Parmesan Zucchini Tots
Zucchini slices are coated in parmesan cheese and panko breadcrumbs and then cooked until crispy. They make a great appetizer or side dish.
I have a difficult time getting my husband to eat zucchini. He doesn’t like the flavor of zucchini, so he rarely enjoys one of my zucchini dishes unless I’ve sufficiently masked the zucchini flavor.
I left a plate of these parmesan zucchini crisps in the same room as him for a few minutes, and when I came back, the plate was completely empty! So I guess he enjoyed these…
Ingredients
- Zucchini
- Flour
- Large egg
- Panko breadcrumbs
- Parmesan cheese
- Olive oil
- Parsley
Zucchini: You will need one large one for this recipe and slice it into 1/4-inch slices.
Flour: I use all-purpose flour. The flour absorbs the moisture when you cook the zucchini, so they turn crispy.
Egg: This helps the panko stick to the zucchini slices.
Cheese: Shredded Parmesan cheese works best for this recipe.
Olive oil: The breaded zucchini is pan-fried in olive oil. You can also use vegetable or canola oil.
Parsley: This is optional, but I like to sprinkle some over the zucchini crisps for garnish.
Recipe Notes
Normally, I would bake these crisps in the oven. It’s healthier, less work, etc. But the issue with the oven is that you really need to eat the baked crisps right away. So they aren’t ideal to make for a party or to make ahead of time. Also, when panko is baked in the oven, it usually remains fairly pale, so it doesn’t look as appetizing.
So for these, I decided to pan-fry them. It’s not as healthy as a baked version, but they stay crispy a lot longer. And you only need a little oil to pan-fry them. The panko crust comes out a beautiful golden brown when cooked in the pan. You can eat these as they are or serve them with a dipping sauce like ranch dip or marinara sauce.
More Parmesan Zucchini Recipes
- Parmesan Zucchini Tots
- Air Fryer Zucchini Crisps
- Keto Garlic Parmesan Zucchini Bread
- Parmesan Zucchini Noodles
Recipe now updated with video! You can also find all my recipe videos on my youtube channel.
Parmesan Zucchini Tots
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 cups shredded and lightly patted dry zucchini, about 1 1/2 medium zucchini
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 tbsp dry Italian seasoning
- 1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
- 1 large egg
Instructions
- Shred zucchini with a vegetable grater. When done, pat zucchini dry with a few sheets of paper towels. While you don't need to completely dry the zucchini, you do want to absorb some of the moisture. I used about 4 sheets of paper towels. You want to keep drying the zucchini until the stage where when you pat the shredded zucchini with a paper towel, the paper towel is moist but no longer soaking with water.
- Preheat oven to 400°F. Measure out 1 1/2 cups of patted dry zucchini and add to a large mixing bowl. Add egg, cheese and breadcrumbs. Stir until everything is thoroughly combined.
- Take 1 tablespoon of zucchini batter and squeeze between palm of hand, compressing it. Some water should also release out. Using both hands now, shape to resemble a cylinder tater tot shape. Place onto a baking sheet lined with silicone baking mat or parchment paper. Repeat with remaining zucchini.
- Bake for about 15-20 minutes until bottoms are golden brown and crispy. Flip over and bake for another 5 minutes. Serve warm with dipping sauce of your choice.
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My daughter tried this recipe as we ha e an abundance of zucchini and it was great! She didn’t use any flour. She grated it fine and drained the zucchini of excess water by salting it and squeezing it out. Everything else was the same but she pan fried it and my hubby thought it was premade since it held together when you took a bite. We all think my son will eat it and he hates zucchini. Total win.
We’re so happy your family loved these!!
Have you cooked in air fryer? What do you suggest for temperature and cooking time?
We have not tested these in an air fryer! We do have an Air Fryer 2 Ingredient Parmesan Zucchini Crisps recipe though: https://kirbiecravings.com/parmesan-zucchini-crisps-2/
Hi again! I’d asked how many these make, and you said you didn’t know. FYI, approx 20 tots. Also, you said to bake till bottoms are crispy – mine never got crispy – delicious, but not crispy. I think you would have to squeeze all the zucchini water out, not just pat dry with a few paper towels. And I know whereof I speak, ha ha (I’m a popular cooking instructor in the boston area – teach ages 2.5 all the way to adults)
Sounds like your zucchini was too wet.
how many do they make? Hard to estimate
Sorry, but we don’t have that info.
very strange, that you don’t have that info, even though you posted the recipe. Recipes usually tell you the yield, how many pieces, etc etc
Yes, we’re sorry about that, it’s been several years since we shared this post and so we don’t have the original yield – mistakes happen! We hope you try the recipe anyway – many readers have tried it and loved it.
Can you deep fry the Tots, or is that taking away from the healthy part you want?
We haven’t tried deep frying them – we wanted this to be a healthier recipe, but if you try frying them let us know how it works for you!
I LOVE zucchini and I’m always looking for new ways to serve it. This recipe looks wonderfully easy and sounds delicious. I’ll be making this after my next trip to the grocery store to stock up again on zucchini. Thanks so much!
