Are you looking for a muffin recipe that is loaded with veggies that your kid will actually eat? Then, I’ve got you! These quick, savory veggie muffins are packed with three different vegetables—corn, carrots, and zucchini—cheese, and they are naturally sweetened with applesauce. This makes for the perfect combo of savory and sweet that will surely win over even the most opinionated eaters in your family.

Hey kids hand holding a veggie muffin torn in half against a background of a blue kids plate and orange napkin.

Veggie Muffins Video

Three – yes, THREE – veggies in the same muffins?!?

I get it! My kids were a little skeptical of these veggie muffins at first, as well. I mean, I have a hard time getting my kids to eat one veggie per meal, let alone three! But I gamed the system and had them help grate the zucchini and carrots before adding and mixing them into the batter. As soon as the muffins came out of the oven, I swear they came running into the kitchen to try *their* veggie muffins. The power of having kids help in the kitchen is no joke!

But these muffins are good, like really really good! And now my kids won’t stop asking for them. Which, obvi, I have no problem with. We have them for breakfast in the car on the way to school (one of my kids has theirs with butter, the other with cream cheese), I’ve served them alongside some creamy tomato soup for an easy dinner, and I’ve also packed them into school lunches along with turkey rollups, sliced berries and a yogurt.

Ingredients

Ingredients on a marble countertop for veggie muffins.

#mymomhack: you can easily use any combination of broccoli, carrots or zucchini for the shredded veggies and corn or peas for your frozen veggies. If you have a picky eater, you can blend the carrots, zucchini, applesauce, milk, oil, milk, and egg in a blender before pouring it into the dry ingredients.

To the Kitchen we go!

A silver mixing bowl with flour and dry ingredients for muffins on a marble countertop.
Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
A silver mixing bowl and a marble countertop with grated carrots zucchini corn and cheese at four veggie muffins.
Stir together the cheese, carrots, zucchini and corn.
Silver mixing bowl with veggie muffin batter and a colorful whisk.
Add in the milk, egg, applesauce, and oil and stir until just incorporated
A muffin tray full of veggie muffins ready to be baked on a marble countertop.
Spoon into a muffin tin.
Cooked veggie muffins in a white muffin tin and get on a white marble backgrounds.
Bake until golden brown. Let cool and serve.

How to Store and Freeze Veggie Muffins

Once the muffins have cooled completely, store them in an airtight container. They will keep in the fridge for up to 5 days.

To freeze the muffins, place the muffins into a freezer zip-lock baggie or stasher bag and place in the freezer. They will keep for up to 3 months frozen.

Thaw frozen muffins overnight in the fridge or by gently warming them in the microwave.

A sections blue plate for kids with veggie muffins, blueberries, veggie sticks and ranch dip against a white background.
Three veggie muffins on a plate with one torn and a half with piles of carrot, zucchini and corn on a blue kids plate with a orange napkin against a white background.

Get the recipe: Kid-Requested Easy Cheesy Veggie Muffins (25 Minutes)

4.9 stars (13 ratings)
Are you looking for a muffin that is loaded with veggies that your kid will actually eat? Then, I've got you! These quick savory veggie muffins are packed with three different vegetables – corn, carrots and zucchini – cheese, and naturally sweetened with applesauce that makes for the perfect combo of savory and sweet , that will surely win over even the most opinionated eaters in your family.
Yield: 12 Muffins
Prep: 3 minutes
Cook: 18 minutes
Total: 21 minutes
Author: Michele Olivier
Course: Breakfast
Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Ingredients 

  • 1 3/4 cups flour (see notes)
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp salt
  • 1/3 cup applesauce
  • 1/3 cup melted butter or oil – avocado, oil, vegetable or melted coconut
  • 2/3 cup milk of choice – regular, almond, oat, cashew
  • 2 large large eggs
  • 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
  • 1 cup carrots, finely shredded or grated
  • 1/2 cup zucchini, finely shredded or grated, water gently pressed out
  • 1/3 cup sweet corn, frozen

Instructions 

  • Prep: Preheat the oven to 375° F. Spray or line a muffin tin.
  • Whisk: In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
  • Stir: In a large bowl, stir together the applesauce, oil, milk, eggs, carrots, zucchini, corn, and cheese until blended.
  • Combine: pour the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until just combined. Do not overmix.
  • Fill Muffin Tin: Scoop the batter into the muffin tin 3/4 of the way full.
  • Bake: Place the muffin tin into the oven, and bake for 18-20 minutes or until just golden brown.
  • Eat: Let cool for 5-10 minutes, and serve.

Notes

Age: 6+ months
Mini or Regular Size: you can make these muffins into mini or regular-size muffins, the only difference is the baking time. For mini muffins, bake for 10-12 minutes, for regular muffins bake for 18-20 minutes. 
Storage: store in an air-tight container on the counter or fridge for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 2 months. 
Note on Flours: you can use all-purpose, white whole wheat flour, a mixture of 50/50 white and whole wheat flour, or gluten-free one-for-one flour. 
Oil/Butter: to make the muffins nice and moist. You can use coconut, avocado, vegetable, olive, or melted butter.
Cooking with Kids

Toddlers

  • Toddlers can help measure and put the ingredients into the bowl.
  • They can help mix the ingredients together.
  • Toddlers can help scoop the dough into the muffin pan.

Kids

  • Preheat the oven. 
  • They can pick out and measure all of the ingredients. 
  • Kids can help mix the ingredients together.
  • They can help to fill the muffin cups with the batter.
  • Once filled, kids can carefully put the muffin tin into the oven (with adult supervision) and remove once baked. 

Did you make this recipe?

Tag @babyfoode on Instagram and hashtag it #babyfoode!

Rate Recipe Pin Recipe

Medically reviewed and cowritten by Jamie Johnson, Registered Dietitian Nutritionist (RDN), and Lauren Braaten, Pediatric Occupational Therapist (OT).