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Incredibly moist and tender gluten free zucchini bread, made with tons of summer's pushiest vegetable. This is your new favorite zucchini recipe!
Why you'll love this recipe
Zucchini and squash are difficult vegetables for baking because they hold so much moisture. In baking, excess moisture tends to make baked goods mushy and flavorless, and prevent some of the browning that creates flavor and adds different textures like a crisp crust.
In this gluten free zucchini bread recipe, we remove much of the moisture from the zucchini by shredding it, placing it in a tea towel or a fine mesh bag, and wringing out as much of the excess water as possible. We then puree some of the zucchini with oil and some of the other wet ingredients in the recipe to create an emulsion that traps enough moisture during baking to create a tender crumb that still has tons of flavor.
Plus, if you have someone in your family that hates vegetables, you can sneak some of them in by serving this lightly sweet, moist and tender zucchini bread. You can't taste the actual zucchini at all, but it's still in there! And since it's made with oil, not butter, it's also naturally dairy free.
what's in it
Recipe ingredients
- All purpose gluten free flour blend – Be sure to use one of my recommended flour blends, including xanthan gum so your bread holds together and stays fresh. You can't use a single ingredient flour like almond flour in this recipe.
- Salt – balances out and complements all the other ingredients
- Baking powder – adds rise in the oven. Make sure your baking powder is fresh, and measure it carefully
- Baking soda – helps the bread brown in the oven
- Cinnamon – adds a lovely, warm spicy but subtle taste to your bread; you can leave it out, though, if prefer a more plain, straightforward flavor
- Chocolate chips – optional, but I do love the richness that they add to this delicious bread
- Sugar – I use both granulated and light brown sugar to give this gf zucchini bread its sweetness, tenderness, and depth of flavor
- Oil – We use a neutral oil (options include canola, vegetable, grapeseed, peanut, safflower, peanut, or avocado oil) to blend with some of the grated, drained zucchini to create an emulsion that adds tons of moisture and tenderizes the bread
- Zucchini – be sure to remove as much moisture as possible or your zucchini bread will have an intended bouncy texture and may not bake all the way through
- Eggs – these help provide lift and help bind it together so it slices cleanly
How to prepare zucchini for gluten free baking
Zucchini and other summer squash naturally have a ton of moisture, and they grow so quickly (and harvesting the vegetables makes the plant produce even more!). The moisture isn't a problem for a recipe like this one, which could easily be designed to account for the moisture since it's not being baked until crisp, like our gluten free zucchini tots.
But baking requires consistency, and the moisture in zucchini varies tremendously from one vegetable to the next. Draining the zucchini of as much moisture as possible before measuring it by weight is the way we standardize our ingredients.
You can drain the grated zucchini by placing it in in the center of a tea towel (just a kitchen towel with a flat weave that doesn't shed) or even an old t shirt. Just wrap the cloth around the grated vegetable, and squeeze until the liquid is all gone.
Using nut milk bags for draining moisture
You can also use cheese cloth to do the same, but it tends to be too fragile and tears easily under pressure. My favorite way to drain the moisture from zucchini and cauliflower is with a nut milk bag, which is just a strong mesh bag designed for filtering out the nut pulp left behind from making a nut milk.
When you use a nut milk bag to drain zucchini or cauliflower, you're preserving the solid and discarding the liquid. Drain it over the sink and flush the liquid away.
Here's my favorite nut milk bag (affiliate link; feel free to shop around), if you're interested. I like that it's larger than many, and strong enough for repeated use. In fact, mine has lasted through many years of regular.
How to make gluten free zucchini bread
This is a simple recipe that is mixed together beginning with dry ingredients, then adding wet ingredients. But the wet ingredients are prepared a bit differently. Let's walk through the recipe:
First prepare the zucchini
We begin with shredded zucchini by grating it, skins and all, on a standard size box grater. Then, to make sure your zucchini has the same amount of moisture as expected, you will wring out as much moisture as possible. There are some success tips on how to remove moisture from zucchini above and in the recipe below.
Whisk dry ingredients and blend wet
Next, we place all the dry ingredients (gluten free flour blend including xanthan gum, baking powder, baking soda, salt, the optional ground cinnamon, and the sugars) in a large mixing bowl, and combine them well.
