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 granulated 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.
I’ve made these twice. They’re amazingly good, and easy to reduce the sugar content with the chocolate chips. I’m having a bumper crop of zucchini this summer, so this is perfect.
I made these today, with chocolate chips and they are amazing! Only thing I did differently was sprinkle the top before baking with Sugar in the raw.
Recipe calls for 1 egg. However, instructions say to whisk eggs (plural). Please clarify. TY
Hi Nancy, sorry for the confusion. I was photographing the zucchini bread and zucchini muffins on the same day and forgot to remove a couple of eggs. 1 egg is correct for this recipe per the recipe card instructions. The recipe is correct.
This is my favorite from your sweet bread recipes! Keep up the good work.
Hi Natasha…can I substitute grated carrots instead of zucchini
Hi Soula! I have not tested that in this recipe so I can’t say how the outcome would be. If you do test it out, please let us know how it turns out.
I’ve made these twice now and my whole family loves them, toddler approved!
That is the best when family, especially the kids love what we moms make. That’s so great!
why is there 1 egg in the ingredients list and ‘eggs’ in the instructions? Little bit confused.. and on the picture there’s 3 eggs.
Hi All, sorry for the confusion. I was photographing the zucchini bread and zucchini muffins on the same day and forgot to remove a couple of eggs. 1 egg is correct for this recipe per the recipe card instructions. The recipe is correct.
These turned out so well and were a huge hit with the ladies at work!
That’s wonderful to hear, Marcia!
The kids and adults enjoyed equally. Perfect for after school snack
These are absolutely amazing!! They are very moist and don’t taste like zucchini at all. My kids keep requesting them! They are the only muffin I make that gets eaten within a few days and there are never any leftovers. I also add flax/chia seed for some extra nutrition. If you’re questioning using this recipe, don’t. Just make them! You won’t regret it.
Thank you so much for the wonderful review, Kelly!
Wonderful recipe. I subbed 1/2 cup whole wheat flour. Used only 1/2 cup sugar. Added pecans and shredded coconut.
Thank you for sharing, Judy! I’m glad you enjoyed the recipe!
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!