A very moreish snack or terrific party food, these zucchini crisps are made by frying thin slices of flour-coated zucchini.
These little zucchini crisps are dangerously moreish and make a lovely accompaniment to a glass of white wine.–Rebecca Seal
LC Not In Advance Note
Know how we’re always giving you advice on how to make recipes in advance when we can to make your life easier, dear reader? This isn’t one of those times. This is one of those recipes that, yes, does have some time when you set it aside, but as soon as you commit to dredging those zucchini in flour, there’s no going back. You need to get them into the oil within seconds of flouring them or else they’ll turn sorta gummy. We don’t see this as an issue, however, because they fry in literally a couple minutes. And they’re the perfect thing to serve to guests who like to hang with you in the kitchen as you’re putting the finishing touches on the rest of dinner.
Zucchini Crisps
Ingredients
- Salt
- 1 zucchini thinly sliced into rounds
- 3 to 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour (or substitute rice flour or gluten-free all-purpose flour)
- Olive oil or mild vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Scatter the salt over the zucchini slices and place them in a colander set over a bowl. Let the zucchini drain, preferably overnight, in the fridge. (The longer you salt and drain the zucchini, the crisper they will be when you fry them.)
- When you’re ready to cook, remove the zucchini the colander and pat them thoroughly dry with paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. Pour enough oil into a high-sided pan, to reach a depth of 1 1/4 inches (3 centimeters). (Use a small pot if just cooking for 2 or a pot with a larger diameter if you have more people crowding around the stove waiting for something to nibble.) Heat over medium to medium-high heat until it reaches 350°F (180ºC) on a deep-fry or candy thermometer or when a cube of day-old bread dropped into it sizzles and browns in 30 seconds.
- Spoon the flour into a resealable plastic sandwich bag and add a pinch salt and half the zucchini slices. Holding it firmly shut, shake gently to coat the slices in flour. Shake off the excess flour and carefully drop the zucchini, 3 to 4 at a time, into the oil. Cook for 2 to 2 1/2 minutes, or until golden brown all over. (Watch them carefully as they cook, because there is only a matter of seconds between golden brown and delicious and dark brown and bitter.) Use a slotted spoon to remove the zucchini crisps from the oil and let them drain on paper towels or a brown paper bag while you repeat with the remaining zucchini and flour, making certain the oil returns to 350°F (180ºC) prior to adding the remaining zucchini. Serve immediately.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
When you’ve got zucchini coming out your ears in the summer and are looking for any new way to use it up, here’s a great thing to try. You might want to double or triple the zucchini crisps recipe, because these are really easy to eat. I mean, they’re chips! What’s not to like? I recommend you get out your mandoline to get a nice, thin slice. The salting technique works beautifully to drive out excess water and makes for a chip that crisps up easily. I made my crisps gluten-free simply by using rice flour in place of all-purpose flour. These chips are great as is, but even better with a mayo or sour cream-based dip.
I was surprised that I liked the taste of fried zucchini! I salted the zucchini and drained them for 24 hours. The first batch tasted bland, so I added salt and pepper to the flour mixture and fried them for about two minutes. The result was a salty crispy snack that I can use for all that zucchini in the garden.
What a timely recipe! With the abundance of zucchini in the garden, this recipe is absolutely perfect. Perfect crisps for any entrée, whether it is a salad, fish, or meat dish. With a husband and two kids, the crisps were disappearing from the plate with every new batch taken off the pan. Quick, easy, and delicious!
This is a dead-simple recipe that even a frying novice can try with success. We’re at the height of zucchini season (though no one has left any on our doorstep or in an unlocked car—yet), so I had several types of zucchini to choose from. I used 2 smallish globe zucchini, thinly sliced on a mandoline and left salted in the fridge for several hours. I patted them dry between towels before heating up the oil and dredged them in all-purpose flour in a couple of batches as I was frying. Once you have the oil at temperature (I set the burner temp on an induction burner once it was at 350°F), you can fry in small batches. I knew my batch wasn’t large (it was easily consumed by 2 people as a small-plate first course for a summer meal), so I didn’t use a larger pan or wok, but I would do so for more people to make it all go a bit quicker. These come out crisp and golden in less than 2 minutes (and the time between golden and too-brown is only seconds, so you have to be alert). Once drained for a moment on paper towels, they aren’t greasy at all. They had just enough saltiness and didn’t require any sort of sauce. You want to eat these right away—and that is not a problem. Sharing might be. This is a good recipe for casual summer meals where everyone is relaxed and nibbling on small plates and not a formal sit-down dinner. It is exactly the kind of thing I would have at the bar of my favorite restaurant but am grateful to enjoy at home while watching the sunset with a glass of wine and some good company. Serves 4—HAH!!! Only if they are quick!
The summer season offers up a lot of yummy veggies that are just asking to be fried—okra, green tomatoes, squash, zucchini—and boy, do we take advantage. My husband grew up frying squash and okra just like in this recipe—simply with some flour and salt and pepper. I grew up in a cornmeal-coated frying household but I love the flour-only approach as well. It makes for a lightly coated, crisp vegetable and I think you really get to taste the vegetable’s natural flavor more with this method. I had yellow squash in the house, so I used that instead of zucchini. I loved the suggestion of serving these as a small bite with a glass of wine; we served them up as a side dish with dinner, but I’ll keep them in mind for a nice summertime appetizer next time. I also like the idea of placing the thinly sliced zucchini in a bag with the flour; that method made it very easy to shake just the right amount of flour on the zucchini. The zucchini only took about 2 minutes to cook in the hot oil; I’d keep an eye on them just to make sure they don’t burn, but 2 minutes was about right. I admit that I did salt the fried squash a bit once they were draining on the paper towel. It gave them that extra bite that I think they needed. Delicious and simple. I loved this recipe.
Originally published August 24, 2015
I love this… My go to snack is ‘chips’, but that’s not healthy, so I’m thinking this could definitely be a great alternative, as well as for ‘french fries’ (and the grandkids COULD even like them)… Will definitely try.
Let us know what you think, Pamela.