Spinach and Feta Muffins are our favourite savoury recipe to bake for breakfast or brunch.
You can prepare this easy Spinach Feta Muffins recipe at home in less than 40 minutes. The perfect pastry for a grab and go morning meal.
We love to make these moist and crunchy vegetarian muffins in the morning but they also taste great as a substitute for dinner rolls.
Enjoy these hot, steaming spinach and cheese muffins right out of the oven, slathered with ricotta, cream cheese, mascarpone or soft butter.
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What Are Spinach and Feta Muffins?
Spinach and Feta Muffins are a delicious savoury muffin recipe.
While the most famous muffins are sweet, you can also prepare salty and cheesy muffins to impress your family and friends.
Our Spinach Feta Muffins are made with healthy ingredients like spinach, cheese, onion powder, paprika, eggs, olive oil and wholesome milk.
We like to serve them as a breakfast or brunch pastry with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon or sausage, and a fruit salad.
If you’re going on a road trip, planning a nature hike, or have kids who need to run out of the house to school or a sports game, Spinach and Feta Muffins are an easy grab and go vegetarian snack.
History of Muffins
A muffin is an individual-sized, baked product most commonly associated with morning mealtime. It’s one of the most popular on-the-go breakfasts that can easily be made ahead and stored in the freezer to enjoy later.
Muffins can refer to two distinct baked goods, a part-raised unsweetened flatbread that is baked and then cooked on a griddle, and a cupcake-like sweet or savoury quick bread that is leavened with baking powder and baked in a mold.
While the most common quick bread muffins are sweetened (such as lemon blueberry muffins, mincemeat muffins and morning glory muffins), there are also savoury varieties such as jalapeno cheddar cornbread muffins, cheddar apple muffins and spinach feta muffins.
The flatbread “English Muffin” variety is of British origin, and dates from at least the early 18th century, while the quick bread originated in Canada and America during the 19th century.
One 19th century source suggests that muffins may be related to the Greek bread maphula, a cake baked on a hearth or griddle. Culinary historians also look to the Old French mou-pain, meaning soft bread, which may have been corrupted into “mouffin.”
The word is first found in print in 1703, spelled moofin; it is of uncertain origin but possibly derived from the Low German Muffen, the plural of Muffe meaning a small cake. The expression muffin-man, meaning a street seller of muffins, is attested in a 1754 poem, which includes the line: “Hark! the shrill Muffin-Man his Carol plies…”
One of Canada’s top selling cookbooks of the 1980s was Muffin Mania, which helped popularize muffin making from Newfoundland to British Columbia. Homemade muffins were originally prepared as a healthy breakfast option, high-fibre mid-afternoon snack or low calorie dessert.
My Family Loves Spinach and Feta Muffins
One of my fondest memories growing up as a kid was waking up in the morning at our family cottage in Muskoka and smelling freshly baked muffins.
My family’s two favourite recipes were Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins and Lemon Blueberry Muffins. In the summer we’d forage for wild blueberries and incorporate them into out favourite baked goods. My sister was the family blueberry fan while I was mostly obsessed with the marriage of banana and chocolate.
Once you learn to master a standard muffin batter recipe it’s easy to substitute seasonal ingredients to enjoy these fluffy and moist baked treats all year long.
My family loves to bake these Spinach and Feta Muffins when we have frozen spinach loitering in the freezer or a tub of crumbled feta cheese that needs to get used up.
The recipe is really versatile, you can add finely chopped fresh herbs of your choosing to help flavour the batter and make it your own. We sometimes add fresh chives, parsley, dill and basil to the batter.
Love baking muffins for your family? Check out our healthy muffins for kids list and favourite vegan & vegetarian muffin recipes!
Spinach Feta Muffins Recipe Health Benefits
Our easy Spinach and Feta Muffins are packed full of healthy ingredients!
Packed with folate, vitamin C, and potassium, spinach helps keep your blood, immune system and eyes healthy.
Paprika is rich in vitamin A, capsaicin, and carotenoid antioxidants. These substances may help prevent inflammation and improve your cholesterol, eye health and blood sugar levels.
Olive Oil is ranked as one of the healthiest fats and is a staple in the Mediterranean diet. It contains vitamins E and K and plenty of beneficial fatty acids and antioxidants.
Whole wheat flour is rich in vitamins B-1, B-3, and B-5, along with riboflavin and folate. It also has more iron, calcium, protein, and other nutrients than white flour.
Consuming dairy provides health benefits — especially improved bone health. Dairy provides nutrients that are vital for health and maintenance of your body. These nutrients include calcium, potassium, vitamin D, and protein.
Eggs contain two vital nutrients that are not present in many foods: iodine and vitamin D. Eggs are also rich in tissue-building protein and vitamin B12, which helps your body manufacture blood cells.
Buying VS Making Homemade Muffins
Today, muffins are often sold at grocery stores, McDonald’s cafes and coffee shops like Starbucks and Tim Horton’s. Unfortunately most commercially prepared muffins are simply cupcakes without the icing. Even savoury muffins can be packed full of unwanted salt and oil.
Read the ingredients list and you’ll find store bought muffins are full of sugar, salt, fat and “flavourings” rather than real fresh fruit, vegetables and herbs. The excessive sugar, salt, fat and additives in commercial muffin recipes allow the grocery stores and coffee shops to extend the shelf life so they don’t go stale as quickly as a homemade muffin would.
The best way to enjoy healthy muffins is by preparing them at home, allowing you to control the proportion of ingredients. We suggest eating muffins fresh the day they are prepared. If you have any leftovers muffins pack 3-4 in a ziplock bag in your fridge and simply warm them up the next day in the oven or air fryer. You can use a microwave to reheat muffins but they won’t produce the desired crunchy texture.
