Salt and Pepper Zucchini Chips

This is how to make our tempura salt and pepper zucchini chips recipe!! It’s the perfect vegetable side dish even your kids will love that is deep fried or try our air fryer zucchini chips instructions made crunchy outside with light seasoning. 

Easy Salt and Pepper Zucchini Chips Recipe

There are two ways to make batter, both are easy and delicious. We love serving them with our copycat Lawson’s chip dip at the end. I’ve used boxed tempera batter at the store and it works quite well. BUT if you want to make your own there’s an easy tempera batter recipe below.

You can choose to coat thick as seen above or very lightly battered. Some skip that part entirely and just fry in oil so they resemble potato chips but with vegetables, another great option indeed.

Ingredient Notes

You are going to want a few medium sized Zucchini sliced into dials, I prefer thick vs. thin slices but that is up to you. Reason you want medium is because that size has the most flavor, bigger means more water which dilutes the flavor of the vegetable.

To make the tempura batter you want to start with All Purpose Flour, that is the base of the breading.

Cold Water is best for a smooth batter consistency. Like if you can sit some ice cubes in it for a few minutes first and drain the water into the bowl to whisk together it will create a lighter result.

Room temperature Egg whites should be whisked to fluffy and then folded in there too to complete the coating, and then comes your seasonings.

As in the name I typically just sprinkle in some Salt and pepper for flavor. You could sprinkle some on when done too and/or flavor servings with salt and vinegar too.

Vegetable oil is best for frying since it has very little flavor and is cheaper than other varieties.

This 3 ingredient tempura batter is amazing. You can use it with other vegetables too and add as many of your favorite seasonings as you like. Old Bay and/or garlic salt are good choices too.

How do you remove water from zucchini before frying?

Whenever you are baking or cooking with sliced or shredded veggies you want to make sure they are nice and dry. Why? Because oil and water aren’t a great mixture and if you want your coating to stick this is trick number one on the list.

As with anything else we are adding this vegetable into, there is a lot of water you’ll want to remove before battering. Just slice and lay on top of a few paper towels when done. Roll that up and gently press down with your hands. Move them around a bit to absorb as much as possible and then add breading or batter.

Here is another way to make it…with a spiralizer!! Fun right? Different look, thickness and texture but made the same way.

We are going to use a spiralizer to slice these in a fun way this time. Same directions apply for these when deep frying or in a pan with some oil:

How to Make Fried Zucchini Chips with Tempura

Slice your zucchini so they are the thickness you desire, or use this spiraletti I like them a bit thicker when they’re done so mine look like this. Put on a paper towel to absorb the water so your batter sticks. Season zucchini pieces.

Make the tempera batter as directed. Put sliced or spiralized zucchini in the bowl with your batter. Submerge. Put a drop of just tempera batter into the hot oil to test if it’s hot enough. It will immediately fry if it is ready. Or use a thermometer, it should be a steady 360F to fry properly.

Have a paper towel in a bowl ready for them once they are flipped over and fried on both sides to a light brown color. Add salt and pepper again to the top. 

If you’re looking to make this in the like our air fryer zucchini chips recipe liked above the outside coating is a bit different since wet batters don’t do well in there. You can also leave them naked like our air fryer kale chips seen in this post.

What is the secret to perfect zucchini tempura?

1. The water to make tempura batter needs to be COLD
2. Make sure the batter is whisked smooth without any chunks
3. After slicing your zucchini lay on a few paper towels to dry the outsides so the batter sticks
4. Allow excess batter to slide off each piece
5. Do not add into oil until it is hot enough to immediately make it sizzle (you can test with 1 drop first)
6. When done frying to a golden brown remove from oil and immediately place on top of new paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Baked Zucchini Chips Method

You can actually bake these too, we have directions for that version here. Now this way you can make them non-breaded entirely like our air fryer spinach chips are or toss in a bit of breadcrumbs to really give them a crispy crunch.

1. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees 
2. Slice 2-3 zucchini into 1/2″ pieces and put them on paper towels so a lot of the water is absorbed
   1. this will help your coating to stick
3. Put them in a bowl.
4. Drizzle olive oil over all your pcs. and stir to coat
5. Add enough Italian bread crumbs so all pieces are coated.
6. Put coated zucchini chips on to a baking sheets with parchment paper
   1. keep in a single layer so they get as crispy as possible
7. Sprinkle 3-4 tbsp. parmesan cheese on top of all pieces
8. Bake until zucchini chips are tender and cheese is lightly browned. This will take approx. 15 minutes.
9. Lightly sprinkle with vinegar for vinegar zucchini chips

You can also use gluten free Panko bread crumbs for a gluten free alternative to this coating if you are concerned with that, a great option.

Why is my fried zucchini mushy?

If you didn’t follow my tips and tricks above regarding frying zucchini in batter you may get a mushy or soggy result. The main reason people experience this is that their oil wasn’t hot enough when adding their food to fry. If it doesn’t start frying immediately when placed in it it will absorb it and become soft, not crunchy.