This truly is the BEST-EVER vegan Zucchini Bread. It is a simple and delicious vegan bread that is filled with zucchini and walnuts in every bite. Spiced with cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom, you're going to love the flavors.
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Things are growing in my garden! Right now it's just snap peas and kale but pretty soon there's going to be beets, onions, and - you guessed it - ZUCCHINI.
Zucchini is a prolific vegetable and most of my friends who have vegetable gardens, mine included, find ourselves with more zucchini than we can eat. Sure, there are many vegan zucchini recipes worth trying, but when we are done making zucchini noodle lasagna and pesto zoodles, what are we to do?
Make vegan zucchini bread, of course.
And this is the zucchini bread recipe you are going to want to try. It is moist, sweet, NEARLY FAIL-PROOF, and so so good!
And, it really is the BEST egg free zucchini bread on the internet. Read the comments below to find out what others are saying about this AMAZING zucchini bread recipe.
Recipe Video
Recommended Ingredients
This zucchini bread is a fan favorite. It is moist, sweet, hearty, and super easy to master. Even my kids love it! And while I don’t love all the sugar they are getting with a piece, I am thrilled that they are getting veggies, fruits, and nuts with their sweet snack.
Here is everything you need.
Ingredient Notes
- White and Brown Sugar - Check out my guide to vegan sugars and alternative sugar replacements. For a healthier sugar alternative, I recommend coconut sugar.
- Applesauce - This is the binder of the recipe. You could replace it with 1 mashed banana, 1 cup of pumpkin puree, or a variety of other egg replacers.
- Oil - This recipe calls for canola oil because it creates the best texture without added flavor. If you want to avoid hydrogenated oils, try avocado or melted coconut oil. Olive oil also works but adds a slightly savory flavor. If you want to eliminate the oil altogether, swap it out for the same amount of applesauce.
- All-Purpose Flour - For healthier flour options, you can use a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend, buckwheat, or whole wheat.
- Spices - You will need a combination of cinnamon, nutmeg, and cardamom
- Zucchini - This recipe calls for 1 heaping cup which is typically 1 medium-sized zucchini.
- Walnuts - Feel free to omit for a nut-free option or swap them out for chocolate chips for a chocolate zucchini bread recipe.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step One – Combine the Ingredients
In a small bowl combine your flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. In a separate bowl whisk together your wet ingredients. That’s your oil, sugars, applesauce, and vanilla extract.
Pro Tip: Applesauce varies a lot in texture. If your applesauce seems thin, first strain it through a fine-mesh strainer to get the excess liquid out.
Step Two - Shred the Zucchini
With the shredding attachment of your food processor or handheld grater, shred the zucchini. Using a cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer, squeeze any excess liquid out of the zucchini. If you're not sure how to do it, check out this tutorial on how to wring out a zucchini.
Pro Tip: Do not forget to squeeze out excess liquid! Zucchini has a ton of water in it and when not properly squeezed, it will add too much liquid to your batter causing your bread to improperly bake.
Add the zucchini to your wet ingredients and combine
Step Three – Combine and Bake
Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently mix in until the flour is evenly hydrated. Use a rubber spatula to fully incorporate the dry ingredients into the wet.
Pro Tip: Take care not to over mix your batter. Over mixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense bread.
Generously spray a loaf pan. Transfer the batter into the loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.
Serving and Storing
Serving - Let the bread cool at least 10 minutes in the loaf pan before flipping it onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Otherwise, the bread may break apart as they finish setting. Serve the zucchini bread warm with vegan butter or homemade pumpkin butter.
Storing - Tightly wrap uneaten bread and store it at room temperature for up to 3 days. For best results, wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in a large ziplock bag. This bread can also be frozen for up to two months. To thaw, let it sit in the refrigerator overnight. Once it is thawed, it should be eaten within 3 days.
Tips and Tricks
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense bread.
- Squeeze out the excess liquid of the zucchini to prevent your batter from becoming too wet.
