If you love crispy fried cauliflower, then you'll love this vegan fried cucumber sandwich! Easier to make than seitan, faster than cauliflower bites, and soy-free & nut-free! This is the cheapest recipe with no strange ingredient. Air fry or deep fry!
Fast, Cheap, Easy
Believer it or not this vegan fried chicken recipe checks ALL the boxes!
No soy, not nuts! No spending an hour in the kitchen steaming seitan (which I've done a LOT of). And no obscure ingredients! It's just flour, panko, spices, and cucumber.
This recipe is ultra-fast because we're using a veggie that doesn't need to be cooked. Thinking of all the cauliflower bites I've baked in the oven. Those took 45 minutes a batch.
Fried cucumber takes maybe 10 minutes.
Nuggets or Patties
You've got options! If you want veggie nuggets, then slice the cucumber into round disks. If you want patties, then take the largest cucumber you have and slice at an angle to make tenders. You'll need a few long angled pieces to make the perfect crispy sandwich.
Cucumber & Beyond
This recipe works perfectly with just about any vegetable I can think of. I haven't tested them all out, but I think you should. Pickles, green tomatoes, zucchini, eggplant, okra... basically anything that could be fried should be used with this recipe.
Deep Fryer or Air Fryer
The deep fryer is just the best. I got a little fryer as a gift years ago. It's effortless. The cucumbers came out restaurant-quality good. SO GOOD!
You can shallow fry or deep fry on the stove in a pot. Just make sure your oil is around 350 degrees so that the breading is crispy. Low temperature will result in soggy breading. You don't need much oil. Just a couple of inches will do. Just be sure to flip them over while cooking.
Air frying works great. It's not as tasty as deep-frying, but who doesn't love their air fryer?! The crispy panko crust is perfect for this kitchen gadget! No sticking & easy cleanup.
Air Fryer: 375 degrees for 3-5 minutes on each side or until golden brown.
Cucumbers that Taste like Chicken
The crispy breading is so delicious that you could use any spice mix in the batter, and it would taste great! But if you want a classic chicken flavor, then use a poultry spice blend. I used a salted chicken rub blend from Aldi that was AMAZING.
Vegan Fried Chicken
Ingredients
- 1 bottle vegetable oil for frying
Veggies
- 2 large cucumbers sliced
Dry Mix
- 1 cup flour
- 1.5 TBSP salt or seasoning salt blend
Wet Mix
- 2 cups flour
- 2 cup water
Crunchy Top Coating
- 1.5 cup panko plain or flavored
- ½ cup flour
- 1 TBSP poultry spice blend or chicken rub blend
- ½ tspn paprika optional
Instructions
- Heat oil for frying to 350 degrees.
- Slice cucumber into medium-sized disks or any shape you'd like.
- . Grab 3 bowls. Combine dry mix into a bowl. Wisk the wet mix into its own bowl. Combined crunchy top mix into its own bowl.
- With your right hand, drop a piece of cucumber into the dry mixture. Coat all sides and shake off excess. Drop into the wet mixture.
- With your left hand, flip the cucumber around to get it well coated in the wet mixture. Shake off any excess, then drop it into the crunchy top mixture.
- With your right hand, add some crunchy mixture to the cucumber and push it into all sides. Gently remove the cucumber and place it on a baking sheet. Repeat until all the cucumber slices are coated.
- Once the oil is hot, fry the cucumber in small batches. They'll cook quickly, so remove them once golden brown. *If your oil is too cold, then the batter will come out soggy, so start with one cucumber.
Video
Notes
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