Best Ever Zucchini Bread Recipe (Moist with the best combo of spices!)

Our recipe for Zucchini Bread is a MUST TRY! Uses fresh grated zucchini, along with classic ingredients including brown sugar, olive oil, eggs, cinnamon & nutmeg. Moist & flavorful!

Zucchini Bread is the perfect way to use up all that zucchini in the garden! My squash plants have not been as fruitful this year, but even so, I suddenly find myself with a lot of zucchini! As a matter of fact, I look forward to it each year so that I can fill my freezer with loaves of this delicious zucchini bread. I can’t remember where the original recipe came from, but I have changed it over the years. This produces the Best Ever Zucchini Bread. Try it- you will love it.

Spiced Zucchini Bread Ingredients

Sugar: You will need 1 cup white sugar and 1 cup brown sugar to add a bit of sweetness to this bread.

Eggs: Use 3 eggs to help bind the dough together well for this recipe.

Light Olive oil: Using 1 cup oil (you can substitute applesauce for ½ the oil) will help give great moisture to this treat.

Vanilla extract: You need 3 teaspoons vanilla extract to help enhance all the wonderful flavors.

Flour: Use 3 cups all-purpose flour for the base of this bread recipe.

Seasonings: You will need 1 tsp nutmeg, 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon and 1 teaspoon salt for a perfect combination of flavors in this delicious bread.

Leavening agents: Using 1 teaspoon baking powder and 1 teaspoon baking soda will help the bread to rise properly.

Zucchini: You need 2 cups grated zucchini for an amazing blend of sweet and savory flavors (you can add a little more, I always do!)

Nuts: Use 1 cup chopped walnuts for a wonderful balance of crunchy texture in this recipe.

Remember: quick bread is generally EVEN BETTER TASTING the next day! So make a loaf in the evening, then enjoy it for breakfast the next day!

How to Handle the Zucchini — The Most Important Step

This is the step that separates a perfect loaf from a dense, wet, never-quite-cooked-through disaster, so pay attention here.

Zucchini is mostly water. After you grate it, if you just let it sit in the bowl for 5-10 minutes you’ll start to see liquid pooling at the bottom — that’s how much moisture is hiding in there. Too much of that liquid in your batter and the bread won’t set properly in the center, no matter how long you bake it.

How to squeeze out the excess moisture:

The easiest method is to grab a clean kitchen towel or several layers of cheesecloth, pile the grated zucchini in the center, gather the edges, and twist and squeeze firmly over the sink until no more liquid comes out. You can also press it firmly into a fine mesh strainer in batches. Either way, squeeze harder than you think you need to — you can’t over-squeeze zucchini for this recipe.

One important note: zucchini from your garden has significantly more water content than zucchini from the grocery store. If you’re using garden-fresh zucchini in peak summer, squeeze it twice. Grocery store zucchini is usually drier and easier to work with.

How much zucchini do you need?

This recipe calls for 2 cups of grated zucchini, which works out to about 2 medium zucchini. Medium zucchini are roughly 6-8 inches long — the sweet spot for flavor and water content. Very large zucchini (the ones that sneak up on you in the garden and turn into baseball bats overnight) have more seeds and higher water content, and the flavor can be slightly more bitter. Use them if that’s what you have, but squeeze extra thoroughly.

Do I Need to Peel the Zucchini?

Nope — and this is one of the best things about zucchini bread. Just wash the zucchini well, cut off both ends, and grate the whole thing, skin and all. The peel is thin and tender and completely disappears into the bread as it bakes. The only evidence it was ever there is the pretty little flecks of green throughout each slice, which is part of the charm. No peeling, no extra dishes, no fuss.

How to know if the bread is done

Your bread should register about 200 degrees F on an instant-read thermometer to ensure that it has been cooked fully. Not only that but the top should appear to be a nice golden brown color and as the bread cools, it shouldn’t sink, but should instead remain well-shaped with a rounded top.

Troubleshooting — Why Did My Zucchini Bread Come Out Wrong?

This is such a reliable, forgiving recipe that most problems trace back to one of a handful of fixable things:

The center is raw or sunken. Almost always means too much moisture in the batter — the zucchini wasn’t squeezed enough. The fix for next time is to squeeze more aggressively. For the loaf in front of you right now: tent it loosely with foil to prevent the top from over-browning and return it to the oven in 10-minute increments. The most reliable way to know when zucchini bread is truly done is an instant-read thermometer — the center should read 200°F. Don’t trust a toothpick alone here, because the moisture from the zucchini can make a toothpick come out clean even when the center isn’t fully set.

The bread is too dense. Overmixing is the culprit. Once you add the wet ingredients to the dry, stir just until combined — a few streaks of flour in the batter are completely fine and actually desirable. The more you stir, the more gluten develops and the denser and tougher the finished bread will be. Stir, stop, pour, bake. Remember to NOT use an electric mixer! That will almost always guarantee that you’ll over mix the batter.

