These gluten-free cheddar zucchini muffins are a savory and satisfying way to use up zucchini! Made with almond flour, cheddar, and garlic these savory zucchini muffins are an easy meal prep breakfast or snack.
These easy low carb muffins are made with savory zucchini. They are light, fluffy, and CHEESY! If you garden or like to visit farmer’s markets or even the supermarket this time of the year, you know that zucchini is abundant and cheap.
Use up that zucchini with these easy low carb muffins.
Ingredients for low carb zucchini muffins
These white cheddar zucchini muffins are made in the blender. You’ll need almond flour, zucchini, cheese, eggs and a handful of spices. I kept this recipe simple. You can try different types of cheese. Gruyere, Swiss, or Monterey Jack would work well. The key is to make sure you get as much water out of the zucchini as possible.
Add these gluten-free White Cheddar Zucchini Muffins to #mealprep this week for an easy breakfast or snack!How to prepare zucchini
The hardest part of the recipe is not really hard at all but you do have to prep the zucchini. I used a box grater to shred a large zucchini. You’ll only need half that amount though.
Get a little workout squeezing the excess water out of the zucchini. Don’t skip the squeeze. I got over a ½ cup of water out of there!
I am not a baker. So I will admit that I had to investigate how to bake with almond flour. I’ve baked almond flour shortbread cookies but had not attempted a muffin batter with it. Can you even substitute almond flour cup for cup with wheat flour? Yes! In this case, it works perfectly.
Tips for making almond flour muffins
To get the batter going, blend the almond flour, baking soda, spices, and eggs to make a thick batter. It will be just thinner than a paste.
Add the shredded zucchini and cheese. Blend again until combined.
The batter should still contain visible pieces of zucchini. No need to puree until completely smooth.
The batter will be on the thick side. And it may seem wrong. But it’s so right. Believe me. Just go with it.
Tip: Add extra cheese to the tops for even more golden brown color and cheese flavor.
After about 25 minutes in the oven, the muffins bake up light and a beautiful golden brown.
So that’s it! These muffins come together quickly so I like to include them in my Sunday meal prep for an easy breakfast or snack through the week.
Here’s the easy recipe. Be sure to PIN it and tag me on Instagram when you make it!
When a fellow blogger, Madison, asked me to join a group of bloggers to celebrate muffin week, I immediately wanted to challenge myself to make something savory. That’s how these flourless zucchini muffins were born. But you’ll find the full spread of savory, sweet, healthy and indulgent muffin recipes over at A Joyfully Mad Kitchen. Be sure to check it out for some new muffin recipes to try!
More healthy muffin recipes:
Healthier Blueberry Blender Muffins
Vegan Gingerbread Blender Muffins
Flourless Savory Cheddar Zucchini Muffins
Ingredients
- 1¼ cup almond flour
- 3 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon coarse salt*
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup + 1 Tbsp shredded cheddar cheese
- 1 cup shredded and squeezed zucchini (½ a large zucchini or 1 small zucchini)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F.
- Pulse the flour, eggs, baking soda and spices in a blender until smooth. Add 1 cup cheese and the zucchini. Pulse until the zucchini is evenly incorporated but not pureed. Here you should still see noticeable flecks of green throughout the batter.
- Spoon the batter into a lined muffin tin about ¾ full. Top with the extra 1 tablespoon cheese. Bake at 350°F about 25 minutes until the muffins are golden and an inserted toothpick comes out clean.
- After about 3-5 minutes, or when the muffins are cool enough to touch, remove the muffins from the pan to cool on a cooling rack. Serve warm.
Elaine @ Dishes Delish
Yummy! These savory zucchini muffins look so delicious! I love that they are flourless! Perfect for a delicious breakfast!
Marisa
Thanks, Elaine. I had a couple this morning. I can’t get enough of them!
Suzy
What a great idea! I have some zucchini to use up!
Marisa
It’s everywhere this time of year! Try it out and let me know how it goes!
Jenna @ A Savory Feast
I love the idea of savory muffins! These would go great with dinner, too.
Marisa
I’ve been devouring them at breakfast but you’re absolutely right. They would!
Dana | Mama Needs Cake
I love recipes that use zucchini and look for new ones to try every summer… this one definitely makes the list!
Marisa
Yes! Glad to hear it.
Claudia Lamascolo
what a great idea for this savory muffin I love that you added so much flavor to a bland vegetable to be fabulous!
Marisa
Haha! Zucchini is rather bland but there are few things that onion, garlic, and pepper can’t fix!
Shashi at SavorySpin
Marisa, these are some darn delicious looking savory zucchini muffins! Loving your almond flour use in these! Yay for muffin week!
Marisa
Thanks, Shashi! The almond flour really lightens them up so they are less like an “egg cup” amd more like a real muffin. Tasty indeed.
Sheila @ Life, Love, and Good Food
So clever! These look great!
Marisa
Thanks, Sheila! I’m loving them!
Nanci
These are becoming a staple in my freezer 🙂 Quick to reheat, healthy and delicious! Are there any tricks to keep the muffins from sticking to the liner? Thanks!
