Use up your extra garden zucchini with this easy Vegan Banana Zucchini Bread. This naturally gluten-free and oil-free recipe is easy to make and uses just one bowl!
If you've ever grown zucchini in your garden you know that at some point in the late summer you'll be absolutely drowning in zucchini.
Like, what on earth can one person/family do with so much zucchini?!
My solution is to make zucchini bread.
The great thing about this banana zucchini bread is that it has zucchini, but you can't even tell! When I served this recipe to some friends, they had NO CLUE it had zucchini in it.
Secret veggies for the win!
This vegan banana zucchini bread is a great way to use up all that extra zucchini, to sneak some extra veg into your treat, or just to enjoy an ultra moist and soft banana bread recipe.
Jump to:
Why I love this Vegan Banana Zucchini Bread
- Dietary needs - this banana bread recipe is dairy-free, plant-based, oil-free, gluten-free, and refined sugar-free
- Made in one bowl - all the ingredients mix together in just one bowl for easy prep and even easier cleanup
- Soft and moist - zucchini adds a lot of moisture to the bread, so it's ultra soft!
- Great use for extra zucchini - if you're growing zucchini in your garden, you know that ever year you reach a point where you run out of ways to use zucchini. This is a great option to use up a zucchini or two!
Ingredient Notes & Substitutions
- Bananas: for best results, use bananas that are very brown and spotty. The riper your bananas, the sweeter the bread will be!
- Zucchini: grab your box grater and grate up some zucchini. You could also use a summer squash.
- Nut Butter: I used my homemade cashew butter. You could also use homemade almond butter, or a store-bought nut butter with no added sugar or added oils
- Maple Syrup: most of my banana bread recipes don't use maple syrup, but since this recipe has extra moisture from the zucchini, it has less bananas than my other recipes, meaning less sweetness. So I added maple syrup, which has a higher concentration of sweetness.
- Baking Powder & Apple Cider Vinegar: the combination of an acid (ACV) and a base (baking powder) creates a reaction that allows the bread to rise properly. The reaction causes air bubbles to form, leaving your bread light and airy. Don't skip these ingredients!
- Oat Flour: feel free to use homemade oat flour or grab store bought - either will work!
- Ground Flaxseed: flax serves as replacement for an egg. It helps bind the bread together. You could also use ground chia seeds.
- Cinnamon
- Salt
- Chopped Nuts: I used chopped pecans. Feel free to throw in your favorite nut (walnuts would be delicious!) Or use chocolate chips instead - I personally like the taste of this bread with nuts instead of chocolate chips, but my testers loved this with chocolate just as much.
How to make Vegan Banana Zucchini Bread
Step 1. Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
Step 2. In a large bowl mix the banana, zucchini, nut butter, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar.
Step 3. Add the oat flour, ground flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.
Step 4. Spread the mixture into the lined loaf pan. If desired, press a banana halved lengthwise into the top of the loaf.
Step 5. Bake for 60-70 minutes or until the top is lightly brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!
Storing Plant-Based Banana Bread
Since this banana bread is made from whole food plant-based ingredients, it will not last very long on the counter.
Store your leftovers in the fridge wrapped in foil or in a container for up to a week.
FAQ & Expert Tips
The riper your bananas are, the sweeter the bread will be. If you're looking for an even sweeter bread, replace ¼ cup of the mashed bananas with an extra ¼ cup of maple syrup.
Yes. Oats are naturally gluten-free. Some oats have cross contamination with gluten during processing, so if you are especially sensitive buy certified GF oats.
This recipe would work fine with all purpose flour. (Though it wouldn't be as healthy! - strive for minimal processing.)
Instead of using almond or cashew butter you could use tahini or sunflower seed butter. Any seed butter will have a stronger flavor than almond and cashew butters, so using them would change the taste slightly.
This bread would taste great with chocolate chips, vegan white chocolate chips, or even some blueberries stirred into the batter. If you want to add any of these, add ⅓ cup before you place the batter in the pan.
I highly recommend waiting at least 15 minutes, but ideally several hours for the bread to cool. The bread is still cooking when it comes out of the oven and you'll get the best texture if you wait for the loaf to cool.
Since this banana bread is made from whole food plant-based ingredients, it will not last very long on the counter. Store your leftovers in the fridge wrapped in foil for up to a week. You can also slice and freeze this bread for up to 12 months.
Recommended Tools
- You'll need a loaf pan to bake the bread.
- A box grater to grate the zucchini.
- My favorite mixing bowls.
- And plenty of parchment paper.
Recipe Prayer
Thank you God for seasonal produce and the delicious fruits of our harvest. Amen.
More Banana Bread
If you want other banana recipes, here are some of my favorites:
More Zucchini Recipes
Tried this recipe?
Please leave a review in the comments section below and post on Instagram tagging me @elizabeths_table. You can also stay in touch with me on social media by following me on Instagram, Pinterest, and TikTok or by subscribing to my newsletter.
📖 Recipe
Vegan Banana Zucchini Bread
Ingredients
- 1 ½ Cups Mashed Ripe Banana + 1 extra for topping, optional
- 1 Cup Grated Zucchini
- ½ Cup Nut Butter
- ⅓ Cup Maple Syrup
- 1 Tablespoon Apple Cider Vinegar
- 2 ¼ Cups Oat Flour
- 2 Tablespoons Ground Flaxseed
- 1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
- ¼ Teaspoon Cinnamon
- ¼ Teaspoon Salt
- ⅔ Cup Chopped Nuts optional
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Line a loaf pan with parchment paper.
- In a large bowl mix the banana, zucchini, nut butter, maple syrup, and apple cider vinegar.
- Add the oat flour, ground flaxseed, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. Stir to combine.
- Spread the mixture into the lined loaf pan. If desired, press a banana halved lengthwise into the top of the loaf.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes or until the top is lightly brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes. Store leftovers in the fridge for up to a week. Enjoy!
Nutrition
Nutrition information is an estimate.
Alicia
It turned out a bit dry--maybe I baked for too long. Still so yum and so easy! I've never done banana and zucchini together--of course it would be delicious! Also, just so you know, in your instructions you forgot to mention adding in the salt and maple syrup. 🙂
Elizabeth
Thanks for catching that, Alicia. I'm sorry to hear that it was a bit dry - the moisture definitely depends on baking time and how ripe your bananas are. I'm glad it still turned out tasting delicious for you!