Perfect every single time, this is the best zucchini bread we’ve ever had!
An extra moist quick bread recipe with a warm cinnamon flavor (and a handful of nuts if you’d like)!
The zucchini in this loaf keeps the bread moist and light while adding the perfect texture! Much like a Banana Bread, this quick bread is even better on day 2!
Here’s Why We Can’t Get Enough
Zucchini is great for baking and can be added to brownies, cakes, muffins, or add it to pumpkin bread.
- Zucchini contains a lot of water keeping baked goods extra moist.
- Don’t worry, you can’t taste the zucchini in this recipe!
- This recipe freezes well and keeps for a few days.
- This zucchini bread recipe makes two loaves, so it’s perfect to make one to enjoy and one to give away (or freeze).
How to Prepare Zucchini for Bread
Most recipes call for grated zucchini, which is as simple as grabbing a cheese grater and getting to work!
To Peel or Not to Peel?
It is not necessary to peel zucchini when you’re making a zucchini loaf. Zucchini skin is thin and softens while baking and it is not noticeable in flavor or texture in the loaf. The skin also contains lots of vitamins and minerals.
To Grate Zucchini for Bread
Grate zucchini with the larger size of a box grater or food processor (don’t dice or chop it). You want shreds of moisture in every bite! Once grated, if can be added to the batter, do not squeeze the zucchini dry.
How to Make Zucchini Bread
Like most quick bread recipes, this is easy to make and requires just a few minutes to prep. I line my loaf pans with parchment paper to make the bread extra easy to remove.
- Grate Zucchini: Use the larger side of a box grater to shred zucchini.
- Prep Wet & Dry Ingredients: Combine wet ingredients & dry ingredients in separate bowls (per recipe below).
- Combine. Stir wet and dry ingredients just until moistened.
- Bake. Pour into prepared pans and bake.
Serve it with apple butter, icing, strawberry butter, jam, or honey butter.
Variations
- add chopped walnuts or pecans
- swap the cinnamon for other warm spices like pumpkin pie spice or add a pinch of nutmeg
- dried cranberries or raisins are a great addition
- swap out the walnuts for chocolate chips or mini chocolate chips
Tips for Great Bread
- Ensure ingredients are at room temperature.
- Combine the dry ingredients with a whisk, this acts a bit like sifting the flour
- Cooking times can vary slightly so be sure to check the bread early.
- Bake just until a toothpick or cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Small to medium zucchinis (or even summer squash) work best, larger zucchini may need to be seeded (and peeled if the skin is tough).
To Freeze or Store
Keep zucchini bread on the counter for up to 2 days. It’s very moist so if you’ll be keeping it longer you’ll want to freeze it.
Freezer: Like most quick bread, you can freeze zucchini bread. Be sure to cool completely first. Freeze it in slices wrapped in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil. Freezing in slices makes it easy to thaw just as much as you’d like to eat.
More Zucchini Favorites
- Easy Baked Zucchini – Popular
- Air Fryer Zucchini Chips
- Chocolate Chip Zucchini Banana Bread
- Zucchini Brownies with 1 Minute Frosting – Chocolate fix fave!
- Easy Stuffed Zucchini Boats – Easy dinner!
- Grilled Zucchini – Quick side.
- Crispy Zucchini Fries (oven baked) – fave summer snack.
The Best Zucchini Bread
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 ½ cups sugar
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 large eggs
- 2 cups zucchini grated/shredded
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 1 ½ cups walnuts chopped
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Prepare two 8×4 loaf pans with parchment paper.
- Combine flour, sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
- In a large bowl, beat the eggs. Add the zucchini, oil, and vanilla and mix together.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture. Add the walnuts and mix till just combined.
- Divide evenly over the prepared pans and bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in the pans for 5 minutes, remove from the pan, and cool on a wire rack.
Video
Notes
Nutrition Information
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Bread, Breakfast, Dessert, Snack
Cuisine American© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
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I added mini chocolate chips & chopped walnuts. It was delicious!!
I used an extra cup of zucchini instead of nuts and everyone has been raving about this bread!
Easy recipe to follow…thank you for sharing this recipe.
Great with out without chocolate chips
Made this today and it was great! Perfect texture! Added cinnamon chips along with the walnuts. Thank you for the recipe! Will definitely make again!
