If you're more of a savoury breakfast or snack lover, you're going to adore these Easy Savory Vegan Spinach Muffins! They're full of the goodness of spinach and have a great cheesy flavour so everyone will love them!
We all know and love a yummy breakfast muffin, sweet & fluffy, and studded with fruits like these Vegan Raspberry Muffins or little bits of chocolate like with these Banana Berry Chocolate Muffins . They're a sneaky way to eat cake for breakfast, which is probably why they're so popular! But what if you're more of a savoury-in-the-morning kind of person but want a little treat? These Vegan Savoury Muffins are just the thing and have the advantage of being sugar free too!
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🌿Ingredients
The ingredients to make these yummy savoury vegan muffins are wholesome and easy to find.
- Spinach- I use frozen spinach here. It comes in blocks and there is no need to blanch, then wring it out. If you do use fresh spinach, make sure you cook it down and really give it a good squeeze! You would need around 500g/1pound of fresh spinach cooked down.
- All Purpose Flour- plain or wholewheat or spelt flour work well for these muffins. If you want a gluten-free muffin, why not try these Mini Vegan Frittatas, which are naturally gluten free as they are made with chickpea flour.
- Nutritional Yeast- Don't skip this! It give a great cheesy flavour that pairs so well with the spinach. I buy mine in bulk just so I can make lots of cheesy vegan recipes.
- Cherry Tomatoes- a simple halved tomato on top gives a little burst of freshness.
- Chilli Powder- I love giving these muffins a kick with some cayenne pepper. How much you add is up to you! Leave this ingredient out if you're not a chilli lover or if you're making these with or for kiddos.
- Linseed/Flaxseed- ground up linseed is the binder in this recipe. It also adds fibre and omegas!
- Olive Oil- no need to faff around with butter. You can choose other vegetables oils too, but I prefer olive oil.
- Plant Milk- choose a non-sweetened plant based milk. I like oat milk, but soy milk or any other plant based milk will work.
- Baking Powder- Essential for a fluffy light muffin. If you wan
👩🍳Instructions
Follow along with these visual how- to's for the perfect vegan spinach muffins, but check the recipe card for full details.
1 and 2. Thaw out your spinach blocks if using frozen. You can microwave or heat gently in a pan. Alternatively use fresh spinach and wilt. Pat dry with a clean cloth and chop. If it is very liquidy, gently squeeze out extra liquid.
3. Mix together the linseed and water and leave aside.
4. Put all the dry ingredients (Flour, nutritional yeast, salt, chilli powder and baking powder into a large mixing bowl and combine.
5. Then fold in the wet ingredients: the Spinach, Linseed mixture, Oil and plant milk. Do not over mix!
6. Spoon out the muffin batter into a 12 hole muffin tin that you have lined with muffin cases.
7. Top the muffins with halved cherry tomatoes, pressing them in firmly.
Bake!
The muffins are done when they are gently golden on top and springy to touch. Cool on a wire rack and eat warm or at room temperature.
Hint: Be sure not to over mix the muffins as this activates the gluten in the flour, and will make them tough and dry.
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Use this savory muffin recipe as a template and try other variations: As a rule of thumb, you can add up to ½cup/50g of other 'bits' to the batter before it will really mess with the lift and crumb.
- Gluten-Free - use your favourite gluten-free flour. I've tested this recipe with Doves Farm gluten-free flour.
- Chia Eggs- This recipe uses linseed/flax seed to bind the muffins, however you can swap this for chia seeds. Use the same quantity specified for the linseed.
- Sun-dried tomatoes- or semi-dried tomatoes chopped are delicious, especially if you add some extra cheese.
- Extra Cheesy- Add half a cup of grated vegan cheese to the batter before baking (and maybe some on top!)
- Green Onion- Finally chop some green onions to fold into the batter before baking for a lovely tang. (Or you could add in some garlic powder or onion powder).
- Chopped bell peppers- choose the colours you like best.
- Fresh Herbs- such as parsley or basil.
- Dried herbs- choose a pre-made mixture such as an 'italian herbs' mixture, or just some thyme, oregano or rosemary or maybe some black pepper.
- Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame or Sunflower seeds - added to the batter or popped on top of the muffins.
🔪Equipment
You'll need a large mixing bowl for mixing up the muffins, and a 12 hole muffin pan. . I also like to line my muffin trays with little muffin liners for easy removal of the muffins from the tin.
🥫Storage
These lovely savory spinach muffins will last for up to 5 days in a cool, airtight container. You can also freeze these once baked and defrost as needed. Pop in the oven for a few minutes for a freshly baked flavour if you freeze them!
❗Top tip
Be sure to be careful when measuring out the ingredients. Weighing the ingredients will result in the best results, however if you want to measure by cups, be sure to use sifted flour and level it off with a knifte
❓FAQ
You can use gluten free flour to make these muffins. Gluten free flour can be a little dry so you might need to add in more plant milk.
You might have added too much flour. I prefer to weigh out my flour for accuracy.
If your spinach was very soggy it might have made the muffins too wet. The spinach should be slightly dried and not liquidy.
Yes, you will need around 500g/1 pound spinach. Clean it well, steam then wring it out so it is not too wet.
