Healthy Zucchini Bread

This delicious Healthy Zucchini Bread is moist, flavorful, and packed with fresh zucchini! This bread uses better-for-you ingredients — less sugar than most zucchini breads, Greek yogurt, overripe banana, coconut oil, blended oats, and loads of zucchini, of course! We make this bread in two bowls — no stand or hand mixer required.

Try some of our other nutritious zucchini treats like this Lemon Zucchini Bread, Gluten-free Zucchini Muffins, or Chocolate Zucchini Bread.

Healthy Zucchini Bread

Zucchini bread has always been a favorite of mine. I love it so much that we even served cute miniature loaves at my wedding – ha!

At the wedding we served my mom’s famous Zucchini Bread recipe — everyone always loves it! While I’ll never go too long without making that bread, I make it as a dessert rather than breakfast or nutritious snack. And as a dessert, it’s not something I want to eat or feed my kids too often. But this bread? This healthy zucchini bread is aimed towards being a bread worthy of being called breakfast! While there is still some sugar in it, there is a fraction of what other recipes contain. We’re also using plenty of other healthier ingredient swaps — protein-packed Greek yogurt, oats in place of some of the flour, coconut oil, super-ripe bananas and — of course– let’s not forget we’re adding veggies to this bread in the form of zucchini!

Does this bread taste like bananas? As far as flavor goes, the banana is not really detectable in the finished bread (unless the banana is very overripe or has a strong flavor). We use the small amount (3 tablespoons) of banana as a natural, better-for-you sweetener and binder in this bread.

Healthy Zucchini Bread Key Ingredients

Below I’ll break down some of the ingredients in this recipe and offer some helpful tips!

• Honey Vanilla Greek Yogurt adds protein and loads of flavor to this recipe. Our favorite yogurt to use is Honey Vanilla Greek yogurt (made by Greek Gods®). I don’t recommend a low fat or non-Greek yogurt in this bread– it won’t turn out the same. While plain Greek yogurt works, the flavored yogurt adds so much additional flavor to this healthy zucchini bread without extra ingredients.
• Oat flour. What is it? Basically just powdered oats. It adds a great texture, a different flavor, and a healthier aspect to this recipe. (See “quick tip” below)
• Overripe bananas. The riper the banana, the sweeter the bread (and overall the more flavorful it will be). Using a super-ripe banana makes a real difference–make sure it is covered in flecks of brown. The flecks indicate natural sugar inside.  The banana is also important for binding.
• Coconut oil. Make sure to get the measurement with the oil melted (not in the hardened state). Allow ample time for the coconut oil to cool down so you don’t add hot oil into the bread mixture; otherwise, it will seize up.

Tips For Success

• Thoroughly mash the banana. The riper the banana, the sweeter it is. We rely on that sweetness to naturally sweeten the bread without adding too much more brown sugar to it. The banana is also important for binding. Be sure to thoroughly mash the banana to a thick paste that looks like applesauce.
• Grate the zucchini on the LARGE holes of the grater. This bread is too wet/moist with finely shredded zucchini. (I’ve tried it and was not impressed with the results.)
• Wring out zucchini. While we don’t want to remove too much moisture from the zucchini since it’s what makes the bread moist, we do need to remove a bit. Take a few paper towels or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze the zucchini a couple of times to get out some of the excess moisture.
• Generously grease the bread pan.  I like to grease the bread pan with nonstick spray and then lightly dust with flour. There are few things as frustrating as trying to invert a loaf and having it fall apart or stick to the bottom. Alternatively, line the pan with parchment paper.

How To Know When This Healthy Zucchini Bread is Done

It can be tricky to know when quick breads are baked fully. There is a lot of variance in baking zucchini bread such as altitude, humidity, actual oven temperature, bread pan used, etc. Here are a few cues to look for and tips to keep in mind:

• Preventing under-baked zucchini bread: Make sure your oven is correctly calibrated; wait for the oven to fully preheat before adding the bread to the oven and position the loaf in the center of the oven.
• Visual cues for doneness: Bread has pulled away from the edges of the pan slightly and the top is caramelized and a deep brown color.
• Physical cue for doneness: A toothpick (or fork) inserted into the center of the healthy zucchini bread comes out clean or with a couple of moist (not wet) crumbs.

Healthy Zucchini Bread FAQs

Do you have to peel zucchini for zucchini bread?

Not at all! The skin adds texture and specks of color to the bread. It will cook and become fully tender once baked.

How do I cut zucchini for bread?

Use the standard-sized holes on a grater to grate the zucchini. If using a large zucchini, you may want to cut it in half horizontally first.

Can I make this zucchini bread into muffins?

