This wonderful cheesy zucchini bread is THE recipe for any zucchini you have hanging around. Part quiche, part frittata, it’s gorgeously soft, moist, and couldn’t be easier to make. There’s no need to drain the zucchini – you just mix everything in one bowl, transfer to a loaf pan, and bake. Packed with cheese, scallions, and bacon, it’s a wonderful prep-ahead breakfast, weekend brunch, snack, or light lunch.
Table of Contents
- Cheesy Zucchini Bread, at a Glance
- A Savory Zucchini Bread Made for Brunch
- Ingredients You’ll Need
- How to Make Cheesy Zucchini Bread
- Kate’s Top Tips for Success
- Watch How to Make Cheesy Zucchini Bread
- Cheesy Zucchini Bread FAQs
- Like this recipe? Try these other ideas with zucchini
- One Bowl Cheesy Zucchini Bread Recipe
Cheesy Zucchini Bread, at a Glance
⏰ Total time: 1 hour, with just 10 minutes of hands-on time.
🍽️ Servings: Makes one loaf, or roughly 10 generous slices.
🛒 Key Ingredients: Zucchini, eggs, all-purpose flour, cheese, bacon, scallions.
🧠 Skill Level: Super easy. Everything is mixed in one bowl, then poured into a loaf pan and baked.
🥧 Texture: Super soft, moist, and delicate. More of a cross between a crustless quiche, frittata, or savory muffin than a traditional bread.
🍳 Make Ahead: Keeps well for four days in the fridge, and freezes beautifully.
💃 Perfect For: A prep-ahead breakfast, weekend brunch, light lunch, snack, lunchbox filler, to take along to a picnic.
A Savory Zucchini Bread Made for Brunch
Most recipes for zucchini bread I come across are sweet, but as a savory girl through and through, this very cheesy version is MUCH more my style.
It’s not really a traditional quick bread – it’s softer, more moist, and delicate – a little like a cross between a crustless quiche, frittata, and savory muffin.
Loaded with sharp cheddar, creamy feta, scallions, crispy bacon, and a cheeky splash of my forever fave secret ingredient, fish sauce (trust me!), it’s a gorgeous way to use up zucchini. There’s no need to salt, squeeze, and drain the zucchini first because you want that extra moisture in this bread.
This is based on a recipe my nana makes whenever she has a glut of zucchini from her garden, and it truly is so easy to make. That soft, melt-in-your-mouth texture makes it especially lovely for a prep-ahead breakfast, weekend brunch, or light lunch.
I love it with jammy roasted tomatoes, homemade creamy labneh, or smashed avocado (or this avocado and pea hummus or whipped green goddess dip) piled on top, or with a slathering of roasted garlic butter. I’ve even turned it into mini party bites by baking the mixture in a mini muffin pan…
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Zucchini (courgettes). There’s no need to salt, squeeze, and drain them. Just grate and throw them straight into the bowl. Because the zucchini provides a lot of the moisture in this recipe, I recommend weighing them if you can for the most consistent results.
- Eggs. These give the loaf structure and create that lovely, soft, delicate texture that makes it a fun cross between a crustless quiche and a frittata.
- Cheese. I’m using a mixture of sharp cheddar and creamy feta. It’s a lovely, flavor-packed combination, but you can play around with the cheese. Gruyere, Emmental, Parmesan, or blue cheese are great.
- Bacon. You can cook your bacon first, or add it raw (it cooks in the oven). Both work, but cooking it first gives you a little more texture and flavor in the finished bread.
- Fish sauce. My favorite sneaky little flavor booster. I know it may seem bizarre, but it adds a wonderful, deep savory flavor that salt alone can’t replicate. I recommend using it here (and promise it doesn’t make the bread taste fishy at all!) Worcestershire sauce is the closest swap.
- Chili flakes. This adds a tiny bit of heat – more of a gentle warmth than anything else. Skip it if you like, or if you’re cooking for kids.
How to Make Cheesy Zucchini Bread
This is a step-by-step photo overview of how to make the bread – the full recipe with instructions and ingredient quantities is at the bottom of the page for you.
- Whisk your eggs in a large mixing bowl, then add the remaining ingredients.
- Stir until you can see no streaks of flour, and everything is combined into a wet mixture.
- Pour the zucchini bread mixture into a parchment-paper-lined 9 x 5-inch loaf pan. I like to scatter the bread with extra cheese and everything bagel seasoning at this point.
- Bake the zucchini bread until golden, puffy, and glorious. A skewer or knife inserted into the middle shouldn’t have any sticky, uncooked residue.
- Leave the bread to cool in the pan, then remove, peel off the parchment paper, and set it on a wire rack to continue cooling. Slice and enjoy with a big smear of roasted garlic butter if you like.
