Lemon Zucchini Bread
Updated May 17, 2026
Simple and quick to make, this Lemon Zucchini Bread is bursting with flavor - great to bake if you don't know what to make with zucchini!
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Use Zucchini to Make Bread
If you don’t know what to make with zucchini, turn it into a Lemon Zucchini Bread, which pretty much tastes like cake thanks to the lemon glaze. This is one of my favorite ways to use up zucchini during the summer. And the best part is that you’re sneaking in extra vegetables into a sweet loaf, but no one can taste the zucchini!
Happy Baking!
– Yumna
Lemon Zucchini Bread Ingredients
- Dry Ingredients: You’ll need flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. You can substitute 1:1 gluten-free flour if you’d like.
- Wet Ingredients: Use granulated sugar to rub into lemon zest to make the whole loaf taste extra lemony. Then mix that with eggs, oil, yogurt and vanilla extract.
- Glaze: The glaze is optional, but my family will tell you it’s the best part of the Lemon Zucchini Bread. You just need powder sugar, lemon juice and vanilla extract all mixed together.
How to Make Lemon Zucchini Bread
Lemon Zucchini Bread
Simple and quick to make, this sweet loaf is bursting with flavor. This lemon zucchini bread is fresh and zingy and makes for a wonderful dessert.
Ingredients
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- 3 tablespoons lemon zest about 3 lemons
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- ⅓ cup olive oil
- ⅓ cup full fat Greek yogurt room temperature
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 ½ cups grated zucchini about 1 large zucchini
For the lemon glaze:
- ½ cup powdered sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- ¼ teaspoon vanilla extract
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F and line an 8×4-inch loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Set aside.
- In another large bowl, place the sugar and lemon zest and use your fingers to rub them together until well blended and fragrant. Add the eggs, oil, yogurt, and vanilla, and whisk to combine.
- Transfer the dry ingredients on top of the wet ingredients and mix with a spatula until no streaks remain. Fold in the zucchini.
- Transfer the batter into the prepared pan, smooth out the top, and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean. If necessary, tent the pan with foil after 45 minutes of baking to prevent the top from browning too much.
- Remove from the oven and allow the bread to cool completely in the pan, set on a wire rack. Once cooled, remove the loaf.
- Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cooled bread and serve immediately.
Equipment
Notes
My Top Tip: Don’t squeeze the zucchini of excess water. This helps to keep the bread nice and moist. If your zucchini is particularly watery (if it is larger), you can dab it lightly with a paper towel
Storage: Store in an airtight container at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Freezing: You can freeze the bread for up to 3 months. Just thaw overnight in the fridge and bring to room temperature before serving.
This recipe has been updated in May 2026, but if you like the original version, you can still find it here:
Cooking spray
1 ½ cups zucchini grated, about 1 ½ medium zucchinis
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup full fat Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons lemon zest about 3 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts optional
For the lemon glaze:
½ cup Powdered sugar
½ lemon juiced
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper and cooking spray.
In a large bowl, fold together zucchini, sugar, olive oil, Greek yogurt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Fold dry ingredients into wet and mix until incorporated. Fold in walnuts (if using).
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45-50 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and slice.
Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cooled bread and serve immediately.
Cooking spray
1 ½ cups zucchini grated, about 1 ½ medium zucchinis
¾ cup packed light brown sugar
⅓ cup olive oil
⅓ cup full fat Greek yogurt
2 large eggs
3 tablespoons lemon zest about 3 lemons
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 ½ cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ teaspoon Kosher salt
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ cup chopped walnuts optional
For the lemon glaze:
½ cup Powdered sugar
½ lemon juiced
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
½ teaspoon Kosher salt
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F and line a loaf pan with parchment paper and cooking spray.
In a large bowl, fold together zucchini, sugar, olive oil, Greek yogurt, eggs, lemon zest, and vanilla extract.
In a medium bowl, whisk flour, cinnamon, baking powder, salt, and baking soda. Fold dry ingredients into wet and mix until incorporated. Fold in walnuts (if using).
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 45-50 minutes until golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, rotating the pan halfway through. Let cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove and slice.
Meanwhile, make the glaze. Whisk all ingredients until smooth. Drizzle glaze over cooled bread and serve immediately.
Nutrition
Serving: 1slice, Calories: 218kcal, Carbohydrates: 35g, Protein: 4g, Fat: 7g, Saturated Fat: 1g, Polyunsaturated Fat: 1g, Monounsaturated Fat: 5g, Trans Fat: 0.003g, Cholesterol: 28mg, Sodium: 193mg, Potassium: 85mg, Fiber: 1g, Sugar: 18g, Vitamin A: 72IU, Vitamin C: 5mg, Calcium: 38mg, Iron: 1mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate. It will vary based on cooking method and specific ingredients used.
