Crispy baked zucchini fries coated in Parmesan, flavored breadcrumbs, and herbs for an easy side dish with a side of marinara sauce. Or serve as an appetizer your favorite dipping sauce or with Ranch dressing!
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Do you need a healthy appetizer for your next party (or just an easy side dish for a weeknight meal)? Or maybe you just need to find ways to use up the zucchini in your garden. Make these baked zucchini sticks for an easy side dish with kicked up flavors, or served with Ranch dressing for an appetizer.
Veggies served with a dip make great summer appetizers, like these air fryer potatoes, air fryer baby peppers, and roasted Brussel sprouts. And they're super easy to make.
🤷♀️ What are zucchini sticks?
Zucchini sticks are simply long cuts of zucchini that are breaded and either deep fried or baked. Think of them as crispy zucchini fries. They're served as a side dish with a side of marinara sauce, and as an appetizer with a dip or Ranch dressing.
❤️ Why you'll love this recipe
- No deep frying!
- Super easy and ready in just over 30 minutes.
- Perfect side dish or appetizer for summer gatherings.
🧅 Main Ingredients + Notes
The secret to faster and easier meals often lies in the ingredients. For example, store-bought items and ingredients you make ahead and store in the refrigerator (or freezer) can turn a 60-minute recipe into a 30-minutes meal or less.
For the all of the ingredients, measurements and directions for making these Parmesan zucchini fries, go to the Recipe Card at the bottom of this post.
- Seasoned bread crumbs - either store bought or use gremolata breadcrumbs.
- Parmesan cheese
- Herbs and spices - I use garlic powder, dried oregano, dried thyme, kosher salt, black pepper, and dried red pepper flakes for a little zing.
- Zucchini
- Eggs
- Cooking spray - I use one that's olive oil, but you can use a spray of other oils too.
- Fresh parsley - for garnish.
Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links to products and foods I use in my kitchen. This means that at no additional cost to you, I will earn a commission if you click through and make a purchase. To view my entire storefront of recommended kitchen tools and equipment, check out my shop on Amazon.
🔪 Recommended Equipment
Having the right equipment for recipes makes prepping soooo much easier. If you want more fuss-free prepping and cooking, check out my updated list of favorite kitchen tools and equipment.
- Baking sheet
- Chef's knife
- Whisk
💡Ideas for Possible Variations
- Make your own seasoned breadcrumbs by starting with stale bread, bread crisped in the oven, or plain breadcrumbs. Sauté in a little olive oil or butter, and add dried Italian seasoning, or other herbs you prefer.
- Use Panko breadcrumbs instead of regular, smaller sized breadcrumbs. This makes the zucchini sticks crispier.
Zesty Baked Zucchini Sticks with Parmesan
Ingredients
- ½ cup Italian seasoned bread crumbs
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese divided
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- ¼ teaspoon crushed dried red pepper flakes
- 3 zucchini quartered
- 2 eggs beaten
- 1 teaspoon cooking spray
- 2 tablespoon coarsely chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper.
- In a shallow bowl, combine the bread crumbs, ½ cup Parmesan, garlic powder, oregano, thyme, salt, black pepper, and red pepper flakes. Whisk the eggs in a small bowl.
- Dip the zucchini slices into egg or brush the egg wash onto the zucchini using a plastic basting brush. Next, press into breadcrumb mixture, shaking off excess. Arrange the breaded zucchini in a single layer on the prepared baking pan.
- Bake until a light golden brown, about 15 minutes. Then broil for 2 - 3 minutes to lightly crisp.
- Spray with a little cooking spray and sprinkle with the extra tablespoon of Parmesan and parsley.
- Serve as a side dish or with Ranch dressing for an appetizer.
Lori
YAY!!!! So glad you made these and so glad to be part of this group. This is my first SRC and oh what fun it is!!! I love your twist on my zucchini and will have to try your version. Thanks.
PS - My Pineapple Deviled Eggs are requested often. You'll love them!!!