Up to 5 days in an airtight container or up to 3 months in the freezer. They taste great reheated so pop in the oven for a few minutes to warm up!
Yes! Add pine nuts, olives, capers or sunflower seeds for crunch. Anything small and savoury will be delicious.
Love a Muffin?
Why not try some of these other yummy muffin recipes.
Breakfast Ideas
Here are some other delicious vegan breakfast recipes to try.
📖 Recipe
Easy Vegan Savoury Spinach Muffins
Equipment
- 12 Muffin cases
Ingredients Note:
For accuracy, I measure all ingredients in metric as standard, then convert and test the recipe for American cup measurements etc.
(Heads up Aussie and UK readers- your measurements in cups are sometimes different, so please use metric or check you have the correct cup and spoon type!!)
Ingredients
- 90 ml (⅓ cups) sunflower oil
- 2 tablespoon ground linseed (mixed with 6 tablespoon water)
- 375 g (3 cups) plain flour (All purpose, Spelt or Wholewheat)
- 2 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper (or to taste)
- ⅓ teaspoon salt
- 50 g (1 cups) nutritional yeast
- 170 g (6 oz) frozen spinach (or use 500g fresh & cook down)
- 350 ml (1 ½ cups) plant milk
- 6 cherry tomatoes (to decorate)
Instructions
- Pre-heat oven to 190⁰C/375°F/Gas 5 and put muffin cases in 12 piece muffin tin.
- In a small bowl, combine the ground linseed and water. Leave for a few minutes to let the linseed absorb the water a bit.2 tablespoon ground linseed
- Thaw the spinach & squeeze to remove excess moisture , chop it up a bit so the pieces are able to be mixed in easily (or if using fresh spinach, gently steam, squeeze out & chop)170 g frozen spinach
- In one bowl, mix together the nutritional yeast, flour, baking powder, chilli powder & salt375 g plain flour, 2 teaspoon baking powder, ½ teaspoon cayenne pepper, ⅓ teaspoon salt, 50 g nutritional yeast
- Add the linseed to the dry ingredients, along with the oil, plant milk and spinach.90 ml sunflower oil, 350 ml plant milk, 170 g frozen spinach
- Stir until combined.
- Spoon the mixture into each muffin case and top with half a cherry tomato.6 cherry tomatoes
- Bake for 20 minutes. By this time the tops should be a golden brown. Put a skewer in one of them and make sure it comes out clean. They may need an extra 5 minutes.
- Once cooked, take the muffins out the tin and put on a cooling rack.
Notes
🌶️Substitutions & Variations
Use this savory muffin recipe as a template and try other variations: As a rule of thumb, you can add up to ½cup/50g of other 'bits' to the batter before it will really mess with the lift and crumb.- Gluten-Free - use your favourite gluten-free flour. I've tested this recipe with Doves Farm gluten-free flour.
- Chia Eggs- This recipe uses linseed/flax seed to bind the muffins, however you can swap this for chia seeds. Use the same quantity specified for the linseed.
- Sun-dried tomatoes- or semi-dried tomatoes chopped are delicious, especially if you add some extra cheese.
- Extra Cheesy- Add half a cup of grated vegan cheese to the batter before baking (and maybe some on top!)
- Green Onion- Finally chop some green onions to fold into the batter before baking for a lovely tang. (Or you could add in some garlic powder or onion powder).
- Chopped bell peppers- choose the colours you like best.
- Fresh Herbs- such as parsley or basil.
- Dried herbs- choose a pre-made mixture such as an 'italian herbs' mixture, or just some thyme, oregano or rosemary or maybe some black pepper.
- Pumpkin Seeds, Sesame or Sunflower seeds - added to the batter or popped on top of the muffins.
Kat says
These are delicious! I made it with GF flour, and I have pet chickens that lay eggs, so I used one egg in place of the flax which I can't tollerate. Also added spring onion as per the suggestions. 😀 Thank you!!!
Matt says
These are amazing, have been making them for years now. Can play around as much as you like, I have been simmering Kale in Tamari sauce instead of spinach. Great way to get B12 into the kids.
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
I love that you love these! The kale variation sounds delicious, and I'm so happy your kids like them too!
Anjali says
These muffins turned out great! I made a big batch and we used them as a grab and go breakfast for my family all week long!
Kate says
Saw these in my feed this morning and had to make them! They were great! I'll definitely make them again.
Gina says
Always enjoy finding new vegan recipes to try. These spinach muffins were delicious. Definitely a tasty way to start your morning. Looking forward to making again!
Nathan says
Love these spinach muffins, so perfect for a nice filling breakfast. Thanks for the recipe!
Sally says
Super tasty muffins! Definitely needed some salt added (for my taste anyway!) Would be great with some spring onion sprinkled on top and maybe some vegan cheese mixed in too. Thank you for a tasty recipe!!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Spring onion on top sounds like a great idea!! And vegan cheese too 🙂 The great thing about these muffins is you can get a little creative with them. So pleased you liked them.
Sarah Morgan says
Recipe looks great but wanted to say I noticed a typo on the amount of flour....unless these muffins feed an army, aha!
Louise-Claire Cayzer says
Ha! Thanks Sarah! Will fix it asap 🙂