Lightly breaded and fried until golden brown, our fried zucchini sticks are guaranteed to bring smiles to your table. This is definitely our favorite way to eat zucchini!
Crispy and crunchy on the outside, with sweet, tender, and juicy zucchini on the inside. Our fried zucchini sticks aren’t just a way to use up excess zucchini; they’re a delicious alternative to french fries.
Our fried zucchini sticks are deep-fried, sealing in all of the zucchini’s natural juiciness while keeping the outside crispy and crunchy!
If you enjoy creating delicious vegetable dishes, make sure to try our roasted zucchini with parmesan and crispy deep-fried cauliflower bites.
Ingredients
Let’s start by gathering the ingredients we need to make our fried zucchini sticks recipe. In Chef Speak, this is called the Mise en Place, which translates into Everything in its Place.
Not only does setting your ingredients up ahead of time speed the cooking process, but it also helps ensure you have everything you need to make the dish.
Can I use other seasonings?
Absolutely. The recipe can be made with any premade seasoning blend. Lemon pepper, Cajun seasoning, jerk seasoning, and Old Bay are some of my favorites.
You can also add grated Parmesan cheese to the flour mixture for added flavor and add your favorite hot sauce to the buttermilk mixture for added zing.
The recipe uses all-purpose flour, but you can also use panko breadcrumbs, Italian breadcrumbs, regular breadcrumbs, or gluten free flour.
How to make Fried Zucchini Sticks
- Add the all-purpose flour, table salt, and Italian seasoning into a container or shallow bowl.
- Whisk to combine the dry ingredients. Set aside until needed.
- Add the buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of table salt, black pepper, chili powder, and smoked paprika to a medium bowl.
- Whisk to combine.
- Rinse the zucchini in cold water and slice them into (approximately) 3-inch x ½ inch sticks.
*You can peel the zucchini if you prefer, but the skins have beneficial nutrients. - Place the zucchini sticks into the buttermilk mixture. Make sure all pieces are submerged in the buttermilk mixture.
Cover them with plastic wrap or aluminum foil and let them sit unrefrigerated for 15-30 minutes.
- Use tongs to remove the zucchini sticks from the buttermilk mixture, allowing any excess buttermilk mixture to drip off.
- Dredge your zucchini pieces in the seasoned flour.
- Coat all the sides in the flour mixture.
- Repeat the process until they are all breaded.
- Add 2-3 inches of vegetable oil to a large skillet or Dutch oven over high heat and heat until it reaches 375 degrees F. Carefully add the breaded zucchini in a single layer to the hot oil and cook for 8-9 minutes until golden brown. Use the tongs to move the sticks to get all the sides.
*Don’t overcrowd the pan so the oil doesn’t lose temperature. Otherwise, the sticks will be greasy. - Remove them from the hot oil with tongs or a slotted spoon, and place them on a wire rack or plate lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil..
Serve these delicious fried zucchini sticks with bleu cheese dressing, my buttermilk ranch dressing, buffalo sauce, a side of marinara sauce, or any of your favorite dipping sauces.
Store any leftovers refrigerated in an airtight container (or well covered with plastic wrap or aluminum foil) for up to 2 days. Reheat in a 350°F oven for 15 minutes.
Recipe FAQ’s
Properly preheated frying oil is key to making crispy, not greasy, zucchini sticks. Before adding them to the pan, the oil should be at 375 degrees F.
Overcrowding the pan will drop the temperature of the oil quickly, resulting in greasy sticks.
Some recipes also call for adding baking powder to the flour mixture.
Peanut oil, safflower oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil are best, due to their high smoke points.
Absolutely! Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Spray a baking sheet with nonstick cooking spray. Place the breaded zucchini sticks in a single layer on the baking sheet, then lightly spray them with cooking spray. Bake for 22-25 minutes or until golden brown. Turn them over halfway through the process and lightly spray the tops with cooking spray.
This method will also work in an air fryer.
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Fried Zucchini Sticks
Ingredients
- 2 large zucchini
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon chili powder
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika or sweet paprika
- 1 cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon table salt
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- vegetable oil for frying
Instructions
- Add the all-purpose flour, table salt, and Italian seasoning into a container or shallow bowl. Whisk to combine the dry ingredients.
- Add the buttermilk, 1 teaspoon of table salt, black pepper, chili powder, and smoked paprika to a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
- Rinse the zucchini in cold water and slice them into (approximately) 3 inch x ½ inch sticks.*You can peel the zucchini if you prefer, but the skins have beneficial nutrients.
- Place the zucchini sticks into the buttermilk mixture making sure all pieces are submerged into the buttermilk mixture.
- Cover with plastic wrap or aluminum foil andlet them sit unrefrigerated for 15-30 minutes.
- Use tongs to remove the zucchini sticks from the buttermilk mixture, allowing any excess of the buttermilk mixture to drip off.
- Dredge your zucchini sticks in the seasoned flour, coating them completely.
- Add 2-3 inches of vegetable oil into a deep skillet, or Dutch oven over high heat and heat until a temperature of 375 degrees F. has been reached.
- Carefully add the zucchini sticks to the hot oil and cook for 8-9 minutes until golden brown. Use the tongs to move the sticks to get all the sides.*Don’t overcrowd the pan so the oil doesn’t lose temperature. Otherwise, the sticks will be greasy..
- Remove them from the hot oil, and place them on a wire rack or plate lined with paper towels to drain the excess oil.
- Serve with buffalo sauce, ranch dressing, bleu cheese dressing, or any of your favorite dipping sauces.
Lisa says
These look amazing!! I can’t wait to make them.