Savoury Muffins are cheesy muffins studded with Mediterranean flavours – olives, sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers and feta! Because these stay fresh for several days, they’re ideal as a food gift, a school fete, lunchbox idea, and making ahead for afternoon tea with friends or to serve in place of bread rolls at dinner.
Brilliant base recipe to make your own – just add 2 1/2 cups of whatever you want into the batter!
Savoury Muffins
When I need to make something quickly, whether it be friends dropping by on short notice, to take somewhere or a last minute food gift, I turn to these muffins more than any other sweet treat recipe I’ve shared. Ever.
And why it’s taken this long for me to share this remains a mystery – to both you and me. 😂
The beauty of these muffins are that:
Super quick and easy to make – you probably have everything you need to make them right now;
They stay moist and fresh for 3 to 4 days (which you can’t say about most muffins which tend to be quite dry the next day, unless warmed up);
Highly versatile – put in any bits and bobs in your fridge, or things you find in cans and jars in your pantry. Think: ham, bacon, fresh and canned vegetables, pickles, olives, canned corn, roasted peppers, capers, sun dried tomatoes, pickled onions;
Everyone loves them. I’ve had friends give my Choc Chip Muffins a miss. Nobody passes on these savoury muffins!
That moment when you break open the warm cheesy muffin and bite into an olive mixed in with some feta…. SO GOOD!
What you need for savoury muffins
Here’s what you need to make savoury muffins.
A few notes on some of the items:
Baking soda (aka bi-carb) can be substituted with more baking powder (baking soda is basically baking powder on steroids);
Flour can be white or wholemeal;
Add ins – use 2 1/4 to 2 1/2 cups of whatever you want. I’ve used feta, olives, sun dried tomatoes and roasted peppers because I have all those in my fridge, always! Think: diced vegetables (mmmm, garlic mushroom muffins anyone??), canned and jarred vegetables, antipasto type foods, and anything from the deli!
Yogurt / sour cream – the sour element in these helps to activate the baking soda to give it a kick start so the muffins are lovely and soft with a tender crumb.
No butter – butter adds flavour but oil makes baked goods moist. With all the flavour from the Add ins plus cheese, just using oil in the batter is fine!
How to make savoury muffins
No different to your favourite Blueberry and Chocolate Chip Muffins!
Whisk dry ingredients
Whisk wet ingredients
Add wet into dry ingredients
Mix 8 times or less (excess mixing = tough cannonballs instead of soft fluffy muffins)
Fold through 2 1/2 cups Add Ins of choice – I’ve used olives, sun dried tomatoes, roasted peppers (capsicum), feta and green onions.
Plonk into muffin tin then bake!
More ideas for add ins
The beauty of this recipe is that you can literally add almost anything (savoury!) into the muffins. Here’s a few ideas:
diced, sautéed vegetables – zucchini, corn, carrot, onion, potato. Cook them in a little butter, garlic, salt and pepper until softened;
roasted vegetables – pumpkin, sweet potato!
grilled vegetables – leftover homemade Marinated Grilled Vegetables would be 100% amazing!
cauliflower or broccoli, cooked then roughly diced;
ham or cooked bacon, diced;
other deli and cooked meats (diced or shredded);
canned corn, asparagus, mushrooms or other vegetables;
any antipasto type deli goods – canned, jarred, in oil or brine;
flaked salmon, trout, tuna (fresh cooked or canned drained); and
leftover cooked meats.
I’m sure I’m missing some other obvious suggestions – if I am, leave them in the comments section below and I’ll update the recipe!
When to make these savoury muffins
Thinking back over the past 3 months, here are all the occasions for which I have made these muffins – and it’s a fair few times because they’re really handy being they are quick to make and stay fresh!
Impromptu gathering with friends – whether at mine, at a friends’ place, in a park, anywhere!
Gift for personal and work purposes – ideal because they are almost as good as freshly made 3 days later;
For a fundraiser – everybody makes sweet things, but I swear, savoury ones are more popular;
As an alternative to a basket of warm bread rolls at dinner;
And the most frequent reason I make them? Speaking really frankly – when I’m trying to get or stay in someone’s good graces. 😂 I find these Savoury Muffins are highly effective for this purpose!
– Nagi x
PS Other things that I make for similar reasons (again, because they stay fresh for ages and are made in individual portions) include: caramel popcorn (bag them separately), brownies (wrap each one with paper and twine) or gluten free brownies, cornbread muffins and apple muffins. ❤️
Watch how to make it
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Mediterranean Savoury Muffins
Ingredients
- Butter or oil spray , for greasing
Add Ins:
- 2 cups (200g) cheddar cheese , shredded (or other cheese)
- 75g / 2.5oz feta , crumbled*
- 1/2 cup green olives slices *
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes strips *
- 1/2 cup roasted peppers *, drained and chopped (capsicum)
- 1/2 cup green onions *, sliced
Dry Ingredients:
- 2 cups (300g) flour (plain / all purpose flour)
- 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
- 1/2 tsp baking soda / bi-carb soda (sub 1 1/2 tsp baking powder)
- 1/2 tsp salt
Wet ingredients:
- 1 egg (large, about 60g / 2 oz)
- 1 cup (250 ml) milk (full or low fat)
- 1/4 cup (60g) sour cream or plain yoghurt (Note 1)
- 1/4 cup (60ml) vegetable oil (or any plain flavoured oil)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C/320°F fan).
- Brush a 12 hole standard muffin tin generously with butter
- Whisk Dry ingredients in a bowl.
- Whisk Wet ingredients in a separate bowl.
- Pour Wet into the Dry ingredients bowl. Mix 8 times.
