Zucchini Muffins Recipe
These homemade Zucchini Muffins are the perfect quick snack or breakfast on the go if you are in a hurry. They are so moist and tender and rise beautifully and it’s a great way to use up your summer zucchini.
We love quick muffin recipes, from our very popular Banana Muffins to our sweet and tangy Blueberry Muffins. These Zucchini Muffins are a new favorite and are perfect for busy families on the go.
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Zucchini Muffins Recipe
With all of the zucchini we have in our garden this season, we’ve been making Zucchini Bread every few days. It’s the perfect way to use our summer bounty and sneak in extra veggies for the kids.
These muffins are great for lazy summer mornings or as a snack on the road or trail. They stay moist for days, you can add nuts, chocolate chips, berries, or whatever you like to add extra nutrients, flavor, and texture to your muffins.
Ingredients
I love the idea of zucchini muffins but simply dividing our zucchini bread recipe into muffins wasn’t absolutely perfect if you wanted 12 muffins. It took several batches, but I have finally perfected the best zucchini muffins.
- Flour – All-purpose. If you are making gluten-free zucchini muffins, you’ll want to use your favorite GF flour
- Egg – Provides structure and helps to create these perfectly textured muffins
- Baking powder and baking soda – leavening agents to help the muffins rise
- Oil – Using extra light olive oil, canola, or vegetable oil helps to make a light and fluffy batter
- Milk – Helps to make the muffins less dense
- Vanilla – Use our homemade vanilla or storebought
- Salt – Balances the sweetness
- Cinnamon – Adds a wonderful, cozy spice flavor to these muffins
- Zucchini – 1 1/2 cups, grated. Adds moisture to keep the muffins soft and has a subtle flavor that complements the sweetness and cinnamon spice
- Optional Add-ins – Pick one or use a combination: 1/2 cup chopped walnuts, pecans, golden raisins, dried cranberries, or semisweet chocolate chips (if adding chocolate chips, you can reduce the sugar to 1/2 cup, if desired)
Pro Tip: To quickly bring your eggs to room temperature, submerge them in a bowl of lukewarm water for about 10-15 minutes.
How to Make Zucchini Muffins
- Prepare – Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Line a 12-count muffin pan with paper liners or grease with softened butter or cooking spray.
- Dry Ingredients – Whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.
- Wet Ingredients – In a separate large bowl, thoroughly whisk together eggs, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- Combine – Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and stir together with a whisk until well blended and smooth.
- Grate – Grate the zucchini with a large box grater. Add the shredded zucchini to the batter along with chocolate chips (or any optional add-ins that you are using), and fold until well incorporated.
- Bake – Divide the batter evenly into the muffin tin. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining chocolate chips and bake for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.
Pro Tip: Use a trigger-release ice cream scoop to fill your muffin cups. It helps to scoop even portions into each cup and makes the job much easier.
Common Questions
Grate the zucchini in the large holes of a box grater over a bowl or plate. Be sure not to squeeze or pack the grated zucchini in your measuring cup too tightly.
If you are dairy-free, you can use water or almond milk instead. The milk adds moisture and helps combine the dry ingredients. It also adds an extra fluffiness to the muffins when they cook.
This recipe is easily doubled. The cooling time for the muffins is only 5 minutes, so if you do not have an extra 12-cup muffin tin, you can wait for them to cool, and have your next batch of muffin batter ready to go.
This recipe calls for 1 1/2 cups of grated zucchini, which is usually one medium, half-pound, zucchini. Be sure to cut the stem off of the top before grating.
There is no need to peel the zucchini before grating. The skin is thin enough to eat, so peeling does not change the taste or texture either way. I like to see the bits of shredded zucchini show up when I bite into the muffins.
How to Serve Zucchini Muffins
Zucchini muffins are fantastic just as they are, or with any of the add-ins mentioned above. Some of my favorite ways to top them include:
- Cream cheese frosting – make these muffins look like a healthy(ish) cupcake… oh, they are so delicious!