Did You Make This Recipe?
Recipe Tips
- Don’t peel the zucchini skin. As the zucchini bread cooks, the skin dissolves into the bread and is barely noticeable after baking, even for your pickiest eaters. It would be an unnecessary step.
- Don’t squeeze the zucchini to remove excess water. This helps to keep the bread nice and moist. If your zucchini is particularly watery (if it is larger), you can dab it lightly with a paper towel
- Don’t overmix the batter. When you add the dry ingredients, fold them in rather than stir. This will keep the gluten from overdeveloping
- Let the loaf fully cool before glazing it. If it is still warm, the lemon glaze will slide off of it.
Comments
I love trying your recipes. As I read your zucchini lemon loaf one, I noticed it doesn’t read to add some of the lemon juice to the wet ingredients is this correct?
Great question!! We are only using the zest in this recipe since there is a lot of moisture from the zucchini. I used to make zucchini breads by squeezing zucchini to remove the moisture, and I find this so much easier. Hope you like the recipe!
Hi, I was wondering if you can substitute the sugar in the recipe for the zucchini bread or just not use it?
This way it could be used as a bread instead of a cake?
Love your recipe
Hi! I wouldn’t recommend leaving the sugar out completely because it adds moisture and helps give the bread its soft texture. You can reduce it to ½ cup if you want it less sweet, and you can skip the glaze to make it feel more like a breakfast bread than a cake. Or maybe try my zucchini bread recipe! It still has brown sugar, but the flavor is a bit more classic than lemony.
Are we squeezing out liquid from zucchini? Recipe looks nice, plan on making tomorrow!
Unless your zucchini is especially large and watery, I actually don’t recommend squeezing out excess water. It helps to keep the bread nice and moist. Enjoy!
I had this delicious bread at one of my church’s functions. It was delicious. I am looking forward to making it. Thank you.
Aww, so glad you got to try it and can now make it at home! Enjoy!
I have just made this loaf again for the third time. Thanks for a delicious recipe, it’s such a hit with my family.
I slice and freeze half the batch for school lunch boxes, it thaws beautifully from frozen.
I am so happy to hear that you like the Zucchini bread! I’d love for you to try my Avocado Quick Bread or Carrot Banana, and let me know what you think!
Oh my goodness! Just made this recipe. So moist and full of flavor! Delicious. Thank you!
I’m so glad you thought so! Yay!! You’re so welcome.
Recipes was excellent👌🏻👌🏻
Thank you for your excellent page❤️🙏🏻
Yay! Thank you!
What size of loaf pan did you use?
The dimensions are 8.5 x 4.5 x 2.75 inches! https://amzn.to/35y4vdw
It was amazing and I’ll totally be making it again!
Thank you! I love that!
Can I substitute the eggs for flax eggs?
I have yet to try that with this recipe, but it should work!
This recipe is a 10/10!!!! I changed the recipe a little by using almond extract instead of vanilla in both my glaze and the bread. Added walnuts on top and it was delicious!!! Everyone in the house enjoyed it and I’ll be making this again😀
This recipe is a 10/10!!!! I changed the recipe a little by using almond extract instead of vanilla in both my glaze and the bread. Added walnuts on top and it was delicious!!! Everyone in the house enjoyed it and I’ll be making this again😀
Thank you so much! I love that!!
This Lemon Zucchini Loaf is excellent & easy as you said.
The only change I will make is much less salt. The salt was overpowering.
Thank you so much! Noted!
What can you sub the yogurt out with?
I have yet to try this recipe without yogurt!
Can you please convert the recipe to grams or ounces as I don’t understand recipes with cups. I’d love to try this one
Here are rough estimates in grams:
▢Cooking spray
▢170g cups grated zucchini (about 1 ½ medium zucchinis)
▢150g light brown sugar
▢71g olive oil
▢71g full fat plain Greek yogurt
▢2 large eggs
▢18g lemon zest (about 3 lemons)
▢4.2g vanilla extract
▢180g all purpose flour
▢5g ground cinnamon
▢4.8g teaspoon baking powder
▢4g kosher salt
▢2.5g teaspoon baking soda
▢60g chopped walnuts optional
For the lemon glaze:
▢65g confectioner’s sugar
▢½ lemon juiced
▢2g vanilla extract
▢3g kosher salt
Love it thank you for all your hard work 👍👍👍
Yay!! You’re so welcome!
I have an over grown/sized zucchini!
Can this be used
Thanks
Yes, that zucchini will work in this recipe!
is it possible to cook it in a pan if I don’t want to use the oven? Do you have any indication on how to do this?
I have not tried this recipe using a pan to bake the bread. Let me know if you give that a try!