As the school summer holidays come to an end, here in Australia, my focus is switching from lazy days at the beach to filling my freezer with lunchbox friendly goodies. These Savoury Muffins are my newest recipe and perfect for the lunchbox. Packed with four different vegetables they are easy to adapt. Use the same base recipe but customise you own vegetable muffins to suit your child’s taste.
Most of my lunchbox ideas are actually foods that I used to make my youngest when he was a baby. I weaned him using the baby-led weaning method and was always looking for great finger foods that I could take out and about with me. Some of my favourites were Sweet and Sour Quinoa Balls, Curried Lentil Bake, Egg Rolls and Mini Blender Muffins.
These Savoury Muffins would have been great for when I was doing baby-led weaning. To reduce the sodium level you can add less cheese to the mixture. The cheese is there for flavour only.
Of course, these vegetable muffins are not just limited to baby-led weaning and the lunchbox. They make a great breakfast, lunch or snack for both adults and kids.
Savoury Muffin Baking Tips
Here are my tips to help make light, fluffy and delicious vegetable muffins.
- Ensure to squeeze out the juice from the grated carrots and zucchini. I do this by placing the grated vegetables onto a clean tea towel and squeezing it as hard as I can! I have made these muffins without doing this and they were a little too wet inside. NOTE: Save the juice and use it in smoothies or sauces. – don’t throw away all that goodness!
- Don’t over stir the mixture. Resist the temptation to over stir or beat the batter, it will cause your muffin to go tough. You want the final mixture to be lumpy, thick and looking very messy. (see below) It should only take around 10 strokes with your wooden spoon.
- Don’t skimp on the veggies. If your child doesn’t like one of the vegetables, don’t just leave it out. Add extra of the other vegetables or replace it with a different one. These muffins are so much better with a bit of veggie in every bite.
- Grease the muffin pan really well before adding the batter. I have baked these with muffin cases and without. I got better results without cases. Often I found the muffins stuck to the cases but if you use a non stick pan and grease it well the muffins are easy to remove. If you do prefer to use the paper muffin cups, I would recommend greasing them with oil spray before putting the batter in. Alternatively you could try the silicon muffin cases.
- Keep an eye on the baking time. Take the muffins out of the oven too soon and they will be sticky and uncooked. Bake them too long, and you run the risk of dry muffins. Every oven is different, so while you should still follow the bake time in this recipe, use a skewer to test your muffins a couple minutes before the end of the bake time. Your skewer will come out clean if they are ready.
How to Best Store Savoury Muffins
If you have gone to the effort to make great savoury muffins then you want to take the time to make sure you store them properly. Not doing this can greatly affect the texture and shelf-life of you vegetable muffin. Here are my top tips for storing muffins:-
- Let your muffins cool completely on a wire rack.
Before storing your muffins, it is important to allow them to properly cool. Allow your savoury muffins to cool in the muffin tray for around 5-7 minutes. If you leave them in the pan too long they run the risk of going soggy, you just want them to be firm enough to transfer to a wire rack.
Once on the cooling rack the muffins should be left to cool completely before storing. Storing the muffins when they are even a little bit warm will result in condensation and soggy muffins.
- Decide on how long and where you want to store your muffins
My favourite way to store savoury muffins is to freeze them, and if properly frozen they will be good for around 2-3 months (but will remain safe to eat well past that). To ensure best quality, individually wrap the muffins in clingfilm or foil and then transfer to ziplock bags or freezer containers.
To reheat – just pop them out of the freezer and place them back in the muffin tin. Reheat at 170c /350f until heated through. Alternatively, allow them to thaw and then reheat them in the microwave.
You can refrigerate muffins, but it isn’t recommend. Refrigeration temperatures alters the texture of the muffin and can make them go stale quicker.
Storing at room temperature is better than refrigeration when it comes to muffin quality. The best way to store them is to line a air tight container with kitchen paper, pop the muffins on-top and then another layer of kitchen paper, before adding the lid. The paper absorbs the moisture from the muffins, stopping them from going soggy.
It is hot and humid here, at the moment, so I only store the muffins at room temperature the day I bake them, the rest I always freeze. Normally muffins would last a couple of days at room temperature. However, as I haven’t tested these, I can’t say for sure how they would last.
I’ve already mentioned that these muffins are easy to adapt. Some other vegetable inclusions you could try are-
- Finely chopped capsicum (bell pepper)
- Chopped spinach
- Finely chopped and lightly fried onion, shallots, mushroom, celery or leek.
- Chopped tomato or sun-dried tomato
- Fresh herbs
I’d love to know what variations you try, please do comment below or tag me on Instagram or Facebook.
Is your child muffin daft? Then why not try my:-
Carrot & Apple Muffins (Only sweetened with fruit)
Blender Muffins (Mini muffins, with a denser texture, perfect for little hands)
Fruity Oat Breakfast Bites (An oat mixture cooked in muffin trays)
Looking for more healthy kid recipes?Sign up for my free recipe newsletter to get new family friendly recipes in your inbox each week! Find me sharing more kind-friendly inspiration on Pinterest and Instagram.
