Kids' chicken and veg mini muffins
38 min · 19 g protein · 157 cals / serving
Soft, cheesy savoury mini muffins for school lunch boxes, made with eggs, smooth cottage cheese, oat flour and finely chopped chicken, with grated zucchini, carrot, peas and a little cheddar baked right in. Nut-free, mildly seasoned, and easy for small hands. Makes about 40 mini muffins, or 12 regular ones.
Ingredients
- a light coat cooking spray, for the tin
- 4 large eggs
- 2/3 cup cottage cheese (1%), low-fat
- 1/2 cup whole grain oat flour, or blitz rolled oats to a flour
- 1 tsp baking powder
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 small pinch salt
- 1 3/4 cups chicken breast, cooked chicken breast, finely chopped (leftover roast chicken, skin off, works)
- 1 small zucchini, finely grated and squeezed dry
- 1 medium carrot, finely grated
- 1/2 cup cooked frozen green peas, thawed
- 2/3 cup grated low fat cheddar cheese, grated
- 1 tbsp fresh chives, finely snipped (optional)
Steps
- Heat the oven to 375°F and spray a 24-hole mini muffin tin well, or use silicone cups. The batter makes about 40 minis, so you will bake in two batches.
- Blend the eggs, cottage cheese, oat flour, baking powder, garlic powder and salt until completely smooth, about 30 seconds. Blending the cottage cheese means no lumps for fussy eaters.
- Stir in the chicken, zucchini, carrot, peas, cheddar and chives. Spoon into the tin so each hole is nearly full, and keep the rest of the batter in the fridge for the second batch.
- Bake for 15–18 minutes, until puffed, golden and set in the middle (160°F); a skewer should come out clean. Cool in the tin for 5 minutes, then loosen with a butter knife and cool on a rack.
Good to know
How do they keep for school lunches?
4 days in the fridge in a lidded box lined with a paper towel. They are eaten cold, so pack them with an ice pack, five per child. To freeze, cool completely, freeze on a tray and then bag; they keep 2 months. Take out what you need the night before and thaw in the fridge.
Can I change the vegetables?
Any finely chopped vegetable that is not too wet works: sweetcorn, red pepper, broccoli florets chopped small, or spinach squeezed dry. Keep the total about the same so the muffins still set.
Can I use a regular muffin tin?
Yes. It makes 12, and they need 20–22 minutes. Check that the middle is set before taking them out.
Alternative
Per
- Calories
- 143
- Protein
- (50%)
- 17 g
- Fat
- (30%)
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- (21%)
- 8 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 273 mg
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 1258 kcal goes into the pot and 1003 g of ingredients comes out as about 880 g of food: 143 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.