These ham, cheese and zucchini muffins are the lunchbox filler that never once comes home uneaten.
They're a regular in my kids lunchbox rotation, and just as handy dunked into a bowl of roast pumpkin soup for dinner.
A Quick Look At The Recipe
✅ Recipe Name: Ham, Cheese & Zucchini Muffins
🕒 Ready In: 25 minutes
👨👩👧 Serves: 12
🔥 Calories: 203kcal per serve
🧀 Main Ingredients: self-raising flour, zucchini, ham, cheese
🌿 Dietary: vegetarian option, freezer-friendly (contains dairy, egg & gluten)
⭐ Why You'll Love It: One bowl, 25 minutes, and they freeze like a dream for hectic mornings.
SUMMARIZE & SAVE THIS CONTENT ON
Have made these 4 times in the last month and they're amazing.
- Tamara
Tamara's actually one of my regulars for this recipe - she swaps the ham for prosciutto and adds a bit of goat's cheese, and says it's magical.
If you're after more muffin ideas, my Savoury Muffins (Cheesy Ham & Corn) and Bacon & Cheese Muffins are also lunchbox favourites, and if it's zucchini you're trying to use up, my Zucchini Slice is another one worth bookmarking.
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Why You're Going To Love This Recipe
- One Bowl - no creaming butter or hauling out the electric mixer, just dump everything in and stir. Minimal dishes, maximum relief.
- 25 Minutes - from "what's for lunchboxes tomorrow" panic to a cooling rack full of muffins in under half an hour.
- Freezer-Friendly - a double batch in the freezer means lunchboxes sort themselves for weeks at a time.
- Sneaky Veggies - a whole zucchini disappears into these and my kids have never once clocked it.
Basic Zucchini Muffin Ingredients
Zucchini muffins make the perfect lunchbox alternative to a sandwich, a yummy side to a bowl of soup, or an easy savoury afternoon snack.
These are made from basic, budget-friendly ingredients - most of it's already sitting in your fridge and pantry. Here's the ones worth a mention:
- Zucchini - grate 2 medium zucchinis (about 400g) and squeeze out as much liquid as you possibly can. This is the one step you can't skip - skip it and you'll end up with wet, dense muffins instead of light and fluffy ones. More on this below. If you've got extra zucchini to use up, I've got a whole page of zucchini recipes for that.
- Buttermilk - keeps savoury muffins moist and fluffy in a way plain milk just doesn't. No buttermilk? Stir 1 tbs of white vinegar or lemon juice through room temperature full cream milk and let it sit for a few minutes until it curdles slightly - that's your DIY buttermilk sorted.
- Ham - any sliced or shaved deli ham works, or swap in cooked bacon pieces. Leave it out entirely for a vegetarian version. See more swaps in my Variations below.
Variations
- Cheese swaps - tasty and cheddar both work well, but crumbled feta or grated mozzarella are worth a try too if that's what you've got.
- Ham alternatives - swap the deli ham for cooked bacon pieces, shredded roast chicken, or leave it out completely for a vegetarian version. My Ham and Cheese Scrolls are another good one if you're after more ham and cheese lunchbox ideas.
- Fancy it up - like Tamara in the comments, swap the ham for prosciutto and add a bit of crumbled goat's cheese. It's a genuinely great combo.
- Gluten free - swap in a gluten free self-raising flour blend. Add a small pinch of xanthan gum if your blend doesn't already include it, for a better texture.
- More veggies - grated carrot or finely chopped capsicum can be folded through with the zucchini (just make sure it's well drained too). For more veggie-packed options, try my Halloumi and Zucchini Fritters.
Step By Step Instructions
Just 4 easy steps and you've got a batch of muffins in the oven.
Note: Scroll to the recipe card at the bottom for the ingredient quantities and full detailed method (plus the Thermomix version).
- Step 1: Whisk the wet ingredients. Whisk the buttermilk, oil and eggs together in a bowl and set aside.
- Step 2: Combine the dry ingredients. Sift the flour into a large bowl, then add the cheese, ham, grated zucchini, salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
- Step 3: Fold together. Pour the buttermilk mixture over the dry ingredients and gently fold through - just until combined, no more.