Be sure to break up any clumps in the brown sugar. Toss the chocolate chips in a bit of the dry ingredients and set them aside.
Add a bit more than half of the shredded and drained zucchini to the dry ingredients and mix throughout. The rest of the prepared zucchini is then blended fully with the room temperature eggs, oil, and vanilla. That puree is then mixed into the dry ingredients until combined.
Transfer the raw batter to a loaf pan and bake
The batter at this point will be relatively pourable, and smooth except for the shredded zucchini that hasn't been pureed. It will also be light green in color.
Mix in the chocolate chips tossed in some of the dry ingredients, transfer the raw zucchini bread batter to a greased, lined standard loaf pan, and top with more chocolate chips. Bake until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out mostly clean, maybe with a few moist crumbs attached.
This bread doesn't burn especially easy, so don't worry too much about overbaking it—unless you're using a dark colored loaf pan that attracts more heat than we'd like. Be sure it's baked completely or like most under-baked baked goods it will collapse as it cools. Allow it to cool for a bit in the pan and then transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool completely.
My Pro Tip
Expert tips
Don't skip pureeing some of the zucchini
Back when I first made this recipe, I added in mashed banana, but after much tweaking and experimenting, I now omit the banana and add pureed zucchini instead, alongside the eggs and oil. Don't be tempted to skip this step, as it really boosts the moisture content, keeping your gluten free quick bread soft and delicious.
Toss the grated zucchini in the dry ingredients
Toss the grated zucchini with the dry ingredients so the pieces don’t clump together. They’re baked right into the loaf, and show up as tiny green flecks in the bread.
Measure the gluten free flour blend the right way
While I include a volume measurement in my gluten free zucchini bread recipe, I much prefer that you pay attention to the weight measurement instead.
My reasoning is simple: You'll more closely match my irresistible results when you measure flour by weight (easy to do with a kitchen scale), than if you pack it into a cup and hope for the best.
Really wring out that zucchini
As you're grating your zucchini, you're sure to notice that this once firm, dry vegetable quickly turns into a soggy pile. For this reason, it's extremely important that you take the time to wring the excess moisture out of your zucchini.
It's true that the point of zucchini is to add tons of moisture to bread, but if it's too moist, your bread is going to come out gooey. You may be able to save it by baking longer, but there could also be a point where there's simply too much water to bake off.
substitutions
Ingredient substitutions
Dairy free
Luckily, since this gluten free quick bread is made with oil instead of butter, it's naturally dairy free. Be careful about your chocolate chips, though. Some are dairy-free, but others are not.
Make sure yours are if you need to be dairy-free. The semi-sweet chocolate chips from Trader Joe's are dairy-free.
Egg free
Since there are two eggs in this recipe, you may be able to successfully replace each of them with a “chia egg” (1 tablespoon ground white chia seeds + 1 tablespoon lukewarm water, mixed and allowed to gel). I haven't tried this substitution, though, so proceed with caution! A “flax egg” might also work, but tends to add a truly unwelcome flavor.
FAQs
Zucchini in its natural state is always gluten free.
I find that a box grater is the easiest tool for grating zucchini. I suggest leaving the skins on your zucchini to speed up the preparation process.
Also remember that freshly grated zucchini is loaded with excess moisture, so you'll need to diligently drain it off to maintain the proper ratios for your zucchini bread batter.
No! If you're not a fan of veggies, you'll be thrilled to know that the taste of zucchini does not come through in this recipe for gluten free zucchini bread.
Instead, the zucchini adds a ton of moisture to the batter so that you end up with a bread so tender, it's almost like a dessert.
Absolutely! Feel free to add walnuts, raisins, shredded coconut, and other mix-ins to your zucchini bread. So as not to mess around too much with ingredient ratios, I suggest sticking with one cup or less of mix-ins.
You're always free to experiment with my recipes by substituting ingredients. Unfortunately, I just can't promise what your final results will be like, and the flour blend choice is the most important one you'll make!