Any remaining Spinach Feta Muffins should be stored in the freezer and can keep for 2-3 months. We like to double our muffin recipes when we prepare them so we have a storage of yummy muffins in the freezer that we can easily enjoy several weeks later.
Best Homemade Spinach and Feta Muffins Recipe
There’s no better early morning comfort than biting into steaming Spinach and Feta Muffins, straight out of the oven!
So what qualities make the best muffins? The perfect savoury muffins must be crunchy on the outside, well leavened so the muffin cap holds its shape and doesn’t shrink when cooled, feature a moist, fluffy interior.
Looking to prepare an easy Spinach and Feta Muffins recipe? Baking is a science so you can’t just lower a muffin recipes fat, egg, milk or flour content or you will bite into a chewy, hard and unappetizing product.
Muffin Baking Tips
If you’re looking to prepare muffins on a whim and are missing a few ingredients at home don’t worry! Here are some of our favourite baking tips and tricks.
- We suggest using frozen spinach, which needs to be thawed and squeezed tightly to drain out all of the moisture. You can also use fresh spinach if you prefer but be sure to saute it in a bit of oil in a pan and similarly squeeze out any excess water.
- We like to use a cow milk feta cheese but you can use a sheep or goat alternative if you prefer.
- We’ve flavoured the batter with onion powder and smoked paprika but you can get creative and use your favourite spices like garlic powder, sweet paprika, saffron, or dried dill.
- We’ve used olive oil in this recipe but you can substitute for a flavourless vegetable oil like canola if you prefer. Melted butter also works well if you’re feeling decadent.
- We’ve used a low fat milk in this batter but you can use 2% or homo milk if you prefer.
- The one tip I give all muffin making beginners is to avoid over-mixing the batter. Light and fluffy muffins are made by reducing the amount of gluten in the batter. If you whip muffin batter with a beater the final product will be as hard as a hockey puck.
- For best results, form a well in the dry ingredients and pour your wet ingredients inside. Using a spatula or wooden spoon, gently fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. The finished batter should be fully incorporated, so be sure to scrape the bottom of the bowl so you don’t find unmixed flour. The most important rule to muffin making: when mixing, less is more!
Best Muffin Tools & Equipment
Before making a batch of homemade Spinach Feta Cheese Muffins make sure your kitchen is outfitted with essential bakers tools.
- Mixing Bowl Set: It’s important to have a set of durable mixing bowls. We love stainless steel mixing bowls with a good grip. When making muffins you’ll typically need a large mixing bowl to sift your dry ingredients into, and a medium or small mixing bowl to beat your wet ingredients.
- Measuring Cups: Ensure you have a set of measuring cups with a flat top rather than a spout, so you can easily use a knife to level off your dry ingredients like flour and sugar.
- Measuring Spoons: We love these durable stainless steel measuring spoons that will help you accurately measure spices, baking soda and baking powder.
- Whisk: This stainless steel whisk has a great grip and is helpful when beating eggs into other wet ingredients.
- Sieve: It’s essential to have this tool in your kitchen so you can ensure all your dry ingredients are separated and don’t clump in the wet batter.
- Bakers Scale: Use this digital scale to weigh flour and other ingredients that require a weight measurement.
- Spatula: We love this rubber spatula as it also acts as a spoon so you can easily drop batter into each greased muffin cup.
- Muffin Tins: We only use silicone muffin tins as they allow you to easily remove baked muffins from the tin with minimal baking spray required.
- Baking Spray: Ensure your cupboards are stocked with baking spray so your muffins don’t get stubborn and refuse to slide out of the pan.
- Cooling Rack: A sturdy cooling rack is a must to ensure your muffins cool without falling apart or getting soggy. They need breathing space to let out the steam before storing.
- Storage Containers: We love doubling our muffin recipes so we have leftovers to store in the fridge or freezer to enjoy later.
You May Also Enjoy These Muffin Recipes…
- Christmas Cranberry and White Chocolate Muffins
- Savoury Cheddar Welsh Rarebit Muffins
- Blueberry Lemon Muffin Tops
- Buckwheat Gluten Free Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins
- Healthy Vegan & Vegetarian Muffins
- Healthy Muffins For Kids Recipes
- Ginger Spiced Banana Pear Muffins
- Banana Pumpkin Muffins
- Fresh Strawberry Cream Cheese Muffins
- Sweet Potato Muffin
- Banana Rhubarb Muffins
- Savoury Cheese and Onion Muffins
- Banana Prune Muffins
- Healthy Kiwi Muffins
- Moist Buttermilk Banana Muffins with Chocolate Chips
How To Make Spinach Feta Muffins (VIDEO RECIPE)
Spinach and Feta Muffins
Equipment
- muffin tin
- Mixing bowls
- measuring spoons
- measuring cups
- Sieve
Ingredients
- 0.5 lb Frozen Spinach thawed
- 0.5 lb Feta Cheese crumbled
- 2 cups All Purpose Flour
- 2 tsp Baking Powder
- 1 tsp Kosher Salt
- 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1/2 tsp Smoked Paprika
- 2 Eggs beaten
- 1/3 cup Olive Oil
- 1 1/3 cup Milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease a muffin tin using cooking spray.
- Squeeze thawed frozen spinach in a sieve to remove as much water as possible.
- In a large mixing bowl, add the flour, baking powder, salt, onion powder and smoked paprika.
- Combine the spinach, beaten eggs, olive oil and milk in a separate bowl.
- Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients along with the feta cheese. Do not overmix.
- Divide the mixture evenly among the muffin cups. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove and let rest on a cooling rack for 10 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
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