Zucchini is extremely high in antioxidants and vitamin B6 which are only some of the benefits of this, what some consider to be, a superfood veggie, and then on top of that it is so versatile that you can add it to most recipes or tweak existing meals just as easily.
So why not try these zucchini air fryer recipes for a tasty vegetable side dish or as a main course and treat the family to wholesome great-tasting meals full of nutrients and minerals and vitamins. Too often the zucchini is underestimated and even overlooked because people consider it bland, but not only is it cheap to buy making it budget-friendly and easy on the wallet, but it absorbs seasoning beautifully with its porous flesh.
You may not have considered adding this vegetable to your grocery list before but you will after you browse these easy-to-make and follow dishes for delicious meals.
#1. Air Fryer Zucchini Fries
I have come to realize that kids will eat fries no matter what they are made of, I think they eat them more for the shape and that they are called fries, hilarious. So I was glad to see my children eat huge piles of these zucchini fries without problems. The homemade tomato dip helped a bit, but my hubby particularly enjoyed them with spicy tomato salsa.
They are so quick to make and most of the ingredients you will most likely already have on hand in the fridge or the pantry so no special trips to the store are required. The hubby can help with the conveyor belt crumbing steps so you can make it more quickly than if you had to do it yourself, and because these taste so good you will want a lot of them ready.
You can always use almond flour for a gluten-free option or coconut flour if you also want to avoid a nut allergy reaction. There is always a solution to a health niggle…
Sometimes we think the only way to make vegetables for the dinner meal is to pop them in the oven but then they need to cook for a long time to get soft, they lose all their nutrition in the slow cooking process, and you end up with dry, shrivelled chunks of veggies. No thank you.
Now, with these convenient and easy air fryer zucchini recipes, you can have a meal in the oven and prepare the veggie side dish in the air fryer in under 30 minutes. The rapid air circulation allows for an even cooking process all around and your zucchini ends up soft on the inside, but crispy on the outside, a great textural balance.
Simply toss the zucchini in the crumb and parmesan flour mix, I like to add a lot of garlic and onion powders to the mix and pink Himalayan salt to elevate the flavor profile.
Then put the cubed veg into the air fryer and wait till they are firm but soft to the touch and the crumb is golden and tinged brown. Delicious.
An effortless side dish that tastes like the main course, the family will love it.
We made these to put with the crudité platter we were serving with the appetizers for friends and family that were coming over and it is funny how a new creation seemingly goes the quickest. These were the first of the veg platters to diminish (luckily we made a lot because the kids tasted them while we were prepping them and loved them, so we kept going), and we have continued to make them ever since.
It is not often you get healthy convection oven zucchini recipes that are a breeze to make and are done that day with no leftovers, but here you are.
We skewer them with other vegetables for vegan and vegetarian options for visitors or serve them on the buffet table with a big bowl of sour cream dip for people to nibble on while they chat and have a few drinks, and I have been putting them in my work lunch box recently so when I get a little hungry I don’t grab something from the vending machine.
As lovely as the vending items may appear, we all know they are packed with unwanted sugars and additives we should not be putting in our bodies.
Make these the next time you aren’t sure which side dish to serve with supper, and you will be pleasantly surprised how well they go down. They are a winning creation at our dining table.
I love fritters, I make them with every ingredient imaginable and now have moved on to combining them, and these healthy zucchini air fryer recipes came just in time for school starting again. They are quick and easy to put together, they don’t drip greasy oil like traditional pan-fried or deep-fried fritters, and are filling too.
They take around 10 to 15 minutes to cook (flipping them over at the halfway mark) and fry till golden brown. I like to add fresh herbs to the fritter mix to make it a bit more flavorful but you can always add the herbs (chopped dill works great) to fresh yogurt to serve with the fritters.
My husband, who finds a way to eat everything with a hot sauce, likes to dip these into some sweet chili, he says it has a great balance to the overall meal (I’ll take his word for it considering he ate 15 of them).
A few points to note is to squeeze the zucchini from as much water as possible, and to chill the mix so it is firm enough to hold its shape when you place them in the air fryer (in a single layer and not overcrowded).
We always make these when we have a BBQ at our house and we know we are going to have lots of family and friends over, they can be made in large batches, and the yellow and greens give a nice pop of color to the buffet table.
They also get nice and crispy in the air fryer and the charred bits that go golden and brown add a nice texture element to elevate the whole dish.
You can sprinkle the ready veggies with garlic powder or we like to add fresh chopped garlic to give a nice bite to the dish. The great thing about this dish is that you can choose one color of zucchini or mix up the varieties to bring the buffet table to life.
A great option for vegetarians as well as vegans and can be made in no time at all, and best of all, the clean-up afterward is a simple wipe down and you are good to go.
This tasty vegetarian dish will make you fall in love with zucchini. It takes no more than 5 minutes to prep and about 20 minutes to cook. They are also much healthier to eat than traditional fries but taste just as good and without all the carbs.
Plus, when they are curly they are so much more fun to eat.
Simply coat them in flour, dip them into the egg which will cling to the flour, and then into the bread crumbs or parmesan panko (seasoned generously with salt). The cheese will get brown, melted, and somewhat stringy which only adds to the wanting to eat them the moment they come out of the fryer.
