Our Best Ever Zucchini Bread recipe is a MUST TRY! This popular zucchini quick bread recipe is easy to make and has the perfect blend of delicious spices.
This moist zucchini bread recipe is a great way to use up all those zucchini from your garden. This delicious zucchini bread is packed with so many delicious ingredients and it tastes amazing!
Easy Zucchini Bread
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.
Moist 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.
- Vegetable oil: Using 1 cup vegetable 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.
How to Make Zucchini Bread
Prep
Grease two 8 x 4 inch bread pans or 6 mini loaf plans, set aside.
Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
Bread dough
In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
Next, in a separate small bowl, beat the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and sugars together.
Then, add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined.
After that, grate the zucchini using a box grater.
Add to the dough mixture, along with the nuts, until well combined.
Proceed to pour the batter into the prepared pans.
Bake
Place bread into the oven and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. My mini-loaf pans take about 35-40 minutes. Large sized loaves take about 55 minutes.
When done cooking, cool in the pan on rack a for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool.
Slice, serve & enjoy! 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 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.
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!
Easy Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 cup white sugar
- 1 cup brown sugar
- 3 eggs
- 1 cup vegetable oil you can substitute applesauce for 1/2 the oil
- 3 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 3 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tsp nutmeg
- 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 cups grated zucchini you can add a little more, I always do!
- 1 cup chopped walnuts
Instructions
- Grease two 8 x 4 inch pans or 6 mini loaf plans. Preheat oven to 325°F.
- In a large bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and cinnamon.
- Next, in a separate small bowl, beat the eggs, oil, vanilla extract, and sugars together.
- Then, add the wet ingredients to the large bowl of dry ingredients and stir until combined.
- After that, grate the zucchini using a box grater. Add to the bread batter, along with the nuts, until well combined. Let batter sit 5-10 minutes.
- Proceed to pour the batter into the prepared pans.
- Place bread into the oven and bake for 40 to 60 minutes, or until tester inserted in the center comes out clean. My mini-loaf pans take about 35-40 minutes. Large sized loaves take about 55 minutes. (See below for my method on making sure loaves are completely cooked!)
- When done cooking, cool in the pan on rack a for 20 minutes. Remove bread from pan, and completely cool. Slice, serve and enjoy!
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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Easy Zucchini Bread Recipe FAQ
I plan on 1 zucchini for each cup of grated zucchini needed in a recipe. Of course, this varies being as zucchini come in all sizes. Zucchini in the grocery store range from small to medium sized.
There’s no need to peel the zucchini prior to grating it for zucchini bread. The dark green peel is very soft so it bakes well and adds vitamins, nutrients and even a bit of color to the bread.
I prefer to grate the zucchini as opposed to shredding it so that bits of green peel remain in tact. They contribute toward the popular look of zucchini bread! Shredding the zucchini causes the zucchini to nearly disappear once the bread is baked. Both will work though! I know when my kids were young, I hid vegetables in baked goods often, so having them disappear was preferable!
Yes, you can squeeze out excess water from grated zucchini before adding it to your batter. Zucchini naturally has a lot of water in it. That becomes quite clear after grating it, if you simply leave it to rest for 5-10 minutes, the water will begin accumulating in the bowl! If I’m using garden zucchini, especially large ones, I like to squeeze as much out as possible before making it into zucchini bread. Store bought zucchini rarely has excess water.
Yes, you can make zucchini bread with yellow squash! You do need to scrape the seeds out since the seeds in yellow squash are much larger. Also, I find the skin to be more tough on yellow squash, so you can either peel the outside to remove the skin, or you can just grate it with a finer cheese grater.
Zucchini Bread should be stored on the counter top in an airtight container or ziplock bag. Keeping it in the fridge can dry it out over time.
Zucchini bread rises as a result of leavening ingredients in the bread recipe being exposed to two things, moisture and heat. We use eggs, baking soda and baking powder as leavening agents. Make sure your ingredients are not past their expiration date as stale ingredients can affect how much the bread rises.
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!
Can this recipe for zucchini bread be frozen?
