Olive Oil Zucchini Bread

By Melissa Clark

Updated May 29, 2026

  • Christopher Testani for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Yossy Arefi.
Media 1 of 2
Total Time
1½ hours
Rating
5(6,598)
Comments
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This moist loaf, made with olive oil and yogurt, is less sweet and more complexly flavored than most zucchini breads. Grated lemon zest gives a gentle brightness, while brown sugar adds a caramel sweetness, and cinnamon makes it spicy and rich. Serve slices plain or buttered, or spread thickly with cream cheese for a more tangy and luscious variation.

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Ingredients

Yield:One 8-inch loaf

  • Butter, for the pan

  • 1 ½ cups/185 grams grated zucchini  

  • ⅔ cup/140 grams light brown sugar

  • ⅓ cup/80 milliliters olive oil (or other oil such as safflower or canola)

  • ⅓ cup/80 milliliters plain Greek yogurt

  • 2 large eggs

  • 1 teaspoon/5 milliliters vanilla extract

  • 1 ½ cups/190 grams all-purpose flour

  • ½ teaspoon/3 grams salt

  • ½ teaspoon/3 grams baking soda

  • ½ teaspoon/2 grams baking powder

  • 1 ½ teaspoons/4 grams ground cinnamon

  • ¼ teaspoon/1 gram ground nutmeg

  • 1 teaspoon/2 grams finely grated lemon zest

  • ½ cup/55 grams chopped walnuts (optional)

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 350 degrees. Butter an 8-inch loaf pan.

  2. Step 2

    In a large bowl, use a rubber spatula to mix together the grated zucchini, sugar, olive oil, yogurt, eggs and vanilla extract.

  3. Step 3

    Whisk together the flour, salt, baking soda, baking powder, lemon zest and spices in a separate bowl. Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Fold in the walnuts if using.

  4. Step 4

    Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan and bake for 40 to 55 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through baking. The bread will be done when a toothpick inserted into the middle comes out clean.

  5. Step 5

    Cool on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove the bread from the pan and cool on a rack completely before cutting and serving.

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Ratings

5 out of 5
6,598 user ratings
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Comments

Ju

Hi Melissa,

I am nine years old, I live in Brazil and I love your recipes. I enjoy a lot watching your videos.
My favorite vegetable is zucchini.

Thank you
Ju

Susan

I reduced the sugar to 1/2 cup, and added 1/2 tsp each ginger and/or cardamom. It added a nice complexity to the flavor.

RLIZA

I divided the batter in a 12-cup greased muffin pan so it's done faster at 18 minutes. Don't have walnuts, used choco chips instead. Perfection -moist and yummy.

SF Home Chef

Any zucchini bread recipe that doesn’t call for the extra work of squeezing water out is a winner in my book. This came together quickly and easily and the result was a great crumb and flavor. Only change I made was to add 1/4 tsp cardamom.

Joel C.

I followed the recipe to a T, but I found the flavor to be a bit bland. I was expecting more flavors in each bite. However, I did find the moistness & texture to be amazing.

Pam

This was delicious. I made the recipe as written except added cardamom and ginger that was suggested in another comment. The zest elevated the flavor. The problem: I stored it on a cake plate with a glass dome on the counter. Three days later there was light condensation under the dome. The loaf top turned mushy, and the sweetness was gone. Yeast and bacteria. I had to throw it out. I've never had this problem before with banana, blueberry, or pumpkin breads that were moist and stored this way.

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