- Butter – On the top, or heat your muffins up in the toaster or microwave and add it right to the sliced sides.
- Powdered sugar – dusted over the tops
- Whipped Honey Butter – perfectly sweet and spiced with cinnamon.
Make-Ahead
- To Store: Store your freshly made muffins at room temperature for several days by placing the muffins in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container. Be sure they have cooled completely before covering them.
- Freezing: If you want to save muffins for later, simply add your cooled muffins to a freezer bag or wrap them individually in plastic wrap and store in the freezer for up to 3 months. When you are ready to enjoy them, unwrap them and set them on the counter to thaw or pop them into the microwave for about 30 seconds to defrost.
Pro Tip: Be sure your muffins have completely cooled before storing or freezing them. This will prevent condensation from forming on your muffin tops affecting the texture.
Love Muffin Recipes?
If you are looking for more quick muffin recipes to try, here are a few of our favorites. Make them now and store some in the freezer for back-to-school breakfasts or lunchbox treats.
Zucchini Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 ½ cups all-purpose flour, or gluten-free flour
- 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- ½ cup extra light olive oil, or canola oil or vegetable oil
- 1 large egg, room temperature
- 3/4 cup white sugar
- 2 Tbsp milk, whole milk or 2% milk
- 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
- 1 1/2 cups grated zucchini, from 1 medium zucchini or 1/2 lb
- ½ cup semi-sweet chocolate chips, divided
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Grease a 12-count muffin pan or line with cupcake liners.
- In a medium mixing bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.
- In a separate bowl, thoroughly whisk together eggs, oil, sugar, milk, and vanilla.
- Add flour mixture to the wet ingredients and whisk until well blended and smooth.
- Grate zucchini on the large holes of a box grater and fold into the batter until well incorporated then fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips (if using).
- Using a trigger-release ice cream scoop, divide the batter evenly into the 12-cup lined muffin pan. Sprinkle the tops of the muffins with the remaining chocolate chips. Bake at 350˚F for 22-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. Let muffins cool in the tins for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to cool to room temperature.
Nutrition Per Serving
Natasha Kravchuk
Hi! I'm Natasha Kravchuk. Here you'll find delicious, trusted recipes with easy step-by-step photos and videos. 
These zucchini muffins are the best ever! I’m throwing out all my other zucchini muffin recipes. This one will be my only go-to! Tender, moist, & delicious!
That’s amazing, Betty. Thank you for the wonderful feedback.
We doubled the recipe and just put the chocolate chips right on top, not mixed in. Perfect consistency and flavor, we loved them!!
So glad to hear that, Abby!
Excellent recipe! Funny thing my hubby helped me and there was a miscommunication somehow 😊 we used only 1/4 cup sugar but didn’t notice with the chocolate chips . Not too sweet just right!
That’s wonderful, Jennifer! Thank you for sharing that with us.
Hi Natasha,
I’m diabetic so is it possible to substitute sugar with Splenda?
Hi Nicole! I have not tested it myself, but I think so.
These muffins came out great- utterly delicious! I added chopped walnuts to mine. Saving the recipe to make more with my garden zucchini
So glad that you enjoyed our Zucchini Muffins Recipe, Ann! Thanks a lot for sharing.
I made a couple of batches of these muffins today, and they were amazing! My family loved them. I will definitely be making these again. I did end up peeling my zucchini before grating, but read in the comments later that it was not necessary. Thank you for the recipe!
You’re very welcome! I’m glad you liked the recipe.
Hi Natasha,
The photo of your ingredients has 3 eggs. Your recipe calls for 1 egg. Can you explain? I have smaller eggs, I think I’ll use 2.
Hi Tina, 1 egg is correct. I tested with 2 eggs and it overflowed the muffin tin slightly and was a little too airy. I replaced the extra egg with 2 Tbsp milk and they were just right. The batter will be thick. Can you tell I am working on updating this recipe? I’ll have new photos and notes up in the next couple of weeks.
can i use almond flour and sugar substitutes? I am doing a keto diet . Thank you
Hi Amal, I haven’t tested using almound flour and using other sugar substitutes to advise. If you try that out, we’d love to know how it goes!
