Must-Try, Super-Moist Zucchini Bread
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With its perfectly moist texture, super soft crumb, and brown sugar notes throughout, this is the best-ever (AND easiest!) zucchini bread recipe. The recipe is easily adaptable to mini loaf pans, and the batter can be used for zucchini bread muffins too, too.
This is the best zucchini bread. The original source is unknown, but my mother learned it from her mother, and I’ve been passing it along as well, baking it with my children, who call it “bikini” bread, for years. It’s an oldie but such a goodie, and a hit with adults and children alike.
In essence, its a classic quick bread made with both brown sugar and white, eggs and oil, and a heap of zucchini. The zucchini flavor is nearly indiscernible, but it plays an important roll in ensuring the cake will be super moist. This quick bread, a 2-bowl job, comes together in under 10 minutes and freezes beautifully.
What’s more? It also can easily be turned into muffins, which also freeze beautifully, or baked in four mini loaf pans, which make great holiday gifts. I love serving this zucchini bread when entertaining — it’s as delicious for mid-morning brunch as for afternoon tea all summer long.
Finally, The Kitchn, a favorite website, declared this recipe the best in a contest with four widely adored zucchini bread recipes. I hope you love it, too.
A favorite variation? Chocolate chip, of course. Nuts, too. Truthfully, I love it best with no additions. You can use as much as a pound — yes a pound! — of grated zucchini, and it along with the oil, keep the bread so, so moist.
More Recipes with Zucchini
- Zucchini Involtini
- Zucchini Parmesan
- Favorite Summer Pasta: Zucchini Spaghetti
- Shaved Zucchini & Pecorino Salad
- Zucchini Sauté with Mint, Pine Nuts, & Ricotta
PS: ALL the zucchini recipes right here → Zucchini
PPS: The Best-Ever Banana Bread.
Here’s the play-by-play: Gather your ingredients:
Grate a couple zucchini.
Stir together the dry ingredients. Stir together the wet ingredients.
Toss the zucchini with the dry ingredients.
Add the wet ingredients.
Transfer to a loaf pan.
Bake until golden and cooked through.
Let cool completely before slicing.
You can bake the bread in four mini loaf pans as well, which is so nice for gift giving.
PrintMust-Try, Super-Moist Zucchini Bread
- Total Time: 55 minutes
- Yield: 1 Standard Loaf or 4 Mini Loaves
Description
Notes:
- Baking by weight is always a good idea. Regarding flour, if you have a scale (this one costs $9!), weigh out 227 g flour. If you are using cups, use 2 cups, but fill them lightly.
- Loaf pans come in all different sizes. I love these Chicago Metallic standard 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pans and these Chicago Metallic mini loaf pans, which are so handy to have on hand around the holidays. If you use as much as a pound of zucchini, I highly recommend baking this bread in a 10×5-inch baking pan — it’s only slightly larger than the 8.5×4.5-inch pan, but it makes a difference. My quick breads bake so much more evenly in this larger-size pan.
- To freeze: Be sure to let zucchini bread cool completely. Wrap in foil; then tuck into an airtight bag. Freeze up to 3 months. Thaw overnight at room temperature.
- To make muffins: Simply, line a 12-cup muffin pan with liners or grease with butter or nonstick spray. Fill cups no more than two-thirds full. Bake for 18-22 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Ingredients
- a scant 2 cups (227 g) flour (see notes above)
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup light (213 g) brown sugar
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ¾ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 eggs, lightly beaten
- 2½ cups grated zucchini, (12–16 oz.)
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 8.5 x 4.5-inch loaf pan or a 10 x 5-inch loaf pan if using as much as a pound of zucchini (see notes above). For easy removal, line the pan with a sheet of parchment paper that hangs over the edges.
