Zucchini muffins have a soft and moist texture, are easy to make, and strike the perfect balance between indulgent and wholesome.
You can make them in less than 30 minutes and enjoy them for breakfast or as a snack.

Table of Contents
Shredded zucchini is the perfect ingredient to make light and moist muffins because:
- Contains a high water content. When the zucchini cooks, it releases moisture, and the muffins get pleasantly moist and tender. And they stay like that for days, which is excellent because no one likes dry muffins.
- It acts as a binder. This means there is no need to add eggs. The muffins stay together like magic while keeping light and healthy.
- It has a neutral flavor. This allows you to customize this zucchini muffin recipe with your favorite add-ins. We use dark chocolate chips and walnuts, but you can go crazy with your favorite ingredients, including spices, nuts, and dried fruit.
Ours is a fool-proof quick muffin recipe that you can even turn into a loaf of deliciously moist zucchini bread. Let’s see how to make them!
Ingredients & Substitution
Find the complete recipe with ingredients and instructions in the recipe box at the bottom of the page.
Zucchini
You can use any zucchini; there is no need to peel them, squeeze them, drain them, or remove their seeds (unless you have massive zucchini with hard seeds).
You just need to grate them with the large holes of a box grater.
Flour
You can use all-purpose flour or a mix of all-purpose and whole-wheat flour, 50% each.
For gluten-free zucchini muffins, we recommend using a 1 to 1 gluten-free flour substitute.
Sugar
We use brown sugar, but any other granulated sugar would do, including white sugar, coconut sugar, and palm sugar.
We have not tried replacing the sugar with maple syrup or honey. Let us know in the comments below if you try.
Oil
We use olive oil.
Substitute avocado oil or another neutral vegetable oil like sunflower oil or canola oil for olive oil. You can also use melted butter, coconut oil, or vegan butter.
If you are on an oil-free diet, replace the oil with applesauce (or unsweetened applesauce) in the same amount.
Milk
Any milk works. We think almond milk is best. We also like soy milk, oat milk, and rice milk.
Spices and Aromas
We use cinnamon and vanilla extract. Other spices that go well in zucchini muffins are grated nutmeg, grated orange zest, ginger, and cardamom.
Baking powder and baking soda
To help the muffins rise and get light and airy. If you don’t have baking soda, double the baking powder amount.
Salt
A pinch of salt helps bring out the taste of the other ingredients. We prefer sea salt.
Add-ins
We add dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts to our zucchini muffins.
Suitable substitutes are a chopped-up dark chocolate bar, pecans, hazelnuts, raisins, and dried cranberries.
How to make zucchini muffins
Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 12-muffin tin or two 6-muffin tins with muffin liners.
Tip: if you don’t have paper liners, use parchment paper. To do that, cut twelve 5-inch (13 cm) squares of parchment paper, and fit them into the muffin tin. You can add oil to the muffin pan to keep the parchment paper in place.
To a large bowl, add milk, oil, sugar, and vanilla extract. Mix to combine.
Grate the zucchini with the large holes of a box grater and stir them into the wet ingredients.
Tip: there is no need to peel, squeeze, or drain the zucchini.
Add flour, cinnamon, salt, baking powder, and baking soda and stir until combined without over-mixing.
You should get a dense, thick batter, almost like a loose dough.
Add dark chocolate chips and chopped walnuts and fold them into the batter.
Fill in the muffin tins and bake at 350°F or 180°C for 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.
To ensure the zucchini muffins are fully cooked, poke them in the center with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out dry, the zucchini muffins are ready. If not, keep baking in increments of 2 minutes.
Put them on a wire rack, and let them cool down completely at room temperature. The day after, they are even more delicious.
Variations
Vegan zucchini bread
Same recipe, slightly different measurements, and a different shape. Our vegan zucchini bread is an excellent alternative to the muffins if you don’t have muffin tins or if you want to try something different.
This recipe makes a perfectly moist vegan zucchini bread that is soft, light, and not soggy in the center.
Tips
Don’t overmix the batter: overmixing will develop the gluten, making the muffins dense and heavy.
Make a dense batter: zucchini is rich in water, which is released while the muffins bake in the oven. For this reason, when making zucchini muffins, we want a dense, almost dough-like batter. If your batter is too wet, the muffins will turn out too moist in the center.
