A few swaps ago, I was happy to get Hezzi-D’s blog for Blogger Choice swap, as I already had a few of her recipes on my “to try” list. Well, this week’s swap was themed “Game Day” and I was assigned crispy baked zucchini fries from Sarah, who hosts the swaps, at A Taste of Home Cooking, and this same recipe from this same blog was on my list, too. Crazy!
While I didn’t make these for a game day, I did make them for a Ladies Wine Excercise I hosted at my house. They actually paired nicely. I was afraid the breading wouldn’t stick to the zucchini sticks well, but the flour coating seemed to really help. The panko was so crispy and I had no problem with the breading coming off.
Nate raved about these when we had them for leftovers two nights later! I was surprised that I could get them crispy again, as when I took them out of the fridge, they were soggy and flimsy. I re-heated them at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes, and the crisp instantly came back.
I served these with marinara sauce, and we just tried them last night with ranch dressing, as suggested by Sarah; both sauces were excellent, but I think I prefered the ranch dressing. My only gripe is that they don’t stay warm for very long, so you must eat them up quickly!
Crispy Baked Zucchini Fries
Source: A Taste of Home Cooking
Servings: 6-10
Ingredients:
1/2 cup egg substitute (or 2 eggs)
2 cups panko breadcrumbs
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup flour
1 lb zucchini, cut into 1/2-inch thick matchsticks, about 4-5-inches long
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with olive oil.
2. Whisk eggs (or substitute) in a shallow baking dish. In another shallow baking dish, combine panko, salt, black pepper, garlic powder and cayenne. Set both dishes aside.
3. Pour flour into a large gallon sized zip-top bag. Dump in zucchini sticks. Seal bag and shake until all zucchini sticks are well coated with flour.
4. Taking a few sticks at a time, dip completely in egg mixture, then dredge in panko mixture until evenly coated. Transfer to prepared baking sheet. Bake for 18-22 minutes until golden brown and crisp. Serve with marinara or ranch dipping sauce.
I haven’t made these in a long time! Yours look like they turned out great.
Thanks! I was surprised at how good they were reheated. My girlfriend said she actually liked them better the second time.
Isn’t it funny how the swaps sometimes work out like that? Love that you can reliably re-crisp them even after refrigeration! Thanks for sharing and thanks for the tip!
Almost even better the second (or third) time!!