For this recipe, my gluten free all purpose flour of choice comes from Better Batter or Cup4Cup, as discussed one the gf flour blend page. I have not tried using almond flour, coconut flour, or any other blends, so I can't say how they'll turn out — but I wouldn't recommend using any of those flours in anything other than a recipe that was designed to be made with them.
You can use frozen grated zucchini—but only if you had removed most of its moisture before freezing it. Otherwise, frozen zucchini with all its moisture would become mushy as it defrosted. To make this recipe easier and quicker, just grate and drain extra zucchini and then freeze it to use another time. Just let it defrost, gently squeeze out any remaining moisture you didn't remove the first time, and then proceed with the recipe as written.
I don't like this recipe as muffins, instead of a quick bread. Instead, use this recipe for gluten free zucchini muffins instead. It's perfect! And don't miss our superfood muffins, made with almond flour, grated zucchini, and grated carrots.
I don't like this recipe as muffins, instead of a quick bread. Instead, use this recipe for gluten free zucchini muffins instead. It's perfect! And don't miss our superfood muffins, made with almond flour, grated zucchini, and grated carrots.
If your bread sank in the middle as it cooled, it wasn't baked all the way through. That may have been because your oven runs hot (most ovens do, including mine), which is why I always recommend baking with a standalone oven thermometer that you replace often. In addition, if you didn't wring enough moisture out of your zucchini, the extra moisture won't be able to bake all the way out, leaving you with a sunken middle and most likely a gummy texture.
Why you need gluten free zucchini baking recipes
When the zucchini plants start to flower, you know you've got to get your recipes ready if you hope to stay ahead of things. Or at least not falling miserably behind. That's why I consider every no-fail recipe for baking with zucchini to be a public service!
Zucchini naturally holds so much moisture, but can be drained of most of it. You can make use of all its moisture and use it in cooking to add creaminess without adding dairy by pureeing it into your tomato soup. Or you can use it in baking in this gluten free zucchini bread, and these other favorite gluten free zucchini recipes:
Featured Recipes
Gluten Free Zucchini Muffins
make ahead/leftovers
Storage instructions
When you keep it tightly wrapped in plastic wrap and a zip-top bag, your leftover gluten free zucchini bread should last about 3 days on the counter. Just keep it sealed tight, and squeeze out as much air as possible from the bag.
How to freeze zucchini bread
If you've made lots of extra gf zucchini bread in an effort to use up all your zucchini (been there, done that!), you can store your extra loaves in the freezer to enjoy later.
I like to store whole loaves. First, let your zucchini bread cool completely. Next, slice it and wrap the slices in groups of 2 or 3 tightly in plastic wrap and then place the bread inside a zip-top bag. Your bread will easily last up to six month in the freezer so long as it's carefully wrapped.
When you're ready to eat some gluten free zucchini bread, just leave a group of slices on your kitchen counter or in the fridge overnight to defrost. Refresh in the microwave or, better yet, your toaster oven on low.
Gluten Free Zucchini Bread Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups (210 g) all purpose gluten free flour blend, (I used Better Batter here; please click thru for full info on appropriate blends)
- ½ teaspoon xanthan gum, omit if your blend already contains it
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, (optional)
- ⅔ cup (4 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate chips, (use dairy free chips to keep the recipe dairy free, if necessary)
- ½ cup (100 g) granulated sugar
- ½ cup (109 g) packed light brown sugar
- 2 ⅛ cups (215 g) drained grated zucchini, (weight is zucchini as drained of liquid; See Recipe Notes)
- 2 (100 g (weighed out of shell)) eggs, at room temperature
- ¼ cup (56 g) neutral oil, (like grapeseed, canola or vegetable oil)
- 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 325°F. Grease a standard 9-inch x 5-inch loaf pan and set it aside.
- In a large bowl, place flour, xanthan gum, salt, baking soda, baking powder and optional cinnamon, and whisk to combine well.
- Place the chocolate chips in a small bowl, add about 1 teaspoon of the dry ingredients to the chips and toss to combine. Set the chips aside.
- To the flour mixture, add the granulated sugar and light brown sugar, and whisk to combine (working out any lumps in the brown sugar).
- Add 1 1/4 cups (125 g) of the grated zucchini to the dry ingredients, and mix gently to combine. Set aside the dry ingredients.