- Whisk together first five ingredients. In a separate bowl, whisk remaining ingredients except zucchini. Add zucchini to the flour mixture and toss to coat. Add dry to wet and stir till until combined. Pour into pan. Bake until toothpick comes out clean, about 45 minutes to 1 hour. If you have an instant read thermometer, it should register 205ºF or above. (Note: Every oven is different, and different pans conduct heat differently — be patient with the cooking. It may take 20-30 minutes more. With the longer cooking time, the bread shouldn’t burn, but if you are noticing the bread getting too brown, cover it with foil.)
- Let bread cool for 15 minutes in pan, then transfer to a cooling rack to cool completely before slicing.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Category: Bread
- Method: Oven
- Cuisine: American
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668 Comments on “Must-Try, Super-Moist Zucchini Bread”
this is so good!! very moist and tender! this is my first time making zucchini bread, and i couldn’t be more pleased with the results! thanks!
Wonderful to hear this, Kalina!
Hi Alexandra!
Do you need to squeeze out any excess water from the zucchini once its shredded? Or just add it as is into the flour mixture?
Thanks!!!
No need to squeeze!
I love that you made this recipe fool proof giving specific weight measurements. My 11 year old daughter made this and it was amazing. It had to bake an hour and 10 minutes in our oven but it was great!
So great to hear this, Katie! Baking by weight is such a game changer.
This recipe was delicious! I absolutely hate zucchini but it kept coming in my produce box then a friend reminded me to make zucchini bread. So glad I came across this recipe! I read the comments and adding walnuts really worked. Overall it was so moist and honestly better than banana bread. Thanks for sharing!
Wonderful to hear this, Jasmine!
I have a freezer full of grated zucchini. I’m assuming I should squeeze some water out before weighing. Anyone else used your freezer stash to make this?
Hi Belenda! Yeah, I would thaw and drain it in a colander for a bit; then use it. I haven’t tried, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work.
Best zuchinni bread recipe I have ever tasted..truly amazing. I have made 6 loaves and my entire family loves it. It comes out perfect every time. Definitely a keeper!!
Wonderful to hear this Christy!
Love this recipe and have made it twice in the past two weeks! All your recipes sound really good- so glad I found your site!
Suzanne
So nice to hear this, Suzanne! Thank you for the kind words 😍😍😍
I tried this and it was excellent. I added nuts and raisins. I only had glass loaf pan so it seemed to take a bit longer for it to bake.
Wonderful to hear this, Kathy!
Excellent recipe. Making a couple loaves 1/2 carrot and 1/2 zucchini to change it up.
Oh fun! Love this!
This is sooo good! I also made it with bananas & pecans!
Wonderful to hear this, Sue!
I have made many different recipes for zucchini bread over the years. This recipe is the only one I will ever use again. I have already made 8 loaves. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Wonderful to hear this, Margie! Thanks for writing 😍😍😍😍
Baking this now, do you keep on the counter? Or do you store in the refrigerator?
I store the bread on the counter for up to 3 days, but if it’s going to be longer than that, especially if your kitchen is warm, I would hold store in the fridge or freezer.
I made this last night. It was my first time making zucchini bread. Absolutely amazing! I was nervous, but it turned out perfect! Tastes just like something my grandma would have made!
Wonderful to hear this, Mariah!
Love this recipe! I used gluten free flour and olive oil, and added nutmeg and cloves. Perfection! Thank you so much!
Amazing! Great to know that gf flour worked well here.
My husband and I enjoy this zuke bread recipe so much! I’ve made two loaves within 3 days. Thank you for sharing.
I added walnuts to the second loaf (haven’t tried chocolate yet) and it’s great. Though I almost agree with you, that it’s better with no additions. So so yummy!
Wonderful to hear this, Kimberly!
I love this recipe…bread is soo moist(and its awesome if you heat it up in the microwave and put a bit of butter on the top)…anyways this is like totally the best….thanks for sharing your recipe.🍞🥒🧈
Wonderful to hear this, Briann!
Very sweet so might cut back on sugar and took a little longer to cook than stated, but it was very good. My kids loved it!
Wonderful to hear this, Ali! I could totally see cutting back on the sugar.