I love freezing loaves of zucchini bread! How you prepare zucchini bread for freezing really depends on how long you intent to keep it frozen. If you just want to freeze it for a week or two, I’d wrap it in plastic wrap or foil and place the loaf in a large freezer ziplock bag. Most often, when I bake zucchini bread to freeze it, I’ll bake mini loaves so that they fit in the ziplock bag easier. If you want to freeze it for 2-6 months, I’d wrap it more securely, making sure it’s airtight and wrapping it in a double layer of foil or plastic wrap, then place it in a ziplock bag.
How do you make Healthy Zucchini Bread?
If you’d like to make a few changes to my recipe to make a healthier version of zucchini bread, I’ve got great news- this recipe is incredibly versatile! I suggest leaving out the 1 cup of white sugar, replacing half or all of the oil with apple sauce and using half whole wheat flour in place of all-purpose. Then you’ll have a traditional healthy zucchini bread recipe!
Can zucchini bread be made into muffins?
Zucchini bread muffins are our favorite muffins! Simply use my recipe above, then spoon 3 tablespoons of batter into each greased or lined muffin cup. Bake for 18-20 minutes. There are several benefits of making zucchini bread into muffins. First, I like that they cook faster! Where a full loaf of zucchini bread bakes for up to an hour, zucchini muffins bake for only 20 minutes, which is a fraction of the time. They’re also easy to freeze! I like to bake a batch of zucchini muffins and then freeze them just in a layer in a large ziplock freezer bag. I pull them out one or two at a time for breakfast. You can let them thaw on the countertop, or you can microwave them or toast them to heat them up. Yum!
Why does my zucchini bread fall in the middle?
Here’s how to help your zucchini bread not sink in the middle after it’s baked. This happens to me occasionally too! Often it’s because I’ve over mixed the batter. Quick bread (referring to a bread recipe that doesn’t use yeast) does not like to be stirred too much, so try to just barely mix all the ingredients together. Another culprit could be overfilling the pan. The bread pan should be only half full each time. The recipe below makes 2 loaves of bread, or you can make 1 loaf of bread and 3 mini loaves… or 6 mini loaves. As always, make sure your baking soda isn’t too old- it should only be on your shelf for 6-9 months before purchasing new. Lastly, make sure your bread is fully cooked. Uncooked batter in the middle of the loaf will cause bread to sink.
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.
More Zucchini Bread recipes:
- PINEAPPLE ZUCCHINI BREAD
- LEMON ZUCCHINI BREAD
- ORANGE ZUCCHINI BREAD
- PUDDING ZUCCHINI BREAD
- ZUCCHINI BANANA BREAD
- ZUCCHINI SHEET CAKE WITH BROWNED BUTTER ICING
- EASY ZUCCHINI CAKE
- LEMON ZUCCHINI MUFFINS
- ZUCCHINI BREAD CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES
- LEMON ZUCCHINI BREAD COOKIES
More amazing quick bread recipes that we love:
- Easy Banana Bread
- Sweet Coconut Quick Bread
- Easy Lemon Quick Bread
- Yogurt Banana Bread recipe
- Dutch Apple Quick Bread
- Pumpkin Chocolate Chip Quick Bread
- Caramel Banana Nut Bread
- Best Ever Pumpkin Bread
- Lemon Buttermilk Quick Bread
- Caramel Apple Quick Bread
- Cinnamon Raisin Quick Bread
- Peppermint Chocolate Quick Bread
- Cranberry Orange Quick Bread
- Cinnamon Roll Quick Bread
This recipe for easy zucchini bread has been in my family for years, it’s easy to make and you’ll love the blend of spices used. Read the reviews- it’s popular for a reason! It really is the perfect zucchini quick bread recipe.
Diana Garcia says
Awesome recipe, family loved it.
Alison says
So glad you and your family enjoyed it Diana!
Nay Klein says
Awesome moist,chopped fine pecans
Olpiana Bola says
Can I use bread flour instead of all purposes flour?
Thanks
Jessica says
Absolutely!!
Baking again says
Loved this zucchini bread recipe. It was light, moist and delicious. I had a little less than 2 cups of zucchini so I added shredded carrots to make the difference. Applesauce was also used for half the oil and I sifted the flour before measuring.
Gwendolyn says
Really moist and delicious. I used one cup of wheat flour with the all purpose flour to make it a little healthier.
I added a sugar and whining cream icing on one loaf.
