I have seen a number of crispy oven-baked zucchini recipes floating around online and in cookbooks, some as rounds, some as “fries”, but obviously all were made with regular wheat flour and breadcrumbs, so they weren’t gluten-free. However, with my insane love of zucchini, every single time I would see a photo of one of these recipes, I would instantly salivate, how couldn’t crispy oven-baked zucchini slices be delicious? I decided to experiment with making my own gluten-free version and I have to say for the first attempt, they turned out perfectly. I am so excited. I love when that happens.
The outside was so incredibly crispy, the inside was tender. Topped with a bit of freshly shredded parmigiano-reggiano and some fresh basil from the garden, each and every bite was full of flavor. I only sliced up one of the large zucchini we grabbed from the farmers market, but it was more than enough for the two of us as a side dish, with plenty leftover. It would be enough for 4 people, but if you like this as much as we did, it is actually a perfect sized side dish for two. We ended up eating seconds, since they were so delicious. I served this alongside some gluten-free penne with a delicious mint pesto .
These crispy zucchini rounds would also be wonderful as an appetizer. You could create a delicious creamy dipping sauce or even serve them with some hot marinara sauce. Though a dipping sauce would be delicious and fun, we went nude and enjoyed them as is. They were so full of flavor, they didn’t really need anything more.
I ended up using my mandoline slicer to make sure each round was cut evenly, so they would cook evenly, but it isn’t necessary. You could simply cut by hand, doing the best to keep them generally at the same thickness.
Gluten-Free Crispy Zucchini Rounds
serves 2-4
1 large zucchini, sliced into 1/4-inch to 3/8-inch thick rounds
2 large farm fresh brown eggs *see below note about making this vegan*
1/3 cup tapioca flour (sometimes called tapioca starch)
1 cup gluten-free bread crumbs, plus more if needed
1/4 cup shredded parmigiano-reggiano cheese
Olive oil for drizzling
sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
1/4 cup fresh basil, roughly chopped
Preheat the oven to 450º and lightly grease a large baking sheet (or two smaller) with olive oil . On 2 separate plates, add tapioca flour and bread crumbs. Lightly beat 2 eggs in a medium bowl.
Dust both sides of zucchini rounds with the tapioca flour, dip in egg, and pat onto the plate of gluten-free bread crumbs. Place in a single layer on the baking sheet(s). Drizzle olive oil over the top, sprinkle with sea salt and a very small amount of the parmigiano-reggiano cheese. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes on the first side, using a spatula flip each zucchini round over (you can drizzle a bit more olive oil on this side, if you wish) and bake an additional 10 minutes until crispy and lightly browned on both sides.
Remove the baking sheets from the oven, sprinkle the remaining parmigiano-reggiano cheese and the fresh basil overtop of the rounds and serve immediately. Salt and pepper to taste.
*To Make This Vegan: After a request on Facebook, I decided to make these again, but this time I attempted to make them vegan. In place of the two eggs I used 3 teaspoons of Ener-G Egg Replacer with 1/4 cup of warm water. Stir together until fully mixed. You may find you need to make a bit more depending on how large your zucchini is, but that is a good starting point. Substitute the egg replacer for the eggs in the above recipe, do everything else the exact same and just skip the parmesan cheese. That’s it. They turned out just as delicious, with a perfectly wonderful crispy brown outside.
18 Responses
Wow this sounds really interesting! I know using tapioca flour makes this even crispier 🙂 I will definitely try this 🙂
This looks INCREDIBLE!
Howard Says, “I love Horchata, too” but I have trouble with my Princessa Mix. It always separates out and doesn’t even stay in suspension while being served in the glass. Any suggestions to solve this ‘unsettling’ problem??
this look lovely 🙂 yuummm ! going to try this!
what a great recipe! i can see myself munching on tons of these! thanks for sharing your recipe! 🙂
Hi!!
…I’ve just founded your blog!
I made a kind of these zucchini yesterday!! And they were really good!!
I like your blog!! Good job!
Greetings!
Laura
Great recipe, Love your blog will most probably spend the rest of the afternoon browsing trough your recipes…
I am ABSOLUTELY in love with the way you take pictures!! Can I know which camera you are using, and what setting you use? I have a canon G9 and I want to take pictures like this!! (hopefully)
Thanks!!
Miss CE
This recipe looks great and zucchini is in season in Ontario right now.
Sorry, typos. Eva Taylor and my blog is http://kitcheninspirations.wordpress.com/
You are officially my gluten-free hero (HERO). YUM.
[…] time around, I again served this over delicious organic gluten-free penne with some gluten-free crispy zucchini rounds on the side. We both were in heaven with this meal. This pesto, much like the original that we […]
I love love love zucchini rounds–have been making my own version of them for years–make the best (and cheapest) appetizer. Last year I was so overwhelmed with them that I used a bunch of the rounds as lasagna ‘noodles.’–It was incredible. Thanks for sharing this, Beth. Next time I’m using your recipe for a nice change. xoLinda
I just made these with the over abundance of zucchini in my garden. WOWWWWIE – were these ever GOOD! Excellent recipe!! I am stuffed beyond words from these zucchini crisps. And, they ARE crisp – nice, perfect crunch. You did such a good job with this. Way better than fried and not greasy at all, just perfect, perfect, perfect! I will be making these many more times in the next few weeks. Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you for this recipe!
Aww Belenda, you just made my day with this comment! Thank you so much. I am so so glad that you liked them. I actually haven’t made them yet this season, since I have been paying around with new recipes, but since I went back to find some of these older zucchini recipes, now I am really hoping that I have zucchini for weeks to come. Thank you again so much for sharing your thoughts, it means the world to know people like my recipes!
This was delicious, thanks for sharing the recipe!!!
I made for dinner last night and we all liked it: me, husband and son!
I mixed the gluten free bread crumbs with a little gluten free oat bran and ground flaxseeds to add more nutrients to the coating. I was going to add sesame seeds too but forgot, only remembered after I put into the oven.
Ana
I used gluten-free flour instead of tapioca flour and mixed the parmesan with the breadcrumbs. Served with blue cheese dipping sauce. I loved it, the husband thought it was a little heavy on the breading. Next time (and there will be a next time thank you) I’ll try it as slightly thicker sticks to increase the ratio of creamy to crunch. Thank you!