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 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.
I must have a dozen zucchini bread recipes, all passed along to me by seasoned bakers, but this is the best by far. A friend shared a loaf made from this recipe and I was sold! It’s moist, flavorful and cuts nicely. I love that it makes two loaves – one to share and one to enjoy at home.
Thanks for such a great recipe. I’ll be trying some of your other quick bread recipes!
I have made about 12 loaves of this since discovering it, sharing with my neighbors and family!!
This recipe is aptly named-as it is THE BEST!!
Everyone who ate it absolutely raved about it!!
Thank you so much!!
Hi, Holly! Will this recipe still work if I choose to leave out the nuts? I love nuts, but the folks I’m baking for prefer none. Wanted to be sure the texture of the bread wouldn’t suffer without them. Thank you!
It should be fine without the nuts, Becky!
The recipe for one batch and two batches says divide among two pans and it changes every time you scroll so you don’t know if the recipe is for one or two or three batches. I’m waiting to see if this works but I hope it does.
Hi Staci, we divide this recipe over two loaf pans. I hope that helps!
Came out great! Loved it !
Where’s the recipe/ingredients to make the items???????????
Hi Emma, you can use the jump to recipe button at the top of the page or scroll towards the bottom of the post to find the full recipe and ingredients list. I hope that helps!
It’s amazing and a favourite of ours!! Although I double the cinnamon , only use 1 cup of sugar, and also make sure not to chop the walnuts too small . Thx so much for this fab recipe!!
I love this recipe. still I even used it in large muffin pans The only difference is cooking time about 22 minutes
found this Zucchini bread bread very good not too sweet but tasteful And moist. Great for reheating. The only thing I changed was I usedI Olive oil and half butter.
Wow! This is by far the bestZucchini Bread I have made! And I am always trying different recipes. I only used 3/4 cup of pecans and added same amount of raisins! Yummy!
Me an my wife love the Zucchini Bread recipe, but……
I am in the processes of freezing my shredded zucchini and all the instructions on freezing says that you need to squeeze out the water before freezing,
While the recipe says not to squeeze the water out of the shredded zucchini, what do you do about frozen shredded zucchini? Would you need to add extra water to frozen zucchini if it has been squeezed before freezing?
Hi John, if using frozen zucchini it should still be fine with the water squeezed out of it. If you find the defrosted zucchini overly watery you can even drain a little off before adding to the bread.
Great zucchini bread recipe. Moist like advertised.
I tried other recipes and the center was always raw. This is a wonderful recipe and our family loved it! Thank you for sharing1
I used one larger pan and the time was more like 1hour 25 min. Delish.
Holly! First let me say, your site is a STAPLE in my house when I want to try new recipes! Everything I’ve made from here has been wildly successful and delicious.
I made this tonight and split it amongst four mini loaf pans. I subbed applesauce for the oil and made no other changes. The loaves came out rubbery/springy? If that makes sense. Very moist, delicious flavor…the texture was just super strange. I read through SO many comments and didn’t see this mentioned. I’m a pretty seasoned home baker/chef, so I’m curious if you’d have any idea why this would be? My first thought was too many eggs – but three seems pretty normal…hmmm.
I’m so glad you’ve loved the recipes Rachel!
By replacing all of the oil for applesauce, you’ve removed all of the fat from the recipe. Oil is fat while applesauce is mainly water since it’s made from pureed apples. If you do try this recipe again, I would suggest using the oil as listed in the recipe or replacing only a small part of the oil with applesauce. Hope that helps!
Could you add a banana to this recipe and make zucchini banana bread? Or would that cause too much problem with the rest of the ingredients?
Thank you
I haven’t personally added a banana to this recipe but other readers have with great results.
Can you use a Zucchini spiralizer?
We usually shred it for this recipe but that sounds like it would work well!
Made banana and zucchini bread this morning both are delicious. I will make again and again. Will try more recipes of yours. Thank you. My company will enjoy when they arrive.
I had to come here to share my experience with this bread. A sweet boy on my bus gave me a slice, wrappedin foil. It was hands down, without a doubt, the BEST bread I’ve ever had!! Not just best zucchini bread…. best bread period. Even topped the yummiest banana bread I’ve had. I messaged his mother and told her and asked her to share the recipe with me. When I learned it came from Spendwithpennies, a favorite site of mine,, it all made sence! Thank you for sharing this recipe!
That is such a sweet story. Thanks for sharing it with us, Dani!
This was delicious and very easy to make.
I had a very large zucchini from my garden so I had to seed it but I’m making a double batch today to use the remaining zucchini. Just my taste but I’m going to cut the sugar by just a bit a little sweet, my husband disagrees Thank you for a keeper recipe.