You could serve these with your main dish, for the kids as a pre-dinner snack to keep them going and not ‘starve’ before supper is ready, or as part of the buffet table at your next family gathering. Who wouldn’t want to eat zucchini covered in a cheesy crumb? Humbly tasty and a pleasure to make more than once a week.
These zucchini air fryer recipes went down better than I had expected them to, mind you they were an experiment, and then the next thing when I turn around, both kids have them in their hands and are munching away.
So I decided to carry on, I made a large platter full to plop onto the table at dinner, and I was happy to see everyone gave them a go.
My hubby mentioned he would try the next portions I make with some sliced jalapenos inside and then topped with cheese which is a great idea for some heat, and you could even add blue cheese and mushrooms to elevate the flavor to the next level.
Sprinkle with Italian seasoning when serving and you have a speedy dish that tastes even better than it looks.
This dish has only 5 ingredients, who knew you could enjoy air fryer zucchini recipes with only a handful of items. Well, this recipe is proof that you can and they are gorgeously moreish. You could sit and eat a bowl of these while watching your favorite series on TV, or place a bowl in front of the kids while they are doing their homework so they have fuel for their brains and don’t try to grab a sugary snack before dinner is ready.
They love to have a choice of dips (sour cream and chives, and a tangy ranch dressing) and as long as I know they are eating their veggies I am all for it.
The zucchini is easily sliced and if you have a child old enough try to get them involved, this is a portion of easy snack food, and next time they could try to make it on their own. They will love tasting these ‘chips’ smothered in a thick, rich, and cheesy coating, and they are great whether you eat them served hot or cold the next day.
If you can, which is what we did, try to use a mandolin to slice the zucchini. It is safer and quicker, but also keeps the slices all the same thickness so they cook at the same rate.
Seafood is always a crowd-pleaser in our house and it is such a great source of protein and omega vitamins, and when you get to try your new convection oven zucchini recipes in the mix too, you have a winning meal (in my humble opinion).
Peppers add a great pop of color and even more so if you opt for both the yellow and red varieties, the tinged and soft zucchini chunks, and your kids won’t even realize they are eating so many vegetables.
This dish is packed with flavor (and a lot of garlic if I can help it) and a great option to enjoy outdoors during the summer months because it is so light and filling at the same time. You could toss the ingredients into a salad if you want a different meal, squeeze a lime over and even a few orange segments are thrown into the mix for some zest and freshness.
Before you know it everything is gorgeous and golden, and ready to dig into.
A vegetable disguised as a mini pizza bite, I am all for it, and when I discovered these easy air fryer zucchini recipes I leaped at the chance to see if I had found a new way to get veggies into the kids without all the fuss and fighting. And it was a huge success.
They didn’t even ask what they were, they saw the tomato marinara sauce and melted cheese and they went right in. I also loved these bites because they are so customizable, whether you are making them for kids topped with pepperoni and corn, or for the adults with sliced jalapeno and ham, you can cater to all demographics.
A runny sour cream dipping sauce with a touch of garlic is great to drizzle over when eating these for an afternoon snack, BBQ sauce has also proven popular. You can get the kids to sprinkle the cheese on and the various toppings, it makes for a great bonding moment, and together you can say you have created a tasty treat filled with goodness and ready in under 30 minutes. Win-win.
We had friends coming over for dinner and one of them is a vegetarian so I was excited to try out my newfound zucchini convection oven recipes, they have been so amazing and quick to make, and any chance I have to show some of them off I do.
This recipe was one of the best ones we have tried, maybe because I put in extra love because I knew my friend was coming, but the whole table raved about it, even the non-vegetarians.
You could opt for one type of mushrooms or even a mixture of a few kinds to add all sorts of aesthetic features from texture, to size and shape, and most importantly, flavor.
Mixed and fried at the same time, the ingredients melt seamlessly together each offering the other a touch of flavor and goodness.
If you want to have an easy veggies option to serve at dinner then this is the one for you, and you can make a big batch at a time too to save a few minutes, but be sure to give the basket a bit of a shake halfway through to keep the hot air blowing and circulating.
This is the perfect healthy air fryer zucchini recipe option for cutting out carbs, and getting an added vegetable into the dinner meal, and is ready and cooked in half the time that you would normally take to cook generic spaghetti noodles.
The only difference to using zucchini noodles (and the longest part of this recipe) is the light salting and waiting for the water to excrete from the zucchini flesh which can surprisingly be more than you would think.
Once you have patted them dry after about 30 to 40minutes resting, pop them in the spiralizer and create gorgeous curls of veggie goodness. Coat them in oil, seasoning, and garlic powder in a bowl and spread them out in the fryer to coat evenly rather than being overlapped.
Once done, toss them in a bowl with some tomatoes and a homemade dressing and enjoy a light summer snack.
There is no excuse not to include vegetables into your family’s diet when you have a great collection of zucchini air fryer recipes for a tasty vegetable side dish or as a main course, and without all the fuss.
You can enjoy cooking again and experiment with great-tasting food, and if it means the kids get 1 more of their five a day then even better. And for more delicious meal options head to our blog and grow your recipe collection.
We all deserve to enjoy food that is not only tasty but healthy too.
Born and raised in South Africa and being immersed in the rich culture, Candace soon found a passion for all things food related. Exploring and experiencing new flavors and taste profiles she pursued her career as a qualified chef in silver service specialized in fine dining.
