anymore. So you’ll want to work with a portion of the bread crumb/Parmesan cheese mixture at a time, and you may need to wash your hands frequently during the process.
Once you are done you should have them all lined up, not touching each other, on your baking sheet.
Bake and Crisp!
All ovens are different, so bake them until they look browned and crisp!
Try them with your favorite veggie dip, or with ranch or marinara.
This is an easy side dish and a fun snack that most kids will actually eat!
Got Zucchini? Here’s some other recipes you might enjoy!
Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread
Chocolate Zucchini Bundt Cake
Lemon Herb Zucchini Pasta
Grilled Zucchini Caprese
Zucchini Caprese Frittata
Baked Zucchini Fries
Description
Crispy baked zucchini sticks perfect for dipping in your favorite sauce!
Ingredients
About 1 lb. zucchini
1/2 cup Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (the crumbly stuff, not shreds)
2 eggs
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil sprayed with non-stick spray, or parchment paper. Set aside.
Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese in a shallow bowl. Set aside.
Whisk 2 eggs together in a shallow pie plate and set aside.
Cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut the zucchini in half so you have two short, stubby pieces. Set one piece on its end and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut that half in half, making 2 planks. Repeat with the remaining halves (so you’ll get 16 planks per zucchini).
Stack 2 planks on top of each other and cut into strips. Thicker strips will yield “meatier” fries with more zucchini flavor while thin strips will be crispy and taste virtually nothing like zucchini. When all the fries are cut, blot the pieces with a paper towel.
Working with a small handful at a time, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg, shake them to remove any excess, and then roll them in about 2-3 tablespoons of bread crumbs at a time, adding more as needed; you just don’t want to work with all the bread crumbs at once because they’ll soak up moisture from the egg and won’t stick to the zucchini. Place the coated strips on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the zucchini strips have been coated.
Bake for 10-12 minutes in the prepared oven then remove from oven, flip the fries, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is not soggy and the coating is crisp and golden brown. If you have convection setting on your oven, that will help get them crispier, faster!
Serve immediately with Pizza Sauce or Buttermilk Ranch Dressing. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.
Do you think the same technique would work for a baked version of fried green beans? (like they're serving at some restaurants)
Yes. I previously cooked green beans in this manner too. First though you want to blanch them, boiling them and then cold bath….and trim the steams. Turns out great! 🙂
Mmmm. These look delicious! Will have to try these out next week! And it's such an easy recipe to make gluten free. Always a plus 🙂
To make it gluten free what do you use instead of bread crumbs?
Not sure Jeri- we don’t cook gluten free. Sorry!
You could try either cornmeal or crushed or chips maybe?
You could use crushed pork rinds instead.
Yum! We eat these all the time in the summer with the zucchini from the garden! Delicious and healthy!
I can't wait to try these. These look like a perfect side dish to me!
I love that you are including weight watcher points with your recipes.
This is my favorite appetizer at Carabas….can't wait to try them.
I'm really excited to try these! I have a hard time with sides too, especially healthy sides. So I'm not familiar with weight watches, do you happen to know how many calories are in these?
Yummy! Can't wait to try them! Thanks….
Mary
We make these all of the time. Love them!
Yum! (And I totally agree – one must be prudent in choosing how to spend those extra WW points! Ice cream always wins.)