The Best Savoury Ricotta Muffins (GF & High-Protein!)
- Updated on Dec 08, 2022
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If you’re looking for an easy on-the-go breakfast or snack idea, then this savoury ricotta muffins recipe is just what you need!
I love discovering new recipes! Especially if they’re linked to getting me fitter and stronger.
That’s exactly what these baked ricotta muffin power bombs do, but I’ll explore that further down below.
Jump to
Let’s take a look at what is in this easy recipe.
Ingredients
Protein
Creamy ricotta cheese is a great choice for these savoury muffins, it’s high in protein and makes a great base for the flavourful ingredients we are going to be adding to them.
Eggs are also high in protein and they act as a great binder to hold everything together.
Flavours
Of course, it’s all well and good to know you’re about to eat a load of hard-earned protein in your post-workout snack, but if you’re not looking forward to it then you’ll hardly be pushing yourself.
That’s where the Mediterranean combo comes in – olives or capers (or both!), sundried tomatoes into the center of each muffin.
Damn, it’s good! In fact, it’s so good you’ll likely find yourself working out more often just to eat these ricotta muffins. I know I have for the last couple of days.
Optional Extras
If you like a bit of spice in your day, why not drizzle on some hot sauce before serving? Or a great addition would be some spring onions, they’d give a lovely flavour to the tomatoes.
How many calories are in homemade ricotta muffins?
These are a great little snack as they are low in calories but high in protein – perfecto!
For one serving you get 101 calories, alongside 6.7 grams of protein.
Here’s an overview on the rest of the nutritional information:
Health benefits
This simple recipe is my new favorite. Ricotta muffins are now my post-gym go-to snack.
After a good workout, it’s imperative to replenish our body’s natural stores, and protein is critical for muscle growth; that’s where these really come into play.
For those of you in the know, whey protein is one of the most popular and most effective forms of protein supplement out there.
It’s very common to buy it in powder form, and is a real boost for the muscles after working out. There are of course other ways to get whey protein into your system, and baked ricotta is certainly one of them (another is whey protein powder, as these protein powder ideas show!).
Whey is the liquid left over after making cheese or heating milk, and the latter is the basis of ricotta cheese.
Importantly for vegetarians, rennet is not used in the formation of ricotta and is therefore considered a vegetarian cheese. It is also very high in protein and very low in fat.
In fact, thanks to the addition of eggs in these baked ricotta muffins, a small serving of four little muffins contains over 20g of protein!
If you munch all eight down yourself (I often do after a big workout) you’re looking at 44g of protein. That’s A LOT OF PROTEIN!
If you’re hungry for more check out this high-protein meal plan, it’s a great way to find even more meal inspo! (You can try the first week for free!)
Subscribe to get our FREE 7-Day Vegetarian High Protein Meal Plan for Weight Loss
How to make ricotta muffins
Ricotta breakfast recipes are super easy to make – take a look!
- Prep time – Once that oven is heating, grab a medium bowl and slice up the sun-dried tomatoes and olives. Add in the ricotta, eggs, capers, and season with salt and pepper (If you want to throw in the spring onions or hot sauce now is the time!). Beat it all with a fork.
- Baking time – Pop the ricotta mixture into paper-lined muffin cups or a lined muffin tin, and bang it in the oven until they’re nice and brown!
- It’s that simple – enjoy!
Savory Muffin FAQ
I’ve answered some of the most popular questions about this recipe.
Can I make these ahead of time?
If you had more time last weekend than this weekend, you most definitely could have made some muffins ahead of time.
These are great batch-cook and meal-prep snacks as you can take the main ingredients and increase the quantity so you have loads ready for future gym workouts (or just plain snack attacks!).
How to store and reheat?
Ricotta muffins will store well in an airtight container for a few days, but they also freeze really well too.
You can eat them at room temperature, or if you want to warm them slightly a short burst in a microwave would do it.
What to serve with ricotta muffins?
