Easy Amish Zucchini Bread Recipe (Pennsylvania Dutch)

Last Updated on January 12, 2024 by Kiersten James, BS, RN

This cozy Amish zucchini bread recipe is a great way to use up extra zucchini from the garden and makes for a delicious companion to any meal. 

Amish cooks are known for their skill in making incredibly tasty, no-fuss food. This delicious quick bread recipe is a perfect example. It’s all about using what you have, not wasting anything (like those extra zucchinis from the garden), and enjoying the simple pleasures of homemade comforts.

Once growing season hits, it’s easy to become quickly inundated with fresh zucchini. This versatile vegetable is a classic favorite for home cooks as it can be turned into everything from delicious quick breads to casseroles, cakes, muffins, and so much more.

Zucchini is very easy to disguise and serves as an easy was to get some veggies into our little picky eaters.

How to Make Amish Zucchini Bread

Ingredients You Will Need:

• 2 eggs (room temperature is preferred)
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1/2 cup oil – I use avocado or EVOO but any oil for baking will do
• 1 medium shredded zucchini
• 1.5 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1.5 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of baking powder 
• 1.5 cups all purpose flour

​Baking Instructions:

1. Preheat your oven to 325F and move the wire rack to the middle.

2. In a medium mixing bowl, combine wet ingredients – eggs, oil, vanilla, and zucchini.

3. Add the dry ingredients and mix just until the flour is combined. Don’t over mix or you will risk having the center of the loaf cave in.

4. Pour batter into a greased bread pan and place into the preheated oven for about an hour. The bread will be done when it is a beautiful golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center of the bread comes out clean.

5. Cool completely before attempting to remove the bread from the loaf pan.

Slice when cooled to room temperature and enjoy alone with a cozy cup of tea, slathered with butter, or sandwiched with cream cheese frosting. 

Storing Zucchini Bread

Store freshly made Amish zucchini bread in an airtight container or wrapped well with plastic wrap. We use our microwave as our “bread box” since it’s air tight and away from light/heat. 

How to Shred or Grate Zucchini

Zucchini can be shredded several different ways depending on what equipment you have available in your kitchen. In the interest of time, I use a dishwasher-friendly electric food processor that has a shredding attachment. It removes some of the manual labor and grates an entire zucchini in about 10 seconds.  

Zucchini can also be easily shredded using a manual box grater or countertop rotary grater. 

What to Do With Huge Zucchini

If I don’t get around to checking my zucchini plants for more than a day or two, I can accidentally end up with some monster zucchinis. The squash becomes increasingly bitter as they grow, so the extra large ones are perfect for baking.

Cut the seeds out and incorporate the rest of the squash into a delicious recipe.

Do You Have to Peel The Zucchini First?

It depends how big the squash is. The young, slender, smaller zucchini don’t need to be peeled before grating since they are tender.

Very large zucchini should be peeled before baking as the skin will be very tough and detectable in your bread, cake, or pie.

Amish Zucchini Bread Recipe Variations

This is a great recipe to customize as your family likes. Popular modifications include folding in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans, chocolate chips, or walnuts right before baking. 

Check out More Amish Recipes

Amish Apple Butter

Amish Sand Tart cookies

Pennsylvania Dutch Style Chicken Pot Pie (with square noodles)

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