Meatless Monday – Fried Zucchini with Lemon Aioli Dipping Sauce

Posted by on Monday, September 26th, 2011

Fried-Zucchini

One of our favorite places do dine on a special occasion is Maggiano’s. My favorite menu item is a simple appetizer – Fried Zucchini! Although Maggiano’s recipe remains a secret – I’ve come pretty close to duplicating this favorite and couldn’t wait to share it. I am also tempted to use yellow squash in place of zucchini one of these days. Meanwhile, I give you THE RECIPE!

• 3 medium zucchini – washed, stems removed, sliced lengthwise into thin pieces.

• Panko Bread crumbs for breading – poured into a shallow 9×9 dish.

Batter:
• 1 ½ cups club soda
• ¾ cups plain flour
• ½ cups corn starch
• 1 teaspoon seasoned salt
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon course ground pepper

Mix soda, flour, starch, salt, onion powder, and pepper together and pour into a shallow 9×9 dish. Dip zucchini strips into batter. Then dip the strips into the Panko bread crumbs, coating each side. Place battered strips onto paper towels.

In a large skillet, pour vegetable oil 1” deep. Heat oil over medium high flame. Add battered zucchini and fry for 2-3 minutes or until golden brown on bottom side, turn zucchini and repeat. Drain on layers of paper towels. Shake Parmesan Cheese over fired zucchnin right before serving.  Serve hot with Lemon Aioli dipping sauce.

LEMON AIOLI DIPPING SAUCE:

• ½ Cup Hellman’s Mayo
• ½ Cup Sour Cream
• Zest of one lemon
• Juice of one lemon
• ½ teaspoon Dill Weed.

Whisk all together in small bowl. Serve with Fried Zucchini. Yum!

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Fried Zucchini with Lemon Aioli Dipping Sauce

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Filed in Appetizers,Meatless Monday | 30 responses so far

30 Responses to “Meatless Monday – Fried Zucchini with Lemon Aioli Dipping Sauce”

  1. the Provident Womanon 25 Feb 2010 at 1:29 pm 1

    That looks amazing! I’m going to have to try that.

  2. Taraon 25 Feb 2010 at 7:46 pm 2

    Thanks Mary – This is one way to get our kids to eat their veggies!

  3. Sharonon 26 Feb 2010 at 12:19 pm 3

    I just wanted to let you know that I enjoy your blog. All of your recipes sound wonderful and I have downloaded a few to try. I found you through Pioneer Woman and enjoyed reading about your meeting with her. I saw her recent clips on Goood Morning America and Fox and Friends. I’ll check in ofter to see what’s cooking in your kitchen. Keep up the good work!

  4. Taraon 26 Feb 2010 at 3:05 pm 4

    Hi Sharon,

    I am so happy that you enjoy our blog. We are kindred spirits I’m sure since we both enjoy food blogs. PW is amazing and it was neat to meet her last Dec. I enjoyed watching her on TV this week too. Maybe we will both get invited to her ranch someday! Visit us soon.

  5. Shannon O | Confessions of a Loving Wifeon 01 Mar 2010 at 6:15 am 5

    This looks amazing… the only thing is I don’t look Mayo… do you think I could substitute the mayo for simply more sour cream?

  6. Taraon 01 Mar 2010 at 7:38 am 6

    Hi Shannon! Thanks for stopping by here at Taracooks.com. I’m not a huge fan of Mayo either. However, with half sour cream/half mayo/lemon juice combination – the mayo taste is masked. You could try to mix a Tablespoon of mayo with a Tablespoon of sour cream and a few drops of lemon juice first – just to taste test. If that taste were not appealing – I don’t see why you couldn’t use all sour cream. I wonder how half plain yogurt and half sour cream would work?

    I also enjoy eating these zucchini sticks with marinara sauce too! And when the summer yellow squash crop arrives – I’m making this recipe using yellow squash.

  7. Helenon 15 Aug 2010 at 1:03 pm 7

    Thank you for this recipe!!! One of my favorite places to dine is Maggiano’s but unfortunately, we don’t live near one … so we can only go when we are in Seattle (once a year usually). My favorite thing to eat this is this Zuccini with the Lemon Aioli so THANK YOU for the recipe.

  8. Taraon 25 Aug 2010 at 8:21 pm 8

    Hi Helen,

    We are not very close to a Maggiano’s either. I hope you enjoy the recipe.

  9. Stacieon 22 Nov 2010 at 6:29 am 9

    Thanks for this recipe, Tara. We ate at Maggiano’s for the first time yesterday, and while our entire meal was wonderful, the Zuccini with Lemon Aioli was the highlight of the entire feast! Incredible!! Now I can make it at home. Your sauce recipe reminded me of a long-forgotten “mock” hollandaise sauce that I use to make to put on asparagus. I think I will revive that one once more. Instead of lemon juice it called for a bit of mustard. It was delicious on snow peas also.

