Air fryer zucchini cakes with remoulade
Crispy Old Bay zucchini cakes that eat like Southern crab cakes, with a tangy pickle remoulade and buttery corn on the cob, all from the air fryer.
- 45 min total
- 25 min hands-on
- Anyone can make this
- Serves 2
- About $3.15 a serving
- 700 calories
- Vegetarian
Dolly says: Read the steps once before you start. Everything goes smoother after that.
Ingredients
For 2 servings.
- 2 zucchini, medium
- 1 large egg
- ¾ cup panko breadcrumbs
- ½ cup shredded cheddar
- 2 green onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp Old Bay seasoning
- 2 tsp Dijon mustard, divided
- ⅓ cup mayonnaise, divided
- 2 corn on the cob, husked
- 1 tbsp butter, melted
- 1 dill pickle, finely chopped
- ½ lemon
- ½ tsp hot sauce (optional)
From your pantry
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 1 tbsp olive oil
Each serving has about 700 calories, 19 g protein, 43 g carbs and 53 g fat, and costs about $3.15 at typical US grocery prices. Both are estimates from what the recipe uses.
Missing something?
- No zucchini? Yellow squash works.
- No shredded cheddar? Cheddar cheese or Mexican blend cheese or Monterey Jack cheese works.
- No green onions? Chives work.
- No butter? Ghee works.
- No lemons? Limes work.
- No hot sauce? Sriracha works.
Steps
Tap an underlined word for a quick explanation.
the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater, with the salt in a colander and let it sit 10 minutes. Squeeze it very dry in a clean towel.
Grate. Grating means rubbing food across the holes of a grater to make fine shreds or flakes. It spreads cheese, garlic or ginger evenly through a dish so it melts right in.
How you’ll know: Even shreds fall off the back of the grater, and you stop while the piece is still big enough to hold.
Toss. Tossing means gently lifting and turning food so everything gets coated, like pasta in sauce or vegetables in oil. It coats every piece evenly without mashing anything.
How you’ll know: Every piece looks glossy or evenly coated, with no dry spots hiding underneath.
Timer: 10 min
Dolly’s tip: Squeeze hard. Every drop left in makes the cakes softer and harder to flip.Mix the zucchini with the egg, panko, cheddar, green onions, Old Bay, 1 teaspoon mustard, 1 tablespoon mayonnaise and the pepper. Shape into 6 cakes about ½ inch thick.
Brush the corn with the butter and air fry at 400°F, turning once, until in spots, 10 to 12 minutes. Wrap it in foil to keep warm.
Melt. Melting means gently heating something solid, like butter or cheese, until it turns liquid. Low or medium heat keeps it from browning or burning.
How you’ll know: It’s smooth and liquid, and butter may foam a little but hasn’t turned brown.
Brown. Browning means cooking until the outside turns brown, which is where a lot of savory flavor comes from. Give food room and time without stirring, or it steams and stays gray.
How you’ll know: The food looks brown rather than gray, and the kitchen smells toasty and savory.
Timer: 11 min
Brush the air fryer basket and the tops of the cakes with the oil. Air fry at 400°F until and firm, 10 to 12 minutes, flipping gently halfway.
Golden brown. Golden brown is the color of good toast, somewhere between yellow and light brown. It means the outside is cooked and crisp but not burnt.
How you’ll know: It looks like toast and smells toasty; dark brown with a bitter smell means it went too far.
Timer: 11 min
Food safety: For the safest eggs, cook until the whites are fully set and the yolks begin to thicken. Dishes made with eggs are done at 160°F.
Meanwhile, stir the rest of the mayonnaise and mustard with the pickle, a squeeze of lemon and the hot sauce for the remoulade.
Serve three cakes each with the remoulade and an ear of corn.
Plan this in Dollop, and get the grocery list
Dollop puts this dinner on a night that suits your week, lists only what you still need to buy, and walks you through each step while you cook.
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