This is a family-favorite recipe for homemade zucchini bread. One slice and you’ll taste why! It’s made with brown sugar, pure vanilla extract, cozy cinnamon spice, and summer’s favorite vegetable. See my recipe note for turning this batter into zucchini muffins, or try this similar zucchini muffins recipe.
Comes From An Award-Winning Zucchini Bread Recipe
This zucchini bread recipe is very slightly adapted from an award-winning family recipe. My husband grew up making this zucchini bread with his family, who entered it into the Maryland State Fair. And guess what? IT WON. You know a recipe is good if it’s winning state awards, right?
Now slightly scaled up to yield a taller 9×5-inch loaf (more zucchini, 1 extra egg, and a touch of applesauce for moisture), the quick bread is better than ever and ready to place 1st in your own kitchens too!
Here’s Why You’ll Love It:
- Batter comes together in less than 5 minutes
- Extra moist and flavorful
- Sneaks in veggies
- Can easily be doubled
- Welcomes add-ins like chocolate chips, nuts, or blueberries
- Makes great muffins (or try these zucchini muffins which are heartier and slightly less sweet)
- Freezes beautifully
A beginner baker can easily make this quick bread, and it’s a wonderful recipe if you have eager young bakers ready to help!
Why Bake With Zucchini?
Zucchini is one of my favorite ingredients for baking and I have a lot of published zucchini recipes on my website. My recipes for chocolate zucchini bread and zucchini muffins are both incredibly popular with readers. We use an entire zucchini in my healthier greek yogurt zucchini bread and you’ll find a whopping 3 cups of it in my chocolate zucchini cake (you can’t taste it!).
It sounds odd to bake with a vegetable, but here’s why you should use it in your baking:
- There are only so many zucchini side dishes to make (looking at you, zucchini sweet potato fritters). Zucchini is abundant in the summer months, and it’s fun to incorporate this vegetable when baking, too.
- Zucchini adds flavorless moisture. We’re talking pure moisture with zero savory vegetable flavor. I don’t think I would bake a cake with a green vegetable if I could taste it. You bake carrot cake, right? It’s delicious, right? Well zucchini is even better! Hello, zucchini cake. It’s truly a magical ingredient in your baked goods and this includes zucchini oatmeal chocolate chip cookies, too!
Grab These Ingredients
One new addition is the applesauce. This, along with the oil, keeps the bread moist. You can use sour cream, Greek yogurt, or mashed banana in its place if needed. All you’re doing is whisking the dry and wet ingredients together separately, and then combining everything. Honestly, it’s as easy as pumpkin bread and uses a few of the same ingredients.
Success Tip: Shredding Zucchini
Today’s zucchini bread comes together in just 5 minutes with simple kitchen tools including a couple bowls, a whisk, and a 9×5-inch loaf pan. You also need a grater to shred the zucchini. If you’re looking for recommendations, I own and love this box grater because it’s easy to use, grates quickly, and has held up well with regular use. It’s what I use when making zucchini fritters, too.
- How much zucchini do I need? Zucchini can vary in size, but 1-2 medium zucchini are plenty for this recipe. You need 1 and 1/2 cups shredded, which is 180g.
- Do I need to peel the zucchini first? You can if you’d like, but I never do. There’s no taste or texture variance either way, but you’ll definitely have more flecks of green throughout the loaf if you keep the peel on. Pretty!
You do not need to blot the zucchini dry before using in the batter. (You want that moisture!)
Expect a thick batter:
What Does This Zucchini Bread Taste Like?
Zucchini is like a chameleon and takes on the flavor of whatever’s nearby. Have you ever tried this peanut chicken zucchini noodles dish? The zucchini is basically a vehicle for the delectable savory peanut sauce.
Today’s zucchini bread includes cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and brown sugar so expect a lot of cozy, comforting, sweet flavors. In terms of texture, it’s not quite as dense as banana bread but not as light as white cake either. It’s soft and moist and actually reminds me of apple cinnamon bread, which is a favorite during the fall months.
And let’s not forget optional add-ins like chocolate chips, chopped nuts, raisins, or even blueberries. Some readers have turned it into dessert with vanilla icing or cream cheese frosting (I’d halve the cream cheese frosting recipe). Honestly, this quick bread welcomes a bounty of tasty extras!
Can I Reduce the Sugar or Oil in Zucchini Bread?
You can absolutely slightly reduce either or both, but understand that sugar and oil help produce a moist, tender loaf; altering the ingredients may have disappointing results. Or for an option without refined sugar, you may enjoy this Greek yogurt zucchini bread instead!
