Zucchini Banana Bread
The best of all quick bread worlds, this one-bowl zucchini banana bread is fantastic! Lightly sweet and perfectly fluffy and moist, this recipe makes one amazing loaf (and muffins, too!).
I mean, really, if we’re being honest, you and I both know this zucchini banana bread was just a matter of time. (And quite honestly, I’m ashamed of myself that it’s taken 11 years of blogging to actually merge two of the best quick breads on the planet into one divine recipe.)
I already love banana bread. Heart and soul. I have several killer versions (namely this one and this one).
And this zucchini bread is my ultimate favorite z. bread in the history of ever. Put ’em together and what do you get? A really stellar quick bread combo, that’s what.
Born out of a desire to use up garden zucchini (<– this might be the most repeated sentence uttered by millions of garden growers in the month of August) AND the bananas ripening for destruction on my counter, this zucchini banana bread is a real winner.
Light and fluffy, like any good quick bread, it’s also sturdy and wholesome (especially if you use whole wheat flour!). Also, it’s a one bowl wonder, and you know I am never going to complain about that.
I toss the shredded zucchini in at the bitter batter end (when just a few dry streaks still remain).
And then, like all good quick breads (and muffins), the batter only needs mixed until just combined. Over mixing can make the bread heavy and dense and gummy. We don’t want any of those things.
In addition to every day green zucchini, I’ve also used my bumper crop of yellow zucchini (not yellow crookneck squash, although that might work, too) for this recipe, and it works just as well. Although, admittedly, the yellow flecks in the batter don’t make me quite as happy as the pretty green bits. Yes, I’m a weirdo. I’m ok with that.
One question I get a lot with zucchini recipes is:
Do I need to peel the zucchini before shredding?
No siree! I never peel zucchini before using it in baked goods like bread and muffins. I give the zucchini a good wash, trim off the ends, and then grate it on the small holes of my box grater or food processor (if I feel like cleaning the dang thing). I prefer it finely shredded.
This recipe makes one loaf of bread. But it can easily be doubled (or tripled – if you feel like overachieving on the zucchini banana bread front).
Baked to perfection, your house is going to smell amazing. That’s pretty much a no fail, money back guarantee.
Exercise some patience
While it may be tempting to dig in to the bread straight out of the oven, I promise you that if you wait, it will be worth it. I’ve tasted various quick breads warm out of the oven before and been totally disappointed. The texture was weird and the flavor bland.
But when I went back to try the bread later that day (or the next), it was like a whole different loaf of bread! Cooling the delicate quick bread makes all the difference. The flavors develop, and more importantly, the texture is no longer shiver-worthy.
This zucchini banana bread stays soft and moist for several days, so it’s a great one to make ahead of time if you need it. And it freezes great! You can whip a loaf of this bread up in minutes – makes a perfect snack, dessert, or breakfast! If you want to make muffins out of the recipe, I’ve given some suggestions below in the notes.
Zucchini: Yellow or green zucchini both work well in this recipe. You'll start with about 10 ounces of zucchini (2 small/medium zucchini) and end up with about 6-7 ounces once it is shredded and squeezed dry. I don't peel before shredding. I prefer shredding on the small holes of my box grater/food processor. Squeeze the zucchini dry rolled up in a clean kitchen towel - or my lazy way: grab handfuls and give a couple squeezes over the kitchen sink and call it good. Whole Wheat Flour: this recipe works well using whole wheat flour (I always use soft or hard white wheat - hard red wheat produces a much darker/heavier/denser baked good). If you aren't using a kitchen scale, measure the flour with a light hand. Muffins: this will make about 14-16 muffins, depending on how full you fill the liners. Bake for 15-17 minutes. As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.Zucchini Banana Bread
Ingredients
Instructions
Notes
Recommended Products
How often do you recommend eating it?
Like once or twice a week maybe?
I love the sound of this bread. So excited I’m just dying to make it. My question however, is it possible to just omit the sour cream? Or is there a decent substitution I can make?
You can use Greek yogurt or plain yogurt
Have you ever made pumpkin banana bread?
I don’t believe I have.
While the taste was good on this one, I had the same outcome as some other reviewers: it turned out gummy throughout the bottom part of the bread (there was a stripe of thick gummy-ness from about 5/8ths to 7/8ths down and then a thinner stripe at about 3/8ths from the top).
I squeezed my finely grated zucchini thoroughly and weighed out 6.6 ounces for the recipe. I didn’t over-mix. I baked in a 1.5 qt glass bread pan (which I use successfully for Mel’s other recipes, including the Best Zucchini Bread, the Sour Cream Banana Bread and the Cream Cheese Banana Bread with Sweet Cinnamon topping).
I’m at 1,300 ft in elevation & baked the bread at 325 degrees (I always turn it down 25 degrees for glass when Mel’s recipe is based off metal) and baked it for an hour. The bread was still rather wet in the middle so I did another 23 minutes and it looked fine all around so I pulled it, waited 10 minutes & turned it out. We ate it after it cooled, about three hours later.
Not sure what happened with this one, but I’ll be sticking to the separate recipes from Mel those have never failed me and are fantastic (especially the cream cheese cinnamon one– oh my heavens!).
Sorry this was kind of a miss for you, Chelsea.
Made this today. It domed and cracked and tasted delicious.
Glad it turned out well, Jill!
This is delicious! I couldn’t wait until it cooled all the way – and boy is it good warm right from the oven. I used 4, small baking pans and cooked it for 35 mins (with 1 cup white whole wheat and 3/4 cup regular flour)
Question – do you ever freeze overripe bananas and use them in baking recipes? I often do and it seems to work out well. Today the bananas had freezer burn pretty badly, so I poured off some extra liquid before mashing. The frozen bananas also work well in smoothies.