Yummy! The first time I made it I doubled the recipe and used coconut sugar instead of brown sugar. I also put whole pecans on top. It was so good, felt like it weighed 5 pounds!
This recipe is really simple, quick and we loved it. I am baking another batch today.
Wonderful to hear this, Lisa!
Delicious zucchini bread and perfect as written. I then made with yellow squash, added lemon zest and walnuts. Fantastic recipe. Thank you.
Wonderful to hear this, Lisa!
Can I use canola oil instead of vegetable oil?
YES! 😍😍😍😍
Absolutely perfect. Moist, flavorful, loved it ! I just stopped at 250g sugar in total and it was enough for me. I added a few walnuts as suggested and it was heaven. Thank you !
Wonderful to hear this, Marion!
Congratulations, Ali, on the win for this recipe from The Kitchn! “The one zucchini bread to rule them all!” Your mom’s recipe may very well beat out my favorite, a reader’s contribution from Gourmet Magazine a million years ago.
Thanks so much, Stephanie!! 💕💕💕💕💕 But I also love that your fave was from Gourmet 😢 Miss that mag so much.
How long would you bake if you use mini loaf pans?
I would start checking at 25 minutes … loaf pans vary so much in size, so it’s hard to say, but check at 25 minutes. It’s a forgiving recipe 😍😍😍
Gosh I can’t decide to make this or not. Just read an article from Kitchen on Apple News that rates it highest and has beautiful pictures. The pictures on this site don’t even look similar. Some of your pictures seem to show an over baked almost burned product and the slices look dense and really green. What’s going on? Maybe you need to reshoot your pics?
Cheryl, I think you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Give it a go!
What is the best oil to use
Vegetable or grapeseed or organic canola or safflower are all great options 🙂
Could you provide the nutritional information please.
Thank you
Hi Donna! I don’t have that information unfortunately, but if you enter the ingredients into something like my fitness pal dot com, you should get the nutritional value.
Made this recipe for my husband and daughter last night. They both loved it and it was an easy recipe to follow and I had all the ingredients without having to make a special trip to the store. I will definitely make this again!
Wonderful to hear this, Linda!
Excellent recipe! I enjoy this dairy free recipe so much. Will definitely make again soon. Whole family loved it, not sweet at all.
Wonderful to hear this, Marla!
Do you have any modifications to make this a high-altitude (5280′ Denver) recipe? Much appreciated!!
Hi Laura! I don’t have any experience with high-altitude baking, but reference this guide from King Arthur Flour: https://www.kingarthurflour.com/learn/resources/high-altitude-baking
Ali – thanks for the reference! Wish I could show you a picture of the 3 loaves I made today (my neighbor gave me a monster zucchini – gong to make 1-2 loaves tomorrow, too!).
My mods for anyone else in high altitude:
+ 25 degrees for oven temp
About 52 minutes for 3 loaves
Sugar: -1T/Cup
Liquid: +2T / Loaf
Flour: +2 (scant) T/Loaf
Amazing! This is so helpful, Laura! Thanks so much for sharing the details. So nice to hear this.
Hi! Can I use oat flour for this recipe?
Hi Daniela, I have not tried … I know people have successfully made this with gluten-free flour, but I don’t know what mix they used. I worry a bit that the final loaf will be quite dense if you use oat flour due to the lack of gluten, but you don’t know unless you try. Let me know if you give it a go.
What can I use in place of eggs due to my granddaughter being vegan?
Hi Joanne! I haven’t tried a vegan substitute, but here are 4 ideas:
1. Flax egg: whisk 1 tablespoon ground flax with 3 tablespoons of hot water; let it sit till it gels. (equivalent of 1 egg)
2. Vegan egg replacement such as Ener-G
3. 3 tablespoons aquafaba (the liquid from a can of chickpeas or beans): beat it lightly with a whisk or fork till it thickens slightly and becomes foamy. (equivalent of 1 egg)
4. Instant mashed potatoes: use 2 tablespoons to replace 1 egg