Zucchini Bread is one of my all time favorites! This recipe is so simple to make in the Ninja Foodi and the flavor is outstanding!
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When I was growing up, my mom used to always make zucchini bread from the zucchini she grew in her garden. This year I decided it was time to plant and grow my own zucchini and, boy, is it easy!
I had so many zucchini this summer that I was able to make all kinds of great dishes. One of my favorites is this Guilt-Free Shrimp Alfredo!
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I also made the best Ratatouille recipe and used the Ninja Foodi to roast the fresh veggies. It is a great side dish and full of flavor. Ratatouille is a great way to use up garden vegetables, for sure. Make sure to save a zucchini for this delicious Zucchini Bread too!
What does Zucchini Bread Taste Like?
If you are concerned that it is going to taste like vegetable bread, fear not. Zucchini bread is absolutely delicious and, except for seeing a fleck of green here and there, you won't even know there is zucchini in it!
Zucchini bread typically has warm flavors of cinnamon, cloves, and sometimes nutmeg. This recipe is very straightforward and the flavor comes from vanilla extract, cinnamon, and cloves.
So, if the zucchini doesn't really flavor the bread, why use it? It gives the bread a nice texture and also helps keep it moist. I love a good zucchini bread and I hope you give this recipe a try!
Tips for Making Zucchini Bread
Zucchini Bread is a quick bread, meaning that it uses either baking powder or baking soda or a combination of both for the leavening or rising process instead of yeast or eggs.
With all quick breads, one of the most important tips is to bake it right after your mix up the batter. The baking powder/soda will begin to work right after being mixed with the wet ingredients and it is important that the leavening process take place in the oven and not on the counter, or you will end up with a dense, flat zucchini bread.
Don't overmix the batter. This is pretty much true with all cakes and quick breads. You don't want to overmix the batter or introduce too much air into the batter or you could have a cake that falls in the middle.
Squeeze the liquid out of the shredded zucchini before folding it into the batter. This is critical to do or your zucchini bread will have way too much liquid and will not bake up correctly. The easiest way to do it is to pick up the shredded zucchini in your hands and squeeze the liquid out into the sink or a mixing bowl. Another way to do it is to use a flour sack to squeeze the liquid out.
If you aren't familiar with flour sacks, check them out for sure! They are one of my favorite towels ever. I use them for straining things all the time and they are also perfect for drying dishes or wiping down counters. I have several that I use for food and others for cleaning.
You can find flour sacks right here on Amazon: Flour Sacks
I demonstrate using them in my YouTube video: Zucchini Bread in the Ninja Foodi
How to make Zucchini Bread in the Ninja Foodi
The first thing to do is preheat the Ninja Foodi on Bake/Roast at 275° F (93° C) and let it preheat for 10 minutes.
Next, butter and flour your loaf pan.
Grate the zucchini until you have 1 ½ cups. Once you squeeze the liquid out the volume will decrease to about 1 cup.
Squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini. This is very important, so don't skip it. I explain more in the tips section above.
Combine the wet ingredients; 2 eggs, ¾ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and ⅓ cup vegetable oil in a medium mixing bowl and whisk together.
Add in the cinnamon, cloves, salt, flour, and baking powder to the wet ingredients and stir to combine until you no longer see any flour.
Fold in the zucchini.
Pour the batter into the prepared loaf pan. It will fill the pan about ½ full.
Set the loaf pan on the rack and lower it into the preheated Ninja Foodi. Set the Bake/Roast for 275° F (135° C) and bake uncovered for 35 minutes. Let sit in the Ninja Foodi for 5 minutes and then check the temp. It should be 200° F (93° C). If it isn't, just leave the zucchini bread in the Ninja Foodi and keep it off for another 5 minutes and it should come up in temp.
Allow to cool on a cooling rack for 10 minutes and then flip bread out of loaf pan and finish cooling upside down.
The zucchini bread can be enjoyed now with a little butter or you can whip up this easy glaze!
