Zucchini Parmesan Crisps
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Perfectly golden brown parmesan-crusted zucchini slices (to use up all that summer zucchini!). So crispy, so good!
What do you do with all that summer zucchini just waiting to be used up? Well, we’re going to slice them up real nice, coat them in a Panko-Parm mixture, and cook them until they’re wonderfully crisp and golden brown.
It’s a very sneaky snack/appetizer/side dish situation, and you’ll be consuming all that zucchini in no time.
It’s one of my favorite summer dishes, especially when dipped in Ranch. And even the pickiest eaters will be fighting for these!
Tools For This Recipe
Large cast iron skillet
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps: Frequently Asked Questions
Panko is a Japanese-style breadcrumb and can be found in the Asian section of your local grocery store. While both Panko and breadcrumbs can both be used as a coating for fried foods, Panko is much more flakier and yields a crunchier, crispier texture.
You’ll want to cut your zucchini into even slices, keeping your oil nice and hot, and space them apart when cooking. This will yield the crispiest zucchini slices!
You can serve these with your favorite dipping sauce like Ranch or marinara sauce.
Zucchini Parmesan Crisps
Ingredients
- 1 cup vegetable oil
- 1 cup Panko*
- ½ cup freshly grated Parmesan
- 2 medium zucchini, thinly sliced to 1/4-inch thick rounds
- ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 large eggs, beaten
Instructions
- Heat vegetable oil in a large cast iron skillet over medium high heat.
- In a large bowl, combine Panko and Parmesan; set aside.
- Working in batches, dredge zucchini rounds in flour, dip into eggs, then dredge in Panko mixture, pressing to coat.
- Add zucchini rounds to the skillet, 5 or 6 at a time, and cook until evenly golden and crispy, about 1 minute on each side. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Serve immediately.
Notes
Did you make this recipe?
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Funny story here. My man and I were so eager to make these Zucchini Crisps. He is the grocery shopper of our household. He has bought zucchini before, so I know he knows what it looks like. When he returned from the supermarket, I got busy setting up all the ingredients, bowls, skillet, etc. and started heating the oil. I took out the zucchini to rinse it, and as I did, I noticed what a nice solid green they were, and quite smooth and even. My man’s job was to slice the zukes, do the dips and bring them out to me to fry. (We do all frying outside using a butane hot plate). They fried up nicely. When they cooled we sampled them…delicious. After dinner, as I cleaned up the kitchen, there was a slice of zuke that had escaped the dippings and frying, and I popped it into my mouth. Egads! We had fried up CUCUMBERS! And I don’t even LIKE cukes! Slap me upside the head! I have to say, we really couldn’t taste the difference with the ones we had fried. They were still delicious and tasted like zucchini! Go figure. Now we are looking forward to trying the ‘real thing’, using zukes. Ha Ha.
This recipe looks so good!! Thank you for posting it, I found it on Pinterst and I just wanted to let you know I featured this one as well as another as my pins of the week.
Thank you!
Shannon
Confirmed, they are delicous! Tanks! I made a bit different as instead just egg I made a pancake-like mass (eggs water/milk and flour) which made them more crispy.
Excellent recipe. My kids even said they liked.them better than fries with burgers! Only change I made was to add season salt to the flour AND make twice as much! YUM!
Would these work with quinoa instead of bread crumbs like this this recipe (https://damndelicious.net/2014/06/23/quinoa-chicken-parmesan/)? Would anything need to be altered or just substitute the panko? Thanks! 🙂
What a great idea! But if quinoa is substituted, you may need to bake these instead. Please let me know how it turns out.
Could regular croutons work instead of panko? I tried these once and they were really bland. Didn’t know if crushed croutons would work as well. Thank you.
Without having tried this myself, I cannot answer with certainty. Please use your best judgment.
You could season the panko bread crumbs 🙂
Hi Chungah,
These look scrumptious, can’t wait to try.
Looking at the calorie counter, does it mean 4 individual slices have approximately 315 calories?
Thank you very much for your help.
Pauline
Pauline, this recipe yields about 4 servings which is not necessarily equivalent to 4 individual slices as the size of the slices can range quite a bit by the size of the zucchini as well as the thickness of the slices.