They are perfect on their own, or you can dip them in your favorite sauce – what do you fancy?
What is ricotta cheese used for?
Ricotta is a smooth soft cheese that can be easily blended and take on other flavors so it is particularly popular in Italian dishes. It’s similar to mascarpone cheese.
Is ricotta the healthiest cheese?
Ricotta is one of the healthier choices as it is lower in salt and fat than other cheeses.
Variations and alternatives
There are a few ways you could go if you want to mix up the original recipe next time.
- If you don’t have any spring onions, try green onion instead. In fact, you could add different vegetables depending on what you like – pepper, sweetcorn, you get the idea.
- You could add a bay leaf into each muffin before baking, or try fresh basil.
- As a vegetarian in Europe I know you can’t add parmesan cheese so try adding some nutritional yeast. It’s vegan friendly and gives an extra cheesy hit. In the US, most parmesan cheeses are vegetarian, just check to make sure no rennet is included.
More Recipes
Love this recipe, then I know you’ll love these too!
Equipment
- Muffin cups (optional)
Ingredients
- 1 cup ricotta cheese
- 2 eggs
- 2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil (or 4 cherry tomatoes)
- 2 tsp capers
- 2 tbsp olives
- Salt and pepper to taste
Optional:
- 1 tsp hot sauce (eg. sriracha)
- 2 spring onions (or shallots)
- 6 bay leaves
Instructions
- Pre-heat the oven to 190°C/ 375°F
- Slice the sundried or cherry tomatoes into small pieces and place in mixing bowl.2 sun-dried tomatoes in oil
- Do the same with the olives.2 tbsp olives
- Add the ricotta, eggs, capers, spring onion and salt and pepper.1 cup ricotta cheese, 2 eggs, 2 tsp capers, 2 spring onions, Salt and pepper to taste
- As optional – throw in the hot sauce now.1 tsp hot sauce
- Beat it well with a fork.
- To prep the muffin tray simply place 6 muffin papers in the appropriate slots. If you don’t have any papers and are cooking directly in a muffin tray, then you should butter the slots to allow easy removal of the baked ricotta.
- Optional: Add a bay leaf into each slot (make sure not to eat it later on, it’s just for flavour!).6 bay leaves
- Pour an equal measure of the mix into each of the 6 muffin papers.
- Place tray in the middle of the oven and cook for 18-20 minutes, until the top of each ricotta bomb has begun to brown. That’s it!
- Serve with your favourite sauce or just enjoy alone 🙂
NOTES
Nutrition
I hope you enjoyed this recipe as much as I did! It’s a great recipe for on-the-go snacks so share it with all your gym buddies.
For more recipes take a look at the links above that I’ve picked out just for you.
Dave
I’m not a foodie, although I do love eating. I believe food should serve us and our goals, not hinder. Taking control and responsibility for what I eat is important to me.
Comments
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42 comments
I’m trying to do more fiber in my diet and I don’t like olives, what could I substitute for the olives and add for fiber?
Hi Sue, how about a few chopped spinach leaves?
Thanks Dave, I will try that!
Would love to hear how it goes!
Do these freeze well to be used later?
I’m making these tomorrow – will throw a couple in the freezer and let you know 24 hours later Ashlee! 🙂
Hi again Ashlee – I’m very happy to say they freeze and reheat wonderfully! Just as tasty as the day they were made – if not more so!!
how did you reheat? any instructions? 🙂
Hi Kat! I put them on the defrost setting on my microwave for 2 minutes, let them stand for a minute and then gave them a 1.5 minute blast on full power (1000w). That was for 6 muffins. Just make sure each one is piping hot throughout and you’ll be fine 🙂
I wanted to tell you that we loved your recipe so much that we featured it on our blog post. “5 Fabulous Recipes Using Fresh Ricotta” on our Lyme and Travel Blog – Dancing With Fireflies. Great Recipe and fantastic blog!