Kate’s Top Tips for Success
- Weigh your zucchini if possible. Zucchini really do vary WILDLY in size, and I really recommend weighing them instead of relying on the cup measurement. This will ensure the bread bakes as expected.
- The mixture should look wet (don’t worry!) This is definitely not a stiff bread batter. It should be loose and moist before it goes in the oven.
- Use the baking time as a guide. All ovens are different, so I really recommend baking the bread for the specified time, and then using visual cues to check for doneness. The bread should look deeply golden brown with a set center, and if you insert a skewer or knife, it shouldn’t have lots of sticky uncooked batter on it.
- Leave it to cool before slicing. Straight out of the oven, the bread is still quite delicate. It needs time to continue setting before you attempt to slice it.
Watch How to Make Cheesy Zucchini Bread
Cheesy Zucchini Bread FAQs
No! This recipe has been specifically designed to use the moisture from the zucchini. So it skips that time-consuming step.
You can simply grate it and add it straight to the bowl with the rest of the ingredients. I really recommend weighing your zucchini before you grate it, for the most consistent results.
This bread is naturally super soft, moist, and delicate, but you shouldn’t have any uncooked, sticky batter in the middle. If it does, pop it back in the oven for another 5 to 10 minutes, then check again.
It’s also important to let your zucchini bread rest and cool once it’s baked before slicing. It will be very delicate straight out of the oven and needs a little time to properly set.
I also recommend weighing your zucchini for this recipe, rather than relying on cup measurements, which can be inconsistent.
I find that a 9 x 5-inch loaf pan works the best. The recipe has been designed and tested using that size, so if you use something different, you’ll need to keep an eye on the bread to ensure it’s cooked through.
Remember that you want it to look deeply golden brown on top, with a set center. If you insert a skewer or knife into the middle, you shouldn’t have any sticky, uncooked residue on it.
Yes! I love doing this. Grease your muffin pan, then pour in the mixture. Leave a little space at the top to allow for rising and puffing in the oven. Then you can bake at 400°F (200°C) for 20 to 25 minutes.
It works for regular-sized muffins, or mini bite-sized muffins (perfect for party bites). 20 minutes is long enough for mini versions, while larger muffins will need a little longer in the oven.
Once it’s cooled, you can store the bread in an airtight container in the fridge for up to four days. It’s great cold or at room temperature, but you can reheat individual slices in the microwave.
It also freezes wonderfully. I like slicing it first – then you can place parchment paper between the slices to prevent sticking, and place in ziplock bags to store.
Like this recipe? Try these other ideas with zucchini
If you make this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! You can leave a recipe rating and a comment below. And remember to tag @DishedByKate on Instagram, Facebook and TikTok if you’ve made one of my recipes. Seeing your recreations really makes my day 😊.
One Bowl Cheesy Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
Method
- Prepare your loaf pan.Line your loaf pan with parchment paper, leaving a little overhang to make lifting the bread out easier, and heat your oven to 400°F (200°C fan).
- Cook the bacon (optional).You can add the bacon into the mixture without cooking it first (it will cook in the oven), but cooking it first gives you lovely crispy pieces and a little extra flavor. It's up to you.If you're cooking the bacon, add it to a pan over medium-high heat and cook for about five minutes, flipping a few times as you do, until the bacon is super crispy. Remove from the pan and chop into small pieces.
- Grate the zucchini.Coarsely grate the zucchini using the large holes of a box grater. You don't need to peel, salt, squeeze, or drain it.
- Add your ingredients to your mixing bowl.Crack your eggs into a large mixing bowl and whisk them. Add ¼ cup olive oil, 1 cup of flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1 tablespoon fish sauce, the grated zucchini, chopped scallions, chilli flakes, chopped bacon, grated cheddar, crumbled feta, ½ teaspoon of salt, a good grind of black pepper, and the lemon zest if you're using it.
- Mix the zucchini bread.Mix until no streaks of flour remain. The mixture will be reasonably wet – that's what you want. Pour it into the prepared lined loaf tin and spread it out evenly. Scatter over the extra cheese and everything bagel seasoning if you're using it.
- Bake the zucchini bread. Transfer the tin to the oven and bake for 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is deeply golden brown, and you can cleanly insert a skewer or knife into the middle (there shouldn't be any sticky, uncooked batter on it).If there is sticky residue on the skewer, keep the bread in the oven for another 10 minutes and check again.
- Cool and serve.Remove from the oven and let cool in the tin for 15 minutes, then carefully remove the parchment paper and transfer the bread to a wire rack to cool for at least another 15 minutes before slicing it.Serve as it is, or with softened butter if you like.
