Courgette Chips (zucchini fries) – how to make the best courgette chips ever!

Courgette Chips (zucchini fries) – how to make the best courgette chips ever!

Courgette Chips (or zucchini fries if you don’t live in the UK!) are delicious and this easy to follow recipe will show you exactly how to make courgette chips that are crispy, delicious and a great way to use up a glut of courgettes taking up room in your fridge.

Now we need to get something straight here about courgette chips (or zucchini fries). To get something as watery as a courgette to go crispy takes a little work – not a lot, but a little. For your hard work you will be rewarded with a crispy, crunchy exterior that cracks when you bite into it and a soft molten interior that begs for another bite.

Love courgettes? Yes, that includes zucchinis, check out my grilled courgette recipe.

This recipe came about after I ended up with a box of courgettes, used two and had about two dozen left over and a rather quizzical look plastered across my face.

What the bloody hell am I going to do with all these courgettes?!

Well, we steamed some and pureed them for our little five month old baby. He spat them out. Turns out he doesn’t like courgettes. At all.

Want the best ever potato chips instead? Check out my twice cooked bad-boy chunky chips recipe.

I made some courgette fritters (which I’ll post the recipe for one day!) and we still had virtually a full box of courgettes left over. It was when I picked up a couple of gorgeous thick sirloin steaks that the eureka moment hit me – COURGETTE CHIPS! I screamed as I walked through Tesco’s to the suspicious glances of other shoppers.

Sorry, I meant Waitrose 🙂

Anyway, I started doing a little research on how others cook courgette chips, or to avoid confusion with our American counterparts, zucchini fries. I’ve lived in the States for few years and there is always a few words that confuse a situation. Chips being one of them.

Ask for chips in America and you get crisps. Ask for fries and you get chips.

Mention courgette and you just get a slightly glassy eye look of ‘is he speaking English?’ Well yes actually, I am. In fact I am English and speaking my mother tongue and zucchini isn’t a word in my vocabulary.

But I won’t hold it against them. I use the word ‘awesome’ alot and I like it. So it seems like a fair word exchange.

But back to my courgette chips research. Basically you need to dust, batter, create some sort of coating to give you the ‘crunch’. I didn’t want a batter as that just seems to be too heavy so decided on a light dusting. Now when it comes to crunch or a decent dusting I always use my go-to dusting recipe; 50% plain flour, 50% corn flour. It works. Check these out if you don’t believe me!

So my courgette chips recipe is done but there are a few points to note that will ensure you get the perfect courgette chip.

  1. You need to salt the courgettes and let them drain to help remove some of the excess moisture in them.
  2. When you drop them in the frying pan just leave them alone and don’t move them around. If you do you’ll shake off all the crunchy coating.

This recipe serves about 4 people depending on how hungry you are…

Courgette Chips Recipe (zucchini fries):

Ingredients:

4 large courgettes

2 tbl salt

1 tbl oregano

1 tbl chilli flakes

1 egg

1/2 cup milk

4 tbl plain flour

4 tbl corn flour

Vegetable Oil (enough to deep fry)

Method:

Prepare Courgette:

  1. Top and tail the courgettes and then cut in half length ways and then cut in half again length ways to give you four long slices of courgette.
  2. With a piece lying flat on the work surface, cut at a 45′ angle to remove some of the watery white flesh from the centre.
  3. Cut the courgettes length ways again in thin strips (about 3/4 cm) and then once in half horizontally to give you a standard chip size piece of courgette.
  4. Throw in a couple of tablespoons of salt over the courgette chips, mix and place in a colander over a bowl to draw some of the water out (about 20 minutes minimum).

Make some courgette chips!

  1. Remove the courgette chips, place on a kitchen towel and dry as much as possible.
  2. Mix together the plain flour and corn flour in a bowl and reserve.
  3. Mix the egg and milk together in a separate bowl and reserve.
  4. Heat the oil in a frying pan to about 180c (or hot enough that a bit of bread sizzles immediately but doesn’t brown for about 30 seconds).
  5. Now simply mix the chips into the egg wash, shake away the excess liquid and put them into the dusting flour and coat thoroughly.
  6. Shake off the excess dusting flour and place into the hot oil – DON’T shake them. Just ensure they are all covered in oil and leave for about 4 minutes before you gently move them about. When they feel crispy remove onto a kitchen towel and sprinkle with salt, oregano and chilli flakes immediately.
  7. Do it in batches to avoid over crowding the pan.
  8. Eat them immediately!!

Goes great with anything! And I literally mean anything. Especially my slow cooked ribs!



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