Okay these were unbelievable!! I already can’t wait to make them again.
So glad that you loved it!
It’s Zucchini season so I’m going to try these. Just wondering if you can substitute “flour” for another kind of flour; i.e., almond, coconut, etc. Thanks!
Hi Jill! I haven’t tested those, but gluten-free flour will work.
This is awesome, ha ha! I actually found your website over a year or two ago trying to find zucchini recipes. I’d do anything for a zucchini pizza crust or something of that sort recipe, but you have quite a few ideas for that blessed vegetable, and these are battle conditions right now. The zucchini are everywhere.
That sounds like a great idea! I have a couple more zucchini recipes so watch out for them!
My family loved these zucchini muffins!! They were so easy to make and turned out perfectly, thank you!
That’s just awesome! Thank you for sharing your wonderful review, Olivia!
These look amazing! I’m a huge Natasha fan- preordered your cookbook months ago!(x3!!) wondering if I can make these with almond flour? Instead of just gf flour?
Hello Chantal, thank you for preordering my cookbook. I appreciate your support. About your question, I haven’t tested this recipe using Almound Flour to advise. If you do an experiment, we’d love to know how it goes!
I loved the addition of the cinnamon and the chocolate chips! thank you so much for sharing this amazing recipe!
You’re welcome! I’m so happy you enjoyed it, Jess!
Hey Natasha! These were delicious. Thanks for the recipe! I noticed your ingredients list only has 1 egg listed but your picture has 2 and your written instructions say “eggs”. The batter was too thick with just 1 egg so I added the 2nd and they turned out great!
Hi Cory, 1 egg is correct. I tested with 2 eggs and it overflowed the muffin tin slightly and was a little too airy. I replaced the extra egg with 2 Tbsp milk and they were just right. The batter will be thick. Can you tell I am working on updating this recipe? I’ll have new photos and notes up in the next couple of weeks.
Hi the recipe ingredient list includes baking powder. But you wrote “ We found that once we took out the baking powder completely, they rose beautifully. We hope you enjoy these!”
Just clarifying if baking powder is needed before I make these
Hi Sasha, this is a recipe that I am actually re-working this week. I’ll post new photos soon, but I have the recipe updated to the correct version now if you wish to try them out. I found that both baking soda and powder are needed for the perfect rise and also added 2 Tbsp milk instead of the extra egg and they were perfect. I’ve been baking so many batches of zucchini muffins this week and I think they are perfect now.
Is there a nutrition panel for Zucchini Muffins? I love making this recipe. Thank you so much!
Hi Beverly! We include this in most of our recipes, however, some of the older recipes do not have this. We are trying to update them. In the meantime, you can use this recipe calorie and nutrition calculator. It is a great tool you can use to plug in your ingredients as you make the recipe and it will provide nutritional value for you. I hope that helps.
Fantastic!!!! I absolutely love these!! These are a family favorite!!!
Wonderful! So happy your family enjoys this recipe.
Hi the recipe doesn’t specify salted or unsalted butter. I’m not sure if it matters thank you for your time
Hi Ria, you may use either salted or unsalted but if you use salted, you may have to omit the salt in the recipe.
I made these today. They were delicious. Its a 5 star just like all your other recipes. 🙂
Thank you for that wonderful compliment, Ria! I’m so glad you enjoyed it!
Wow just amazing. Delicious abs super moist!!!
Hi Lisa, thanks for your great feedback. Glad you loved it!
Do you have a nutritional panel?
Hi Bev, we are working on adding them to all of our older recipes. Thanks for your patience!
Do you have the nutrition panel for these? I really love them!
Hi Beverly, I don’t have them in the recipe at the moment but thanks for the reminder. I’ll try to upload update this one.
Can I use whole wheat flour?