Storage
Make ahead: zucchini muffins are an excellent recipe to make ahead because they store well for days, and their flavor improves the day after they are baked.ò
Room temperature: store zucchini muffins in a plastic bag or airtight container for about three days.
Refrigerator: to extend storage time, you can store them in the fridge, well-wrapped or in an airtight container, for up to 4 – 5 days.
Reheat: if you don’t like cold muffins, you can warm them in the microwave for a few seconds.
Freezer: put them in a zip-lock bag and freeze them for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Warm up in the microwave if desired.
More muffins recipes
Muffins with veggies are an ideal quick breakfast idea for when you’re busy or on the go. For more breakfast inspiration, check out these reader favorites:
- Oat muffins for a healthier and meal-prep-friendly breakfast option.
- Sweet potato muffins: with 10 pantry ingredients and ready within 30 mins.
- Banana muffins (banana, plant milk, chocolate chips, flour, vanilla, etc.)
- Apple muffins (red apples, baking powder, flour, milk, sugar, etc.)
- Savory chickpea muffins (peas, carrot, chickpea flour, water, milk, etc.)
Or check out our vegan brunch collection for more ideas.
More zucchini recipes
If you’re loving these zucchini muffins, you might also like our other zucchini recipes:
- Sautéed zucchini: the best basic recipe for zucchini, ready in just 10 mins.
- Zucchini fritters: a delicious main dish with shredded zucchini patties.
- Roasted zucchini easy baked zucchini in 2 ways.
- Air fryer zucchini: make easy and juicy zucchini bites in the air fryer in just 15 mins.
- Stuffed zucchini with sun-dried tomatoes, breadcrumbs, and ricotta.
- Zucchini banana bread (coming soon)
For many more easy dessert ideas, check out our desserts category page.
Zucchini Muffins
Equipment
- 12-muffin tin (or two 6-muffin tins)
Ingredients
WET INGREDIENTS
- ½ cup milk we use almond milk
- ¼ cup olive oil or another vegetable oil
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1 tablespoon vanilla extract
- 2 medium zucchini about 10 ounces or 2 heaping cups, grated
DRY INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon optional
ADD-INS
- ½ cup dark chocolate chips optional
- ½ cup walnuts chopped, optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F or 180°C. Line a 12-muffin tin or two 6-muffin tins with muffin liners.
- To a large bowl, add ½ cup milk, ¼ cup olive oil, ⅔ cup sugar, and 1 tablespoon vanilla extract. Mix with a spatula combine.
- Grate 2 medium zucchini with the large holes of a box grater and stir them into the wet ingredients.
- Add 2 cups all-purpose flour, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, ¼ teaspoon salt, and 1 teaspoon cinnamon and stir until combined without over-mixing.
- Add ½ cup dark chocolate chips and ½ cup walnuts (chopped) and fold them into the batter.
- Fill in the muffin tins and bake at 350°F or 180°C for 20 minutes on the middle rack of the oven.Tip: Optionally, you can top them with slivered almonds.
- To ensure the zucchini muffins are fully cooked, poke them in the center with a toothpick. If the toothpick comes out dry, the zucchini muffins are ready. If not, keep baking in increments of 2 minutes.Put them on a cooling rack, and let them cool down completely at room temperature. The day after, they are even more delicious.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
If you liked these zucchini muffins, you might also enjoy:
[adthrive-in-post-video-player video-id=”0mSNwyJ5″ upload-date=”2023-07-22T05:45:24.000Z” name=”Zucchini Muffins” description=”Zucchini muffins have a soft and moist texture, are easy to make, and strike the perfect balance between indulgent and wholesome.
You can make them in less than 30 minutes and enjoy them for breakfast or as a snack.” player-type=”default” override-embed=”default”]
My son has been asking for muffins and more veggies (so he can be strong lol he is three). I use to make zucchini bread and thought to give this a try since I love your quick and easy lentil curry recipe. Could you make more Indian recipes please ( i just love Mediterranean Mexican and Indian cuisine) tried this last night and he loved it!!! Toddler approved!
Hi Marisa,
Wow your son is a champ, what a strong-willed 3-year old, I am so impressed ๐ฅฐ So happy that the muffins are toddler-approved, YAY!