This is something I would be most interested in making but my nutritionist won’t allow me to have bread crumbs or white flour..Is this recipe doable with either almond or coconut flour and can I substitute something else for the panko? Sadly I’m not allowed eggs either but was told that if I must have them, to use just the yolks in a recipe and only once in awhile..
Unfortunately, without further recipe testing, I cannot advise an appropriate substitute that will not alter the overall taste/texture of the dish. Please use your best judgment.
cant wait to try it!
Can these be made gluten free?
Yes, if the appropriate substitutions are made, this can certainly be made gluten-free.
Can these be served cold?
This is really best when served immediately as the crispness does lose out over time.
Is there a way to determine what size your serving is that’s giving the 315 calories? As in, how many slices or what size of zuccinis are you starting with? Are they pretty large zucchinis or more medium? I just bought some that seem somewhate small (about 7″ long and about 4.5″ around) and I’m wondering how many to cut up to match the amount of ingredients for the breading, or how to decide how to decrease the breading ingredients if I just want to do 1 or 2 little zucchinis. I can just play around with it and see what works, but I would love to know about what size zucchinis you used for your calculations. Thank you!
It is very difficult to give an estimate as to how many slices are in a single serving but I recommend using medium-sized zucchini.
If I Bake instead of frying. Do you know what the calorie intake would be?
Jennifer, it is best that you use free online resources at your discretion (you can Google “nutritional calculator”) to obtain nutritional information for recipe adaptations.
THIS WAS THE BEST DAMNDELICIOUS THING I EVER EATEN.THANKS LOADS.SCOTTY
I love all your food and your website is so cute and easy to navigate! Thanks for all the damn delicious recipes and keep up the good cookin’!
Have just discovered your website – your photos lured me in!! So appetizing-looking! Can’t wait to get started on some of your recipes – esp cauli soup and Parmesan chip thingies!
Thank you…now I will have to get back to work!
These are delicious! My mother-in-law brought over a bag of yellow summer squash and they were a great substitute for zucchini. My toddlers were asking for pb&js and spotted these on the counter, they inhaled them!
Sounds yummy but too many carbs for me. Is it possible to not do the flour and panko? And just dip them in the egg then press on the parmessan cheese? That would be a healthier choice. Has anyone tried that?
These sound yummy…..years ago living in Charlotte, NC I learned to fry summer (or yellow) squash, sliced thin, allowed to sweat then floured (a mix of ap flour, salt, pepper and a little cornmeal) and then deep fried…..I would then sprinkle them with fine grated Parmesan ….. my children would fight over them. Once they decided that squash was good then they were willing to eat it in so many other ways…..Back then the major use for Zucchini was in bread and the last to be eaten cassarole at the church pot luck….Wish I had thought about using it this way! I have just found your blog and love your style and taste!!!!
Chungah –
I was looking through your GREAT recipes and happened upon this one for zucchini chips. It reminds me of an appetizer we used to serve many years ago at a really nice steak/lobster place I used to manage part-time while I was in college. It was our best-selling app and we served it with a “double-dip” duo of (first dip) the creamy horseradish sauce that we also served with the prime rib dinners, and then (second dip) a generous portion of freshly grated Parmesan cheese- making sure it is grated as thinly and lightly as possibly, so that it resembles snow. We used a wedge from a wheel of simple domestic parm, which had just the right amount of nuttiness and salt to cut the sour cream and sweet/hot horseradish. When you take a nice hot and crispy zucchini disc, dip It in the “horse sauce” first, and then finish it by dipping it again in the fresh-grated snow of Parmesan, it creates a completely addictive taste/snack!! I guarantee that you will eventually be telling your dinner guests about flying saucers, or Brangelina sightings, that they have to run outside to see just so you can hoard them all for yourself. Normally, I would never recommend anything that would initiate such terrible table manners, but these little lovelies have broken my resolve to uphold the sanctity of proper dining etiquette and say, “To hell with it! It’s every man for themself!!!!”
Really. They are that good.
I can’t wait to try your recipe!! I’m on my way to the market right now!! Thanks for reminding me of one of my favorite flavors from my past, and bringing your wonderful recipe update to it. I am certain they will be even better than the ones we made at the restaurant!!
Thanks again for this and all the other great ideas and recipes on your website/blog! Your creativity and culinary talents are very much appreciated!!!
Best wishes,
Susie Buist