The bread didn’t rise properly. Check the expiration dates on your baking powder and baking soda. Leaveners lose their potency over time and expired ones are the number one reason quick breads come out flat and heavy. To test baking soda, drop a small amount into a bowl of vinegar — it should bubble vigorously immediately. To test baking powder, drop a small amount into hot water — same thing. If either one just sits there, it’s time for a new container.

The bread is too wet even after a long bake time. The zucchini released too much moisture into the batter despite squeezing. This can happen with particularly watery garden zucchini or in humid climates. Next time, squeeze more thoroughly and consider adding an extra 2-3 tablespoons of flour to the batter. You can also let the squeezed zucchini sit on a paper towel-lined plate for a few minutes after squeezing to absorb any remaining surface moisture before adding it to the batter.

The bread tastes flat or bland. Under-seasoned quick bread is a common issue. Make sure your cinnamon is fresh — ground spices lose potency after 6-12 months and old cinnamon tastes like almost nothing. Also make sure you used both white and brown sugar as written — the brown sugar adds a depth of flavor that white sugar alone doesn’t provide. And don’t skip the vanilla, even if it seems like a small amount.

Can I make this vegan? Yes — several readers have done it successfully. Replace each egg with a flax egg: stir 1 tablespoon of ground flaxseed with 3 tablespoons of water and let it sit for 5 minutes until it becomes gel-like. Use one flax egg per egg in the recipe. The texture will be very slightly denser but the flavor is completely intact. The oil in the recipe is already dairy-free, so no other substitutions are needed.

BEST BREAD PAN?

I bake a lot of bread and the pans I prefer are either ceramic, glass or cast iron. These pans will bake bread more evenly and release the bread more easily after baking.  I don’t like using dark or nonstick pans because the bread cooks unevenly. It darkens on the outside before the bread is cooked on the inside, so the coloring is uneven. Read more about which bread pan is the best here!

Zucchini Bread Variations — Ways to Make This Recipe Your Own

This recipe is the perfect canvas for mix-ins and variations. The base batter is sturdy enough to handle a full cup of add-ins without affecting the bake time or texture significantly.

Chocolate Chip Zucchini Bread — fold in 1 cup of semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips along with the zucchini. This is the most popular variation by a mile and it’s easy to see why — the warm cinnamon spice against the chocolate is incredible. Mini chips distribute more evenly throughout the loaf if you have them.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread — replace ½ cup of the flour with unsweetened cocoa powder and add ½ cup of chocolate chips. The zucchini keeps it incredibly moist and you’d never guess there’s a vegetable in there.

Zucchini Bread with Walnuts or Pecans — roughly chop ¾ cup of walnuts or pecans and fold in with the zucchini. Toast them first in a dry skillet for 3-4 minutes until fragrant — it makes a noticeable difference in flavor. Pecans give a slightly sweeter, butterier result than walnuts.

Raisin Zucchini Bread — soak 1 cup of raisins in warm water for 10 minutes before adding to the batter so they stay plump and soft during baking rather than drying out. One of our readers makes this version every single time and swears by it.

Lemon Zucchini Bread — add the zest of two lemons to the batter and substitute lemon extract for half the vanilla. The brightness of the lemon against the warm spices is a surprising and delicious combination. A simple lemon glaze drizzled over the cooled loaf takes it over the top.

Cream Cheese Swirl — beat 4 oz of softened cream cheese with 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1 egg yolk until smooth. Pour the zucchini bread batter into the prepared pans, dollop the cream cheese mixture over the top, and use a knife to swirl it gently through the batter. The cream cheese bakes into a rich, tangy ribbon through the center of each slice.

Zucchini Muffins — the same batter makes excellent muffins. Fill lined muffin cups ⅔ full and bake at 350°F for 20-22 minutes. Makes about 24 standard muffins — perfect for school lunches, freezing individually, or bringing to a neighbor.

Want even more zucchini bread ideas? We have a whole collection of variations on the site — our Pudding Zucchini Bread uses vanilla pudding mix for an incredibly soft texture, Pineapple Zucchini Bread adds tropical sweetness, Zucchini Banana Bread combines two classics in one loaf, and our Zucchini Cheddar Bread is a savory version that’s incredible alongside soup. And when zucchini season really hits, our Easy Zucchini Recipes roundup has everything you need to use up the whole harvest.

Storing this Moist Zucchini Bread Recipe

After the bread has cooled, store it in a gallon size ziplock bag or similarly sized airtight container. We bake bread often, so I purchased bread bags and love them!

For the love of homemade bread

Once you make one loaf of homemade bread, you’ll be hooked and want more! Our Buttermilk Bread is always a big hit, as is our Soft White Bread which is perfect for sandwiches.

If you love banana bread like we do, you’ll want to try our White Chocolate Banana Bread as well as our Caramel Banana Nut Bread. Yum!

Zucchini bread is a classic! We have so many incredible variations- Pineapple Zucchini Bread has great flavor, this moist zucchini bread is made with pudding mix & how about our savory Cheddar Zucchini Bread!

Come Fall, baking apple breads is just tradition! Our Dutch Apple Bread is always amazing, as is our Caramel Apple Bread. Happy Baking!