This recipe for Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins was updated in July 2019 with new photography and enhancements to the recipe, including adding more vegetables and changing the flour to a whole wheat blend.
Muffins have to be one of my favourite freezer foods as they can easily be served for breakfast, snacks, lunch or even with dinner. These Cheese & Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins are no exception and they are perfect for school lunches. Packed with flavour (not to mention veggies) these are great as a school lunch option instead of sandwiches.
I love the flavour of these muffins. The capsicums add a little sweetness to the muffin and they are just so light and moist thanks to the zucchini and ricotta. You could also substitute the veggies in these muffins to what you have on hand or what the kids love to eat. Corn would work really well in these Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins or grated sweet potato or pumpkin would too.
Freezing Instructions
To freeze your muffins, let them cool completely before placing in a large zip lock bag. Try and freeze them so they are flat and separated to avoid them sticking together. When they are frozen solid it is fine if they are touching so you don’t need to keep them flat. It is recommended to use the muffins within 3 months.
I normally pack my lunchboxes the night before so these will defrost over night in the lunchbox. If you are a morning packer, get the Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins out an hour before you go to defrost at room temperature. This is especially important you have have a great insulated lunchbox or if the lunchboxes are kept in the fridge at school to ensure that the muffin has time to defrost.
Serving Ideas
You can serve these Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins as an alternative to a sandwich. You could halve the muffin and butter the muffin if you require, but this is not necessary.
If you think your kiddo may not want a full muffin for lunch or if you would like to give these as a lighter snack you can make these as mini muffins and serve snack size. I make a half of this batch as mini-muffins and the remaining as larger sized muffins as Mr 7 is not a huge fan of savoury muffins. Introducing mini muffins are less confronting for him (and less wasteful if he isn’t going to eat it!) and I remain hopeful that he will try one soon. I generally can make a batch of 12 medium muffins and 20 mini muffins from this recipe.
These Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins are great served with soup for an easy, nutritious winter’s meal. They would be perfect with my Kid Friendly Pumpkin Soup or my Creamy Tomato Soup.
Getting extra servings of vegetables in the lunchbox is important to me so these Cheese are Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins are an absolute school lunchbox winner for me. And if you love getting your sneaky veg on too why not try my delicious dairy and refined sugar free Pumpkin and Coconut Muffins for another great recipe using vegetables or you may love these savoury Roasted Pumpkin and Feta Muffins.
Print
Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 15 minutes
- Total Time: 25 minutes
- Yield: 18 medium muffins 1x
- Category: Muffins
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: Western
Description
These delicious Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins are packed full of flavour and packed full of goodness. Great to freeze for school lunches all term long.
Ingredients
- 1 cup of ricotta
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup low flavour extra virgin olive oil
- 3/4 cup of milk
- 1/2 cup grated tasty cheese
- 1 medium grated zucchini
- 1 medium grated carrot
- 1/2 medium capsicum finely diced
- 1 tbsp spring onions finely chopped
- 1/2 tsp salt and freshly ground black pepper (optional)
- 1 cup plain self raising flour
- 1 cup whole wheat self raising flour
Instructions
- Preheat an oven to 180c line and grease your muffin tin
- Whisk the eggs, ricotta, oil and milk to make a smooth liquid
- Season with salt and pepper (if using) and add the cheese, zucchini, carrots, capsicum and spring onions and stir through
- Carefully mix through the flour until just combined, ensuring you do not over-mix
- Spoon the mixture evenly into the prepared muffin tins
- Bake for around 15 minutes or until the muffin springs back when touched and a skewer inserted into the centre of the muffin comes out clean.
- Allow to cool in the pan for 5 minutes before turning onto a baking rack and cooling completely (see note)
I hope your family enjoy these Cheese and Vegetable Lunchbox Muffins. If you make these I would love to hear what you think, or get social, snap a pic and tag me on Instagram or Facebook.
Happy Baking!
Bernadette x
These are a favourite in our house and great to have in the freezer for a quick lunch or snack. We rarely have spring onions on hand, but they still taste great without them.