  10. Taraon 22 Nov 2010 at 6:39 am 10

    Hi Stacie,

    Thanks for stopping by. I agree with you that the Fried Zucchini is the highlight of my not very frequent visits to Maggiano’s. Sometimes that’s all I order. The sauce over snow peas sounds delightful. I may have to try that one. Come back and see us!

  11. it was a homerun « thefrozenpineappleon 29 Jul 2011 at 6:12 pm 11

    […] found the recipe online at TaraCooks.com.  I chose it because it called for club soda in the batter instead of an egg.  I was out of eggs […]

  12. Nicholeon 30 Jul 2011 at 4:22 pm 12

    I can’t wait to make these. These are also my favorite item on their menu!

  13. Courtney Drakulicon 11 Aug 2011 at 4:13 pm 13

    This is the magic dipping sauce!! I could eat a dozen zucchini because of it. You can’t even taste the hellmans especially if you add extra lemon zest, juice and a tich of horseradish! Excellent. I love this dish at maggiano’s too!

  14. Chrissyon 26 Sep 2011 at 6:29 am 14

    I am so excited you posted this! Maggiano’s is also my go to “special occasion” place and I ALWAYS order this zucchini and wish I could replicate it at home. I’ve already made a copycat of their chopped salad so I think this is going to be next, and soon! Thanks!

  15. Taraon 26 Sep 2011 at 7:25 am 15

    Hi Chrissy. I hope the recipe works well for you. Wish I were at Maggiano’s right now. It’s cold and rainy here. Maggiano’s would make up for the messy day.

  16. Chrissyon 26 Sep 2011 at 2:18 pm 16

    Ok so I just finished eating these and they were amazing! I want to take a bath in that aioli! Thanks again for the recipe!

  17. Carolinaheartstringson 26 Sep 2011 at 5:04 pm 17

    What a wonderful recipe. I bet it tastes amazing!

  18. Carolinaheartstringson 26 Sep 2011 at 5:04 pm 18

    Oh and by the way. Love our apple on your site. You are great.

  19. Taraon 28 Sep 2011 at 5:10 am 19

    So glad it was a hit Chrissy.

  20. Linda Reison 22 Jan 2012 at 3:34 pm 20

    just made this recipe…was close enough for me!!! yum…now looking at all your other recipes….

  21. Traceyon 04 Mar 2012 at 7:23 pm 21

    Can you bake this instead of fry?

  22. Taraon 06 Mar 2012 at 4:29 pm 22

    If I were to try baking it first I think the panco bread crumb mixture might need a little melted butter, which may defeat the purpose for baking it. I think the best tasting results would come from frying :)

  23. Jessicaon 01 Apr 2012 at 3:13 pm 23

    I am definitely planning on trying these, but I’m wondering if you can bake them instead of frying them?

  24. Taraon 02 Apr 2012 at 8:22 pm 24

    I’ve not tried to bake them but it might be worth a try. Let me know how they are baked.

  25. Alissaon 30 Apr 2012 at 6:27 am 25

    I just tried your recipe and LOVED the results! Thank you so much for posting this! I have been craving the fried zucchini ever since I went to Maggiano’s a couple of months ago and am grateful to be able to recreate them at home.

  26. Taraon 30 Apr 2012 at 7:33 am 26

    Thanks Alissa. This is one of my favorites too.

  27. Jen Breweron 17 Jun 2012 at 2:34 pm 27

    This is one of our top two appetizers ever! Thank you for posting! It is also our highlight on our visits to M, but the Tiramisu is Ah-mazing too! yum!

  28. Gloriaon 24 Jun 2012 at 6:21 pm 28

    Thanks for the recipe! My brother-in-law’s rehearsal dinner was this past Thursday night at Maggiano’s, and my husband and I have been salivating at the thought of the zucchini since. I’d say you got pretty darn close with this! The aioli was a little too lemony for my taste, but I might just leave out some of the lemon juice next time I try this. Thanks again!! :)

  29. kayeon 04 Dec 2012 at 6:26 pm 29

    Thanks for this recipe, I was given tons of zuchinni this week and thought about the appetizer from Maggiano’s. Will give it a try over the weekend for my holiday party. Thanks again!

  30. Anaon 27 Jan 2013 at 4:05 pm 30

    Hello! We just today returned from Magiano’s. It was my first time there, and I fell head over heels in love with their zucchini appetizer. Thanks for the recipe. I had to find out how it was made. I guess people who like to cook don’t think “I have to go back for more,” they think “I have to learn how to make this!” One thing though. Our sauce definitely had garlic in it. I think there should be some garlic powder in the sauce. Otherwise, your recipe seems to be spot on and it looks identical to the zucchini at the restaurant. Thanks again.