Air fryer zucchini fries or spears are a great side dish or a healthy low carb snack your whole family will love! With meat as a meal we do love our air fryer zucchini boats. This works great as a vegetable side as well. It’s our favorite veggie air fryer recipe to date.
We had a lot of zucchini in our garden this year! That meant we made air fryer zucchini fries, spears, chips, and lots of bread for breakfast too. Anyway you cut or slice this green vegetable we just love it. Find this on our air fryer recipes page. (affiliate links present)
Air Fry Zucchini
Since we planted our vegetable garden we have had a lot of these green veggies on hand. To use them up I had to get creative for sure. We did this to make our air fryer zucchini chips first and just kept going with new creations from there.
We do love mixed air fryer vegetables but sometimes you want some crunch on the outside. With a little bit of breadcrumbs and your favorite seasoning, these taste deep fried but a healthy version of that. If you have a craving for fries with zucchini like at the fair every summer, these will do the trick!
If you love air fryer recipes too, here are some resources to start with:
- THIS is my Favorite Air Fryer!
- You can find more Air fryer recipes here, we have Ninja Foodi recipes as well; bookmark them both!
- Grab the best air fryer cookbook here.
- Here’s a printable air fryer cook times chart here for your fridge.
- It has temp. and times for making the best frozen foods for air fryer too.
- Then join our Facebook page where you can share and find more ideas you’ll love. We have a Foodi social media group as well.
Zucchini fries in air fryer
It doesn’t matter what brand you have. I have a Cosori but we also make Ninja Foodi zucchini fries in that often too.
Should you peel zucchini before you cook it?
Not at all. I have never shredded it before using at all. There is quite a bit of liquid in this veggie so the skin keeps it together well really.
Is Fried Zucchini Bad?
Well anything deep fried in oil isn’t great for your health. BUT when you air fry vegetables you still get that crunch but without the fat or oil!
Most would quickly refer to it as a green vegetable. It is usually cooked inside or as a stand alone savory dish or side dish. Botanically though, zucchinis are actually categorized as fruits because of seeds inside.
It is up to you how thick you want them. Just keep in mind the thinner they are the shorter cook time needed. Slice in half, remove ends and then in half lengthwise.
Cut zucchini fries in size desired. I mean you can cut them into dials too and follow the same directions. Those would be said to be more like “chips” than spears though.
Air fryer zucchini fries
This is kinda’ my assembly line of sorts. Prepare all ingredients and then dunk and dip, then cook! The girls can do this themselves now that they are teens which I love. Yellow squash is kinda’ fun to mix things up too.
I have used my large air fryer before which works well for these since it has shelves and crisps it all without flipping at all. You can fit a lot too, but my square Cosori basket is by far my favorite overall and use it every day.
- Use seasonings you love, what I have below are obviously just suggestions.
If you haven’t made any Old Bay recipes before it is probably my favorite seasoning by far.
Zucchini fries recipe keto
You can use shallow small bowls too for your bread crumbs and one for your egg, totally up to you. It’s the way I make almost all of our air fryer vegetable recipes.
Since they are bite sized your kids will likely want to try them too. Of course air fryer french fries are fun, but with a little added parmesan I probably prefer these as a side dish or snack.
- Zucchini – medium size is best
- Panko bread crumbs
- Egg
- Old Bay seasoning
- Garlic salt
- Salt and pepper to taste at end
- Could add a bit of shredded parmesan to the coating mix
- Olive oil cooking spray
- Air fryer basket
Dipping sauces: Ranch dressing, marinara sauce or fry sauce are best. I mean they’re quite good just as is right out of the basket but it is totally up to you. Those who put ketchup on everything might like that.
Are air fryers healthier?
Compared to deep fried zucchini spears, yes!! Using hot air to make the outside crispy and delicious versus submerging it into vegetable oil is a much healthier way to make this.
- The biggest tip when making air fryer vegetables, or anything else in your machine really, is layer in air fryer in only ONE layer.
If you crowd your food in the air fryer basket the sides won’t get an opportunity to get really crunchy and crispy like you want them to be.
