Bright and citrusy Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread is the answer to your bounty of the prolific green vegetable that overruns gardens each summer. The delicious flavors of lemon, poppy seed, and zucchini go wonderfully well together in this loaf of quick bread that is made extra special with a sweet-tart lemon glaze on top!

Slices of lemon poppy seed zucchini bread topped with glaze arranged on a white plate next to lemon halves.


Zucchini: the Garden Veggie That Just Keeps on Giving

We don’t have a lot of garden space in our yard, but we still plant one zucchini plant each year. It’s easy to grow and there are new zucchini every couple of days or so to be picked and used in all sorts of recipes.

Sometimes we go a healthier route and make zoodles, which are actually surprisingly fantastic in place of actual spaghetti noodles. We prefer them to spaghetti squash even! But most of the time I like to bake with the profusion of zucchini that results from our gardening efforts.

If you have an excess of zucchini like we do or your neighbors keep dropping it off on your porch, be sure to check out some of our other zucchini recipes like Double Chocolate Zucchini Bread, Morning Glory Muffins, and Zucchini Bread with Walnuts.

A loaf of lemon poppy seed zucchini bread with lemon icing dripping down the side.

Zucchini in Baked Goods

Zucchini is magical when it comes to baked goods. It makes them extra moist and tender and wonderful. The mild flavor of zucchini lends itself well to adapting to other ingredients like warm spices like cinnamon and cloves, rich chocolate, or the bright citrus notes of lemon and poppy seed.

Really, I just took my stand-by zucchini bread recipe and tweaked it a bit to make this lemon poppy seed version. So far I have only made it in loaf form, but like any quick bread this recipe would serve well as muffins instead.

And while you don’t NEED the lemon glaze that graces the top of the moist, wonderful loaves, I highly recommend adding it. It’s such a treat to have a slice of this lemon poppy seed zucchini bread in the afternoon as a snack, or for breakfast in the morning.

Two slices of lemon poppy seed zucchini bread with lemon glaze on a speckled plate.

How to Make Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread

  1. Grate the zucchini on the large holes of a box grater. There is no need to peel the zucchini first. I actually love those little flecks of green from the zucchini skin in this quick bread recipe. There is no need to wring liquid out of the grated zucchini in this recipe either.
  2. Whisk the oil, sugar, eggs, and vanilla in a large bowl. I have replaced half of the oil with applesauce in the past and it works well, although I prefer the extra moistness that the full amount of oil gives to the bread as written.
  3. Stir in the grated zucchini, lemon juice, lemon zest, and poppy seeds. If you wanted to do almond poppy seed zucchini bread, you could leave out the lemon juice and lemon zest and use 1 teaspoon of almond extract instead.
  4. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, stirring just until combined. This is a one-bowl recipe the can be done by hand or in a stand mixer. The key is sprinkling the baking powder and baking powder over the other ingredients rather than dumping them in one big clump. I always skip whisking dry ingredients together and save myself a bowl using this approach.
  1. Bake! Divide the batter evenly between two greased 8×4-inch loaf pans. You could use one larger 9×5-inch pan and two smaller loaf pans instead, but you will need to adjust the bake time accordingly.
  1. Cool, then glaze. Once the bread is out of the oven, let it cool in the loaf pan for at least 20 minutes before turning it out onto a wire rack to cool all the way. Whisk the glaze together in a bowl adding just enough lemon juice to powdered sugar to get it to your desired thickness, then drizzle or spread it on top of the bread and let it set before slicing.
Slices of lemon poppy seed zucchini bread arranged on a white plate next to a striped napkin, lemon halves, and zucchini.

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Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread

5 from 11 votes
Amy Nash
Prep Time 15 minutes
Cook Time 50 minutes
Additional Time 1 hour
Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes
Course Bread
Cuisine American
Servings 24 slices
Bright and citrusy Lemon Poppy Seed Zucchini Bread is the answer to your bounty of the prolific green vegetable that overruns gardens each summer. The delicious flavors of lemon, poppy seed, and zucchini go wonderfully well together in this loaf of quick bread that is made extra special with a sweet-tart lemon glaze on top!

Ingredients
  

Bread

  • 2 cups (400g) granulated sugar
  • 3 large eggs
  • 1 cup vegetable oil
  • 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • 2 1/2 cups grated zucchini
  • 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
  • 2 Tablespoons lemon zest
  • 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
  • 3 1/3 cups (416g) all-purpose flour
  • 2 Tablespoons cornstarch
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon table salt

Glaze

  • 2 cups powdered sugar
  • 1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice
  • extra lemon zest for garnish

Instructions
 

  • Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 8×4-inch loaf pans or 4 smaller pans.
  • Whisk the sugar, eggs, oil, and vanilla together in a large bowl.
    2 cups (400g) granulated sugar, 3 large eggs, 1 cup vegetable oil, 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
  • Stir in the grated zucchini, lemon juice, lemon zest, and poppy seeds.
    2 ½ cups grated zucchini, 3 Tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, 2 Tablespoons lemon zest, 2 Tablespoons poppy seeds
  • Stir in the flour, cornstarch, baking powder, baking soda, and salt, just until combined. Divide evenly between the two loaf pans.
    3 ⅓ cups (416g) all-purpose flour, 2 Tablespoons cornstarch, 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder, 1 teaspoon baking soda, 1 teaspoon table salt
  • Bake for 50-60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaves comes out clean.
  • Cool for 20 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
  • Whisk the powdered sugar with enough lemon juice to make a thin icing. Spread over the top of the loaves, then let set before slicing and serving.
    2 cups powdered sugar, 1-2 Tablespoons lemon juice, extra lemon zest for garnish

Nutrition

Calories: 267kcal | Carbohydrates: 41g | Protein: 3g | Fat: 10g | Saturated Fat: 1g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 1g | Cholesterol: 20mg | Sodium: 179mg | Potassium: 70mg | Fiber: 1g | Sugar: 27g | Vitamin A: 56IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 34mg | Iron: 1mg
Tried this recipe? Show me on Instagram!Mention @HouseOfNashEats or tag #houseofnasheats!

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About the author

Hi, I'm Amy

I enjoy exploring the world through food, culture, and travel and sharing the adventure with mostly from-scratch, family friendly recipes that I think of as modern comfort cooking.

5 from 11 votes (11 ratings without comment)

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Reader questions and reviews

  1. Maia says:

    I just made these and they came out so soft, fluffy and moist and were delicious! The directions didn’t say when to add in the cornstarch so I just added them when I added the baking soda/powder. I like only a thing coating of icing as it was very sweet and very lemony (super delish) so I decreased the amount of sugar and I also added a splash of vanilla extract too for more flavor! Will definitely make this again!

    1. Amy says:

      Thank you so much for pointing out that the cornstarch wasn’t included in the instructions! I fixed that now. So glad you liked this bread!

  2. Jennifer Stewart says:

    What a great way to sneak in some veggies into this delicious bread!

  3. Debi says:

    I was able to use some of the neighbor’s zucchini that they gave me when I made this delicious recipe! It’s so nice and lemony!

  4. Kathleen Pope says:

    DELISH! Fresh, citrusy and the zucchini made it amazingly moist!

  5. Paige says:

    This was great and what I really loved is there was plenty of frosting on it!!