- Add cheese, feta, sun dried tomato, capsicum, olives and green onion. Mix as few times as possible just to incorporate remaining bits of flour – no more than 7 big stirs (secret to soft muffs).
- Divide between 12 holes in muffin in (I use an ice cream scooper). Batter should be thick and fill muffin tin slightly mounded (see video)
- Bake for 25 minutes or until the muffins are golden and crusty and spring back when touched in the centre.
- Cool for 10 minutes, then transfer to cooling rack. Serve warm for optimum experience!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Today – Yakitori Team Lunch.
Dozer – in position.
Hi Nagi, I made these yesterday and they were lovely warmed up for breakfast. Thank you so much!
im planning to make them as a healthy breakfast, how many calories are there per muffin? x
These were delicious! Thanks for another amazing recipe!!
You’re so welcome Voula!
About trying out the savoury muffins
How to make roasted capscium?
Hi El, I usually just buy pre roasted capsicums. You can make your own if you like but placing the capsicums over a hot flame on a BBQ or even straight over a gas cooktop!
Sounds all good! Thanks Nagi.
Hi Nagi. I made these with 2 small tins chill tuna with oil replacing the 1/4c oil in the recipe. Other add ins were olives, green onions, sundried tomato strips and a handful of chopped baby spinach. Made 12 greedy portion muffins .. err, 10 now.. I ate 2 as seldom nominated taste tester. Lol. Thanks heaps, great recipe!
I’m so glad you loved them Renee, they are so versatile!!
Nagi I just made the Mediterranean muffins today and all I can say is yummy! 🥰 You got me thinking of other add-ins and I decided to make a Christmas dinner version today. I chopped up and sautéed leftover chicken breast (no leftover turkey yet), carrots, celery and onions. I added some chopped craisins to the add-ins as well. To my dry ingredients I added poultry seasoning, summer savory, and a little sage. I wasn’t sure about keeping the shredded cheese with this version but it actually worked well, I used an extra old cheese. It turned out wonderfully. It tastes like Christmas dinner in muffin form. The only thing it’s missing is some gravy for dipping. Mmmmm😊
Thanks so much
They are so versatile you could add in anything you like Julia!!
yum, yum! You will worn your self out. Dozer looks so calm. Thank you for everything. Having hot spell, night, day and windy…
Very,very nice.
Thankyou very much!
You’re so welcome!
Made these a few weeks ago, added a bit of chopped chorizo I had left. Absolutely divine. As I live alone, I froze most of them, came out perfectly.
YUM! Sounds great Pat!
Love. love, love them!! It is my go to lunch and I’m always asked where I bought them. They smell and look so good!!
A question for you please Nagi. My daughter is Vegan. Any substitutions for cheese, milk and sour cream? Many thanks
Hi Margy, Sorry I haven’t tried it with any substitutes but would recommend, oat/rice/almond milk, vegan cheese and coconut yogurt – N x
Also I wanted to add I spray the muffin pan using canola oil spray and they came out cleanly and the cleanup out of the tin was super easy (probably because of the liberal amount of cheese used in the recipe!)
I love an easy cleanup Amelia!
Hi Nagi. Just wanted to let you know I made these and they were a huge hit. Can’t wait to make them again with various fillings! Thanks again for the inspiration to get back into the kitchen. Xx
That’s so great to hear Amelia 🙂
This came out so light and fluffy with only one egg which surprised me. I didn’t realise all my muffin tins are not at where we are living for a while so used a quiche tin with a removable base. Looks so good!
Sounds great Sue!!
Made these today and they were perfectly fluffy and delicious. Thanks so much for the recipe:)
You’re so welcome Das, I’m so happy you loved them!
Re: the Mediterranean muffins. Do you think the muffins would stick to muffin/cupcake paper liners?
Hi Jacqui, they do slightly (just like a normal muffin) but easy enough to peel off – N x
Thanks Nagi. I despise washing those muffin tins.
I love the idea of the recipe. I’m currently cooking simultaneously for carnivores, vegetarians and vegans, so need to create many variations.
In the recipe, you say that adding any 2.5 cups of the asterisked add-In ingredients to the basic mix will work.
However the 2 cups of cheddar cheese are not asterisked! Are they essential (seeing as the recipe is based on ‘Cheesy Muffins”), or can I just add anything to the basic muffin mix?
Hi Ike, The cheese is needed in these muffins – then the add in’s on top 🙂
Made these tonight. Unfortunately I have already eaten 3! Not a good way to lose weight.
Made a few mods: since the roasted peppers and sun-dried tomatoes and black “Sicilian olives” all stored in oil, I omitted adding oil (no problem). I used crisp bacon but will use ham in the future. Used pepper-jack instead of cheddar, which added a bit of hot, but cheddar might have been better.
Bottom line: results were excellent, loved the result, and the recipe flexibility Looking forward to making these again, with different combinations of add-ins.
They are so great – you can really put any ingredients you want in them Peter! I’m so glad you loved them 🙂
Made these and they were a massive hit! They certainly didn’t last very long! Great, simple recipe!
Almost every meal I’ve cooked lately has been one of yours. So easy to follow. Thanks as always!
That’s awesome to hear Justin!
As usual your clear instructions lead to beautiful food which looks gorgeous and tastes wonderful.
Ooh! You tried it?? 🙂 N x
Love all your recipes and hope to go to Japan one day poor dozer I hope his paw mends good 😊❤️🌹
He is just fine! It was a minor cut! 🙂 N x
Hi Carol🇨🇦 I’m moving and have been packing CONSTANTLY* I missed something. What happened to our doggie Dozer?????
He is just fine! It was a minor cut! 🙂 N x