These easy feta and spinach muffins are soft, cheesy and packed with flavour, and they take just 15 minutes to prep.
"Delicious, light and flavoursome muffins. I didn't bother with the hot water over the spinach, I just chopped the baby spinach from the bag. But I made sure the eggs and milk were at room temperature and I think that made all the difference. This will be a firm favourite in our family."
Kerre
They're one of my most-made savoury bakes, right up there with my Savoury Muffins (Cheesy Ham & Corn) and my Healthy Ham, Cheese & Zucchini Muffins - all one-bowl, all freezer-friendly, and all the kind of thing that disappears from the lunchbox before recess.
These muffins are brilliant in lunchboxes, delicious alongside a bowl of tomato soup or zucchini soup, and just as good as an after-school savoury snack or a grab-n-go breakfast on a rushed morning.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
🧁 Recipe: Feta & Spinach Muffins
⏰ Ready In: 35 minutes
🍽️ Serves: 12 muffins
🧀 Main Ingredients: baby spinach, feta, self raising flour, sun-dried tomatoes, cheddar
🌱 Dietary Info: Freezer-friendly • Thermomix or conventional method
💛 Why You'll Love It: one bowl, no mixer, and a genuinely tasty way to get spinach into lunchboxes
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Why You're Going To Love This Recipe
- Loved by the whole family - and so handy for school lunchboxes or grab and go snacks.
- Quick and easy - just 15 minutes to prep, and fresh muffins ready in 35 minutes.
- Freezer-friendly - freeze for up to 3 months, then thaw at room temperature or in the fridge overnight.
- Conventional or Thermomix - both methods are in the recipe card below, so use whichever you've got.
Feta & Spinach Muffins Ingredients
These are made with pantry and fridge staples - nothing fancy needed.
- Self raising flour - or make your own self raising flour using 2 teaspoons baking powder sifted through every 1 cup of plain flour.
- Feta - use a soft feta like Danish feta. If you can get block feta in brine rather than the pre-crumbled tub kind, cube it yourself - it holds its shape better in the batter and doesn't turn mushy.
- Sun-dried tomatoes - I recommend store-bought deli or jarred sun-dried tomatoes.
- Sour cream - or greek yoghurt.
Variations
- Swap the sun-dried tomatoes - try roasted capsicum or chopped olives instead for a different flavour.
- Add bacon or chorizo - a handful of chopped, cooked bacon or chorizo works really well with the feta and spinach.
- Top with parmesan - sprinkle a little grated parmesan over the top with the cheddar and feta before baking, for extra flavour and a golden top.
- Mini muffins - great for little lunchboxes. They'll cook faster than full-size muffins, so start checking them a few minutes early with a skewer.
How To Make Feta & Spinach Muffins
These take just 15 minutes to prepare, then it's straight into the oven - fresh muffins ready in under 40 minutes.
- Step 1: Prepare the spinach. Grease and line a 12 hole muffin tray with paper cases and preheat the oven to 200°C (fan-forced). Place the spinach in a sieve, pour boiling water over it until it wilts, leave for 5 minutes, then squeeze out as much liquid as you can.
- Step 2: Mix the dry ingredients. Sift the flour into a large bowl and add the herbs, strained spinach, half the feta, half the grated cheese and the sun-dried tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper, mix to combine, then make a well in the centre.
- Step 3: Mix the wet ingredients. Whisk together the milk, sour cream, melted butter and eggs in a separate bowl, then pour into the well in the dry ingredients. Gently mix to combine - don't overmix, or the muffins will turn out tough.
- Step 4: Fill and bake. Divide the mixture between the muffin cases and sprinkle the remaining feta and cheddar over the top. Bake for approximately 20 minutes, or until a skewer comes out with just a few moist crumbs. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.
Team Thermomix? You'll find the full Thermomix method (grating the cheese, melting the butter and mixing the batter in the bowl) written out step by step in the recipe card below.
Recipe Tips
- Squeeze ALL of the liquid from the spinach - a soggy spinach mix is the main reason these can turn out heavy.
- Use room temperature ingredients - milk, sour cream and eggs at room temperature blend together better and help the muffins rise properly. Kerre, one of my readers, said this made all the difference for her too.
- Don't overmix - once the dry and wet ingredients are combined, just gently fold. Overmixed muffins turn out dense and tough.
- Cube your own feta if you can - block feta holds its shape through baking better than the pre-crumbled tub kind, which can go a bit mushy.
- Stop paper cases going greasy - add half a teaspoon of uncooked rice grains to the bottom of each muffin hole before you start.
- Storing and freezing - keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days, or freeze for up to 3 months.
- Serving suggestions - alongside a bowl of hot soup, like my tomato soup or zucchini soup. Or just split one open and slather with butter or cream cheese.