- Applesauce varies a lot. If your applesauce seems thin, first strain it through a fine-mesh strainer to get the excess liquid out.
- Generously spray your loaf pan to ensure the bread doesn't stick to the pan. For extra protection, you can line the bottom of the loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Let the bread cool at least 10 minutes in the loaf pan before flipping it onto a wire cooling rack to cool completely. Otherwise, the bread may break apart as they finish setting.
- Want variation? Add chocolate chips for chocolate chip zucchini bread.
Frequently Asked Questions
For sure! This recipe makes about 12 muffins. Fill the muffin tin about ¾ of the way full and bake for 20 minutes before checking for doneness. You can also try this Chocolate Zucchini Muffin recipe.
Yes! I've had luck both with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend as well as buckwheat flour.
Indeed! Simply replace the oil with an additional ¼ cup applesauce for an oil-free bread.
While I haven't tried it personally, I've had readers who have reduced the sugar by omitting the brown sugar entirely with luck. You can also check out my guide on healthier sugar alternatives for some ideas on how to replace the sugar.
Occasionally, I'll have a reader who cannot get their zucchini bread to bake in the middle. This most commonly happens when there is excess liquid in the zucchini. Make sure to squeeze the zucchini thoroughly before adding it to the batter. Additionally, if your applesauce is very thin, consider staining it through a fine-mesh strainer to get out the excess liquid.
If you have extra shredded zucchini, you can freeze it by placing it in a single layer on a baking sheet. Once the zucchini is frozen all the way solid, transfer it to small glass jars or Ziplock bags. Leftover zucchini is great for adding moisture to brownies, muffins, or used as an egg replacer in common baked goods.
If you want to make this bread batter in advance, store the batter in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 24 hours. To bake the bread, preheat the oven and bake according to the instructions.
However, this bread may take a few minutes longer to bake since the batter will be chilled. The bread will also be slightly denser as the baking soda begins to activate once it’s mixed into the batter, causing it to be slightly less potent.
More Vegan Quick Bread Recipes
- Healthy Vegan Banana Bread
- Classic Vegan Pumpkin Bread
- Double Chocolate Zucchini Muffins
- Vegan Lemon Pound Cake
Make sure to check out all my vegan quick bread recipes for more inspiration!
Best-Ever Vegan Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ⅓ cup brown sugar
- 1 cup unsweetened applesauce
- ¼ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cup all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ½ tsp baking powder
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ⅛ teaspoon cardamom
- 1 heaping cup shredded zucchini, (1 medium zucchini)
- ½ cup walnuts
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350 F. Spray an 8x4" loaf pan and set aside.
- Using a handheld shredder or the shredding attachment of your food processor, shred 1 medium zucchini. Using a cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer, squeeze any excess liquid out of the zucchini and set aside.
- In a mixing bowl, whisk together sugars with apple sauce, vegetable oil, and vanilla extract. In a separate bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and spices. Add dry ingredients to wet and stir to combine. Fold in zucchini and walnuts.
- Transfer batter into prepared loaf pan and bake for 50-65 minutes until a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Let cool 10 minutes in the loaf pan before transferring to a wire cooling rack to cool completely.
Video
Notes
- The most accurate way to measure flour is to spoon it into your measuring cup, leveling it off with the back of a knife.
- Squeeze out the excess liquid of the zucchini to prevent your batter from becoming too wet.
- Do not overmix your batter. Overmixing allows the gluten to develop and too much gluten will give you gummy and dense bread.
- Applesauce varies a lot. If you applesauce is thin, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer first before adding it to the batter.
- Generously spray your loaf pan to ensure the bread doesn't stick to the pan. For extra protection, you can line the bottom of the loaf pan with parchment paper.
- Can I make this recipe into muffins? For sure! This recipe makes about 12 muffins. Fill the muffin tin about ¾ of the way full and bake for 20 minutes before checking for doneness. You can also try this Chocolate Zucchini Muffin recipe.
- Can I make this recipe gluten-free? Yes! I've had luck both with a 1:1 gluten-free flour blend as well as buckwheat flour.
