These healthy baked zucchini fries have an addictively crispy “junk food” taste! The kid-friendly recipe is perfect for a healthy snack or side dish.
Do you count calories?
These crispy baked zucchini fries have just 35 calories per serving!
Even if you ate the entire recipe in a single serving—which would be quite a lot of fries!—it’s still under 200 calories.
I used to think counting calories was a ridiculous waste of time and energy. Going by calories alone, a white rice cake would be a better snack choice for someone on a diet than a highly nutritious banana spread with a little peanut butter.
However, in the years of writing this blog, I’ve met quite a few people who swear by counting calories, who say it’s the only thing that’s worked for them and that it offers a sense of routine and control, helping them lose unnecessary weight or make healthier choices.
While I still don’t personally count calories, I now at least respect the practice and concede that it might be the best option out there to help some people turn their lives around for the better.
If you don’t count calories and think the idea of counting calories is a complete waste of time? You’ll just fall in love with the crispy “junk food like” taste of these crispy baked fries.
It’s one thing on which calorie counters and carb-o-holics can agree:
These zucchini fries are almost impossible to stop eating!
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Dip them in ranch, marinara sauce, or even my Healthy Ketchup Recipe.
I initially worried about trying these without the egg wash called for in most breaded recipes. But making egg-free and vegan zucchini fries turned out to be really simple and just as good as any egg-based breaded recipe I’ve ever tried.
I brought the zucchini fries to a Memorial Day barbecue… people were quite surprised I came with something other than dessert ;).
Leftover zucchini? Make this Chocolate Zucchini Bread!
Baked Zucchini Fries
Ingredients
- 2-3 small zucchini, sliced into fries
- 1/4 cup flour (white, whole wheat, or chickpea flour work)
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 cup milk of choice
- 1 cup breadcrumbs (I toasted Ezekiel bread and processed it in a food processor. You can use gf bread.) (40g)
Instructions
- Zucchini fries recipe: Preheat oven to 420F. Lightly grease a cooling rack, place it on a baking tray, and set aside. Set up an assembly line: flour and spices in one bowl, milk in another, and breadcrumbs in a third. Dip each zucchini stick in the flour, then the milk, then the breadcrumbs. Place on the cooling rack. Bake 20 minutes, or until desired crispiness is reached. View Nutrition Facts
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I made these with panko breadcrumbs and they turned out great! I put them on a cookie sheet lined with foil and they still turned out crispy.
OH BOY Katie… That doesn’t look like your hand in the picture… I wonder whose it could be (*wink wink*)
🙂
Good observation skills you have lol. That is actually the second secret appearance Matt has made on the blog.
I made these and did the baggie trick instead of dipping. Flour and spices in 1 bag – put in all zucchini, sealed shut with plenty of air then shook vigorously. Then added the milk directly to the bag and shook again. Took a new bag with the breadcrumbs and poured in the coated zucchini, sealed bag with lots of air trapped inside and shook. Came out wonderfully without monster gooey fingers 🙂
Has anyone tried teff flour as a substitute?
These turned out so good! I baked mine for about 23 min and they turned out a bit too crispy but were still awesome. I also didn’t use a food processor with my slice of whole wheat bread so my overly large handmade breadcumbs didn’t stick to the zucchini slices very well! Whoops. But the seasoning was yummy. Great recipe, even my fussy mom liked them.
I tried these tonight… they took a LONG time to make. They just tasted like flour… otherwise, they were flavorless. The only way we made them edible was by taking the crusty coating off and dipping them. I’m sorry, but I won’t be making these again.
Hi Jennie,
Have you read through the Recipe Troubleshooting FAQ page at the top of the blog to see what might’ve gone wrong with yours?
If you read through that page and still can’t figure it out, feel free to reply here with more specifics about the ingredients you used… I will try to help figure out what could’ve gone wrong for you!
I am excited to be trying these Zucchini Fries tonight! Thanks for sharing the recipe! As far as calorie counting goes, I’m a believer! From Jan-May I lost 40 lbs counting calories and walking 4-5 times a week. Since I’m a teacher and been off of my “diet” since school got out I am excited for school to be starting soon so that I can start back up on my Calorie Counting/Walking weight loss routine. I’ve got 40 more lbs to go before I can buy my wedding dress!
Not to be snide, but I didn’t realize there was a “best way to live.” I assume that would be the way you live? Counting calories does not mean avoiding such things as a banana smeared with peanut butter, as you mentioned above. It means counting the calories involved with eating a banana and peanut butter and adding them to the rest of the food you ate that day and STOPPING when you reach your max number of calories for the day, given your height, weight, and activity level. This country is obese. Until I began counting calories, I had no idea I was ingesting such a high number of calories every day. Now I know. It has been educational. And I also know that when I exceed my daily allotment, I can expect to (and do) gain weight. Calories in-calories out. That’s what determines whether you gain, lose, or maintain. It makes perfect sense. What doesn’t make perfect sense is the ridiculous idea that there is one “best way to live.” So you don’t count calories. Look at you. You obviously don’t need to. That, however, does not mean that others don’t need to, or that it is somehow a lesser way to live than your way. And the idea that you are admitting to only now “respecting” the practice is really a turnoff. I just found this blog and I wish I had not read that paragraph because I don’t think I would have realized how judgmental you are had I not. It might be time to open your mind to the idea that not everyone lives the same way and there is no one-size-fits-all “best” way to live. If that were the case, this life would be incredibly boring. So, I’m off now… to live the way I choose, eat the way I choose, and lose/maintain my weight the way I choose. I wish you well.
I couldn’t agree any better with your comment Judy! Exactly my thoughts (in my post above) – it is a simple and health way to keep tabs on how much that meal really carries.
Mmmmm !!! So good !! Thanks for sharing ! I found this by pinterest…
I absolutely believe in calorie counting Katie. Sometimes I think the world is going nuts with adding all the super expensive ingredients / toppings (superfoods) on their dishes. I’m a big believer in eat naturally which is why I love your recipes. They are simply clean, less fat used to make such beautiful creations and fuss free. As an example, a friend of mine has a whole avocado everyday (which is fine) but pours olive oil and has several raw cacao squares with goji this, maca that and a thick chunk of almond butter (instead of peanut butter because she thinks it is ‘healthier’ per-se) while also assuming a raw/vegan cheesecake is much lower in calories than a standard low-fat cheesecake, and is wondering why she’s not losing weight. I think clients need to be educated on the calorie consumption to understand that yes, this is a healthy alternative but still has calories. Again, I believe in clean food. Your Zucchini fries for example…pretty straightforward. Very smart in using minimal fat/egg to make such a ‘powerful’ dish under 30 calories each. So hey, I can keep a tab on how much I have consumed and be a lot more satisfied and content this way than wondering how much weight that expensive meal would add on my waist. That is my two cents!! Keep your awesome work and calorie tabbing please! 🙂