Zucchini & Cheese Muffins: An Easy Veggie-Packed Lunch Box Recipe

Vegetables don’t always have to arrive in the lunch box as carrot sticks and cucumber rounds.

One of the best ways to help kids become familiar with vegetables is simply to offer them in lots of different ways — raw, roasted, grated, baked into savoury muffins, tossed through pasta or served alongside foods they already know and enjoy.

These Zucchini & Cheese Muffins are another easy way to include zucchini in the lunch box. They’re soft, cheesy and satisfying, and they freeze beautifully, making them a great option to have tucked away for busy school mornings.

And importantly, there’s no need to hide the zucchini! Kids can see the little flecks of green and learn that zucchini can be enjoyed in more ways than one.

Zucchini & Cheese Muffins

Makes: 18 muffins
Prep: 15 minutes
Cook: 30 minutes

Ingredients

• 3 cups wholemeal plain flour

• 2½ teaspoons baking powder

• ½ cup milk

• 100 g sour cream

• 2 eggs

• ¼ cup canola oil

• 1 large zucchini, grated and well drained

• 2 cups grated cheddar cheese

• 1 cup grated Parmesan cheese

• ½ red onion, finely diced

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 160°C fan-forced (180°C conventional) and lightly grease an 18-hole muffin tin.

2. Add the flour and baking powder to a large bowl and stir to combine.

3. In a separate bowl or jug, whisk together the milk, sour cream, eggs and canola oil.

4. Add the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients and gently stir until just combined.

5. Fold through the grated zucchini, red onion, cheddar and Parmesan. Try not to over mix.

6. Divide the mixture evenly between the muffin holes.

7. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until golden and a skewer inserted into the centre comes out clean.

8. Allow the muffins to cool in the tin for 5 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool completely.

For Packing in the Lunch Box

Pair a zucchini muffin with some fruit, another familiar vegetable, cheese, yoghurt or another favourite snack to build out the lunch box.

If your child isn’t particularly keen on zucchini yet, that’s okay too. Exposure still counts. Seeing and experiencing vegetables prepared in different ways helps children become familiar with them over time. A child doesn’t have to eat a huge serve of vegetables at every opportunity for that exposure to be worthwhile.

Storage

Store the muffins in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.

You can defrost them overnight in the fridge, or make school mornings even easier and pop a frozen muffin straight into your Nudie Rudie lunch box in the morning. It will be thawed and ready to eat by lunchtime.

More than one way to serve a veggie

If you’re trying to add a little more variety to your child’s lunch box, think beyond simply adding more vegetables. Instead, think about offering familiar vegetables in different forms and textures.

Zucchini, for example, might appear in sweet baked goods one day (see our weetbix slice or chocolate zucchini sheet pan recipes), grated into these muffins another day, roasted with dinner, added to fritters or stirred through a pasta sauce.

It’s not about sneaking vegetables in or getting children to eat them without knowing. It’s about giving them plenty of opportunities to experience vegetables as a normal, enjoyable part of everyday food.