We hope you try it! We have a lot of other Zucchini Recipes you might like, too!
Looks wonderful. Gonna make it this week, but didn’t see any nutrition info. Do you have that?
Sorry, but we don’t have the nutrition info at this time.
didn’t have panko; used italian bread crumbs and a small amount unbleached flour. DID NOT work–too ‘doughie’. Will try again another time~
We hope you try it with panko the next time!
My taste bugs say yummy
So glad you enjoyed!
What type of red sauce that is shown, do you use?
It’s ketchup, but we also like them with marinara sauce!
Has anyone tried freezing them? Thinking about this when the “garden season” is in and we have plenty of fresh produce on hand.
We haven’t tried freezing them, but if you do try it we recommend baking them first, cooling them, and then freezing them on a sheet pan. Once they are frozen, transfer them to a freezer container and they should keep for up to a month.
Very tasty- i didn’t have Parmesan so i used shredded Romano. Ran out of panko – i topped with 1/4 italian bread crumbs. Turned out great!
I’m glad it worked out for you!
Delicious!
So glad you enjoyed!
My husband and I made these last night, and we made extra to take to a work function. They were a hit! We loved them and will be making them again and again! I used spicy ranch dressing for the dipping sauce. Easy-peasy! 🙂
I’m so glad you tried and liked the recipe!
I don’t have parmesan cheese , can i use another cheese ? Or i can cancel the cheese
You can use other cheeses. Parmesan acts as a binding agent and also adds flavor to the tots, so you may want to add more seasoning if you are replacing with another cheese
Made these for dinner tonight! They are so easy and so delicious! I did have to use two eggs because the mixture was not very binding but that may be because I might have over-dried the zucchini. Will make again!
So glad you liked!
Thank you for this recipe! These were delicious! I made them last night for myself and my toddler. Unfortunately, dad can’t eat dairy so it’s a good recipe when it’s just us girls 🙂 I think I may have dried out the zucchini a little too much- I ended up adding an extra egg because the mixture was a little dry, but they still turned out great!
I’m glad this worked out for you!
I realized after preheating the oven, measuring my zuchinni out and adding the egg that I was out of breadcrumbs. I was determined to make these so I just toasted some leftover rolls and put them in a mini blender to make my breadcrumbs. They turned out wonderful! I did swap cheddar for the Parmesan and it was awesome. Thanks for the great idea I am always looking for ways to use the zuchinni from our garden.
So glad you got this to work out for you!
I love these and make them at least once a month! To make them low carb/ gluten free I sub in almond flour for the bread crumbs and they turn out great!
What a great idea. I will have to try them with almond flour sometime!
I made these last night and boy were they a hit!! I made them too big so I didn’t get as many tots, but my fiance was saying I definitely needed to make these again! All noses were in the kitchen wondering what smelled so good and if it was done yet <3 I think next time I'll make a smaller batch and make them into patties for breakfast :3 Omnomnomnom….
I’m so happy you enjoyed them!
Do you have to peel the zucchini before shredding it?
no, I leave the peel on. I would only peel it if you are using zucchini with really a really tough peel
going to try these but use crushed pork rinds instead of panko…. to keep it keto
i hope it works out!
did you try it with the crushed pork rinds instead of panko? If so how did it turn out? My hubby and i are on strict keto and cant do bread.
I’m going to try these tonite
i hope they worked out for you!
These look great. But can someone tell me how many carbs are in them?
You can try using verywell.com website which lets you copy in a set of ingredients from a recipe and it will calculate the nutrtitional information.
Oops should Ben 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
I made a variation of the zucchini tots. I didn’t have Parmesan and I wanted to make it low carb and gluten free. This is my recipe:
1 1/2c zucchini grated/salted/drained
1/2c white Cheddar grated
1 egg
2 tbsp ground flax flour
4 tbsp coconut flour
3 tbsp almond flour
Pepper
2 pinches cayenne
1/2 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
Bake 400 – 15 min turn over bake 10 more min
They look beautiful. Wish I could share my pic too!
thank you for sharing your variation!
Do you think I could use almond flour instead of breadcrumbs? Or has anyone else keto-fied this?
I haven’t tried, but hopefully someone else can provide an answer
I must admit that I was reluctant to try these at first because zucchini recipes can be bland (especially those with few ingredients), but they were absolutely perfect and will definitely become a household staple. I used gluten free breadcrumbs and added italiam herbs and chives and they were so tasty, can’t wait to make them again ????
Those were meant to be apostrophes haha
I’m so glad you enjoyed!
It’s says gluten free….can’t be if there is panko bread crumbs
Hi Teri, you are correct that these are not gluten free. But I do not state it anywhere in the post or recipe that it is gluten free. Where did you see gluten free?
There is Gluten free panko bread crumbs, as i have some in my refrig.
Make your own Panko out of gluten free bread. It’s basically just toasted, course, bread crumbs. Search on line for Make Your Own Panko
I’m definitely making these. They look amazing.
