It's zucchini season, and this zucchini fries recipe is a great way to enjoy summer zucchini. With its crispy exterior and soft, delicate inside, this recipe is a great appetizer, side dish, or main dish! Kid friendly and easy to make in under 30 minutes!
Vegan zucchini fries, although a great alternative to traditional baked potato fries, provides a different texture and variety than french fries. Crispy on the outside and delicately soft on the inside, this vegan zucchini fries recipe is healthy and fabulously crunchy.
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Despite living a plant-based lifestyle, I'm a savory food girl who loves french fries, pizza, and anything salty. I have never met a nacho I didn't like or a type of french fry that didn't tempt me. But I will only indulge if, of course, I veganize it and make it healthy.
Zucchini Vs. Potatoes
Although potatoes are a great source of nutrition, zucchini is well known to reduce weight. 95% water and low in carbohydrates, zucchini contains high levels of Vitamin C, A, potassium, and folate, all essential to good health. And who doesn't want to lose weight while eating crispy food that tastes fried?
As you all know, vegan junk food is readily available. As a result, eating vegan isn't necessarily healthy. Unless, of course, you transform your favorite foods into healthy foods like these zucchini fries.
Zucchini Fries Ingredients
When choosing zucchini, pick a smooth, firm, and brightly colored one. I usually use my zucchini within the first three days for freshness.
First, you need a few simple ingredients. For example, I bathed my zucchini in a Dijon mustard/plant-milk mixture before dipping it in a breadcrumb/nutritional yeast mixture.
- Zucchini: Zucchini is in season and inexpensive this time of year. I leave the skins on for extra nutritional value as well as to maintain the form texture of the fries.
- Plant Milk: Choose unsweetened, unflavored plant milk. My favorite is oat milk because of its creaminess, but any plant milk works. The plant milk substitutes an "egg wash" for the zucchini.
- Dijon Mustard: The tanginess in the Dijon mustard gives the plant milk additional flavor.
- Bread Crumbs: I make breadcrumbs by toasting Dave's bread and crumbling it in a food processor.
- Nutritional Yeast: Nutritional yeast supplies the bread crumb mixture with a cheesy flavor.
- Salt: Salt is used to bring out the moisture in the zucchini. Don't worry about the sodium content; the salt is washed away before cooking.
Zucchini Fries Ingredient Substitutions
- If you don't like zucchini, try polenta fries, portobello mushroom fries, or steak fries in the air fryer.
- If you don't have any plant milk, use aquafaba as your egg wash instead, or JUST Egg is also a possible substitution.
- Purchase bread crumbs at the store instead of making your own. Also, for a gluten-free option, make or buy gluten-free bread crumbs.
- Stone ground mustard is the closest substitute for Dijon mustard.
How to Make Zucchini Fries
- Cut the zucchini into rounds or wedges; I chose wedges (fries) for this vegan zucchini fries recipe.
- The zucchini fries wedges, for instance, need to be universal in size so they cook evenly.
- Once cut, place zucchini fries onto paper towels and generously salt. This process removes the excess moisture from the zucchini to prevent it from getting soggy after it is cooked.
- For those who avoid salt for health purposes, the salt used in this recipe is only used while preparing the zucchini. However, before making the vegan zucchini fries recipe, the salt is washed away, and the zucchini is dried.
- Because zucchini is 95% water, salting helps to reduce moisture and sogginess when cooking. That is how you achieve crispy vegan zucchini fries instead of soggy ones.
- Next, dip the zucchini in the plant milk/dijon mixture and dredge them into the breadcrumb/nutritional yeast mixture.
- Then, choose to bake or air-fry the vegan zucchini fries.
Cooking Options
Baking
I prefer extra crispy fries, which are easily achieved without using oil. Silicone Baking Mats provide perfect baking without oil and sticking.
- Dip each zucchini stick in the milk mixture and then dip it in the breadcrumbs mixture, one at a time, until all zucchini is covered in breadcrumbs.
- Lay them on a baking sheet, separated from each other, on a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Cook at 400 for 35 minutes.
- Serve with vegan ranch dressing or vegan southwest dressing.
Air Frying
- Place a single layer of breaded zucchini pieces in the base of the air fryer or on the air fryer pan (depending on the type of air fryer you have).