Feta & Spinach Muffins FAQs
Add half a teaspoon of uncooked rice grains to the bottom of each of the muffin tin holes - this will help stop your paper cases from becoming greasy.
Yes! You can freeze spinach and feta muffins for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost at room temperature before consuming.
Place spinach in a sieve set over a large bowl. Carefully pour boiling water over spinach and then leave for 5 minutes to wilt. Once cool enough to handle, gently squeeze as much water from the spinach with your hands as you can.
No, it's not essential. One of my readers, Kerre, skips this step entirely and just finely chops raw baby spinach straight from the bag, and says the muffins still turn out light and flavoursome. If you go this way, just make sure your eggs and milk are at room temperature, as that seems to make the biggest difference to the texture.
Once thawed, reheat in the microwave for 20 to 30 seconds, or warm through in the oven for a few minutes. This freshens them back up nicely if they've been in the fridge or freezer.
More Savoury Muffin Recipes
If you loved these, here are a few more savoury muffins worth trying next.
Spinach & Feta Muffins
Ingredients
- 160 g baby spinach
- 375 g (2 ½ cups) self raising flour
- 1 teaspoon dried dill
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley
- 200 g feta crumbled (soft feta like Danish)
- 120 g (1½ cups) cheddar cheese grated
- 75 g (⅓ cup) sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- salt and pepper to season
- 250 ml (1 cup) milk room temperature
- 120 g (½ cup) sour cream or greek yoghurt, room temperature
- 90 g butter melted
- 2 eggs room temperature
Instructions
Conventional Method
- Grease and line a standard 12 hole muffin tray with paper muffin cases. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
- Place the baby spinach into a sieve or colander over the top of a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the spinach until it wilts. Leave for 5 minutes. Carefully squeeze out the excess liquid from the spinach and set aside.
- Sift the self raising flour into a large bowl. Add the dried herbs, the strained spinach, half of the feta cheese, half of the grated cheese and the chopped sun-dried tomatoes. Season with salt and pepper. Mix to combine. Make a well in the centre of the mixture.
- In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, sour cream, melted butter and eggs.
- Pour the liquid into the well in the dry ingredients and gently mix to combine.
- Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining feta and grated cheddar cheese over the top.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through (when tested with a skewer there should be just a few moist crumbs).
- Leave the muffins in the pan to cool for 5 minutes, before placing onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Thermomix Method
- Grease and line a standard 12 hole muffin tray with paper muffin cases. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius (fan-forced).
- Place the baby spinach into a sieve or colander over the top of a large bowl. Pour boiling water over the spinach until it wilts. Leave for 5 minutes. Carefully squeeze out the excess liquid from the spinach and set aside.
- Grate the cheddar cheese for 10 seconds, Speed 6. Set aside.
- Melt the butter for 2 minutes, 60 degrees, Speed 2. Add the milk, sour cream and eggs and mix for 15 seconds, Speed 4.
- Add the strained baby spinach, self raising flour, herbs, half of the feta cheese and half of the grated cheese, chopped sun-dried tomatoes, salt and pepper and mix for 20 seconds, Speed 3, Reverse. Scrape down the sides of the bowl and mix for a further 20 seconds on Speed 3, Reverse.
- Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases. Sprinkle the remaining feta and grated cheddar cheese over the top.
- Bake in the oven for approximately 20 minutes or until cooked through (when tested with a skewer there should be just a few moist crumbs).
- Leave the muffins in the pan to cool for 5 minutes, before placing onto a wire rack to cool completely.
Notes
- Squeeze ALL of the liquid from the baby spinach.
- Self-raising flour - or make your own using 2 teaspoons baking powder sifted through every 1 cup of plain flour.
- Cheese - grated tasty or cheddar cheese is fine.
- Feta - crumbled, use a soft feta like Danish feta.
- Baby Spinach - you can use chopped English spinach instead of baby spinach. Alternatively you can strain all of the liquid from frozen spinach that has been defrosted.
- Use room temperature ingredients - for the best muffins, make sure all of your ingredients, such as milk, sour cream and eggs, are at room temperature before using.
- Don't over-mix the ingredients - over-mixed muffins will be dense and tough. Once you've added the dry ingredients, it's important just to very gently fold the mixture through.
- Add some uncooked rice grains to the bottom of the muffin tin holes - this stops the paper cases from getting greasy.
- Storing & freezing - spinach feta muffins can be stored in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Alternatively, they can be frozen for up to 3 months. Allow to defrost at room temperature before consuming.
Kerre says
Delicious, light and flavoursome muffins. I didn't bother with the hot water over the spinach - I just chopped the baby spinach from the bag. But I made sure the eggs and milk were at room temperature and I think that made all the difference. This will be a firm favourite in our family.