I have the majority of my groceries delivered. Prime doesn’t do it here but there are a couple of great services and they do a wonderful job picking the produce.
lucky you! I’m still having a hard time finding a service I like outside of Prime. Prime has been great for me but there’s only a few stores that are available.
Any tips for using frozen zucchini? I have a bunch shredded in my freezer I usually use for zucchini bread but would love to try this instead.
I haven’t tried this with frozen zucchini. I think it could work but you will probably have to dry the zucchini more than with the fresh zucchini.
Just made these tonight. They were delicious! My 2yr old, who hates veggies, loved them. We will definitely make these again.
that is so great to hear!! so glad your kid enjoys them!
If using plain Panko, how much Italian seasoning would you suggest?
I would say 1 tsp
I only have grated Parmesan, do you think that would work?
I would recommend you use another cheese like mozzarella rather than using the grated Parmesan. The grated parmesan with the long shelf life might make your tots crumbly
Followed the recipe and we loved it. Served with a simple marinara sauce. Healthy Super Bowl snack. We’ll make this again.
So glad you liked the tots!
We all enjoyed the cauliflower tots, looking forward to trying the zucchini version. When you are shredding the zucchini, do you peel it and remove the seeds from the middle?
Nope, I just shredded it with the skin and seeds. You can definitely remove them first though, especially if you’re working with really big zucchini. Since mine were small and thin, they didn’t have very large seeds and the skin wasn’t too tough
I have an over abundance of yellow squash, could that be used as well?
I haven’t tried, but I think it should work!
I used yellow. Turned out perfect!
glad it turned out well for you!
Just made these for our family. They are delicious and so easy to make. I used regular bread crumbs and added italian seasoning as suggested. I will be making these again.
so glad your family enjoyed these!
Has anybody tied freezing them ? Would it be better to cook them first and them freeze them or to just prepare the little tots into shape and freeze them uncooked? Thoughts?
I think they could be frozen in their little shapes…probably on a parchment lined cookie sheet and then put in a freezer bag/container. That way they wouldn’t be stuck together. I’m going to give it a try, since I have 2-3 more cups of shredded zucchini to use up!
I think that should work too!
How did freezing them go?
They were too dry for my taste, the Parmesan cheese was very salty…would like them to be more moist…I would make again bit a little different
You can try reducing the breadcrumbs next time. Though did you use regular ones or panko? I’ve always used panko and I’ve had a few people tell me it comes out more dense and dry with the regular breadcrumbs.
What kind of dipping sauce do you recommend? Do you have a recipe?
I usually just use ketchup or marinara sauce but I don’t usually make my own so no recipe
You can make an aioli with lemon juice, mayo, garlic, salt and pepper. You can also stir in some parsley.
Hi I just made these tonight and wanted to say how wonderful they were! I just wanted to mention a couple minor things I did differently. I’m not sure if I had too much breadcrumbs or too much zuchinni but I did add about half another mixed egg and flipped them half way. They actually tasted better after cooling a little. Also I used regular Italian bread crumbs and they worked great! Thanks for the great idea!
Just made these. Tasty, but a few thoughts:
I think the panko makes for a fluffier product. I only had half a cup left of panko, so mixed in regular Italian seasoned bread crumbs. I think they are denser as a result.
If one was using just regular breadcrumbs, I would consider adding an additional egg and whisking the eggs before adding to the batter, or adding some more zuchinni.
I got 20 good sized taters out. Probably could have made more and smaller, but with the denser dough, this was easier. I estimate the whole batch to have about 715 calories, so divide that by number of tots for calories per tot.
Can I make the night before and heat in microwave?
Yes, but they won’t stay crunchy.
We’re making these right now! I cut the recipe in half as it’s just me and the kiddo, and the kid had the brilliant idea of using the cookie scoop to form the tots – much more uniform in size.
nice! I hope you enjoyed!
Can you freeze these and reheat later? Look delicious!
I think so!
If you freeze them, would you thaw them before putting in the oven, or leave them frozen?
You can put them in the oven directly from frozen
These look tasty! About how many servings did this recipe make? Thanks!
I believe this recipe makes around 25-28 pieces.
http://www.organicauthority.com/health/egg-substitutes-vegan-baking.htmlMix 1 tablespoon ground chia seeds with 3 tablespoons water and let thicken. Like flax eggs, chia eggs also having binding properties. When apple cider vinegar is combined with baking soda, it causes dough to rise, making it a perfect egg leavening replacement.
Hi,
I’m Divya from India and we don’t the above mentioned bread crumbs easily here. Is there an alternative I can use? May be crumbs from whole wheat bread? Also, instead of an egg, can I use something else for binding this dough together? We are vegetarians don’t eat eggs.
Complicated, I know 🙂
Thanks
I’m sorry but I don’t have an alternative suggestion. I’m sure if you do an internet search, you should find some answers. good luck
You can dry crushed pork rinds! (Fried pig skin)
you might try a little greek/thick yogurt and a small amount of oil.
Thanks for the tip!