Hi Lana, We used a bread flour which has a little higher gluten content. A regular all-purpose flour will work as well. I haven’t tried it with Wheat flour but I think that would work great.
I just made the Zucchini Muffins!! They are absolutely delicious!!! Thank you Natasha!!!
Yay so glad you enjoyed it! You’re welcome.
Hi Natasha,
can you please tell me what you mean by “better for bread” flour? Is this an American product…I’m in Canada:-) Also, would this recipe work with brown sugar? Thanks, Lydia
Hi Lydia, it is a bread flour which has a little higher gluten content. A regular all-purpose flour will work as well. I haven’t tried brown sugar but I suspect it would work.
Thank you! Great recipe, but I did with no vanilla and less sugar.
You’re welcome Olga! I’m glad you enjoy the recipe!
Thank you so much for the recipe. These muffins are fantastic. I added cocoa powder to mine and they turned out great. ( I had to make 2 batches because they were that good)
Katya, thank you for the great review and awesome job on improvising :).
So, today is my so called Natasha’s Kitchen marathon 🙂 I decided to make two deserts, soup , and entree. Already left my comments about outstanding borscht!!!
Now – zucchini muffins! Wow! Super easy to make and just melt in the mouth – at least three of 12 already melted in my husband’s mouth when I asked him to try one to let me know what he thought :)) obviously – a hit! My two-year old will have a chance to taste them tomorrow morning for breakfast 🙂 thank you for a great recipe and most importantly thank you for inspiring me to cook from soul again – I was getting into a rut and your blog definitely helped me get back into cooking and feel happy doing it!!!
P.s in case you wonder, the other two dishes are easy summer peach pie and creamy chicken and rice recipe – comments to follow :))
I sure enjoyed reading your comment :-). I’m so happy you are finding great inspiration here! Thank you so much for the great reviews. I really appreciate it.
Just baked these… And my my are they too sweet… And i only used 3/4 cups sugar!!! I think these need to be at 1/2 cup sugar, and probably less butter too…
I like them, but would be better if less sweet!!
Thanks so much for your feedback! I’ll have to test them with less sugar next time to see how they compare. I may have a fiercer sweet tooth. 🙂
Do you by any chance add vinegar to the recipe to neutralize the baking soda taste??
I’ve never tasted the baking soda in these so I haven’t used the vinegar.
We love these muffins! Made them 3 times since you posted, and they are gone within the first 24 hrs! They are best the morning after, once cooled.
Wonderful way to use up all that zucchini that I didn’t know what to do with:)
I’m so happy to hear you are enjoying the recipe so much. Thanks for the awesome review! You’re so sweet 🙂
I forgot to mention that I used olive oil instead of butter because thats what I had on hand, and added cinnamon. They turned out really moist:)
I’ll definitely try the olive oil next time. Thanks! 🙂
Delightful muffins! I used choc chips instead of dried cranberries to tempt my zucchini disdainful sons. They were a welcome treat this weekend as I recovered from getting a tetanus booster on Thurs. Perfect with an afternoon cup of tea.
Chocolate chips sound so good in these! Brilliant!
I had to comment again:)) I had some black currant at home so I decided to substitute craisins with black currant. Oh my oh my the muffins where amazing.
That’s awesome to know! Thanks so much for sharing. I love black currant! Was it fresh currant?
Yes, fresh black currant
Thanks Diana!
my family loves zucchini bread!! but I add cinnamon, nutmeg and walnuts to my recipe, so yummy!!!!! you should definitely give it a try 🙂
I think I will! Thank you for sharing 🙂
Just made these for my kiddos:)) they are gobbling them up as I write this review:) thanks for the great recipe.
I’m so happy to hear that. Thank you Diana! 🙂
Hi Natasha, I really like this recipe, so moist and delicious! I just substituted the butter with coconut oil and did not use any raisins/ cranberries, since I was not sure if my family will like them. But they turned out fantastic! Thanks!