- Can I make this recipe oil free? Indeed! Simply replace the oil with an additional ¼ cup applesauce for an oil-free bread.
- Can I reduce the sugar? While I haven't tried it personally, I've had readers who have reduced the sugar by omitting the brown sugar entirely with luck. You can also check out my guide on healthier sugar alternatives for some ideas on how to replace the sugar.
Hi, I’m Sarah. I’m a 14-year (and counting) vegan, professionally trained photographer, former pastry chef, founder of My Darling Vegan, and author of the
rsp says
This is a brilliant recipe. Thanks for all the thoughtful work that went into it. I would like to respectfully make one request: all the guesswork would go away if you used weights -- either ounces or grams, doesn't matter -- for the ingredients. No guessing about the size of the zucchini needed. Dry ingredients are much more accurately measured with weights instead of volume, and this certainly helps the beginning or less than expert(i.e., me) baker. Thanks for all the good recipes.
Lauren Primavera says
I'm giving this five stars, although my zucchini bread came out tooooo dense and moist, if there is such a thing as too moist. It is because: I decided to use almond flour (my favorite) but forgot that almond flour makes baked goods moister. I should have cut down on the applesauce to maybe a 1/4 cup or so.
The flavor was awesome, just the texture was off due to my own choice of flour substitution. I'll try the recipe again with the prescribed flour, or make the proper adjustments with other ingredients.
J says
Can this be made in a cake pan? I don't have a loaf or muffin tin and have celiac disease so can't use a 2nd hand one but can't afford new ones. I do have a Pyrex cake-style dish and a cake-style tin which I use for shepherd's pie.
Also, my zucchini are huge, so I'd likely double it up anyway. Am I to cut out the inner seeds etc? Or is that incorporated in there? These are not young zucchini I have.
Dori says
This recipe is fabulous! It's going to be my new go-to. It wasn't too dense, too wet, or too dry. I can really tell that you took the time to make a recipe that works, which makes me excited to try your other recipes. For my household I have to make a few alterations in order to make it more diabetic friendly. I did it with whole wheat flour and it worked fine. Next time I'm going to reduce the sugar in half and use coconut sugar, and I think it would still be lovely.
Leigh N says
I thought I should finally leave a comment. This recipe is fantastic and has been my go-to for a few years now. I pull it out whenever I start harvesting zucchini from my garden each year and it is a treat we look forward to. I have sugar pumpkins this year so I am going to try your pumpkin bread recipe now.
Jody says
I made it tonight. Baked 65 min. I squeezed as much liquid as I could from the zucchini using paper towel. I used Bob's Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1 flour. I let it cool on the counter about an hour, cut a slice off the end and it was wet still inside. I've made zucchini loaf before with no issues but came across your recipe and wanted to try it out. I'm rather disappointed 😞
I have now put it back in a preheated 350 oven and will bake it a little longer to see if I can save it and avoid having to throw it out. I won't be making this recipe again.
I have made your chocolate zucchini muffins and they were fabulous!
Michelle says
I made this the other day (and thought I left a review but can't see it) but I came back today to say WOW WOW WOW! This bread just gets better after a day or two... the flavours are incredible, and it's such a moist bread (without being TOO moist) that even my husband, who puts (vegan) butter on EVERYTHING is eating is plain! My absolute favourite zucchini bread recipe and I will be making another loaf today!
Michelle says
Oh wow! This really is the BEST EVER! I've made many, many loaves of zucchini bread and they were all good.... but this one is deliciously moist and the cardamon really adds to the incredible flavour! I added some raisins to mine too along with the walnuts. INCREDIBLE!!! Thanks for sharing the recipe!
Joy says
Yum! Tried making this one for my kids and they love it! Definitely recommended. Surprisingly perfect combination too for my coffee filtered by sustainable hemp coffee filter which I love too!
Chelsey says
I’m dying to make this as well as your healthy blueberry muffins but I live in Costa Rica right now and apple sauce is nearly impossible to find. Any good ideas how to replace (without having to make homemade apple sauce)?