Savory quinoa muffins are perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Packed with nutrition and flavor, they are sure to be a huge hit.
Recipe Overview
Why you’ll love it: Savory quinoa muffins are a nutritious lunch or dinner idea. Serve them with a hearty salad or soup.
How long it takes: 45 minutes (plus time to cook quinoa)
Equipment you’ll need: saucepan, muffin tins, mixing bowl, grater
Servings: makes 18 muffins
It’s no secret that I love quinoa. I’m always trying to think of new things to do with it (be sure to check out my list of 24 easy quinoa recipes). I love its nutty flavor, slight crunch, and the versatility. Not to mention that quinoa is gluten-free, high in protein and fiber, and provides just a ton of nutritional benefits.
About These Savory Quinoa Muffins
- Chock-full of nutrition! Not only do these muffins contain 4 cups of nutritious quinoa, they also have healthy veggies: peas, spinach, and shredded zucchini.
- So flavorful. Thanks to feta cheese, black pepper and dill, quinoa muffins also have tons of flavor. There’s nothing boring about these muffins.
- Perfect for breakfast, lunch, or dinner! We like them as part of a “breakfast for dinner” meal but they are great for any meal, or as a hearty side. I’m a big fan of savory breakfasts so I love having these in the freezer to warm up for a quick breakfast on the go.
- Versatile. You can substitute different veggies if you like, use various types of cheese, or add meat.
Be sure to try my quinoa pancakes or breakfast quinoa if you like the idea of quinoa for breakfast.
More Savory Breakfast Muffin Recipes
Try egg muffins with sausage and broccoli or mini frittatas with spinach and red pepper. I like how the word “savory” has two meanings here: 1) having a spicy or salty flavor, as opposed to sweet and 2) pleasing to the sense of taste. Savory breakfast muffins are both!
Cooking Tip
You can use cupcake liners for these muffins if you don’t like to wash muffin tins. However, I’ve tested the muffins both ways and prefer the muffins made without liners. I love how crispy they get.Prep the quinoa ahead. Quinoa freezes well, so it’s perfect for food prepping. I like to make big batches of quinoa and keep it in the freezer, ready to use for recipes like this one. I usually use my Instant Pot to make quinoa.
Make the quinoa muffins ahead. I often make a double batch of the quinoa muffins so I have extra to freeze. They freeze well and thaw quickly so they’re perfect for a quick meal or healthy snack. Quinoa muffins are perfect for lunchboxes, too.
Refrigerate/Freeze: Cool the muffins completely before storing in an airtight container. They’ll keep in the refrigerator for up to five days or for 3 months in the freezer.
Reheat: Quinoa muffins can be reheated in the microwave for 15 to 30 seconds. If you are reheating several muffins, I recommend reheating them in the oven or your air fryer to crisp them up again.
More Quinoa Recipes
Savory Quinoa Muffins
Ingredients
- 1 ⅓ cups uncooked quinoa (or 4 cups cooked quinoa)
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup canola oil (or any mild-tasting oil)
- ¼ cup milk
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon finely ground black pepper
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
- 1 cup chopped fresh spinach leaves
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh dill (or ½ teaspoon dried dill)
- 1 small zucchini, grated (finely grated carrots are good, too)
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
Instructions
- Cook quinoa according to package instructions. Spread the cooked quinoa on a sheet pan so it cools more quickly. The quinoa can be cooked ahead of time and refrigerated until ready to use.
- Preheat oven to 350°F. Spray muffin pans with nonstick cooking spray. You may also use cupcake liners if desired.
- In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, and milk.
- In another smaller bowl, whisk flour with baking powder, salt and pepper. Stir in cooked and cooled quinoa; quinoa should be coated with flour mixture.
- Pour flour mixture into the wet ingredients and lightly stir until combined. Do not over-mix. Fold in peas, spinach, dill, zucchini and feta cheese until just combined.
- Scoop into prepared muffin tins and bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into center of muffin comes out clean.
Notes
- Storage: Cool completely before refrigerating in an airtight container for up to one week or freeze for up to 3 months. Reheat using microwave or oven.
- Variations: Try different vegetables if you like. Different types of cheese can be substituted. Substitute meat such as crumbled cooked sausage, bacon, or diced ham for one or more of the vegetables.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Did You Make This?Share a comment and rating below! I love hearing what you think!
OMG this is a meal in a muffin! So tasty and moist. I didn’t have a zucchini so I shredded to two good-sized carrots, and instead of the cheese I use nutritional yeast. So delicious! I just might have to hide these and keep them to myself LOL!
So happy to hear you liked this recipe! Thanks for taking the time to leave a comment, I really appreciate it!
These were amazing! I didn’t have zucchini so used grated carrots and they still were delicious!
Do these freeze well?
Very!
I’m on a gluten free diet, can I use Buckwheat or Brown Rice flour for these and would you suggest the same quantities?
Hmm — I’m not an expert on gluten free cooking but I’m thinking it would be fine in the same quantities. It’s more of a filler than anything else.
I just made this and they were delicious! I made a spinach and feta version and a bacon and cheese version and used your recipe as a guide and can I just say… om nom nom nom. A great way to use up leftover quinoa :) Also, the kids are devouring the ham and cheese ones- what a great way to up their protein.
So glad you liked them! Love the varieties you created!
Ooo, I love quinoa too!! And savory muffins is one of my favorites, I gotta try this!
AP flour ain’t so healthy. What could I substitute & in what quantity?
Thanks.
Ha–I was waiting for someone to call me out on that one. I think whole wheat flour would absolutely work.
oops–same quantity as AP.
This is sooo my kind of lunch, would it be bad to eat like a dozen of them!?!
Nope! I think that is an excellent choice!
I am all about quinoa…you know that. I love these, friend!
Hello from Polen! What a wonderful recipe! I love quinoa and I`m looking forward to make these muffins