I have been making this exact recipe for many years and it never fails to please! As in an earlier review I also use 1/2 brown sugar (Splenda) and 1/2 white sugar with good results. One loaf to eat and one to freeze and can’t go wrong if you love Zucchini bread. If your zuke is huge definitely remove seeds and many thanks for this great recipe!
Glad you are enjoying it, Susan! Freezing ones sounds great, especially since we always seem to have an abundance of zucchini at the end of the summer harvest!
This is by far the best zucchini bread I have ever had! It’s easy to make, with ingredients you already have. Super moist, super delicious!!
This is delicious! We used 1c brown sugar and 1/2 c white sugar. Made a second batch using Krusteez one for one gluten free flour, an extra 2 Tbs of oil, and subbed 1 1/2 grated apple for the walnuts. Be sure to Let the GF batter sit for 20 minutes before you pour it into the pans so the oil has extra time to absorb into the flour. The grandkids loved the Apple Zucchini Bread. The apples made a very nice addition. This is a new favorite!
Thanks for sharing your substitutions, Robin! So happy to hear it worked with gluten-free flour.
Thank you for yet another wonderful recipe. Flavourful, easy and super tasty. I followed exactly, other than adding a touch of nutmeg, just because I love the flavour. ;)
We LOVED this zucchini walnut loaf. I did not coarsly grate my zucchini, I used my food processor which has a skinnier size grater. I used 3 cups of grated zucchini, cut the sugar down to 1 cup and added 1/3 cup of semi-sweet chocolate chips, the loaf rose well and was perfectly moist! Will be making this recipe again&again!
This is my second time making this recipe this week! Everyone in our family loved it! I did add a handful of raisins which we loved..my four year old granddaughter requested I make it again because it’s sooo yummy…her wish is my command
I only know of 2 sizes of loaf pans in American baking. The traditional is 8×4 or the larger is 9×5. Which one do I need to use? Thanks.
You will need an 8×4 pan for this recipe.
Bakers: For this recipe, do you sift the flour? And does the recipe come out better with that 1 tsp baking powder added?
Hi Kathleen, for this recipe, we don’t sift the flour but we do follow this guide for measuring our flour. We also don’t find baking powder necessary for this recipe but maybe another reader has tried it and can provide some insight!
Thanks so much for the reply. Yes, another reader did add it and I wondered whether it was necessary. So, I am going to measure 9.5 oz of flour for this and hope it turns out far better than my last two loaves (using a different recipe and forgetting it came from the late 70s and maybe that was before pre-sifted flour.) My husband has a theory about transport of flour these days and it settling or becoming more dense, so it should be carefully weighed, said he.
Hopefully, this loaf turns out perfect!
Out of the oven. Finished in 50 minutes in my oven. If I could, I would send you photos. It did not rise anywhere near the top of the 8 x 4 bread pan. The crumb is okay, it is not wet and dense like my old recipe for which I did not sift. I did weigh the flour; I am now questioning: can using Great Value Granulated Stevia (cup for cup) affect the result; or can baking soda (still good according to stamp date of January 2024) go bad? What am I doing wrong? My bread, though with a pretty good crumb, is height-challenged.
Oh no, Sorry to hear it didn’t rise. I have not tried this recipe with Stevia so I am not sure if that is the issue. I would imagine your baking soda is still okay but if it was too old that could affect the rise of the bread.
Do you use self rising flour or all-purpose flour?
We use all-purpose flour.
Yum yum! So delicious! I added 2 tablespoons of Rumchata to mine. Just to be different. Thx for the recipe!!
You’re welcome! Thank you for sharing your addition Kristy!
Best zucchini bread ever, recipe is easy and fast, very moist, can’t stop eating! Especially like the video! Awesome recipe
This is truly delicious! As many others do I springboard and alter to our taste. After grating the zucchini I didn’t drain it but I did not use the extra liquid in the bottom of the bowl. I added 1 tsp of baking powder to the recipe for a bit lighter bake and made it into muffins. Skipped the nuts, used part white and part brown sugar and added a bit of mace. It made15 scrumptious muffins. Thanks so much for a yummy recipe!
Glad you enjoyed it JJ, those additions sound delicious. Thank you for sharing.