This air-fryer zucchini chips recipe turns your garden's abundance into a healthy snack. Our zucchini chips are made without breading, so they stay as thin and crispy as a potato chip.
Air-Fryer Zucchini Chips
Updated Aug. 27, 2024
When the garden is overflowing with zucchini, it’s time to make air-fryer zucchini chips. This healthy, easy zucchini recipe creates thin, crispy chips in about 25 minutes. And because air fryers mimic deep frying, but use hot air instead of oil, these chips are healthier than bagged chips. Luckily, they’re just as satisfying when you’re craving a savory snack!
Many recipes for air-fryer zucchini chips call for tossing the zucchini rounds in bread crumbs first, but this one is different. These zucchini chips have no breading, so they stay as thin and crisp as air-fryer potato chips. They don’t contain any Parmesan cheese, either, making them a gluten-free, low-carb, vegan snack you’ll want to munch on every day. (Of course, if you are looking for a crispy, cheesy breaded zucchini chip, we’ll offer a variation below for how to make that happen!)
Ingredients for Air-Fryer Zucchini Chips
- Zucchini: Look for fresh, dark green zucchini that aren’t too large. Young, smaller zucchini are more tender and will yield the best results. Once you’re ready to start air-frying, slice the zucchini with a mandoline slicer to transform the zucchini into a pile of chips in no time flat.
- Olive oil: Oil plays several roles here. It adds a rich taste, helps the seasonings stick and ensures the zucchini slices brown as they air-fry. Feel free to omit it for an oil-free snack, but the chips won’t be quite as crisp.
- Seasonings: You can season zucchini chips with any number of herbs and spices, but we like the classic combination of Italian seasoning, salt and garlic powder. Feel free to experiment.
Directions
Step 1: Prepare the zucchini
Preheat the air fryer to 400°F. Using a mandolin, slice the zucchini into 1/8-inch rounds.
Editor’s Tip: Mandoline blades are sharp! Be sure to follow our rules for mandoline slicer safety.
Step 2: Season the zucchini
In a large bowl, combine the zucchini, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and garlic powder, and toss to coat.
Editor’s Tip: Zucchini slices love to stick together, so you may need to separate them by hand to ensure the seasoning coats each slice.
Step 3: Air-fry the zucchini chips
In batches, place the zucchini on a greased tray in air-fryer basket.
Cook until the zucchini slices are lightly browned, 8 to 10 minutes, tossing halfway. Serve immediately.
Editor’s Tip: Avoid overcrowding the air-fryer basket, which can cause the zucchini to steam instead of crisp up. The total air-frying cooking time can vary by model, so check on the chips throughout the cooking process.
Recipe Variations
- Add breading: To turn these chips into a breaded fried zucchini recipe, dip the zucchini slices into a beaten egg. Then, coat them in cornmeal or panko bread crumbs (add grated Parmesan cheese to the mix for cheesy flavor). Arrange the zucchini in a single layer in a greased air-fryer basket, spritz them with cooking spray and air-fry them at 375° until they’re lightly browned, six to eight minutes. Turn each piece, and cook for three to five minutes longer.
- Change the seasoning: Toss the zucchini rounds with dried ranch dressing mix, your favorite barbecue dry rub recipe or chopped fresh herbs like rosemary.
- Include vinegar: To make salt-and-vinegar zucchini chips, add a splash of apple cider vinegar to the bowl when seasoning them.
How to Store Air-Fryer Zucchini Chips
Air-fryer zucchini chips taste best fresh out of the air-fryer, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator. The chips will lose their crisp texture, but they will last for up to four days.
How do you reheat air-fryer zucchini chips?
Reheat air-fryer zucchini chips in a 400° air fryer until they’re warm and crisp.
Air-Fryer Zucchini Chips Tips
What should you serve with air-fryer zucchini chips?
Air-fryer zucchini chips can be enjoyed as-is around snack time, or can be paired with a dipping sauce as an appetizer or side dish. Try a rich tomato sauce like marinara or pizza sauce, or look to creamy dips like ranch dressing, copycat Chick-fil-A sauce, hummus or curry mayo dipping sauce.
How do you keep zucchini from sticking in the air fryer?
Shake the air fryer basket or stir the contents to prevent the zucchini discs from sticking to the sides of the air-fryer basket. And make sure to cook the zucchini in batches so the pieces don’t crowd and stick together.
Can you make air-fryer zucchini chips with frozen zucchini?
We don’t recommend using frozen zucchini for this recipe. Frozen zucchini doesn’t release water like fresh zucchini, so the chips won’t get as crispy.
Air-Fryer Zucchini Chips
Prep Time
15 min
Cook Time
20 min
Yield
4 servings
Ingredients
- 2 medium zucchini
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Directions
- Preheat air fryer to 400°. Using a mandolin, slice zucchini into 1/8-in. rounds.
- In a large bowl, combine zucchini, olive oil, Italian seasoning, salt and garlic powder; toss to coat. In batches, place on greased tray in air-fryer basket. Cook until lightly browned, 8-10 minutes, tossing halfway. Serve immediately.
Nutrition Facts
1 serving: 47 calories, 4g fat (1g saturated fat), 0 cholesterol, 156mg sodium, 3g carbohydrate (2g sugars, 1g fiber), 1g protein. Diabetic Exchanges: 1 vegetable, 1 fat.
Crispy, crunchy, yummy and healthy? These zucchini chips check all the boxes! Simply cut zucchinis into rounds, toss them in some light oil and seasoning, air-fryer them and voila—you have a delicious snack. —Anvita Bhatnagar Mistry, Chantilly, Virginia
Recipe Creator
