These cheese and courgette muffins (or cheese and zucchini muffins) are a delicious healthy snack. Savoury courgette muffins are a great accompaniment to soup or a light lunch, and are perfect for lunchboxes and picnics. And they are also gluten free and made with healthy wholegrain oats.
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What you'll love about savoury courgette muffins
- An easy savoury muffin to accompany soups and salads
- A healthy portable snack which doesn't need refrigerating. Ideal for adults and kids
- Plenty of protein and fibre to keep you feeling full
- Made from wholegrains, these healthy courgette muffins are gluten free. They can also be made dairy free if needed
- Adding courgettes to cheese muffins makes them moist and delicious. It's also a great way to use up a courgette! And although the amount of courgette in this recipe won't count as a whole portion of your five a day veggies, it all helps:)
- Quick to make, these easy savoury courgette muffins are ready in half an hour
Did you know that you can also use courgettes in sweet muffins to add a lovely moist texture? If you've got some courgettes left over, why not try these courgette and chocolate muffins?
Ingredients
Oats make these gluten free veggie muffins full of healthy fibre. Oats are packed with a special kind of fibre called beta glucan which is good for your heart and helps to even out your blood sugar. According to the NHS most adults in the UK get far less fibre than they need. Using wholegrain oats in baking is a great way to increase your fibre levels. Compared to wheat flour, oats are also higher in protein, which means these delicious cheese and courgette muffins will keep you fuller for longer.
For gluten free savoury muffins, make sure you buy certified gluten free oats. (The oats are no different to normal, but they will have been grown and processed in a gluten free environment to make sure there is no cross contamination.)
Courgettes/Zucchini. You won't really notice the flavour of the courgette in this cheesy cheddar muffin recipe, and even the fussiest of eaters is unlikely to detect it. However, they do play a vital role. Courgettes add moistness and makes a lovely veggie muffin texture. Using courgette also means that you'll need to add very little oil to the mixture.
Eggs, milk and olive oil. Protein and healthy fats make these veggie muffins healthy and satisfying. If you prefer, you can switch the olive oil to another healthy fat such as coconut oil. Any kind of milk will work in this recipe.
Mature cheddar cheese. You'll need a strong flavoured cheese in this savoury muffin recipe as it's an important part of the flavour. I used a mature cheddar - a mild cheddar or cheese such as red Leicester won't have such a good flavour. You could also use a mix of cheddar and parmesan.
Seasoning and flavourings. I made this batch of cheese and courgette muffins with just salt, pepper and a little mustard, which allowed the cheesy flavour to really dominate. But a small handful of herbs would also work really well in this recipe. Either some thyme or rosemary would complement the flavour of cheese and courgette beautifully.
Baking powder will add a bit of rise to your veggie muffins. Please note that baking powder is not the same as bicarbonate of soda. If you've only got bicarb on hand, then you'll just need half a teaspoon for this quantity of mixture. You'll also need to add a squeeze of lemon juice to the recipe to activate the rising action of the bicarb.
Variations
For dairy free courgette muffins, you can use oat milk or another dairy free milk, and vegan cheese.
How to make cheese and courgette muffins
If you've got a food processor or a blender, you'll have these veggie muffins mixed in no time.
Process the oats until they have a consistency like coarse flour.
Then add rough chunks of unpeeled courgette and process until the courgette is very finely chopped. The mixture will clump together slightly due to the moisture in the courgettes.
Then blitz with the remaining ingredients, and very gently pulse or hand mix in the grated cheese. Don't over process the cheese, if you chop it too finely, you'll lose some of the flavour. The mixture will be a soft spoonable texture.
Save a couple of handfuls of grated cheese to sprinkle of top of the muffins, as this will give a lovely cheesy crust.
Once baked, remove the cheddar muffins from the tin so that you don't end up with soggy bottoms, and cool them on a wire rack.
If you want to make these cheese and courgette muffins without a food processor, you'll need to use ready ground oat flour rather than whole oats. Grate the courgettes and mix all of the ingredients together.
Expert tips
- Make sure that you use a firm courgette for this savoury courgette muffin recipe, not a marrow as there will be too much liquid. If your courgettes are very overgrown, try them in this courgette and tomato side dish, or try a delicious marrow soup or marrow curry.
- The quantity in this recipe makes 6 big veggie muffins. If you want them for smaller children, or to serve as nibbles with drinks, try making mini savoury muffins. You should get around 18 mini muffins from the mixture. Reduce the baking time as well - the muffins should be cooked in around 12-13 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Yes absolutely. They are exactly the same vegetable.
No, the amount of liquid in this savoury courgette muffin recipe has been adjusted to allow for the fact that courgettes naturally contain water. So it's super simple, and you just need to add the courgettes to the recipe.
I always use muffin cases, as it's so much easier to get the cooked muffins out of the tray. But if your muffin tin has a great non stick coating you might get away with just oiling the tin. If you are planning to freeze these veggie muffins, you might want to remove the paper cases. In my experience they tend to tear once they have been frozen, and are hard to remove.
These savoury courgette muffins will store well for 2 or 3 days in an airtight container. If you want to store them for any longer, then it's best to freeze them. Place in an airtight bag or container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature.
Serving veggie muffins
Cheese and courgette muffins go very well with soup or a salad, turning it into a filling meal. Try them with this lovely carrot and apple soup, nutritious leek and watercress soup or a summery courgette soup. You could also serve them alongside bacon and eggs for breakfast or brunch.
Or, of course, you could enjoy them as a healthy anytime snack. They travel really well and don't need refrigerating, so they are ideal for lunchboxes. It's great to get kids to eat snacks that aren't sweet, and these savoury courgette muffins are very moreish. Try them as a healthy after school snack or on trips out. Mini veggie muffins also make good finger food for babies and toddlers.
Other savoury bakes you might enjoy
Other healthy courgette recipes
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a rating and/or comment at the bottom of the page. Your feedback and questions are much appreciated.
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Recipe
Cheese and courgette muffins
Ingredients
- 200 g oats
- 150 g courgette (1 medium) washed and roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 eggs
- 2 tablespoon milk any kind of milk is suitable
- 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon dried mustard powder
- salt and pepper
- 100 g grated mature cheese or other strong flavoured cheese
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees, and line a muffin tin with 6 paper cases.
- Add the oats to a food processor and blitz until they look like coarse flour. Add the chunks of courgette and blitz until finely chopped.
- Add the eggs, olive oil, milk, seasoning, mustard and baking powder and blitz until well mixed.
- Put aside 2 tablespoon of the cheese and stir the remainder into the mixture by hand. Spoon into paper cases and sprinkle over the remaining cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is for guidance only.
Rosie
Thanks for the great recipe. Enjoyed these today. Added a little paprika to other seasonings. Will definitely make again as so quick easy and tasty
Wendy Faulkner
Thank you so much:) The paprika sounds good.
Elene
Made these with reduced fat cheese - really delicious.
Wendy
Good idea, so glad you enjoyed them.
Jo
Made them without cheese for someone who wanted dairy free and they were lovely. Also thinned the batter and made pancakes which were delish. Thank you for the recipe!
Wendy Faulkner
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed them. Great tip on the pancake batter:)