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Our Keto Fried Zucchini is a gluten free, grain free recipe that might just be my favorite way to eat zucchini! This crispy coated zucchini is perfect dipped in ranch and so good that I have to fight my kids for these!
If you’ve been around here for long, you know that I’ve eaten low carb off and on for years now. I love the way it makes me feel and I’ve lost quite a bit of weight doing it as well!
When I’m focusing on carbs, I try to eat healthy – lots of protein, plenty of veggies, and some healthy fats. Egg roll in a bowl is one of our go to meals!
But I inevitably end up craving fried food, because let’s be honest – fried food is delicious. 😉
These crispy fried zucchini chips are the ultimate low carb treat! So easy to make, the whole family loves them, and they make a great snack or side dish!
We like to dip our fried zucchini in this keto ranch dressing. Seriously the best ranch ever!
Ingredient Notes:
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Coconut Flour- We’ve tested this recipe with both coconut flour and almond flour. Both work well, but coconut flour seems to get a bit crispier.
Parmesan – Use the powdery kind in a green can. It adds flavor to the breading!
Zucchini – You can use zucchini or yellow squash in this recipe! They’ll both fry up just about the same.
Oil – We like to use avocado oil for frying. It has a high smoke point and is healthier than most vegetable oils. It is more on the expensive side though, so feel free to use what you have on hand.
What Readers are Saying!
“My husband is the one doing Keto, so I made these for him. They were quick and easy, and he said they were restaurant quality!” – Jodi G.
How to Make Fried Zucchini:
Prepare: Slice the zucchini into 1/4 inch thick rounds and sprinkle with kosher salt. Let them sit on a paper towel lined sheet pan to draw out the moisture for 30 minutes and then wipe off any excess liquid and salt with a paper towel.
Helpful Tip!
Getting Fried Zucchini Crisp:
There is a lot of moisture in zucchini, so salting it and letting that liquid sweat out is a great way to help make for a crispier finished product.
This step is optional, but if you have the time, it’s worth it!
Low Carb Breading: Dip the zucchini rounds into an egg wash and then into the breading.
The low carb breading is just a simple mix coconut flour and Parmesan cheese.
Dip the zucchini one by one into the egg mix and then dredge them in the low carb breading until they are all fully coated.
Fry: Add the zucchini in a single layer to a shallow pan with an inch or two of hot oil, being careful not to overcrowd the pan. For best results, your oil should be 375 degrees.
Let these fry for about 1 minute per side, just to get them golden brown.
Drain: Remove the zucchini to a paper towel lined plate and sprinkle with salt. Let the grease drain off for a bit while you fry up the rest of the zucchini.
Substitutions:
Zucchini: Can’t find zucchini? Use yellow crookneck squash instead! We can’t tell a difference!
Breading: Not worried about the carbs and don’t want to purchase coconut flour? Use equal parts all purpose flour and panko bread crumbs.
Seasoning: We keep this recipe simple and dip it in ranch dressing for flavor, but if you’d like more flavor on the zucchini, season the breading with garlic and onion powder.
Dip: Ranch is our go to, but honey mustard is another favorite, if you don’t mind the carbs.
FAQs:
We’ve only used this breading for zucchini, but it should work well on other things such as fish or onion rings.
Like most fried foods, these are best eaten immediately after cooking. If you do have leftovers, store them in the fridge and reheat them in an air fryer for maximum crispiness.
Adding salt to the zucchini before frying it allows the zucchini to release some of it’s moisture, so that it fries up a bit more crispy. This step is optional, but recommended.
MORE LOW CARB RECIPES!
- Easy Buffalo Chicken Dip
- Zucchini Pizza Boats
- Keto Avocado Fries (Air Fryer)
- Keto Mozzarella Sticks
- Keto Sloppy Joes
- Low Carb Bacon Cheeseburger Casserole
Keto Fried Zucchini
Ingredients
- 3 medium zucchini or yellow squash
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 2 large eggs
- 1 tablespoon water
- 1/3 cup coconut flour
- 1/4 cup powdered Parmesan cheese
- avocado oil for frying
- Ranch dressing for serving
Instructions
- Wash and slice the zucchini into thin rounds, about 1/4 inch thick.
- Lay zucchini on a paper towel lined sheet pan and sprinkle with salt. Let set for 30 minutes to draw out the moisture. Pat dry, removing as much liquid and salt as possible.
- Heat a 1/4-1/2 inch of oil in the bottom of a large skillet over medium heat to 375 degrees.
- Beat together the egg and water in a shallow bowl.
- Stir together the coconut flour and Parmesan in a second shallow bowl.
- Coat the zucchini in the egg and then dredge in the coconut mixture to coat.
- Add a single layer of zucchini to the hot oil, being careful not to crowd the pan. Fry for 1-2 minutes on each side, until golden brown. Repeat with remaining zucchini.
- Drain on a paper towel lined plate. Sprinkle with salt, if desired.