I’ll have to try using the coconut oil in leu of butter! Thanks so much for sharing your tip 🙂 Is it equal amounts of coconut oil to butter?
I used 1/3 cup of melted coconut oil + 1/2 tsp flax seed oil. They turned very soft and sweet. Will publish the recipe with a link to your blog pretty soon! Thanks!
That’s awesome! I can’t wait to see it 🙂
I baked those zucchini muffins but one small problem with them, wayyyy to sweet, next time I will cut the sugar half but otherwise good recipet. 🙂
Thanks for the feedback 🙂 I don’t think it would hurt the recipe at all to cut down the sugar.
Thank you so much!! I’m sure I’ll make more!!
Anyway my husband couldn’t stop eating them!BTW I made them with a different butter and I didn’t get all the juice out of the zucchini 🙂 I think I like it better like that;) A little bet moist! And more in the oven! 🙂
What kind of butter did you use? Yes, definitely more in the oven is a good thing 🙂
it was for baking butter, i think it works better. i dont have the name of it.
My husband loved loved them !!! So easy to make and so delicious!
That’s awesome!! Music to my ears 🙂
I love zucchini bread or muffins and cranberries are such a perfect mix in!
Thanks Laura; definitely! The cranberries add a nice tang to contrast the sweetness. Yum! Too bad there aren’t any leftovers 😉
Your pictures are so beautiful and tempting, Natasha! I have a question. Have you ever tried replacing butter or oil in your baking recipes with Greek yogurt? I read about it somewhere but I’ve always wondered if it would really turn out the same in taste and texture. I know you love to eat healthy and yummy so I figured you would be the best person to ask 🙂
I have tried with a few recipes like my Greek Yogurt cupcakes. They were wonderful and didn’t miss the other fats one bit! I probably should try to replace with it in more recipes. I love Greek yogurt. It’s my favorite thing for breakfast 🙂
These look great and much better health wise then regular muffins.I have a lot of zucchini so this will be good to make.
I think so too. I do feel good about the zucchini in there 🙂 Thanks so much Nadia!
LOVE that inside shot! The texture looks absolutely perfect!
Thanks Jaclyn 🙂 Sometimes I forget the inside shots and then I’m kicking myself until I re-make the recipe again 😉 Have an awesome day!
These look awesome! We love zucchini bread but never thought of doing muffins. Great idea 😉
Thanks Katya 🙂 I kept wanting to drizzle something over the top of them, but I decided it wasn’t necessary. They’re just right as is 🙂
I agree! 🙂
Thank you for this recipe! Baking some zucchini muffins now. My hubby is going to love coming home from work to a sweet smelling home. (:
You are welcome Angela, let me know what you think of them :).
I think you saw (; on Instagram. They were perfectly moist and delicious.
Thanks again!
Yes, I did! Yours looked so so good! 🙂
Looks yummy! I love zucchini bread. Never tried making muffins though. Mine zucchini bread has no baking powder in the recipe. I’m just starting to have zucchinis in my garden, I will try to make muffins. Thanks Natasha! 😉
I’m a big zucchini bread fan too. I love how moist and yummy it is. Whoever discovered zucchini bread is a genius! 🙂
I have been craving this all week. Thank you for the recipe and inspiration.
You are welcome :), my hubby is all over them with his morning coffee.
Muffins are pretty much the only way my kids will eat zucchini – I definitely need to try your recipe!
Thanks Amanda. Any way you can get it in them I guess! ;). My son loved the muffins too 🙂
Love zucchini bread! I find that zucchini and banana breads are somewhat similar (in texture and moisture), and I usually just use baking soda for my banana breads. It’s interesting that you found that taking out baking powder completely (but leaving baking soda in the recipe) makes the best recipe! That’s the same concept I’ve used in making banana breads for years! Great recipe, Natasha, as always!
That’s exactly how our banana bread is also; no baking powder, just soda, but our zucchini bread does have both; it just didn’t rise as muffins. It took a few experiments, but I’m glad we didn’t quit 🙂 Baking is definitely an adventure!