This Best Ever Zucchini Bread recipe comes from my grandma, so there isn’t a better zucchini bread recipe out there.
This Zucchini Bread is simple, delicious, and perfect for any occasion. We bake it all year long.
This bread recipe is a family recipe, and in my life, the best recipes have come from one of two people: my Grandma Gillan or my Grandma Sorency.
They make some of the best things I have ever tasted from this Best Ever Zucchini Bread to spaghetti & meatballs, peanut brittle, Italian Stuffing, cinnamon rolls, mac & cheese and Santa Claus cut-out cookies.
I am lucky to come from a line of bakers. And I am fortunate that I grew up eating this Best Ever Zucchini Bread. This recipe is why I have planted 8 zucchini plants every year. I am sad that since we moved and my garden is significantly smaller, I will only be plating two this year, but I am praying they’re plentiful.
If not, I will beg for some zucchini, as store-bought zucchini are so small. Why is that? I love the large zucchini; they are just so beautiful. I love seeing a garden full of zucchini and pumpkins. Another reason I love fall.
But I love that it’s near summertime, and soon, I will have a plethora of zucchini in my garden and freezer, resulting in this recipe all year long.
Zucchini Bread Baking Tips
How to make Zucchini Bread?
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees, and grease bread loaf pans or two larger ones.
Mix all ingredients until well combined.
Once well combined, pour the mixture into 2- 3 bread pans, divide it evenly, and bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes. Time may vary depending on the oven; insert a toothpick to ensure the bread is done.
More Zucchini Recipes
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Best Ever Zucchini Bread
Video
Ingredients
- 3 cups + 3 tablespoons flour
- 3 eggs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 cup oil canola or vegetable
- 4 cups fresh zucchini grated, liquid drained
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 cup chopped walnuts optional, we don’t do this
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees, grease 3 bread loafs pans or 2 larger loaf pans.
- Mix all ingredients together until well combined.
- Once it is well combined pour into 2- 3 bread pans, make sure to divide evenly and bake at 375 for 40-50 minutes.
- Time may vary depending on oven; insert toothpick to make sure bread is done
Notes
This posted was recently updated, the original post was published in August 2014.
i have a batch of this in the oven…im concerned because the batter was sooo runny but being the first time i didnt want to add
extra flour but i would have added another cup. my zucchini was about 10-12 inches and about 3 inches across at thickest part and when i used my ninja (it shredded it perfectly) it didnt really get juicy like if you use a big zucchini. i just hope the bread
bakes up okay 🙁 first time i used a recipe off of pinterest and didnt want to futz with it much. will update when it comes out
of the oven.
well i finished my first batch and it turned out fine. was concerned cause the batter was so runny.
its every bit as delish as you promised…thanks
It will be fine, trust me. The batter is runny! Enjoy! San
This was delicious! I substituted one of the cup of sugar for applesauce to make it more kid “healthy” for the kiddo and it was still Awesome!! Thanks for the recipe. I great way to sneak in the veggies.
Can I use lard in this recipe rather than oil? And your mom uses grapenuts like the cereal? Love your recipes! And stories about your grandmas. You are blessed I lost my grandma last year she was my best friend.
Shohn
Can you use olive oil or did you use regular vegetable oil?
I used canola oil. You could use vegetable oil as well. I haven’t made this with olive oil, although that would work I feel like it would just overpower the bread. But if you are used to cooking breads with it you might not feel that way. Enjoy! San
Try coconut oil. Healthy substitute
can this be made into s chocolate zucchini cake? and how much coco to use
I haven’t tried this when we do, I will circle back in the meantime you can check these out: https://dashofsanity.com/pumpkin-zucchini-cake/ https://dashofsanity.com/banana-zucchini-cake/
Hi, San — I’ve made several zucchini bread recipes over the past year but haven’t settled on a “go to” yet. This may just be the one! I’m particularly intrigued by the addition of GrapeNuts cereal in place of the nuts. I will have to try that. Our mom used to make a batter for bran muffins that was stored in the refrigerator. It had All Bran cereal, GrapeNuts and I can’t remember what all else. Made great muffins! I’ll probably be adding at least a few frozen blueberries to your grandmother’s bread. LOVE zucchini with blueberries! I followed this link from your ginger cooky recipe which is also getting made — SOON! I’m another “grandma’s girl” who treasures all the wonderful recipes. Thanks so much!
Oh I am so excited that you are trying both of the recipes – it won’t disappoint. Blueberries are great – just flour them a bit before so they all don’t sink 🙂 – also the bran muffins you are talking about – my sister and I had a roommate in college that made those all the time. I have contacted her for the recipe because I WANT IT SO BAD – so if you still have your recipe will you please email it to me and would love to feature it on my blog sandra at adashofsanity.com – I have a Bran Muffin Recipe https://dashofsanity.com/best-ever-bran-muffins/ that we love but my kids would love making on in the microwave and it would bring back the BEST memories. Hoping you have it!!!! Thanks for your email it made my day!
I sent the recipe via email reply since it was pretty long. Hope you can get it!