- Serve with ranch dressing for dipping.
Tips & Notes:
Nutrition Information:
This recipe was originally published in September 2015. It was updated with new photos in January 2022. Original photo below.
Burnt says
Sounds very nice i bet it tastes awesome.im about to make it now 🙂
Malissa says
Hi I’m just wondering if you can add a touch of xanthan gum to help with the binding abilities of the flour. Have you tried?
Karly says
I’ve never tried it, so I’m not sure how it would work.
Ivory says
Yum, yum, these looks so delicious
Paula Costanzo says
Would this work in an airfryer?
Karly says
I haven’t used an Airfryer before, but I’d love to hear how it turns out if you try it!
Laurie says
I used your batter recepie and tried it with talipia and used my “vegettti” and made strings of yellow squash! Turned out great! Next time I’ll use this same recepie to make onion rings! Maybe add a little almond flour into the mix? I’ll try that next time! #Keto
Karly says
That’s awesome! I bet it was great on fish.
Han Tang says
Have been looking for a new way to cook zucchini other than stir frying, this looks absolutely delicious, have to try it soon!
Christy says
I’ve noticed some of your recipes have the caloric breakdown and this one does not. Are you able to provide the calories, net carbs, protein and fat? Just strating out on my Ketogenic journey ?
Karly says
Hi Christy! The plugin that I was using to calculate nutrition info was a bit wonky, so I’ve stopped doing that. You can plug the recipe into any of the free online calculators yourself, though. 🙂
Janie says
I am a well seasoned cook, and I thought since I have fallen in love with coconut oil, cream and butter, that I would try this recipe using coconut flour. Not only is it very expensive, but I did not like the texture at all and it all fell off in the oil, making a big lousy burnt mess. Not a good recipe at all, sorry!
Karly says
Sorry this one wasn’t a hit for you. Coconut flour is definitely different than a regular wheat flour and takes some getting used to. I’m wondering if perhaps your oil wasn’t hot enough and that’s why it was such a mess? It definitely does come off and leave behind residue in the pan, but as you can see in the photos, plenty of it stuck to the zucchini for me.
KalynsKitchen says
Happy Friday! Just letting you know that I featured this recipe today in my Low-Carb Recipe Love on Fridays. I hope a lot of my readers will try it!
Karly says
Thanks, Kalyn!
Darcy says
I’ve been making breaded zucchini and egg plant since I was in my teens. The problem I have, and am wondering if anyone else has this happen as well, is the oil gets dirty and I have to dump it after each pan full. It’s wasteful and a hassle as I have to dump it into a heat safe container and then I have to wipe out the pan and heat fresh oil again. I usually have 4 to 5 batches to make.
Ben says
Agreed, quite a pain. I wonder if there is a simple solution to this…
Janie says
I know, I found the coconut flour just comes off right in the oil, this was a disappointing mess. It’s worth it to use a bit of plain old flour or gluten free flour!
Cynthia says
Have you tried baking them in the oven to see if they would crisp up as nicely? I’ve made ‘zucchini coins’ before only using almond flour + parm cheese and worked pretty well. I can’t wait to try them with coconut flour since you mentioned they seem crisper!
Karly says
I haven’t tried that! I know coconut flour tends to suck up a lot of moisture, so I’d be curious to see how it works in the oven on these. Let me know if you give it a try!
Lee says
I have not tried baking zucchini with coconut flour but use a very similar Zucchini Parmesan Crisp recipe by Ellie Krieger using 1/4 cup breadcrumbs plus some salt & pepper en lieu of the coconut flour. Heat oven to 400°F. Coat a baking sheet with cooking spray. Slice zucchini into 1/4” thick rounds. In a medium bowl, toss zucchini with 1 tablespoon oil. In a small bowl, combine Parmesan, bread crumbs, salt, and a few turns of pepper. Dip each round into the Parmesan mixture, coating it evenly on both sides, pressing the coating on to stick. Place a single layer on the prepared baking sheet. Bake zucchini rounds until browned & crisp, ~25-30 minutes. Remove with spatula & serve hot.
Karly says
Thanks for sharing!
Connie says
Can you sub almond flour for the coconut flour?
Karly says
You sure can! We prefer the coconut flour because it crisps up a bit better, but almond flour works just fine.
Elizabeth says
I am really enjoying your low carb recipes. It’s hard to find great tasting low carb recipes that my kids will actually try. I am looking forward to trying this one out soon. Please, keep posting the low carb recipes!
Debra Smith says
I like these different type of recipes.
Krystle says
These look so crispy!! This is the year I’m finding 23432 zucchini recipes and also the year our garden tanked. Go figure!
P.S. Clearly I’ve got the late night munchies but pepperoni and cream cheese sounds really yummy #
Becki says
Yay for making low carb fried foods! We did Whole30 recently and it was a pain feeding the kiddos something additional or different. This sounds delicious and something the whole family would enjoy.