Love this feedback! Thank you Alex, Bernadette x
These were a hit with my friends. I tried them on my kids and they like them only if they are very hungry! I think it’s because I put too many different veggies in them. My friends however, LOVED them and asked to please take some home.
Glad your friends loved these, Bernadette x
Hi, how long would you recommend cooking the mini muffins? Also would you use the same temp as when cooking regular size muffins?
I generally check them at the 12 minute mark to see how much longer they will need – I would say they would need around 14 minutes but this is just from my memory! And yes, same temp. Bernadette x
Do you have any recommendations for making this gluten free? Almond flour, maybe?
I haven’t tested a GF variation but a supermarket self raising blend should work fine.
If you try GF flour, I do recommend spending the extra on White Wings brand. Many GF flours as Im sure you know don’t rise well and are very fine.
Thank you for this info!
Hey I can’t find whole wheat flour. What is the best substitute for this?
Whole wheat is wholemeal flour which is generally readily available in supermarkets. You could use white unrefined flour if required.
Another cracking recipe, thanks Bernadette! I’m slowly working my way through a bunch of your lunchbox recipes and I think this one will feature in the ‘heavy rotation” 😅
I made these in the Thermomix and they were a dream! Added parsley (needed to use it up) and used 1 egg and 2 egg whites instead of 2 eggs as that’s all I had on hand. They still turned out great!
Thanks for letting me know! Great idea to add the parsley! Bernadette x
Great recipe, but how can I make this healthier? Can I use less oil? Or less ricotta? Or even less cheese? What are your reccommendations?
Given this is a recipe featuring cheese the ricotta and cheese are pretty integral to this recipe. You could use low fat ricotta or low fat cheese or sub the ricotta for Greek yogurt. I would not recommend reducing the oil for this recipe. Thank you, Bernadette.
What can I substitute for ricotta if I want them dairy free (the shredded cheese I already have a substitute)?
Possible coconut yogurt but I haven’t tested this personally. Thanks Bernadette x
Just discovered the blog, and I can’t wait to make these! I’m curious, though, is the cooking time for a regular size muffin or mini muffins?
These are for regular size, but I find my oven runs quite hot so you may need a little more time in your oven. Happy baking, Bernadette x
Thanks for the tip on leaving them in a little longer, and great texture with the ricotta! The five stars come from my two Mr. 3’s – who ate every bite, and the hubs loved them, too 👍🏼
Oh thanks so much for letting me know and the review – it means a lot! I am so glad you all loved them! Bernadette x
Hello amd thank you for the recipe! Ricotta sounds amazing but I was wondering if I can replace with yogurt since it’s the only thing I’ve got laying around? Thanks!
Yes you can definitely use Greek or natural yogurt. Thanks Bernadette x
Hello just wondering if you suggest using fresh ricotta from the deli or pre packaged?
Thanks
I use a prepackaged variety – it is a little loose too. I think if you used a fresh ricotta you may need to add some milk. Happy baking! Bernadette x
Hi….I love your blog and all these kid friendly recipes. A small doubt can I switch the self rising flour to regular flour…like wheat or a multigrain flour and maybe add a lil baking powder….is that ok….!!!
Thank you! You should be able to substitute self raising flour for plain or wholemeal flour and add 1.5-2tsp of baking poweder, though I have not tested. If using wholemeal flour you may also need to add a little extra milk too. Happy baking! Bernadette x
Hi Bernadette,
What type of oil do you recommend for making the muffins with?
Hello! I generally use extra virgin olive oil in my muffins. Thanks x
My kids rated this as the “best muffin they’ve ever tasted!” Had no ricotta so used a cup of tasty cheese and forgot the spring onions, but still tasted yum!
Ah yay! Thanks so much for letting me know, Bernadette x
I absolutely love these. Your pictures and recipes are so inspiring. I’m always struggling to find something new and relatively easy to make or pack for school lunches. I know this will be a hit. x
These muffins are a great way to pack in some extra veg and I love the protein hit from the ricotta!