Just had to let you know I made the ginger cookies yesterday — 1/2 a batch (my cookie jar won’t hold more) and I made them totally by hand. Worked great. And they’re as wonderful as you said. Will most definitely be making again. (The zucchini bread is getting put together when I get home from church.) Thanks!
Well! I blew it, I have now figured that you can’t improve on perfection? I tried the one cup of applesauce and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Let’s put it this way it was edible. Will not do that again? Just thought I would try and cut out some of the sugar. I can safely say that it has not been eaten as quickly as the first loaves I made, infact it is still sitting in the fridge. Back to your recipe, although I did use one cup of white sugar and 1/2 cup brown and it was awesome.
I made another zucchini bread recipe today and forgot the baking powder so of course it was just a brick. And I finely grated my zucchini which made for a stringy texture. I’ll use the food processor next time. But my question is about measuring the zucchini. Do you press it down (like with brown sugar) or just scoop it? I’d love to try this!
I think that you would be fine either way as far as when you measure it. Just sounds like you possibly had a ton of moisture (water) from the zucchini. Also I just scoop it, I don’t press it down. Try the food processor or the thick, larger side of the shredder, I think this will solve the issue. Come back and let me know. San
I made it today and I baked it for 40 minutes and checked it. Well it was still very gooey, so I kept adding 10 more minutes to it, and still gooey. It probably bakrd for a good 1.5 hours. I don’t know what I did wrong :/.. any suggestions?
Ovens can vary sometimes. I am sorry it took so long to bake? What size of loaf pan did you use? San
I did not change a thing. This was delicious!
I have this in the oven as I type. I just read through all of the fabulous reviews and am so excited. I thought I’d take a sec to tell you how I tweaked it to fit our needs.
My kids do sessions at a youth ranch twice a month and my son’s chore the last session was to harvest the vegetable garden. One of the perks of being a harvester is that you get to keep what you pick. So, we took home 2 zucchini with the intention on making a batch of zucchini bread.
We have gluten issues in our family so I subbed a GF blend. (usually I make my own, but I had Trader Joe’s blend on hand, so I decided to give it a whirl)
Also, instead of canola oil I went for a healthier oil and used a blend of coconut oil and avocado oil.
The batter was amazing and the smells coming from my oven are divine. I’ll let you know the verdict! I’m so excited
I’m planning to make this tomorrow as I’ve just pulled 4 zukes from the garden. I do like to spiral them for a pasta replacement, but my hubby will be thrilled if I also make him a goodie! I too will be doing a bit of substituting, using a gluten free flour, and less sugar. Can applesauce be used as part of the oil? I would use a coconut/sunflower blend oil, maybe half with applesauce? Also is 4 cups of zuchinni the max? Thanks for sharing!
Some others have tried to the substitution of oil with applesauce, as well as less sugar and didn’t have as great as success. So if you have success with your substitutions come back and let us know. San
I baked two loaves yesterday and two today. Here’s a plug for your recipe and blog on my website. Thanks for sharing such a great recipe and family history. https://www.cyanpixel.net/when-life-hands-you-zucchini/
Hi! I only have one loaf pan. If i make one at a time do i leave the batter on the counter or in the fridge?
I tried this a couple of years ago, and it seemed so oily! I just tried it again, with melted butter instead of the oil and I LOVED it!
What kind of nuts are good to use?
I love walnuts and Grapenuts.
Just tried your zucchini bread and it was wonderful! I had never made zucchini bread before but your recipe made it easy. Thank You!
About to make this now. Do I need to put flour in the pans, or is it good without anything ?
You are good just to oil it but I love to flour it lightly too just to ensure an easy removal. My favorite though is parchment paper.
San
I made it this morning and it’s a hit! One pan is gone already!
I am trying the zucchini bread now, but I have no nuts, so I added 2 tablespoons of shredded sweet coconut and a few drops of brandy… I like cooking with brandy…. When ya make a pecan pie, just add 1/2 a shooter of the brandy to the pie… It is very yummy.
Wow I love this suggestion!
Do you have to drain the zucchini of the water?
If it is frozen, yes. If it is fresh, no. San
This was amazing! Ours took a little longer to cook, but once it was, my family ate all of it before it could completely cool. We’ll definitely be making this again soon! Thank you!
A friend of mine made this and it was delicious. She did not follow the directions closely and it turned out a little too moist. However, we went on a trip and had to reheat it, so it ended up being perfect. I told her that lists of ingredients are made to be mixed in the order they are written…….so she pointed out to me that your video does not do so. Furthermore, you even stress the point of adding the ingredients in order, but video shows otherwise. Looking forward to making this tomorrow!!
Hi I want to make this bread but no where do I see that it needs water. Want it be to thick
Tonya – it will turn out just fine. Follow the directions this recipe has stood the test of time and generations. Enjoy!
San
Thank you for the tips
Gma recipes are THE BEST recipes out there, thanks for sharing! It turned out delicious and I can’t wait for my husband to try it (especially since he doesn’t like zucchini as much as I do 😉
I added chocolate chips as well and was very happy with how it turned out.
Grandmother’s always know what is best! This looks like a perfect recipe for my garden zucchini!
Great idea! I hope you enjoy!