Separating them allows the hot air to create a crispy outside, but still leave the outside tender and moist.
If we just want something light at the end of the day this is one of our favorite zucchini dinner recipes. We love zucchini taco boats too.
Air Fryer Zucchini Fries Gluten Free
If you needed a version like this you could easily use a gluten free version of Panko, you can find that online all the time and usually at the store. It tastes almost identical really.
Another tip when making air fryer zucchini fries: flip them halfway through the total cook time. This isn’t totally necessary if you forget, but if you remember it makes every inch perfectly crunchy!
Air fryer zucchini spears
Slice your zucchini and/or yellow squash in half, then into spears about 4 inches long. Size is up to you but this works well for us. The thinner they are the less time needed, and crispier they’ll be. Dip into shallow bowl with your egg in it, then press into your breadcrumb mixture until well coated.
- Place into your air fryer basket in a single layer. Cook at 350 degrees until crispy, about 15 minutes total flipping after 10 min.
- Remove and do the same for remaining zucchini until your entire batch is done and perfectly crispy on the outside, tender on the inside.
Eat right out of the basket or have a few dipping sauces available to serve with them. Make as a side dish or a snack. Dip and enjoy! Some like a light squeeze of lemon juice after they’re freshly cooked too.
One of many of our best air fryer zucchini recipes here on our site. They were a huge hit at 400 degrees for a few minutes. So good that we made zucchini spears after that. It’s nice to have a bit of variety.
Air Fryer Parmesan Zucchini Fries
Other Ninja Foodi recipes you might enjoy are:
(any brand of air fryer will work)
- Crispy air fryer fried shrimp with some air fryer okra on the side is amazing
- Air fryer zucchini fritters
- Meatballs in air fryer are keto and low carb snacks
- Use our air fryer cooking times chart linked above to air fry almost anything else!
For the french fries in the oven follow these directions, Air fryer carrot fries are amazing too. Then make our pumpkin zucchini muffins as a treat.
Ninja Foodi Zucchini Fries
There is a printable version of this recipe with an ingredient list too. Of course you can come back and get what you need the next time you want to make them too, but sometimes it’s handy to keep it in your recipe book.
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Air Fryer Zucchini Fries
Equipment
- 1 shallow bowl
Ingredients
- 1-2 zucchini cut into spears, pickle size
- 3/4 c panko bread crumbs
- 1 tsp Old Bay
- 1 tsp garlic salt
- 1 egg whisked
- olive oil spray
Instructions
- Slice zucchini into spears, the size of pickle spears. Blot dry with paper towels.
- Whisk your egg on a plate and mix bread crumbs and seasonings on a separate plate. (could add 1/4 c. shredded parmesan cheese to breadcrumbs if you wanted)
- Dip spears in the egg, allow excess to fall off and then press into bread crumbs on all sides.
- Place inside air fryer basket so they don't overlap. Spray with olive oil.
- Set to 350 degrees for 10 minutes.
- Flip, and reset to 350 degrees for an additional 5 minutes. Enjoy!
Phoebe
Wednesday 12th of October 2022
I’m so excited to make this! I’m still getting loads of zucchini from my garden.
Brandy
Wednesday 12th of October 2022
I can't even tell you how much we enjoyed these! They cooked up perfect in the air fryer. So crispy and delicious!
Ericka
Tuesday 17th of November 2020
I have a question: Can I prepare zucchini in advance...mixed and di p zucchini in eg and bread then wait till dinner ...i currently have a ninja 100 it small. And dinner takes a turn to cook...so can it be ait a turn breaded. Will it be soggy waiting?? P.s.i lobed the dry rub air fry wings...yummy!
Dorothy
Monday 28th of September 2020
My coating didn’t stick. What did I do wrong?
Liz
Saturday 8th of May 2021
@Dorothy, Dip the pieces lightly in flour first, then in the egg, and finally in the breadcrumbs. The flour will keep the egg from sliding off the zucchini.This works for everything from chicken tenders to onion rings.
Suzy
Monday 16th of December 2019
The panko makes this so crispy and taste so good! Love it!
The Typical Mom
Monday 16th of December 2019
Yes!