Healthy cheese and courgette muffins are a delicious snack. Enjoy these easy, cheesy, savoury courgette muffins as an accompaniment to soup, or in lunchboxes and picnics. They are naturally gluten free, with healthy wholegrain oats and plenty of protein.
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Why you'll love savoury courgette muffins
- Easy, cheesy courgette muffins are moist and delicious. It's a great way to use up a courgette and add some hidden veg
- A healthy savoury portable snack that you can leave out of the fridge. Ideal for adults' and kids' lunchboxes
- Cheese and courgette muffins have plenty of protein and fibre to keep you feeling full. Each wholegrain muffin has over 10g of protein and nearly 4g of fibre
- Healthy courgette muffins without wheat flour are naturally gluten free and there's no butter in the recipe
- Quick to make, these easy cheesy, savoury courgette muffins are ready in 30 minutes
Did you know that you can also use courgettes in sweet bakes to add a lovely moist texture? If you've got some courgettes left over, why not try these courgette and chocolate muffins or courgette and apple cake? Or read these tips and recipes on what to do with a courgette glut!)
Ingredients
Oats make these gluten free courgette 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.
Compared to wheat flour, oats are also higher in protein, which means these delicious homemade cheese and courgette muffins will keep you fuller for longer.
For gluten free savoury muffins, use certified gluten free oats. (The oats are 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 the hidden veggies.
However, they do play a vital role. Courgettes add moistness and a lovely light texture.
Eggs, milk and olive oil add protein and healthy fats making these vegetable muffins healthy and satisfying. If you prefer, you can switch the olive oil to another healthy fat such as coconut oil.
You can use any type of milk for the 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 seasoned this batch of cheese and courgette muffins with just salt, pepper and a little mustard, which allowed the cheesy flavour to really dominate.
A small handful of herbs would also work well in the recipe. Either some thyme or rosemary would complement the flavour of cheese and courgette beautifully. Or add some chopped chives for a mild onion flavour.
Baking powder will add a bit of rise to your savoury muffins.
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 vegetable 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 to avoid them having soggy bottoms, and cool on a wire rack.
If you want to make cheese and courgette muffins without a food processor, use ready ground oat flour rather than whole oats. Grate the courgettes and mix all of the ingredients together in a bowl.
Expert tips
- Make sure that you use a firm courgette to make savoury courgette muffins, 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, filling muffins. For smaller children, or to serve as nibbles with drinks, make mini savoury courgette muffins. You should get around 18 mini muffins from the mixture. Reduce the baking time - the muffins should be cooked in around 12-13 minutes.
Frequently asked questions
Yes absolutely. Courgette and zucchini 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 vegetable muffins, you might want to remove the paper cases. In my experience they tend to tear once they have been frozen, which makes them 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 vegetable 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.
Of course, you can enjoy them as a healthy savoury snack at any time. They travel well and don't need to be kept in the fridge, making them ideal for lunchboxes.
It's great to get kids to eat snacks that aren't sweet, and these savoury courgette muffins are very moreish and ideal for children. Try them as a healthy after-school snack or on day trips.
Mini courgette and cheese muffins also make good finger food for babies and toddlers.
Other savoury bakes you might enjoy
Other healthy courgette recipes
There are lots of other healthy courgette recipes on Cinnamon and Kale to enjoy.
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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.200 g oats, 150 g courgette (1 medium)
- Add the eggs, olive oil, milk, seasoning, mustard and baking powder and blitz until well mixed.2 tablespoon olive oil, 2 eggs, 2 tablespoon milk, ¼ teaspoon dried mustard powder, salt and pepper, 1.5 teaspoon baking powder
- 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.100 g grated mature cheese
- Bake for 20 minutes until golden. Remove from the tin and cool on a wire rack.
Notes
- If you are not using a food processor or blender, use oat flour rather than oats, and grate the courgette before adding it to the mixture. Stir the ingredients together as per the recipe.
- Chopped rosemary or thyme can also be added to these muffins, and complement the flavour of cheese and courgette really well.
- In order to get the best cheesy flavour, stir in the cheese by hand so that it is not processed into tiny pieces.
- These savoury courgette muffins freeze really well. They'll also keep for a couple of days in an airtight container at room temperature.
- If you want to make mini muffins, reduce the cooking time to 12-13 minutes.
Nutrition
Please note nutritional information is for guidance only.
Louise says
Nice but needed more taste. I would use more cheese, or maybe a blue cheese, or some chilli or paprika.
Wendy Faulkner says
Thanks for your feedback. You can also add herbs or parmesan for extra flavour.
Tracy Gigov says
I'm doing this recipe for the second time today. The whole family loved them. I added some sundried tomatoes too.
Wendy Faulkner says
Thank you, that's lovely to hear. I like the addition of the sundried tomatoes - sounds perfect:)
Rosie says
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 says
Thank you so much:) The paprika sounds good.
Elene says
Made these with reduced fat cheese - really delicious.
Wendy says
Good idea, so glad you enjoyed them.
Jo says
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 says
Thank you, so glad you enjoyed them. Great tip on the pancake batter:)