- Step 4: Fill and bake. Divide the mixture between muffin cases (⅔ full) and bake for about 15 minutes, until golden and cooked through.
Tips For Making Zucchini Muffins
- Squeeze ALL the liquid out of the zucchini - this is my number 1 tip, hands down. Skip it and your muffins will be wet and squishy instead of light and fluffy. Grate it, tip it into a fine strainer, and press down hard with paper towel until virtually no liquid is left.
- Don't over-mix - once the dry ingredients hit the wet, fold gently until just combined. Over-mixed batter makes dense, tough muffins.
- Use room temperature ingredients - cold eggs and buttermilk straight from the fridge won't combine as well.
- Add a few grains of rice to the bottom of the muffin tray holes - sounds odd, but it stops the paper cases from going greasy and see-through.
- Store them right - keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 3 days. Pop a piece of paper towel in the bottom to soak up extra moisture and stop them going soggy.
- They freeze brilliantly - pop them in a ziplock bag or airtight container and freeze for up to 3 months. Defrost at room temperature, or pop one straight into the lunchbox frozen in the morning - it'll have thawed out by lunchtime.
Ham, Cheese & Zucchini Muffins FAQs
It's almost always one of two things: not squeezing enough liquid out of the grated zucchini, or over-mixing the batter once the dry ingredients go in. Squeeze the zucchini hard in a fine strainer with paper towel until it's virtually dry, and only fold the mixture until just combined.
Yes! Swap the self-raising flour for a gluten free self-raising flour blend. If your blend doesn't already contain it, add a small pinch of xanthan gum for a better texture.
Definitely - they freeze really well. Cool completely, then freeze in a ziplock bag or airtight container for up to 3 months. Thaw at room temperature, or pop one frozen straight into a lunchbox in the morning.
You can, but thaw it fully first and squeeze out every bit of liquid you can - frozen zucchini holds even more water than fresh, so this step matters more than ever if you want fluffy muffins instead of soggy ones.
All ovens run a little differently, so treat 15 minutes as a guide, not a rule. Test with a skewer - it should come out with just a few moist crumbs, not wet batter. If they're not there yet, give them another few minutes and check again, and consider shifting your tray to a different shelf next time.
More Savoury Muffins, Scrolls and Slice Recipes
If you need more savoury recipes in your life, check out these ones - they're some of my absolute favourites.
Ham & Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 2 cups (300g) self raising flour see notes
- 1 cup (80g) grated cheese
- 2 medium (400g) zucchinis grated and excess liquid drained
- 125 g chopped ham or bacon
- ¾ cup (185g) buttermilk see notes
- 2 eggs
- ¼ cup (65g) vegetable oil
- sea salt and pepper to season
Instructions
Conventional Method
- Grease and line a standard 12 hole muffin tray with paper muffin cases. Preheat oven to 180 degrees (160 degrees if using fan forced).
- Whisk together the buttermilk, oil and eggs in a bowl and set aside.
- Sift the self raising flour into a large bowl. Add the grated cheese, ham, grated zucchini, sea salt and pepper. Mix to combine.
- Pour the buttermilk mixture over the top of the flour mix and gently fold through.
- Divide the mixture equally between the muffin cases (filling to ⅔ full).
- Bake in the oven for approximately 15 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 180 degrees celsius (160 degrees celsius if using fan forced).
- Grate the cheese on Speed 6 for 10 seconds. Set aside.
- Grate the zucchini on Speed 6 for 5 seconds (or until finely grated) - remove and squeeze out all of the excess liquid. Place back into the Thermomix.
- Add all remaining ingredients (including the cheese) 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 (filling to ⅔ full).
- Bake in the oven for approximately 15 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.
SPRING says
Is the 400 g of zucchini before or after squeezing out the water?
Lucy says
Before 🙂
Natalie says
Thank you for this recipe, Can I use gluten free flour?
Lucy says
Hi Natalie, yes you could! You may like to add a little xantham gum if doing so!