Cream Cheese Glaze
Bring 4 ounces of cream cheese to room temp. In a medium size mixing bowl, combine cream cheese and 2 tablespoon of white sugar. Using a hand mixer, whip the cream cheese and sugar together until well-combined. This takes about 2 minutes.
Add in ½ cup of heavy cream and whip into the cream cheese using a hand blender on medium speed. The mixture should be thick and creamy.
Then add in 1 tablespoon of milk or water at a time until it is a thick, but pourable consistency.
Pour over the zucchini bread and let set up in the fridge for an hour or so. Slice and serve.
Zucchini Bread in the Ninja Foodi
Equipment
Ingredients
- 2 large eggs
- ¾ cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla
- ⅓ cup vegetable oil or canola
- 1 ½ cup zucchini grated or 2 small zucchini
- ½ teaspoon sea salt fine grind
- ¾ teaspoon cloves ground
- ½ tablespoon cinnamon ground
- 1 cup flour
- 2 tsp baking powder
Cream Cheese Icing
- 4 ounces cream cheese room temp
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream
- 2 tablespoon milk
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Instructions
- Butter and flour your loaf pan
- Preheat the Ninja Foodi on 275° F / 135° C for 10 minutes.
- Grate the zucchini using the fine side of a box grater or any grater. Squeeze the liquid out of the zucchini.
- Combine 2 eggs, ¾ cup sugar, 1 teaspoon vanilla, and ⅓ cup vegetable oil in a medium mixing bowl and whisk together
- Add in the cinnamon, cloves, salt, flour, and baking powder to the wet ingredients and stir to combine until you no longer see any flour.
- Fold in the zucchini and pour batter into prepared loaf pan
- Set the loaf pan on the rack in the low position into the inner pot of the Ninja Foodi and set the Bake/Roast function to 275° F and bake for 35-40 minutes. See recipe notes
- Check for doneness using a thermometer, the temp should be around 200°F/93°C Remove and all to cool on a baking rack for 30 -60 minutes before applying the icing
Cream Cheese Icing
- Using a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese and sugar until well combined. Add in ½ cup heavy cream and beat for 1 minute. Add in 1 tablespoon of milk and check consistency, add second tablespoon if needed. The consistency should be thick, but pourable. Pour over the zucchini loaf or use a pastry bag to decorate.
- Place bread in the refrigerator for about 1 hour to allow the icing to set up. Serve & Enjoy!
Nutrition
About the Recipe Author, Louise Long
Louise is a full-time recipe creator and food blogger @ The Salted Pepper. She has over 30 years of experience with cooking and recipe development. She owned a restaurant for several years and was a full-time RN until retiring to blog full-time.
She published her first cookbook in the Fall of 2018 and is very interested in writing several more.
Louise is also the creator of an online Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooking Course with over 100 instructional step-by-step videos. People absolutely rave about the course and all the value they have received from it.
Louise has several very active Facebook groups that help people with the basics of cooking and learning more about the appliances they love.
Ninja Foodi Pressure Cooker & Air Crisper 101
Ninja Woodfire Outdoor Grill & Smoker
Louise is also a YouTube creator and you can find most of her recipes in video format on The Salted Pepper YouTube channel.
She is very responsive to messages and eager to help in any way she can. Get more Information about Louise & contact information
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Ruth E.
What is the size of the loaf pan? Is the loaf pan a Ninja accessory? Does it need to be a metal pan?
Louise
It doesn't have to be a metal pan, but different materials conduct heat differently and may affect the cooking time. Here is the link the pan I used: https://amzn.to/3WZzdVM
Ruth E.
Thank you! I ordered this pan and made the bread today. It's delicious!! Since I'm using the steam/bake feature I didn't cook it for the full time. I checked the temperature of the bread as you suggested and went by that.
Kendra
Is the time and temp the same as if I were to cook in the steam crisp machine
Louise
I haven't tried the recipe using the steam/crisp and if you were to do that I would use steam/bake instead of steam/crisp. Because the steam is going to jump start the cooking process, you may be able to increase the temp a bit and cook for a shorter period of time. I can't really give specifics because I haven't done it. Please let me know if you do!