Zucchini Bites
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These baked zucchini bites are simple and delish, crispy on the outside and moist and soft on the inside, perfect to use up your summer zucchini.
Serve them as an appetizer or side dish. You can never stop at just one!
When zucchini season rolls in, these scrumptious zucchini bites are always a fan favorite in my house. They’re easy to whip up, economical, and perfect for sharing when I have guests over.
We love to serve them with sriracha aioli sauce or mint yogurt sauce to dip in, but they are also super delicious by themselves as well.
They’re baked, not deep fried, and they have the perfect amount of yumminess without being heavy at all.
All you need are fresh zucchini, parmesan, herbs and a touch of garlic for flavor, and egg and breadcrumbs to bind all the ingredients together.
And if you happen to have even more zucchini than that on hand, you can easily double or triple the recipe to make more!
Seriously, if you’ve never had zucchini bites before, you are in for a real treat. So grab the ingredients and throw these babies together.
Bake them up and enjoy!
List of the ingredients
- Zucchini
- Egg
- Breadcrumbs
- Parsley
- Garlic
- Salt & pepper
How to make zucchini bites
(Note: this is a quick description, the full recipe is at the bottom of the page)
- Shred the zucchini on a box grater or in a food processor.
- Combine zucchini with salt and leave aside for 10 minutes.
- Squeeze out the excess moisture (important step!)
- Return the zucchini to the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.
- Mix to combine, form the mini balls and bake until golden and crispy.
- Serve the zucchini bites as a vegetarian appetizer or light meal with a zingy dip sauce (this collection of dip sauce recipes might inspire you!).
- And for all the crispy vegetable patty fans out there, don’t miss these baked carrot fritters and butternut quash fritters!
Recipe notes
Ingredients & substitutions
Zucchini (or courgettes for my UK readers): also a mix of yellow squash and zucchini would work too.
Egg: it’s used as a binder.
Breadcrumbs: it holds the ingredients together and absorbs the moisture.
Parmesan: don’t skip the parmesan, it adds texture and wonderful savory flavor. Pecorino cheese works just fine instead of parmesan.
Garlic: I hold back a bit on the garlic here and I use a small garlic clove as its flavour can be actually quite dominant for these zucchini bites.
Fresh parsley: yes, fresh parsley and zucchini make the perfect combo that works great in this recipe. But you can use some fresh basil or dill instead of parsley.
Salt & pepper: to make the final flavor pops.
Tis for delicious zucchini bites!
- Let them to rest with some salt to pull the water out (don’t skip the salt).
- Squeeze out the moisture! I would recommend using a tea towel to squeeze out as much liquid as possible, not just your hands. This step is important to make crispy bites.
How to store them
They keep well for 3 days in an airtight container in the fridge, but they are crispy on the first day only. You can reheat them in a microwave or in a skillet with a touch of olive oil to make them slightly crispy again. However, we love the leftovers despite being soft as they are still flavorful.
More zucchini recipes…
I have a few delicious recipes great to use up fresh zucchini, from this simple pasta to this version with zucchini and tomatoes, from pasta salad to crispy pizza, and dessert like this chocolate zucchini bread.
More appetizers for you!
If you love Italian appetizers check out this amazing collection of 40+ recipes that features caprese skewers, marinated mozzarella, pinzimonio, garlic crostini, bruschetta dip and so forth!
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Below more appetizers and finger food to inspire you:
- Party food ideas
- Vegan appetizers
- Vegetarian appetizers
- Dairy-free appetizers
- Summer appetizer
- Dip sauces
If you make these zucchini bites, or you have a question, let me know by leaving a comment. I would love to hear from you! x
Baked Zucchini Bites
Ingredients
- 1 lb (450 grams) zucchini, coarsely grated *
- 1 teaspoon fine salt
- 1 medium-sized egg
- 1 small garlic clove, grated
- ⅓ cup (30 grams) parmesan cheese, grated
- ½ cup (50-60 grams) breadcrumbs
- 3 tablespoons parsley, chopped
- ½ scant teaspoon fine salt*
- ⅛ teaspoon black pepper
Instructions
- Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater or in a food processor fitted with the shredding disk.
- Transfer the zucchini to a bowl, add the salt, toss to combine and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 400˚F/200℃. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or lightly coat it with olive oil. Set aside.
- Wring most of liquid out of the zucchini with your hands, place it in a clean tea towel, roll it up and twist to wring out the moisture.
- Add zucchini to a large bowl with the rest of the ingredients, mix to combine, shape about a tablespoon of the mixture into small balls, and place on the baking sheet.
- Bake for about 15-18 minutes until golden and crispy. Serve them possibly fresh from the oven with a fresh zippy dip. Enjoy!
Can these be frozen before or after baking?
I Linda, it’s fine if you freeze them after baking, not before. x
Can we have the ingredients in grams, please? Cup weight is different for every ingredient and a total pain in the neck to convert them all. Only the USA uses cups, the rest of the world uses grams. Thanks.
You’re right, George. I usually write both cups and grams in my recipes (but here I’ve done it only for zucchini). I’ll add grams also for the other ingredients, of course!