These air fryer zucchini chips are a delicious, healthy snack with a salty, savory flavor and crispy texture. No soggy zucchini in this recipe! We take special steps to keep it crispy and firm.

Why You’ll Love This Air Fryer Zucchini Recipe

• If you’re tired of soggy zucchini cooked on the stovetop, this recipe is for you! The preparation makes crispy, flavorful zucchini chips that taste savory and delicious.
• This air fryer zucchini has only a few easy ingredients like flour (which can be gluten-free), spices, and olive oil, making it suitable for dairy-free, low-carb, vegan, vegetarian, and gluten-free diets.
• This air fryer zucchini recipe can go great all on its own or with various sauces and dips like ketchup, tartar sauce, ranch dressing, or creamy avocado cilantro sauce.

How Do You Keep Zucchini From Getting Soggy When Air Frying?

Although the air fryer does a great job of crisping food without much added oil, zucchini is a special vegetable known for its moisture. Oftentimes, when you cook zucchini in a frying pan or in the oven, it gets floppy and soggy.

In this recipe, I use flour and various spices to coat the zucchini slices to help make them more crispy, however, the coating alone is not enough to keep them from wilting; you have to sweat the zucchini at the very start of preparation!

How Do You Sweat Zucchini Before Cooking?

Sweating zucchini before cooking is the best way to draw out excess moisture from this watery veggie, ensuring a firmer final result.

In this air fryer zucchini recipe, I start by slicing the zucchini, then sprinkle it evenly with salt and let it sit for 30 minutes. Letting the salt sit on the zucchini for a while allows it to draw out moisture. You’ll notice that the zucchini’s moisture begins to come to the surface, which makes it look like it’s sweating. After 30 minutes, you can rinse the zucchini and then pat it dry, which helps prevent soggy zucchini.

Air Fryer Zucchini Recipe Tips

• Sweating the zucchini before cooking is going to be one of the most crucial steps to this recipe. It helps to keep the zucchini crispy and eliminates that nasty soggy zucchini everyone hates.
• You will need an air fryer for this recipe. It will not work in an oven or other cooking appliance.
• Different brands of air fryers may cause the cooking time or temperature to vary. You can test the right timing and temperature between batches.
• Depending on the size of your air fryer you may need to cook the zucchini in batches. You can use the oven set at 250°F to keep the cooked zucchini warm between batches.

Substitutions

• If you are gluten-free, substitute regular flour for a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend. I used king arthur all-purpose gluten-free flour for this recipe, which turned out great!
• If you prefer a different oil than olive oil, you can use any preferred liquid cooking oil (solid ones like coconut oil or butter would not work). Avocado oil is a good option.
• You can play around with the spices if you have different preferences. Just keep the salt and flour in the same amounts, then add whichever other spices you prefer. Dried herbs or chili powders would be a nice addition. You could even add a little parmesan cheese.

Reheating The Air Fried Zucchini

I would not recommend saving any of these zucchini chips for leftovers since they don’t keep very well in the refrigerator. However, if you just need to heat these up after a little while on the same day, they can be put back into the air fryer to crisp up.

Heat the air fryer to 390°F and cook for about 4 minutes. Heating times may vary, so after 4 minutes, continue checking the zucchini every additional minute until it reaches your preferred texture.

How To Make The Best Crispy Air Fryer Zucchini

Start by rinsing the zucchini. Then slice them into 1/4-inch-thick discs.

Put the zucchini into a strainer, then sprinkle one teaspoon of salt over the sliced zucchini. Mix the zucchini and salt gently so they’re evenly distributed.

Let the salted zucchini sit for 30 minutes. It will begin to “sweat,” and you’ll notice bits of moisture come out of the zucchini.

When 30 minutes are up, gently wash the zucchini with water to rinse off the extra salt and moisture. Place the zucchini on a clean dish towel or paper towel. Dab the zucchini with another dish towel or paper towel to gently remove the excess moisture.

Add the zucchini to a bowl, add olive oil, and gently toss to coat. Pour in the salt, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, pepper, and flour. Mix gently to coat evenly.

Pre-heat the air fryer to 400°F if your air fryer requires it. You may need to cook the zucchini in batches, depending on the size of your air fryer. Once the air fryer is preheated, place the zucchini in a single layer in the air fryer basket. Do not overlap, or it won’t cook evenly.

Cook for about 8-12 minutes. It should be golden brown and crispy. Repeat with subsequent batches. If you’re cooking in batches, preheat your oven to 250°F to keep your zucchini warm between batches.

What To Serve With Air Fryer Zucchini

• Since zucchini is a summer vegetable, it would go great with a dish made on the bbq grill like these chicken kabobs.
• If you’re looking for more healthy snacks to serve to picky kids (or adults), these carrot fries are a crowd-pleaser!
• For a fun finger-food meal, serve this air fryer zucchini with another easy air fryer recipe: chicken tenders!