Vegetable Savoury Muffins Recipe
Ingredients
- 1 medium (250g) Zucchini, grated
- 1 medium (120g) Carrot, grated
- 1/4 cup (30g) Frozen Peas
- 1/4 cup (30g) Frozen Corn
- 1 cup (125g) Cheddar Cheese, grated
- 1/2 cup Milk
- 1/4 cup Plain Greek Yoghurt
- 1/4 cup Olive Oil
- 2 Eggs
- 2 cups (250g) Plain Wholemeal Flour *See Note 1
- 3 tsp Baking Powder
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180C / 350F
- Place the zucchini and carrot onto a clean dish towel and wrap it around the vegetables. (see image above) Squeeze all the juice out. *SEE NOTE 2
- Place the zucchini and carrots into a large mixing bowl along with the peas and sweetcorn. Add the cheese, milk, yogurt, olive oil and egg and stir until combined.
- Mix the flour and baking powder together and then slowly add to the wet ingredients. Fold in gently, until just combined. *SEE NOTE 3
- Spray a 12 hole muffin tray with oil or grease with butter. Spoon the mixture, equally, between the 12 muffin sections. Bake for 20-25 mins. *SEE NOTE 4
Recipe Notes
- I used a plain wholemeal flour, I am currently living in Australia and find their wholemeal flour whiter in colour and it appears more processed than the wholemeal flour I was used to in the UK. I can not guarantee what the results will be like with less processed wholemeal flour as I haven't tested although some people have commented that it produced a denser muffin. The recipe will also work well with plain / all purpose flour.
- Don't throw away the juice. Save it and add it to smoothies or pasta sauces etc.
- Don't be tempted to over stir the mixture. The mixture should be lumpy, thick and looking very messy. It should only take around 10 strokes with your wooden spoon.
- Every oven is different, so while you should still follow the bake time in this recipe, use a skewer to test your muffins a couple minutes before the end of the bake time. Your skewer will come out clean if they are ready.
Ruthanna Large says
Turned out really well! Made a few changes:
* Didn’t have zucchini, substituted with 1.5c finely chopped fresh spinach
* Didn’t have greek yogurt, used regular 6%
* Added 1 apple, finely diced (still tasted savoury, but added a little something!)
Thank you! My 9mo loves them.
Amy says
Hi Ruthanna, so glad they worked well for you! I’ll have to give apple a try next time 🙂
Nicole says
Very good when fresh (although my hubby said they needed some salt). However, even though I waited until they cooled completely before I stored them in an airtight container, they ended up getting moldy within two days. Really bummed about that.
Amy says
Hi Nicole, I’m so sorry they didn’t store well for you and you had to waste them. If making again try freezing them, they do freeze well.
Susan Wilson says
Loved the savoury muffins used my different veggies will be making them again
Amy says
Thanks Susan, so glad you liked them 🙂
Alison BC says
I got a new muffin tin and made a couple sweet recipes before I googled “savory muffin recipes.” I’m glad I chose to try this one. I followed exactly but had to add some fresh herbs and salt because I only had very mild cheese and needed more flavor. Hopefully savory muffins become a popular thing. They’re awesome!
Amy says
Hi Alison, thank you so much for the 5 stars! So glad you enjoyed the recipe 🙂
Jessica Sutcliffe says
I have come back to make these a second time as I thought they were great! I added broccoli to my first batch.
Has anyone made these in mini muffin trays?
Amy says
HI Jessica, glad you enjoy them. I haven’t tried in a mini muffin tray, sorry. My other muffin recipes take around 12-15mins in a mini try. You could try with that timings. 🙂
Shilpa says
I loved the recipe
Mam please suggest options for eggless version of this recipe
Amy says
THanks Shilpa, I haven’t actually tried this recipe with egg free alternatives, however if you scroll through the comments you may find some readers who have tried alternatives. Maybe try a chia egg?
Erin says
I used to make these for my son but have since found out he can’t do dairy. We have an abundance of zucchini so I’m trying to figure out how I could sub the dairy ingredients. Water for milk, and maybe mayo for yogurt? And no cheese. I plan to add lots of herbs. Do you have any suggestions? It’s so hard to find a savory zucchini bread without dairy! I don’t want to do a sweet bread.
Amy says
Hi Erin, Without trying I can’t say for sure but I’d use dairy-free milk and substitute the yoghurt with olive oil. Skip the cheese and add extra herbs and a little salt for flavour. (if you look through the comments you may find that someone has tried a dairy free version).
Do you like soup? This zucchini soup is lovely (even without the cream) and you can use olive oil to replace the butter. A great way to use up lots of your zucchinis.
Esme says
I just did this for my baby. I saw a few people mentioning it needed salt so I added a handful of basil, a few sprigs of thyme and a couple of spring onions. Definitely no need for salt! Very successful, she ate the whole lot!
Amy says
Thank you, Esme. Herbs def add a lot of flavour – perfect for babies 🙂
Adriana says
Just made this and used purple carrots which gave a lovely colouring. Also added some fresh herbs (sage, thyme, chives) and substituted oil for butter, greek yogurt for normal plain yogurt and used half the amount of cheese. They were delicious and my husband and 10 month old are hooked!
Amy says
Thanks, Adriana. Loving the sound of the purple carrots, I’ll need to try that! Glad they were both hubby and baby approved! 🙂
Eva H says
Truly not sure what happened but I followed the recipe and had enough batter to fill almost TWO 12 hole (regular size) muffin tins. They’re baking now, we’ll see how it turns out.
Amy says
Not sure why that would be, how did they turn out?