These Veggie-Loaded Pizza Muffins are easy to make, quick to reheat, or perfect for a healthy lunch box. These healthy muffins are loaded with pizza flavor along with spinach, carrots, and zucchini for a boost of vegetables in every bite!
Oh yes, you heard me right. Veggie-Loaded Pizza Muffins! You can pick your jaw up off the floor and continue reading.
I don’t know what it looks like in your neck of the woods, but here in Vermont, we are in full on back-to-school season right now.
The supply lists for the teachers is on the fridge (waiting to be shopped), the new backpack has been ordered, last summer must-dos are being squeezed in, and I am getting back to thinking back to lunch boxes.
Does packing lunch boxes stress you out, too? Oh good, I’m not alone!
It is not that packing a lunch box is HARD in action, but figuring out what healthy + nourishing foods my kid’s-every-changing-taste-preference will be work in her lunch box is a bit of a head scratcher.
Inspired by my Savory Vegetable Muffins, these Veggie-Loaded Pizza Muffins are the perfect veggie-loaded thing to stick in those back-to-school lunch boxes for your kid OR yourself. They are kid friendly, for sure….but adults love that pizza flavor just as much as any kids and grown up need their veggies too!
These pizza muffins are easy to make, adaptable, loaded with 3 different vegetables, cook up in about 20 minutes, and are perfect during meal prep or to stock your freezer with. Make some today and dazzle your family’s tastebuds all week!
Frequently asked questions
Can I use a different flour?
I prefer to use white whole wheat flour for this recipe because it has a more mild taste than traditional whole wheat flour. However, regular whole wheat flour will work well in this recipe too. You can also use half whole wheat flour and half all-purpose flour or make the recipe entirely with all-purpose flour.
Can I make these gluten-free?
Yes, use a cup-for-cup style gluten-free flour blend in place of the whole wheat flour.
Can these pizza muffins be made egg-free?
I have not tested an egg-free version of this recipe. However, in muffins, a flax “egg” or other liquid egg replacer will work well
How can I make these vegetable muffins dairy-free?
You can use a dairy-free shredded mozzarella cheese or choose to leave out the cheese completely. If you omit the cheese, add an additional ¼ tsp of salt to the recipe so they are well seasoned.
Veggie-Loading Tip: I like to shred the carrots and zucchini myself on a box grater so I can control how fine of a grate I want to use, but you can also buy shredded carrots from the store or use your food processor to quickly shred the veggies.
Suggested Adaptations
- Use different veggies. The vegetables in this recipe are very flexible. You can easily switch them out for whatever you have on hand. Don’t have zucchini? Add extra carrot instead. Have some broccoli or cauliflower that needs to be used up? Finely chop it and toss it in 1/2 cup of broccoli instead of the spinach!
- Add extra toppings. Anything you like on pizza would work well in these muffins. Finely diced bell peppers, chopped broccoli, or some sliced olives on top would work well on these pizza muffins.
- Make them vegetarian by omitting the pepperoni.
- Make them dairy-free by skipping the cheese. I do suggest adding a little extra salt to keep them flavorful!
Veggie-Loading Tip: Save time and use your food processor with the “S” blade to finely chop the spinach for these pizza muffins!
Other veggie-loaded muffin recipes to add to those lunch boxes
- Healthy Lunch Box Muffins (gluten free)
- Veggie-Loaded Chocolate Protein Muffins
- Healthy Morning Glory Muffins
- Healthy Zucchini Lemon Muffins
- Cinnamon Zucchini Banana Muffins
- Butternut Squash Banana Blender Muffins
Loving these pizza muffins and now you’re hungry for more?
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Recipe testing and development done in collaboration with Heather Staller.
Veggie-Loaded Pizza Muffins
Equipment
- Muffin tin
Ingredients
- ½ cup grated carrots
- ½ cup grated zucchini
- 1 cup packed baby spinach finely chopped
- 2 large eggs
- ¼ cup olive or avocado oil
- 1 cup milk of choice
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ tablespoon Italian seasoning or dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ½ teaspoon fine salt
- 1 ½ cups white whole wheat flour
- 1¼ cup shredded mozzarella cheese divided
- 1/3 cup chopped pepperoni optional + extra for topping if desired
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350℉ and line a muffin tin with 12 paper liners.
- Place grated carrot and zucchini in a clean kitchen towel or paper tower and squeeze out as much moisture as you can.
- To a large bowl, add carrot, zucchini, chopped spinach, egg, oil, milk, and tomato paste. Whisk to combine. Mix in garlic powder, dried oregano, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
- Add flour and mix in with a large spoon or rubber spatula. Mix in 3/4 cup of shredded mozzarella and most of the pepperoni, leaving some to decorate the top of the muffins.
- Evenly divide the muffin batter between the muffin tin. Top each muffin with a sprinkle of the remaining ½ cup of cheese and a few pieces of pepperoni, if using.
- Bake until a toothpick interested into the center of the center of a muffin comes out clean, 18 to 22 minutes.
- Allow muffins to cool in the pan for 5 minutes then transfer to a cooking rack to cool completely. Store muffins in an air-tight container in the fridge for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to a month.
Nutrition
The nutritional information is provided as an estimate only and may vary based on the product type, servings and other factors. If you are following a diet, please consult with a professional nutritionist or your doctor. Stay healthy!
These were so good! I brought them to a picnic and my friends loved them. I did all zucchini for the veggies because we’re buried in zucchini over here but I’ll try it with a mix of veggies next time!
I am so glad they were such a success! And I love how adaptable the recipe is!
We loved these muffins! They are prefect for lunch boxes and snacks. My kids get that pizza flavor they crave PLUS lots of veggies and whole grains.
Mine came out a bit dry. We’re having them with a side of tomato sauce. I think I’ll add more zuchini next time?
Hmmm. Sorry to hear that, Theresa. I haven’t had that issue at all with these. Did you swap any ingredients? The extra zucchini would certainly add more moisture!
The whole family loved them.
That s awesome! I love when a veggie-loaded recipe is loved by the whole household!
Wonderful recipe!! My 3 year old and I loved it! These were delicious and great leftovers especially when zapped in the microwave. I added chopped up pepperoni into the muffin mix and toped with some black olives for a more pizza feel. Definitely going to make again and again.