Print
Zucchini Bread
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours
- Yield: 1 loaf
- Category: Bread
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This zucchini bread recipe yields 1 9×5-inch loaf. With brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla, and a little applesauce for added moisture, the quick bread is flavorful, moist, and a great way to use summer’s favorite vegetable!
Ingredients
- 1 and 3/4 cups (220g) all-purpose flour (spooned & leveled)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/2 cup (120ml) vegetable oil (or melted coconut oil)
- 1/2 cup (100g) packed light or dark brown sugar
- 1/2 cup (100g) granulated sugar
- 2 large eggs, at room temperature
- 1/4 cup (60g) unsweetened applesauce (or sour cream or Greek yogurt)
- 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
- 1 and 1/2 cups (180g) shredded zucchini (no need to blot)
- optional: 1 cup (180g) semi-sweet chocolate chips (or chopped nuts, raisins, etc)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F (177°C). Grease a 9×5-inch loaf pan. See notes for muffins.
- Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined. Set aside. In a medium bowl, whisk the oil, brown sugar, granulated sugar, eggs, applesauce, and vanilla together until combined. Whisk in the zucchini. Pour the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients. Gently stir or whisk until *just* combined; do not overmix. Fold in any optional add-ins like chocolate chips or nuts. Batter is slightly thick.
- Spread the batter evenly into prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55-70 minutes. (I like to loosely cover the bread with aluminum foil halfway through to prevent heavy browning on top.) Baking times vary so keep an eye on yours. The bread is done when a toothpick inserted in the center comes out *mostly* clean with zero raw batter. Remove the bread from the oven and set on a wire rack. Cool in pan for 1 hour before removing from pan. You can slice the bread at this point, but it will still be warm in the center and may not slice neatly. For neat slices, continue cooling bread directly on a wire rack and then slice once cooled.
- Cover and store leftover bread at room temperature for up to 3-4 days or in the refrigerator for up to 1 week.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Make the bread ahead of time by freezing it. Bake it, cool it, wrap it up in aluminum foil and freeze the loaf as a whole. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bring to room temperature before slicing and serving. Freezes well up to 3 months.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9×5-Inch Loaf Pan | Glass Mixing Bowls | Whisk | Box Grater | Cooling Rack
- Update in 2022: Based on reader feedback and a few disappointing loaves in my own kitchen recently, I revised 2 ingredients in May 2022 (egg & zucchini) so the batter yields more for a taller loaf and there’s more moisture. I also added 1/4 cup of applesauce for added moisture, as you can see in the recipe. Rave reviews from taste testers. The original recipe used 1 egg and 1 cup of zucchini with no applesauce.
- Can I reduce the sugar or oil? You can absolutely slightly reduce either or both, but understand that sugar and oil help produce a moist, tender loaf and the results may be disappointing. For the oil, feel free to swap *some* for more applesauce. Or for a healthier option without any refined sugar, you may enjoy this Greek yogurt zucchini bread instead.
- Muffins: Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with liners. Prepare batter in step 2. Spoon the batter evenly into each liner, filling each all the way to the top. Bake the muffins for 5 minutes at 425°F (218°C) then, keeping the muffins in the oven, reduce the oven temperature to 350°F (177°C). Bake for an additional 13-16 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. The total time these muffins take in the oven is about 18-21 minutes, give or take. Allow the muffins to cool for 5 minutes in the muffin pan, then transfer to a wire rack to continue cooling. Yields 1 dozen.
It was good. I followed the instructions accept when I got to the baking soda I had none and used corn starch instead. I think if I had the baking soda it would have been better. Also I put them into cupcake pan because I did not have a loaf pan. But I put mixed nuts and it was okay… thank you for the recipe
I just did this recipe, very very good! I substituted apple sauce for Lebnah yogourt and added 1/2 cup chia seeds/dried raisin/pumpkin seed and the result was quite delicious.
Final result is way too “soupy” and wet even though I followed the recipe exactly.
Hopefully this comment will be posted because I recommend squeezing out the zucchini—it holds a lot of extra liquid, a no-no in baking—so that the wet to dry ratio is more on point.
Will try that next time to if I make it again.
Hi LJ, zucchini does hold a lot of moisture, which helps keep this bread nice and moist. However, if your zucchini seemed especially wet, you can certainly try blotting some (not all) of the liquid out for next time. Thank you for giving this one a try!