While this particular recipe doesn’t convert perfectly to muffins, I have created a similar recipe that makes the perfect zucchini muffins. Recipe here: Healthy Zucchini Muffins

More Delicious Snacks

• Healthy Zucchini Muffins made with Greek yogurt
• Healthy Brownies with a chocolate frosting
• Chewy Granola Bars made with peanut butter and honey
• Banana Bites made 2 different ways!
• Oatmeal Bars with peanut butter topping

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4.85 from 46 votes

Healthy Zucchini Bread

By Chelsea Lords

This delicious Healthy Zucchini Bread is moist, flavorful, and packed with fresh zucchini! This bread uses better-for-you ingredients -- less sugar than most zucchini breads, Greek yogurt,super-ripe banana, coconut oil, blended up oats, and loads of zucchini of course! We make this bread with bowls, spoons and a whisk -- no stand or hand mixer required.

Prep Time: 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time: 50 minutes minutes

Cooling Time: 15 minutes minutes

Total Time: 1 hour hour 35 minutes minutes

Servings: 10 -12 slices

Equipment

• 8.5 x 4.5-inch bread pan

Ingredients  

1x2x3x

• ▢ 1/2 cup (125g) honey vanilla Greek yogurt (we love Greek Gods brand)
• ▢ 1 and 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• ▢ 1 large egg
• ▢ 1/3 cup (70g) coconut oil
• ▢ 2 tablespoons (45g) honey
• ▢ 3 tablespoons (55g) very ripe mashed banana
• ▢ 1/2 cup (91g) lightly packed brown sugar
• ▢ 1/2 cup (52g) oat flour (blended oats) -- Note 1
• ▢ 1 cup (125g) white flour or use white-whole wheat
• ▢ 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ▢ 1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt (or 1/4 tsp table salt)
• ▢ 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• ▢ 1 cup (142g) lightly packed grated zucchini grated on large holes
• ▢ 1/2 cup chocolate chips or chopped nuts, optional

Instructions 

• PREP: Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F (162 degrees C). Lightly grease and flour an 8.5 x 4.5-inch bread pan or line with parchment paper and set aside. Melt the coconut oil and then set aside to cool back to room temperature. (Measure coconut oil in melted not solid state.)
• ZUCCHINI PREP: Wash and dry the zucchini. Grate on the large holes of a grater. Place on 2 sheets of paper towel or a clean kitchen towel and squeeze 1-2 times. We don't want to remove too much liquid, just a bit. Set aside.
• WET INGREDIENTS: In a large bowl, combine Greek yogurt, vanilla extract, 1 large egg, coconut oil (melted, but cooled), and honey. In a separate small bowl, thoroughly mash the overripe banana to the consistency of applesauce. Add the mashed banana and brown sugar to the bowl. Briskly whisk ingredients together until smooth and combined.
• DRY INGREDIENTS: In a separate medium-sized bowl, stir together the oat flour (See Note 1), white or white-whole wheat flour, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
• ADD ZUCCHINI: Add the dry to the wet and mix a few times before adding in the grated zucchini. Add chocolate chips or nuts, if desired. Mix until ingredients are just combined. Overmixing will result in dense bread.
• BAKE: Use a spatula to scrape every bit of the mixture into the prepared pan and smooth the top with the back of the spatula. If desired, press a few more chocolate chips in the top here. Bake for 40-50 minutes or until a toothpick, when inserted into the center, comes out clean or with a few moist crumbs and the bread has begun to slightly pull away from the sides.
• COOL BREAD: Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes and then remove from the bread pan onto a cooling rack. Let the bread fully cool before cutting into the bread. (It's a bit crumbly right out of the oven.) Cut with a very sharp serrated knife.
• STORAGE: This bread stores 1-2 days at normal room temperature (wrapped tightly/stored in an airtight container). After 3-4 days, this bread is more prone to molding because of the ingredients used and the overall moistness of the bread. Warm the refrigerated (unwrapped) slices in the microwave for 5-10 seconds. Freeze any leftover slices for up to 3 months (individually wrapped and then placed in a zip-top bag). To thaw, set out wrapped slices at room temperature for about an hour.

Video

Recipe Notes

Note 1: Oats: I use regular old-fashioned or quick oats and pulse them in a blender or food processor until they resemble flour. Then measure and add to the bowl. The measurement should be taken after the oats are blended, not before.

Nutrition information does not include the optional nuts and chocolate chips.

Nutrition

Serving: 1serving | Calories: 279kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 6g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g | Monounsaturated Fat: 1g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 17mg | Sodium: 244mg | Potassium: 189mg | Fiber: 2g | Sugar: 16g | Vitamin A: 75IU | Vitamin C: 5mg | Calcium: 42mg | Iron: 2mg

Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.

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