- Cook at 370 degrees for 10 minutes; using a spatula to turn them halfway through cooking for an additional 5 minutes.
- Repeat in batches until all the zucchini fries are crispy and brown.
Recipe FAQs
Zucchini fries are a healthy, delicious, and easy-to-make side dish for your next cookout. They are oil-free, can be made gluten-free, and taste fabulous. Plus, they're a great way to use up all that squash growing in the garden!
After cutting the zucchini into ~½ inch sticks, generously salt and let them sit. I generally let them sit for about 10-15 minutes.
Don't peel the zucchini – Removing its skin is tempting, but there is no need to do that. Zucchini melts into the bread, so peeling is just an unnecessary step.
Tips
- Choose firm, green zucchini.
- Do not wash zucchini until you plan to use them in a recipe.
- Cut both ends of the zucchini in half horizontally, then cut each section lengthwise. Cut lengthwise until all the zucchini is cut into ½ inch fries.
- Generously salt the zucchini; this is extremely important to remove the excess water and get crispy fries instead of soggy fries.
- If air-frying in a basket-type air fryer, preheat an oven to 325 and prepare a baking sheet to keep the cooked fresh and warm while batch cooking.
- Thicker fries require additional cooking time, while thinner fries may cook more quickly.
Try these tasty zucchini fries this summer. Kids love them! And they disappear in seconds, so make sure you make a double batch!
Other Suggested Air Fryer Recipes
If you love these vegan zucchini fries, give us a 5-star review and comment below. We would love to hear from you!
📖 Recipe
Vegan Zucchini Fries
Ingredients
- 2 medium firm zucchinis skin on, cut into long wedges, then into fries ½ inch
- ¾ cup unsweetened, unflavored plant-based milk
- 3 Tablespoons Dijon Mustard
- ¾ cup Bread Crumbs
- ½ cup Nutritional Yeast
- Salt generous amount for zucchini prep.
Instructions
Prepare Zucchini:
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Wash and cut zucchini into the same side wedges, leaving the skin on.
- Salt the zucchini generously and lay on paper towels for 15 minutes.
- Rinse with water and dry on the paper towel again.
Bread Crumb/Almond Milk Wash Bowls:
- In one bowl, combine Panko bread crumbs and nutritional yeast.
- In the second bowl, whisk almond milk and mustard.
Breading Zucchini:
- Dip each zucchini stick in the milk mixture and then dip it in the breadcrumbs mixture, one at a time, until all zucchini is covered in breadcrumbs.
- Lay them on a baking sheet, separated from each other, on a silicone mat or parchment paper.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 35 minutes.
- Serve with ketchup, dijon mustard, or add a little fire by adding a small amount of Sriracha to the ketchup.
Air-fry Cooking Option
- Place a single layer of breaded zucchini fries in the base of the air-fryer.
- Cook at 370 degrees for 10 minutes; using a spatula to turn them halfway through cooking (5 minutes)
- Repeat in batches until all the zucchini fires are air-fried.
Notes
- For those who avoid salt for health purposes, the salt used in this recipe is only used while preparing the zucchini. However, before making the vegan zucchini fries recipe, the salt is washed off, and the zucchini is dried before dipping into the mixture in the bowls.
- Because zucchini is 95% water, salting helps to reduce moisture and sogginess when cooking. That is how you achieve crispy vegan zucchini fries instead of soggy ones.
- Make sure zucchini is cut into similar-sized fries so they cook at the same rate.
- Thicker fries will take longer, while thinner fries will cook more quickly.
- I like vegan ranch dressing for dipping, like Sriracha ketchup or Dijon mustard mixed with maple syrup. For a southwestern flavor, try vegan southwest dressing.
Nutrition
Hi! My name is Kathy, I am a retired high school English teacher & vegan enthusiast and blogger. My entire blog is fully plant-based vegan. I truly believe what we eat & how we live determines our health & the preservation of our planet! 🙂
Faye
SO delicious! Stands on its own, no ketchup or dipping sauce needed!
Jenn
Salting (I never have) enhances taste
Love using only Panko. This closer to how we eat. I avoid processed. This is my quilty pleasure. The noo (nutritional yeast doesn’t over well. So well done.
Vickie
These great - tasty and so simple! I used the air fryer instead, 400 at 10 minutes.