Pinned, followed, stalked.. the whole shebang!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm following you too! And really what a great idea to follow the blogs we've been assigned to. I really like that. It adds to the support we can give each other. And big, huge welcome to SRC. It's a wonderful group - I've been posting with them for a few years now and really enjoy it! I hope you do too 🙂
Cheese with Noodles
Oh, yummy! I'd love to try these without the bread crumbs and was actually looking at a similar recipe earlier today, but this one looks better.
leigh
Oh great choice and welcome to Group A! 🙂
Laura
Great way to use courgettes
danielle
Welcome to group A! These look amazing!! I love zucchini in any way shape or form so I am looking at these thinking I need to try them ASAP.
sara
Yum! These look fantstic...I love zucchini. Definitely need to try this. 🙂
Leslie Limon
So glad to have you cooking with us in group A. And I love your choice of recipe this month. I <3 zucchini!
Marie @ Not Enough Cinnamon.com
I LOVE your life philosophy, I think shaking things up is an great thing to do! My husband and I moved to Australia (from France) three years ago, and we'll probably move to another country in the coming months even though I love my life here. I just want to keep moving and go on my next adventure, and people think we're crazy! haha.
Anyway, welcome to group A. This recipe looks amazing 🙂
Cindy @ Hun... What's for Dinner?
OMG these look so good! I absolutely love zucchini and I bet this would be a great way to get my kiddos to eat it too.
Katie Zeller
Zucchini season started at our house last week - good timing; great recipe!
Norma Chang
Zucchini season is here. Will try these sans cheese, need to be on a cheese free diet.
Elizabeth
I love baked zucchini-- I can almost pretend they are french fries 🙂
Laura
Susan, We're so glad you've joined our corner of the Secret Recipe club world. I love what you did with Lori's recipe - and now I have to make them myself. All you had to say was "parmesan baked" and I headed for the pantry 🙂
Roxanne
THIS IS RIGHT UP MY ALLEY!!!
I love it!!
Janet
My next door neighbour's garden has zucchini that is ready right now and she shares with me all the time.(I give her baking - she gives me fresh veggies) I'm having company on Saturday so guess what I'll be making - can't wait to try it. I think I might serve them with a dip and voila a healthy delicious appetizer. As always, thanks for another great recipe!
Janet
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I hope you like the dish, Janet! We loved them. They're best fresh from the oven, still warm and a little crispy. Have fun with them 🙂
Mindy S
I served these Parmesan zucchini with marinara sauce as a dip and omg it was amazing!! Love it so much!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
That makes me soooo happy! They're wonderful with marinara sauce 🙂
Sandhya S
These crispy zucchini sticks with a savory Parmesan coating were a delicious and healthy snack option. My kids loved it.
Ned
What a game changing recipe! Thank you for this. I can't wait to use up my garden zucchini!
Patricia
I love these as a tasty & healthy snack or side! I mean...fried is fab, but you know! Baking these is such a great option!
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Thank you!
Ieva
These were the first thing I made with this year's courgette harvest, and wow! Such a brilliant recipe to add to our summer dish collection! Absolutely delicious 🙂
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I'm so happy you like this recipe! Thanks for letting me know!
Stephanie
Yum! I made the scrumptious parmesan baked zucchini for an appetizer last night. Simply delish! This recipe is going straight into my recipe box.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
Yay! I'm so glad you like it!
Tavo
Your Zesty Baked Zucchini Sticks with Parmesan truly hit a home run in my kitchen! The balance of flavors is masterful - the freshness of zucchini, the zing of the spices, and the decadent touch of parmesan work together to create an unforgettable snack. What's even better is the delightful crispiness that doesn't compromise the moist and tender inside, making for a perfect bite every time. Each step of your instructions is clear and concise, making this recipe as enjoyable to prepare as it is to devour.
The Wimpy Vegetarian
What a lovely message! Thank you so much.
Cara
As if I could love summer zucchini any more than I already do! All the heart eyes for these crispy seasoned pieces
The Wimpy Vegetarian
I love summer zucchini too!
Ali
I had these in a restaurant once and always wanted to make them at home. I can’t wait to try this recipe, the pictures look amazing!
Julie
I had some extra zucchini from the garden and I love how these came out! Such a tasty way to prepare them without frying them!