Grace
These look and sound amazing. I love the savory idea!
Marisa
Thank you! They’ve been great for breakfast this week!
Kim
Hi Marisa
Kim
Sorry, forgot to post my question.
Is the nutrition information per Serving or for the whole 8 muffins?
Marisa
Hi Kim! The nutrition info is estimated per muffin.
Kim
Thank you. I did make these muffins and they came out great. They’re very tasty. Thanks
Marisa
So glad you enjoyed them! Thanks for the note. I love the flavor and that these are so filling!
Spencer
the zucchini muffins were okay. the texture was off for me and the muffins were kinda plain. I recommend doubling all the spice amounts. The recipe was good for inspiration I plan to play around with it in the future.
Kim
They needed some fat. Very dry and mealy.
Marisa Moore
There could be some variation in water due to the zucchini. But thanks to the almond flour, cheese and eggs, each muffin has 15g fat which is actually pretty high. I didn’t find them to be dry or mealy at all.
Old Grey Mare
This is really a reply to Kim. I would suggest that maybe your almond flour had gotten a little old (and thus kind of dried out).
Old Grey Mare
Again a reply to Kim (about muffins being dry and mealy). Sorry I did not think of this earlier, but did you substitute a different cheese? Some cheeses are lower fat than others (and especially if you used bagged pre-shredded cheese as those contain preservatives like potato starch to keep the shreds from clumping together in the bag but also kind of dry the shreds out so they become kind of stiff).
Sofia
Hi! These look delicious! Can I make them in a loaf pan instead of muffins?
Thanks!
Marisa
Hi Sofia, Thanks! I’ve never made these in a loaf pan, so I can’t recommend it. If you did try you’d need to increase the bake time.
Megan
These look incredible! Have you tried freezing them yet??
Marisa
Yes! They freeze well. Just reheat in the toaster oven/regular oven for 10-15 minutes at 350F.
Liz
Hi Marisa, could these be made with almond meal instead of almond flour? Thanks, they look delicious!
Marisa
Hi Liz! Absolutely. The blender will help grind the almond meal to the right consistency. Should turn out great!
Leslie Drake
Just made these! I didn’t have almond flour so I grinded up some almonds. A tiny bit rubbery, I might have over mixed but the flavor is incredible! They rose better than muffins I’ve made with other flours. Thank you for the recipe!
Liz
This was delicious! Making for the second time this week at my partner’s request
Teri
Just found this recipe – if I sub in the wheat flour for almond flour would the carbohydrate number change? Do you know what it would be per serving?
Marisa
Hi Teri, Changing to whole-wheat flour will increase the carbs. And unfortunately, it won’t likely work as an even swap in this recipe. I haven’t tested it and don’t recommend it.
Roxanne
Has anyone tried these usually actual onion and garlic, rather than just the powder? I usually like to use the real thing if I. have it.
Marisa
Hi Roxanne! Great question. I haven’t tried it but adding fresh garlic should be fine. However, I am not sure how fresh onion would turn out since it would add significantly more liquid. Please let us know if you give it a shot!
Roxanne
I added three garlic cloves, some fresh basil and a green onion. Also some Penzey’s “Justice” seasoning, which is a combination of onion, shallot, chive powder. They turned out nicely, I think. I almost feel like I squeezed just a little too much liquid out of the zucchini.
Old Grey Mare
Well, you know garlic powder and onion powder ARE real onions and real garlic just like dried beans are real beans. It is just that for “baked goods” the powder is the better consistency, unlike casseroles, stews, etc. where “the real thing” is desired as part of the dish, not just a flavor like salt and pepper.
Krissy
Delish! Made these for brunch today with My Mom who is diabetic- perfect seasoning. I used a Monterrey Jack for the filling and Sharp Cheese for the topping – just a pinch on each muffin. I will definitely make these again! Also this was my first time cooking with almond flour – So easy to use in this recipe!!
Sarah
Would yellow summer squash work here as well?
Marisa
Definitely works! You’ll follow the same procedure to remove excess liquid.
Erin
Thank you so much for this recipe! I was recently diagnosed with gestational diabetes, so I need low-carb food options. I’m looking forward to trying these!
Maureen Prenn
Good crumb and flavor! Made these today using my food processor to both grate the zucchini and later pulse the mix. I didn’t get any liquid from the zucchini, but the batter was not too wet. Instead of cheese, I topped them with chopped walnuts. Next time I will add chopped walnuts to the batter also for that added crunch.
Lauri
I made this recipe as a flatbread. I pressed it onto a parchment covered baking sheet until it was about 8″ x 8″ or so. I coated my fingers with olive oil to spread it. I baked it until the edges were starting to brown…..sorry, but I don’t know exactly how long. Cut it into 8 equal slices. IT. WAS. AMAZING!!!!! Thank you for a delicious alternative to garlic bread that will help us keep our diabetes in check.
Marisa
What a great idea. Thanks for sharing!
Sherry
Excellent recipe! Ate them with some lentil soup and it was a great pairing.