As for more Indian recipes, we have a roundup with 30 meals, that you might like: https://theplantbasedschool.com/indian-vegetarian-recipes/
Hope that helps, all the best to you and your son โค๏ธ
What is the sodium content in one muffin.
Hi Susan,
I added the sodium amount. According to our calculation is 156 mg in one muffin.
I hope this helps.
All the best,
Nico
These muffins are so delicious! I followed the recipe exactly. They freeze very well and are just as moist and flavourful as the day I made them, if not tastier, as you said. I will definitely make them again, Iโm so glad I discovered this recipe and your website. Thanks!
Hey Laurie,
We are very happy to have you!! So glad you liked the muffins, and thanks so much for your tip on freezing them.
All the best,
Louise
for 6 muffins, i used 60g of dinkel milk, 28g of olive oil, 40g (instead of 65g) of sugar, 2g (instead of 7,5g) of vanilla extract, 130g of zucchini, 150g of whole wheat dinkel flour, 4g of baking powder, 2g of baking soda, some salt, 3g of cinnamon, and 25g of dark chocolate chips (instead of 40g), and they still turned out delicious… thanks for this recipe! unfortunately they were pretty much stuck to the paper liners i used, so some of the dough went to waste… but i blame the paper liners, not this recipe
Hi Klara,
Thank you for your comment.
I am happy you enjoyed the muffins, thanks for the tips on spelt flour and cinnamon add-ins.
Kindest, Louise
li ho fatti settimana scorsa sostituendo 100g di farina con 100g abbondanti di farina di mandorle. Meravigliosi! li rifarรฒ! secondo te posso usare questa stessa ricetta, ma con la zucca? ๐ Grazie
Ciao Dorica ๐
Sono contento che ti siano piaciuti e che siano venuti bene anche con la farina di mandorle.
Per i muffin con la zucca, meglio che segui questa ricetta.
ti serve perรฒ la zucca in purea, che se vivi in Italia รจ difficile trovare. Quindi ti consiglio di cuocere la zucca al forno finchรจ รจ morbida, poi schiacciala con una forchetta o frullala finchรจ diventa una purea di zucca. A questo punto misurala ed usala per i muffin.
Spero ti sia di aiuto.
Buona giornata
Nico
I was skeptical when I saw these didnโt have eggs and wondered what the consistency would be like, Iโm really surprised to say how amazing and moist these are! The crumb is soft and moist like a deli/bakery style muffin.
I used a lot of chocolate in mine and theyโre the best things Iโve ever made, the muffins themselves arenโt super sweet without the chocolate which is nice for a breakfast option or for kids. Also used one cup zucchini and one cup of grated carrot which didnโt make a huge difference apart from the nutritional value, still delicious as hell.
Iโm definitely going to be making these over and over again.
Hi Mia,
I’m really happy you were content with the muffins. Yes, it’s different baking without eggs, but I find it quite easy when you get the hang of it ๐
Great tip on the carrot/zucchini mix, we are trying that for our next muffin batch.
Have a great day, and thanks so much for your comment.
Louise
Nice recipe. But, the commenter has chosen to use antonyms in her message by saying “delicious as..”. It’d be better if people paired their words thoughtfully.
Your muffin recipe is so good , moist healthy I usually cut back the sugar , knowing palm sugar is less sweet and zucchinis are not sweet I kept the amount given in the recipe , it was perfect I added walnuts and dried cherries with the cherries it is the bomb ! I usually donโt add cherries but I purchased a large good quality dried cherries and it was perfect . I added 2tsp ginger , 1/2 allspice ,1 tsp pumpkin spice they are so good no need to add butter or strawberry jam you wonโt choke eating those they go down easily so easy that itโs hard to stop . Thank you
Hi Brigitte, thanks so much for commenting! Dried cherries sound amazing – a great complimentary flavor for the zucchini. I’m so happy you liked them. Have a great rest of your day. Cheers, Nico
great stuff mate, thanks very much for exploring new recipes!!! I’ve changed it a bit, rather than zucchine I have used strawberries and cherries which are in season right now. The result was outstanding, people in the office are loving me ๐ Please keep it up!!!
Thanks, Peppe, for taking the time to leave comments – it means a lot to us. I’m delighted you got some goodwill from sharing your muffins, it never hurts! Have a great one and take care. Cheers, Nico