I made this twice already and the flavourful and taste are amazing. Thank you for the recipe!
Bland. Good texture and moisture, but was a little boring.
A friend gave me this cake as a thank you and it was delicious. I had to give it a go. I didn’t have apple sauce or greek yoghurt so I used plain cottage cheese and it worked a treat.
If using sweetened applesauce should amount of sugar be reduced and by how much?
Hi Terry, since it’s a small amount of applesauce, it shouldn’t make too much of a difference to use sweetened here.
Love this recipe! I’m wondering how you feel about substituting melted butter for the oil? Would it change to texture too much?
Hi Nan, the bread will not be as moist with that swap. But feel free to try it if you’d like.
Great recipe and it will be the one I use from now on. I like the way things turned out. The texture is very nice and sugar amount balanced.
Makes the most perfect moist loaf. Marking it 3 days in a row now. Family can’t get enough of it. Thanks for sharing your recipe!
This is a wonderful recipe! I added mini chocolate chips and next time I will make with nuts. This recipe is moist and yummy and definately a keeper.
This is outstanding. Moist and delicious! 2nd time making it – this time I used avocado oil instead of vegetable oil, and it was a little bit lighter, which I really liked. Flavor still delicious added walnuts. This is a keeper. The added unsweetened applesauce is brilliant.
I have tried many zucchini bread recipes and this is the best! Followed the recipe exactly and it was moist and delicious.
As always, another sterling recipe from you. I did cut back a little on cinnamon and added cranberries. And the foil tip was great.
What is your best substitute for eggs? And do you think it would work this recipe?
Terrific recipe, I used the yoghurt in mine. This time I added half a cup of wholegrain oats, has turned out even better.
SO FREAKING GOOD!!! made it last week and making it again right now haha
I absolutely love the zucchini bread recipe. Super moist. I made muffins with blueberries & walnuts. I only wish nutritional facts were listed. Do you know how many calories are in each loaf or muffin?
Hi Patti, I’m glad you love this recipe! We don’t usually include nutrition information as it can vary between different brands of the same ingredients. Plus, many recipes have ingredient substitutions or optional ingredients listed. However, there are many handy online calculators where you can plug in and customize your exact ingredients/brands. If you’d like to calculate it, readers have found this one especially helpful: https://www.verywellfit.com/recipe-nutrition-analyzer-4157076
Zucchini bread. I made this yesterday word for word per the recipe except I didn’t put any nuts. Oh my gosh!!! It is sooooo yum! I can eat the whole bread by myself. You can’t even taste the zucchini!! What a relief that I didn’t have to blot the zucchini out too!!! Thank you for such a great recipe!!!
Made this recipe with almond meal and lakanto instead of flour and sugar and it turned out soooo well…super dense and delicious. My kids can’t even taste the zucchini!
So good! My very picky daughter loved this bread too! I added dates and pumpkin seeds.
I loved this recipe, but I think I may have made a mistake! The middle and top of my bread was nice and fluffy, but the bottom was super dense. What did I do wrong?
Hi Sarah! Be sure not to over-mix your bread batter and if your zucchini is extra wet, you may need to blot somme moisture. Did you use frozen zucchini, by chance? That can be too wet to use here.
This recipe was amazing! Very easy to follow and loved the bread. We ate it up so quick!
The best I’ve ever made. Thanks to you and your team. Great recipe.
This zucchini bread is so moist! I used Greek yoghurt as I didn’t have apple sauce. Definitely a keeper!
I love all your recipes… I’m excited to try this one! Do you have any suggestions for substituting the egg? I’d like to make this for someone with an egg allergy. I usually use flax seed and water, but I wonder if I could use sour cream in addition to the apple sauce and remove the egg? Any thoughts?
Hi Melissa! We wish we could help, but we don’t have much experience baking with egg substitutes. Perhaps a reader who has tried with substitutes can chime in with their experiences. Let us know what you decide to try, and if you’re interested in browsing, here are all of our naturally egg-free recipes.
I haven’t made this recipe egg free, but I make Sally’s banana bread and substitute apple sauce for the egg. I feel like your idea of sour cream and applesauce would work well here!
Hi Sally. I was thinking of adding chopped apples to the bread. Do you think I need to adjust the applesauce amount since the apples themselves have moisture? Thanks!
Hi MMM, if using chopped apples, they’ll act more like an add-in than a wet ingredient, so you can keep the applesauce the same. Or, you could use shredded apples in place of some of the shredded zucchini. Hope you enjoy the bread!