Sharon Davidson says
I’ve never made zucchini bread before and this turned out really well. I followed the recipe exactly but the batter seemed so thick to me so I thought maybe my eggs were small…and they were not the biggest eggs ever. So I added one extra egg and saw another recipe where they used applesauce so I added one of those little single servings of unsweetened applesauce and the thickness seemed better. It was very good! I’m not sure why it was so thick to begin with but it ended up being really good.
Alison says
Sharon, I’m glad your changes worked out for you and that you were able to enjoy this recipe!
Dana says
Same! I added some water and a ripe banana
Lynn says
Theeeee best you’ll EVER have!! I added raisins and this bread simply melts!!!!
Alison says
Love the addition of raisins! Glad you love this recipe!
Pat Koepsell says
What adjustments would you make for the Zucchini bread at 8000 feet elevation?
Thank you
Pat
Jessica says
Use a food thermometer to test doneness- yours might take a bit longer to bake!
Rocio says
I just made this and WOW, best ever!!! I added 2 1/4 cups of zucchini. I made sure to really squeeze the water out. I added 1/2 cup of 70% dark chocolate that I cut up in little pieces. I ground my nutmeg. I didn’t add the white sugar. Only used the 1 cup of brown sugar. It is perfect. Thank you for this recipe
Nellie says
Chocolate is ALWAYS a good idea! So glad you enjoyed the recipe!
Stacey says
What did you use to line the pan?
Jessica says
I use parchment paper! https://amzn.to/2KlSoFC
Gillian Collins says
I’ve never had zucchini bread, but this recipe was AMAZING! If this is how all zucchini bread tastes, I am hooked! It was easy to make and made a LOT of it. And by the way, I hate zucchini. Kudos to whoever made this recipe!!
Nellie says
So glad you enjoyed it! Zucchini bread is the only way I’ll eat zucchini too! 😉
Carl says
I made it and added chocolate chips, coconut, chia seed and hemp seed. Was a hit. I used a very good olive oil for 1/2 C and apple sauce for other 1/2C.
Nellie says
So glad you enjoyed the recipe Carl! All of those add-ins are great ideas!
Amy says
Unfortunately this did not come out as hoped, it was not dense and delicious. Followed the recipe to a tee with no substitutions. I knew I was not going to have the end result I remembered my mom having when the batter was more like dough. After this I checked other recipes and I found that they didn’t included baking powder AND as much flour. If you like “cakey” zucchini bread this is for you, if you want a dense moist bread that melts in your mouth, try a recipe without baking powder and a bit less than 3 cups of flour. Sorry.
Jessica says
Did you read my notes about the water content of different types of zucchini? And that letting the dough sit for 10 minutes or so helps?
Alyssa says
I really want to try this!! I don’t have zucchini, but I do have yellow squash. I wonder if I could substitute it for the zucchini? Any thoughts?
Jessica says
You can- I just try and pick the seeds out since they tend to be larger than in a zucchini.
Carlee says
Could I make this in a 8×8 square pan? How long would I bake it for?
Jessica says
It’d likely bake in shorter time. Try 45 minutes, then test for doneness using a cooking thermometer. It needs to register 195-200 degrees F to be done.
Carey says
This really is the best ever zucchini bread. My SO said that it was better than Mom’s banana bread – *that* is a high compliment! Thank you for this recipe.
Jessica says
You’re welcome! I’m so glad to hear you enjoy it! Thank you so much!!
Penny Steinberg says
If I only have one zucchini in the house, can I use it to make a single loaf by cutting your recipe in half?
What is your advise?
Alison says
Penny, that should work great!
Melissa says
Delicious! I did use the applesauce then also added a just under half a cup of mini chocolate chips. The kids love this moist bread! Thank you.
Nellie says
Chocolate chips are always a good idea!
Vera says
Mine was really sick how do you make it to where it’s not so thick what can I add Or take away
Jessica says
Often if you let the batter sit for 10 minutes or so, the grated zucchini releases more water. However if you bought your zucchini from a grocery store, this might not happen. You can add 1/2 cup milk or just bake it!
Afua says
cut the recipe in half and it came out great. only issue was needing 1.5 eggs lol so I used 1 whole egg and 1 egg yolk, then saved the egg white for breakfast 🙂
Alison says
Brilliant! Glad it worked out for you 🙂