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Savory zucchini muffins take in the ballpark of 30 minutes to make! Loaded with fresh chives, cheddar cheese, garlic powder, and buttermilk. They’re a cross between a garlicky cheddar bay biscuit and a zucchini muffin!
Quite possibly my favorite way to eat a zucchini squash
Savory zucchini muffins are a cross between a cheddar bay biscuit and a zucchini muffin and they are absolute perfection. I know zucchini and baking typically means zucchini bread. But if you’ve never used zucchini to make a cheesy muffin, you’re in for a real treat.
I’ll be honest, I went back and forth on whether to call these muffins or biscuits. Because the texture on these is a cross between the two. They’re made in a muffin pan, so ultimately I called them savory muffins. I love warming them up in my air fryer for breakfast – the cheese gets all melty and the muffins crisp up around the edges while the centers are melty, garlicky, and warm. They are perfect to grab and go with my egg bites.
@littlespicejar Savory Zucchini Muffins aka Red Lobster Biscuits Full recipe linked in my profile and on littlespicejar.com. #cheddarbaybiscuits #cheddarbaybiscuits #zucchinirecipes #zucchinirecipe #savory #savoryfood #bakingtiktok #muffins #cheeselover ♬ Chillest in the Room – L.Dre
If you’re wondering what the perfect time of day is to serve these savory muffins – I’d say anytime!
They’re great for breakfast with eggs and even better for dinner with some grilled chicken and salad or even a large bowl of soup. Savory zucchini muffins pack around 9 grams of protein per muffin in the most delicious way.
Plus, the prep time on this easy recipe is about 10 minutes – music to my ears!
These are wonderful.
Ingredients for savory zucchini muffins:
- All-purpose flour: This recipe uses both all-purpose flour and almond flour to make them a bit more protein-packed
- Almond flour: Amps up the protein content
- Baking powder: this is the leavening agent we use in the batter to help the muffins rise in the tin.
- Garlic Powder: Gives these muffins a cheddar bay-like flavor!
- Kosher salt: if you happen to use salted butter, you can drop the kosher salt to 1 teaspoon.
- Sugar: we’ll use 1½ tsp of sugar in the muffin batter to balance the savory elements.
- Eggs: Add structure, stability, and protein to the muffins.
- Buttermilk: reacts with baking soda or baking powder and helps the muffins rise. No buttermilk? Use any dairy milk (or non-dairy) and add a tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar
- Butter: is the fat in the recipe.
- Zucchini: I use this box grater and leave the peel on. Don’t worry about squeezing the water out. The moisture will help the muffin batter from being too dry along with the other wet ingredients.
- Shredded cheese: I like to use a medium cheddar for this recipe. It’s the perfect cheese to use in cheddar bay biscuits and it works well with zucchini. Feel free to use mozzarella or another melting cheese
- Chives: add an oniony flavor to the savory zucchini muffins
FAQs about this recipe
I haven’t tested it, but I do think it’s fine to use here
I haven’t tested it, but a 1:1 baking mix would be a good starting point
Keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer. Zap in the microwave before serving to reheat.
If you like this zucchini recipe, you might also like:
- Summer’s Best Zucchini Bread
- Warm Lemon Zucchini Muffins
- Homemade Minestrone Soup
- Grilled Zucchini Salad with Peppers and Corn
- Fresh Corn and Zucchini Chowder
Savory Zucchini Muffins with Cheddar Cheese
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup almond flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1¼ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1½ teaspoon sugar
- 2 large eggs room temperature
- 1¼ cups buttermilk see notes for sub
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter melted
- 1¾ cup zucchini grated with skin (do not squeeze)
- 1¾ cup shredded cheese cheddar, mozzarella, etc.
- 1-2 tablespoons fresh chives chopped
Instructions
- PREP: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 375ºF. Spray a standard nonstick muffin pan generously with cooking spray and brush it well so that all the sides are evenly coated with oil. See notes about muffin liners.
- MIX: In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, garlic powder, salt, and sugar together. In a 4-cup measuring cup mix together the buttermilk, eggs, and melted butter. Whisk the wet ingredients then add them to the dry ingredients and stir until halfway combined.
- FOLD: Then add the shredded zucchini and shredded cheese and chives. Fold until the ingredients are *JUST* combined. Overmixing will produce dry muffins.
- BAKE: Divide the batter out into the muffin tin. Bake for 24-30 minutes or until the muffins are golden and a toothpick inserted in the center doesn’t have any wet batter. Allow to cool for several minutes before removing from pan. Gently use an offset spatula to loosen any stuck on muffins.
Notes
- No Buttermilk? Add 1 tablespoon of white vinegar to a 2-cup measuring up. Then fill it up to the 1¼ cup line with milk and let it sit for 5 minutes before using it in the recipe.
- Muffin liners: I suggest avoiding muffin liners for this recipe. Because of the amount of cheddar cheese, I found that the muffins stuck to the liners and were difficult to peel away. Parchment paper tulips might have better results, but this is something I haven’t tested myself.
- Storing leftovers: once the muffins are room temperature, store them in an airtight container or in ziptop bags in the freezer. Zap in the microwave to reheat.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Like This? Leave a comment & rating below!
Lovely recipe overall, but not savory enough for me. I sprinkled smoked paprika and garlic powder lightly on tops after baking to give more flavor. I would like to experiment adding savory herbs directly to the recipe. Muffins are not very dark when finished baking.
These are wonderful.
My goodness these are delicious! They are definitely giving the cheddar bay biscuit flavor! My muffins were very stuck to the tin despite using a lot of avacado oil but my muffin tin is also quite old and not so ‘non-stick’ anymore. Might try silicone muffin tray next time.
My son is allergic to tree nuts so I’m going to try this with whole wheat flour and see how it goes. I’ll let you know!
How many zucchini do you end up using for this recipe?
Hi Olivia! It’s typically 1 average-sized zucchini, however, you may end up needing a bit more!
I made these test. So good! I used the WW four as I had mentioned and they turned out great. My teenager, who was very skeptical about the zucchini, ended up eating 2! Thank you for this delicious recipe!
sounds really good and I have loads of zucchini,but what can I sub for almond flour?
Hi Sophia! I’m glad you’re interested in trying this recipe! Unfortunately, I’ve only tested this with the addition of almond flour so I’m unsure if replacing with additional AP or another ingredient would work here.
Can I use baking mix as a substitute for all the baking ingredients???
I think it could work, but I’m not 100%. I do suggest skipping the baking powder, salt, and sugar if you decide to try it though!