Cucumbers A Plenty
Spicy and fried are a great way to serve and enjoy cucumbers! I may still be waiting for my tomatoes to ripen, but cucumbers…oy…I’ve got a lot. Must be the abundance of beautiful bees, like the lil nugget below, that have seen fit to feast on the cucumber flower nectar.
Also, I was pretty lucky this year and didn’t have the powdery mildew that basically destroyed last year’s crop. Either way, bountiful 🐝and no mildew 😳 equals lots of cukes in the Walter backyard this year.
Cucumber salad, cucumber water, gin cocktails with cucumbers are all favorites, but I thought about trying something a little fun by “frying” them. And I put “fry” in quotes because these guys were crisped in the air fryer with the tiniest little skosh of oil. I even baked them the same way and they were equally delicious.
Buffalo makes the batter better
I do love a kick. To get the spicy buffalo flavor I was craving, I first followed the process I used in an earlier post, Buffalo Cauliflower Tacos. I found, however (well actually my son Brian did) that they lacked a certain crispness. What to do? Ahhh, I thought, I’ll add the hot sauce to the batter. This resulted in a little heat and a lot of crispy.
Cut and dried
To really keep these guys crispy, I did a few things. First, I washed but left the skin on (more nutritious to boot 😉). Second, I cut the cucumbers and removed the seeds (the seeds really make me burpy, so bonus 😉 Also, I patted them dry with a towel- yes for the crunch but also to help the batter adhere better. Ok, the cut… For this recipe, um, size matters. Cutting the spears in half made these a good fit for the air-fryer. Plus, this 3 inch size yields the perfect cucumber to coating ratio. Here, I used two cucumbers and got about 32 sticks total.
One More Tip-remove them
In this recipe, you really want the breadcrumbs to stick. Following the process of batter, shake, and coat (like in the cauliflower taco recipe) I found that by removing the rounded ends of the cucumber before cutting, I was left with a shape that was easy to pick up by the ends. This way, there was more coating on the cuke and less on the fingers.
Once all of the spears are coated, you’re ready to air fry or bake. I air fried mine, but also did a test recipe in the oven and they were equally as good. Recipe below includes instructions for both, as well as gluten-free and oil free options.
These crunchy cukes are slightly spicy, super crunchy and very addictive. I served them with my cool as cucumber sauce, which will be posted tomorrow 😁 Like or comment below and add yourself to the mailing list so you wont’t miss a post!
Sliced, seeded cucumbers are dipped in a spicy batter, rolled in a seasoned panko topping and air-fried for a delightfully spicy crunchy snack.
- 2 6-7 inch cucumbers sliced into spears, seeded
- ½ cup flour (may use gluten-free)
- ⅓ cup unflavored plant based milk
- ⅔ cup hot sauce I used Franks
- ½ tsp salt
- 1⅓ cups plain panko bread crumbs may sub with gluten free bread crumbs
- ⅓ cup nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp celery salt
- ½ tsp smoked paprika
- ½ tsp onion powder
- ½ tsp garlic powder
- ½ tsp cayenne pepper (optional for more kick) 1
- 1 tbsp olive oil (optional-may omit for oil free)
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If using the oven, preheat to 425° F. Line baking sheet with parchmnet paper. If using air-fryer, skip to next step.
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Wash, dry and halve cucumbers lengthwise. Slice each ahlf into four spears and cut out seeds. Cut each spear in half to en up with about 32 3 inch sticks.
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Pat spears dry with towel.
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In a medium bowl, whisk together batter ingredients until well-combined.
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In a second bowl, mix together topping ingredients.
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Take one cucumber stick, dip in batter and gently shake off excess.
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Place coated stick in topping bowl and gently coat.
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Pick up by ends and place on plate or baking sheet if using oven. Repeat with rest of cucumber sticks.
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If using air-fryer, place coated spears in basket, taking care not to place too close together.
Aif fry for 10-11 minutes.
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If using oven, bake for about 10 minutes until crispy.
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Remove to plate and serve with favorite dip.
