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.
S. Erickson says
This was delicious and a big hit! I looked at lots of recipes but chose this one because it looked like it had the most moisture added and it turned out to be a great choice. Will def make it again! Thank you!
Jessica says
So glad to hear!!
Analea says
Great recipe, lots of fans! I didn’t squeeze out any liquid and it was perfect. (I have never squeezed it out for recipes so I figured it would be fine and I was right!) The batter was thick until I added the zucchini.
I’m going to make it again with a streusel/nut topping!
Charlotte Moore says
I just took this out of the oven a few minutes ago. I used hard white wheat that I ground. I used sucanat and honey granules and Smart Balance oil. I probably used 3 cups grated fine zucchini. Made 18 nice size muffins and a mini loaf. Sprinkled mini chocolate chips on some. Baked muffins at 350 for about 20ish minutes. These are delicious.
Jessica says
Sounds perfect Charlotte!
Arica Dub says
I really enjoyed this recipe. I subbed 1/2 the oil for apple sauce and I too probably added a little over on the zucchini. Mine was moist and delicious and I really enjoyed the addition of chocolate chips. I probably went a little light on the sugar but overall very good! Thank you for sharing!
Jocie says
Can you substitute an all purpose gluten free flour, do you think? Thanks!
Nellie says
I haven’t tried, but I would guess it would work great!
Laurie says
Jocie,
I made the recipe using Bob’s red Mill one to one gluten-free baking flour and it turned out great! Sorry, by now you’ve probably found some thing that works for you!
Susan says
can blueberries be added to this recipe?
Nellie says
Sounds like a great idea!
Danielle Vanderstoop says
Used half of the flour as whole wheat. 1/2 cup of apple sauce and 1/2 of oil. I only used 1 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of monk fruit instead of white. Turned out amazing this is my new go to recipe.
Jessica says
Love your adjustments Danielle!
DeeDee Siefken says
Very good! Didn’t put the nuts in and it was still delicious.
Jessica says
So glad to hear DeeDee!
Lois says
Mine came out dry. I drained as much water from the zucchini as I could. Batter was creamy but thick when I added the vegetable.
Mae says
Can you put cream cheese mixture in this recipe
Nellie says
I’ve never tried that with this recipe, but it sounds delicious! Please let us know if you experiment!
Karen Oun says
YUM……….Made it via your complete recipe ( 1 8 x 4 & 3 little ones ) adjusted timing & used a “cake tester” to be sure the large one was done.
Bonnie says
This recipe was great. I had a lot of blackberries I needed to use, so I added them to the batter. I will definitely keep this recipe. My loaves took 60 minutes uses to cook fully.
Nellie says
Blackberries?!? That sounds absolutely amazing!
Julie says
Every time I make this my hubby says that it’s the best I ever made, definitely worth it! Comes out perfect even when doubled!
Jessica says
So glad to hear Julie!!
Anthony Donofrio says
I made this today and it came out great. I substituted applesauce for half of the oil and used pecans instead of walnuts. One of the best looking and tasting loaves I’ve ever made. This recipe is a keeper. Thanks!
Alison says
Thanks so much Anthony!
Hope says
If you only have one bread pan, will the batter hold on the counter while the first loaf bakes? Or would you recommend cutting the recipe in half for one bread pan?
Jessica says
The batter can rest on the counter just fine while the first batch bakes!
Angie says
Maybe because of the high altitude,but after 60 minutes at 325 toothpick still came out very wet.Had to bake additional 15 minutes which made the outside roo crunchy.Tasted great after I but butter on top of the loaf to soften it
Carrie says
Very, very good! I had almost 7 pounds of zucchini and squash (about 14 cups shredded!) and made about 6 batches. I used 1/2 oil, 1/2 applesauce for the first few batches but ran out of oil and had to add melted butter to make up the difference. Holy moly – the batches that are about 1/4 cup butter, 1/4 cup oil and 1/2 cup applesauce were phenomenal! Thank you for the recipe – very forgiving – and delicious!
Tamara says
Hi, did you melt the butter?
Maria says
I used 1/2 cup diced peaches for 1/2 cup vegetable oil (I didn’t have applesauce) it was by far the best zucchini bread I’ve made. I also added 1/2 baking cocoa. The walnuts tasted caramelizada within the bread.
Ruth says
The bread is wonderful. I made a version that my family with special diet needs was able to enjoy. I used 2.75 cups whole wheat flour; 0.25 cups flaxseed meal, no salt, only 1 cup of sugar (half brown/half white) and using 0.5 cups unsweetened applesauce as she suggested to substitute for the oil. Used 1tbsp nutmeg and 3tbsp cinnamon. It’s slightly on the dry side, but adding some butter fixes it. Excellent recipe that allows for so many changes. Thank you!!
Nellie says
Thanks for letting us know about all of your swaps – so glad they all worked out for you!
Jodie says
How long did bake it for 9×5 loaf pans?
Jessica says
About 55- 60 minutes.
Dina says
My kitchen smells great! Tastes good, doesn’t make enough batter for two cakes, would make thin cakes if I used the size of pans in the recipe, I made one 9X3, and a little one in a mini loaf pan, the bigger one took 1 hr 15 minutes to bake, I rather have a good size one with enough height, it lakes a lot more than 15 minutes to prepare.