I usually use most of our frozen bananas for smoothies but that’s awesome they work so well in baked goods, too!
This was delicious! I had to try since I had both zucchini and banana on my counter. I made in on Tuesday morning and we went back to school on Wednesday. Somehow in the craziness of the week there were three still in the container on Friday morning. When I opened the container the smell was awful. So, my only caution would be to eat quickly or perhaps refrigerate or freeze instead of room temperature for more than a day. We’ll definitely try them again since more bananas have browned and I didn’t have time to finish dealing with all the zucchini. Gotta love the back to school crazy!
Good luck with the craziness, Bethany!
My sister & I both made this recipe separately (& in different states too) & both had the same problem with the bread never cooking all the way. We both followed the directions & I baked 15 minutes over the 50 & she did 25 minutes over. But the toothpick still came out wet/moist. The top half of the loaf was baked but the bottom wasn’t. Still tasted delicious & we still happily devoured it but wondering what we may have done wrong?
Hey Emily – out of curiosity, did you or your sister weigh the zucchini? How well do you think you squeezed it dry? I’ve noticed if my zucchini is too wet, sometimes the bottom 1/2-inch of the bread stays gummy.
A great tip I think I got from an old post of Mel’s- use a nylon nut milk bag for squeezing the zucchini. I got one from Amazon and three (?) years later it still looks like new even though I use it all the time. It’s absolutely the best ever for squeezing water out of zucchini, cukes, spinach, etc. Cleans up quick, dries fast. Totally worth adding to your kitchen arsenal. I can’t remember the brand, but maybe Mel does.
I want to put walnuts in this, do you know how much to add without hurting the recipe?
I haven’t tried it myself but you could start with 1/2 cup and see how that goes.
Made this into muffins, and even with several tweaks (used 1/2 oil 1/2 applesauce, replaced the egg with flaxseed and water/”flaxegg”, and omitted the sour cream and just left a little extra water in the zucchini to compensate) they were AWESOME! Thanks for this super yummy and adaptable recipe! Got my freezer stocked with muffins for snacks and school lunches – yay!
Amazing, Alicia!
I had some ripe bananas and a half eaten garden zucchini and I was deciding if I should make zucchini bread or banana bread but wishing for a recipe that used both. I decided to check your website to see what your recipes were for either banana or zucchini and the first recipe that popped up was a recipe to use both. MIRACLE! It is baking in the oven right now. Excited to try it out!
Fancy that timing, Allie! I love that! I hope you loved the finished product!
On my list! Mel – can I ask an unrelated question about your gift guide? You listed the Jim Stott Magic kit one year. Do you still highly recommend it – thinking of 10 year old grandson – bored with buying Legos ha.
Yes, I do recommend it! My 12-year old still plays with it all the time and is quite the little card magician!
Great – ordering – thanks!
There’s a saying in my area: you can tell a person has no friends if you see them buying zucchini. Well- I buy it (even tho I have friends,) my kids are grown.I am too busy for any kind of garden, etc. I wish my first zucchini bread experience had not been a bad one-
mushy texture, bland, etc. because I’m hesitant to try straight up z-bread. But- we are in love with your banana bread( the buttermilk one) so maybe this recipe will be the one to get me to give it a second chance.
Great timing with this recipe! We had both aimless zucchini and “ripe for destruction” bananas that were attracting flies! I doubled it and used half white whole wheat/half all-purpose flour, baked in 9″x5″ pans, and it came out light, fluffy, and delicious.
Thanks for letting me know, Vicky!
Can’t wait to try this!
Can you substitute regular yogurt for sour cream? I have some yogurt left over after making your awesome zucchini bread.
Yes! Should work great.
Holy Moly…these are sooo good! Kids are in for a treat when they get home from school! Thanks for another great one!!
Thanks so much, Hilary! Hope your kids were happy with the ready-to-go snack!
Zunana Bread!
Bancchini Bread!
Hahahahaha
What can I use instead of bananas?
You might consider just making this zucchini bread: https://www.melskitchencafe.com/the-best-zucchini-bread/
Just last night I looked at the overly ripe bananas and the zucchini on my counter and had an inner debate on whether to make your Quick Blender Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins of your Best Zucchini Muffins. I KID YOU NOT, the thought crossed my mind, “I wish Mel had a recipe that used both banana and zucchini.” In the end, I made the banana muffins, which were amazing per usual, but now I’m wishing I had held off! Can’t wait to get some bananas and try this out!
Sorry I wasn’t a few days ahead of things for posting this recipe, Beth! 🙂
Hi Mel! I’m so excited to try this recipe. However we can’t have dairy in our house. Do you have recommendations on something I could swap out for the sour cream? Thanks!
Hi Madeline – maybe try leaving it out (and maybe reduce the flour by a couple tablespoons). Or if you have it on hand, you could use a dairy-free yogurt (or a dairy-free milk with a bit of lemon juice).
I haven’t made this recipe but I substitute applesauce with great results in similar recipes.
Thanks for chiming in, Tami. 🙂
well your banana bread is already our favorite, so no doubt we’re going to love this too!
Hi Mel~ I know you mentioned before you wanted to know when this happens- so just letting you know vape adds are showing up again 🙁
Also this recipe looks delicious and I’m excited to try it!
Shoot, sorry about that, Jen! I’ll do some digging to find out the source ASAP and let my ad team know.