- Place the remaining 7/8 cup (88 g) of grated zucchini, the eggs, oil and vanilla in a blender, and pulse until well-blended and beginning to emulsify.
- Create a well in the center of the bowl of dry ingredients, and add the wet ingredient mixture. The batter will be very wet.
- Add about 1/2 cup of the chocolate chips and reserved dry ingredients to the batter and mix until the chips are evenly distributed throughout the batter.
- Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan, and smooth the top with a wet spatula. Scatter the remaining chocolate chips on top and press down lightly to adhere.
- Place the loaf pan in the center of the preheated oven.
- Bake, rotating once, until the top is golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the center of each loaf comes out with a few moist crumbs attached (about 50 minutes).
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 30 minutes in the loaf pan before transferring to a wire rack to cool completely before slicing and serving.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Newly diagnosed with celiac and lupus. Made this tonight and it was great! Family even enjoyed and didn’t know it was gluten free. I am so glad for this site. Makes me feel like this new food lifestyle might not be so bad.
I’m so glad you found me, and that you already made this recipe and that it gave you some hope of normalcy. That’s what we’re all about here—bringing back what’s familiar, so you don’t have to miss a beat. :)
How many plants did Brian H. plant this year?
Good question, Donia! You know, I’m not 100% sure. I think it might even be 3 or 4!! Too too many, for sure. :)
I have a bunch of zucchini in the fridge, so I think I will try this today. I like that you eliminated the banana. I like my banana bread and zucchini bread as separate (but equally delicious) entities. Thanks!
Me too, Michelle. It seemed like the right thing to do. :)
yum!
Made this tonight, and it was AMAZING!!! I don’t have a scale, so I used 1 cup of chocolate chips. Not sure how that compares to what I was *supposed* to have used, but for the previous poster who wanted it more “chocolately”, I thought it was a pretty strong chocolate flavor! YUM!!! Sent some home with our babysitter so I wouldn’t eat a whole loaf!! Other loaf is going with us to a playgroup tomorrow ;)
Very generous of you, Gabrielle, all that sharing! Good thing the recipe makes 2. :)
xoxo Nicole
Hi again! Made this as soon as I saw you posted it:) Everyone loved it, big time. I make everything gluten free for me, and then just share with my whole extended family. Sure haven’t had any complaints about your recipes yet. Can’t wait for more from the new book.
Thanks, Kristy, for letting me know how it turned out. So glad!
xoxo Nicole
Ah, finally, a way to get my daughter to eat something green – throw some chocolate chips in there, brilliant! Will try soon, maybe after hitting the farmer’s market this week. Personally, I’d like to be Zuked since I live in a Brooklyn apartment and have no place to garden. Any extra zucchinis are welcome my way!
Don’t tempt people, Dana! People like me. No community garden down there in Brooklyn? I don’t even think zucchini has much nutritional value, to be honest. It’s all water! I guess I could in fact look that one up, especially since my kids ask me about that all the time allthetime.
xoxo Nicole
I bet this would taste amazing with a smear of cream cheese on top! Definitely bookmarking this recipe to use in the near future. I love the addition of the chocolate chips instead of the more traditional walnuts! More chocolate= more better :)
Oh, yes, Kowa. Everything is good with a schmear! And more chocolate is more better, no doubt.
xoxo Nicole
So, could I use your mock Better Batter flour mixture here? Or would you suggest another GF flour mix here?
Can’t wait to make this!!
Of course, Dana. That definitely qualifies as a “high-quality all-purpose gluten-free flour.”
xoxo Nicole
Hi Nicole – All I can say is “YUM!!!” can’t wait to try this. Only problem is that my one daughter hates banana. Can I substitute more Zucchini … or maybe some applesauce for the banana? Or something else perhaps? Could I also take the same recipe and use pumpkin instead of the zucchini?
Thanks so much for all you do. Can’t wait to get your cookbook.
I would suggest trying it with 1 whole cup of oil, rather than 1/2 cup, if you’re looking to eliminate the banana, Jane. Not applesauce, which has a much, much higher water content. But I have to say that you don’t actually taste the banana in the finished product, if that matters.
xoxo Nicole