This is the BEST Vegan Zucchini Bread recipe you’ll find! Super soft, filled with spices, and you can never taste the zucchini! Absolutely delicious vegan quick bread recipe that’s a hit with everyone!
Zucchini bread is a touchy subject. So many hear the name if the dish and they immediately turn up their nose at the thought before they even give it a try. We’re here to break down the bad rap that this quick bread has and tell you that this vegan zucchini bread is a must try.
This delicious and easy zucchini bread recipe is:
- dairy free
- egg free
- vegan
- can be Top 8 Allergen Free
- Made in just one bowl!
It’s such a quick recipe to make that you will be amazed that you never made it before now.
Why put zucchini in bread?
If you’ve never made zucchini bread before, you may be wondering who in their right mind would ever add zucchini, a vegetable, to a quick bread recipe that is supposed to be sweet. But just remember that it’s probably the same people that thought to add carrots to vegan carrot cake and that tastes amazing!
There’s actually a few reasons why one may add zucchini to their bread.
- Zucchini is mostly liquid so it adds a ton of moisture to your recipe with overpowering the bread like say the taste of bananas does to a vegan banana bread.
- You get to hid vegetables. Whether you have picky children or a picky significant other, sometimes you will do anything to get more vegetables in them. This dairy free zucchini bread helps aid in that!
- It gives you a way to use up extra zucchini from the garden. Zucchini is a vegetable that usually grows like crazy and people end up with way more the expected, so adding to bread helps use it up.
- People love believing they are eating something healthier. I wish I could tell you that this zucchini bread is actually “healthy”, but it still has sugar in it, so it’s not as good as say, eating roasted zucchini on it’s own
Okay, so maybe one of the first three reasons are better than the last, but you know the last reason for making dairy free zucchini bread is true too!
What ingredients do you need to make vegan zucchini bread?
You need a baker’s dozen (that’s 13) ingredients to make this simple vegan quick bread recipe. The ingredients that you will need are:
- Zucchini
- Brown sugar
- Dairy free butter
- Applesauce
- Vanilla extract
- Flour
- Baking powder
- Baking soda
- Salt
- Ground cinnamon
- Nutmeg
- Cloves
- Walnuts
- Optional ingredients: chocolate chips, cranberries, raisins
How do you make vegan zucchini bread?
The first thing that you are going to do is preheat your oven to 350 degrees F. Then, liberally spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or grease with coconut oil. Next, grate your zucchini. Squeeze out excess water. Set aside.
In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, applesauce, butter, and vanilla. Then, add the zucchini and fold in with a spatula.
Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir just until no dry ingredients remains. If adding, walnuts, or any optional ingredients, add now. Do not over mix.
Pour the zucchini batter into your greased loaf pan. Bake for 70 to 80 minutes A toothpick inserted into the center of the bread should come out clean. Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Remove from the pan and transfer to cool completely before slicing. Store in an air tight container.
Can I make this Top 8 Allergen Free Zucchini Bread?
In the United States, the Top 8 Allergen are: eggs, peanuts, tree nuts, milk, soy, wheat (gluten), shellfish, and fish. The allergen ingredients list that we use for this vegan zucchini bread would include the butter, nuts, and flour.
Butter (Soy) – Many dairy free butters use soybean oil. We always recommend Earth Balance soy free butter in the red tub. We think it tastes better than almost any dairy free butter on the market, plus it’s soy free.
Nuts – You can omit the nuts with no additional changes to the recipe.
Wheat (flour) – We have found that King Arthur’s Measure for Measure flour works best when switching out a gluten flour. Please note they also have a gluten free all purpose flour that is not the same.
If you made those 3 swaps, then you would have a Top 8 Allergen friendly zucchini bread.
What are other dairy free breakfast ideas that are great for on the go?
This vegan zucchini bread is great for on the go morning. Once you make it, you can grab a slice or two and head out the door. Here’s a few other vegan (dairy + egg free) breakfast ideas that are great on the go:
- Dairy Free Banana Bread
- Vegan Blueberry Muffins
- Healthy Banana Oatmeal Cookies
- Overnight Mango Coconut Oats
- Raspberry Chia Pudding
- Maple Cinnamon Granola
- Beetroot Chocolate Bliss Protein Balls
- Strawberry Chia Pudding
Pin this Dairy Free Zucchini Bread for later:
Vegan Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 2 ¼ cups zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini)
- 1 ½ cups brown sugar
- ½ cup + 1 tablespoon dairy free butter, softened
- ¾ cup unsweetened applesauce
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 ¼ cups flour (use GF if needed – see post for details)
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ½ teaspoon cloves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup walnuts, chopped (Optional)
Optional Add-ins
- 1 ½ cups dried cranberries or raisins or chocolate chips, pick one
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Liberally spray a 9×5 inch loaf pan with cooking spray or grease with coconut oil.
- Grate zucchini. Squeeze out excess water. Set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the brown sugar, applesauce, softened butter, and vanilla.
- Add zucchini and fold in with a spatula.
- Add in the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves. Stir just until no dry ingredients remains.
- If adding, walnuts, or any optional ingredients, add now. Fold to combine. Do not over mix.
- Pour batter into greased loaf pan.
- Bake for 70 to 80 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.
- Remove from the oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes.
- Remove from the pan and transfer to cool completely.
- Slice in 16 equal sized pieces (or desired size)
- Store in an air tight container.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
this post was originally posted on 4/24/19 and updated on 6/1/2020.
Brenda
This was delicious! Everyone loved it. Would it be ok to swap brown sugar for coconut sugar?
Thank you for another great recipe.
Larisha Bernard
Yes that’s fine!
Joanne Annese
The garden is booming with zucchini. I’ve made it every which way. This will be perfect 👍🤩☮️
Ainsley K Rawlings
this is the best zucchini bread I have tried! It is perfectly moist and the spice blend is delicious. I make it into muffins for my kids’ lunch boxes. I have been making these weekly for the past month, thank you!!
LarishaBernard
Yay! So happy to hear that you enjoyed the recipe! Thanks for sharing your thoughts
Ali
How much salt? I don’t see it listed in the ingredient list.
LarishaBernard
sorry about that, post is updated!
Mamydziecko
This looks delicious! One question should I use the same measurement of zucchini if I m using grated? Before our last vacation, I finely grated a couple of big zucchinis and have it ready in my freezer, and this bread looks like the perfect way to use it up!
LarishaCampbell
Yes! You want to end up with 2 1/4 cups grated zucchini