Thanks a ton Crysta!! 🙂
Thank you for sharing amazing, good, easy & healthy recipes.
You’re more than welcome Danya! Thanks for reading 🙂
Love this recipe. I added chilies and fresh basil to my version and they were awesome,!
Fresh basil is such a great idea! I imagine it really adds a nice aroma to the muffins! Thanks for sharing, Aj 😀
Awesome recipe…you guys are brilliant
Thank you, Sue! You’re very kind to say so :). Glad you enjoyed it!
How do you lovely cooks make your ricotta and what do you do with the fluid that over after the separation process
Thank you Shirl
Hi Shirley, actually I’ll confess, we’re naughty. We use the ready-made stuff from the supermarket. I’m sure making your own is 10x better, if you have the time!
Would like to sign up for newsletter. Thank you.
Hi Karin! If you go here: https://hurrythefoodup.com/high-protein-vegetarian-meal-plan/
You’ll see a green box to fill out where you can sign up for our meal plan and newsletter. It’ll be sent to you after that. Thanks!
Love your website! You guys are hilarious! I am trying to get on the mailing list. Hope this does it.
Did you sign up, Michelle? You can fill in the box on this page if you didn’t already 🙂 https://hurrythefoodup.com/high-protein-vegetarian-meal-plan/
I just started trying to get healthy this year, I quit drinking and smoking and I started dieting and working out. I bought some ricotta today and was wondering what to use it for, and I am soooooo excited to try this! Thanks for this amazing idea!!!! I’m drooling lol
Congrats Sierra, it sounds like you know exactly what you want! I’m also an ex heavy-smoker and have cut down on drinking, too (as you have to workout EVEN MORE otherwise) 😀 and I realised that better food goes hand in hand with it 🙂
Great that you came across our recipe! This is a personal fave of mine too, so enjoy!
Just found your website while searching for recipes to use up my homemade ricotta. Just wondering if anyone has made these using an Instant Pot instead of the oven, and, if so, how did they turn out? Recipe sounds like the popular “Egg Bites” that are going around on the web, but this one has more cheese and less egg. I like the olive/caper/dried tomato idea and uses a lot more ricotta…
I’ve never tried them in the Instant Pot to be honest – and I haven’t heard from anyone who has. But there’s only one way to find out, as they say 🙂
We’re glad you found us, Patty – enjoy the ricotta, however you cook it!
❤️ this site so much!
Thank you Rachel! :love:
Please add me to your site. Thanks
Hi Geraldine! You can sign up for our newsletter right this way: https://hurrythefoodup.com/hurrythefoodup-newsletter-sign-up/
See you around 🙂
Hey I was thinking of making some of these and taking them camping- do you think they would last a couple days in a cooler?
Hi Emma, hmmmmmmm. A day sure, a second maybe. I’m not sure, but I’d be careful because they contain eggs.
I’d look for something else to be honest, if you want to store them for longer.
These deffo work: https://hurrythefoodup.com/banana-oat-fitness-cookies/
Super recipe! I’ve been making egg cups for years – great grab and go breakfast option – but I never thought about adding ricotta. I used kalmata olives, sun-dried tomato, fresh basil , and feta. Delicious and easy! Thanks for sharing 🙂
Could you make this with lemon and poppy seeds like a traditional muffin? I think that would be delish!
Yes, why not indeed?! Would go really well with the ricotta, I’m sure 🙂
I would like to sign up to get your recipes, did try a few weeks ago. Thanks for the great recipes best I have seen. Would like not to eat meat, believe your recipes will make the transition easier.
Thank you
Linda
Hiya Linda, could you try here again please? That should do it 🙂 https://hurrythefoodup.com/hurrythefoodup-newsletter-sign-up/
And thank you! I hope we can support you in your not-eating-meat journey – and you’re right, there truly is inspirational veggie food around! 🙂
I made it but with broccolini instead of capers and no olives (as I don’t like those). It came out super yummy. Then I made it with sausage and peppers and that came out super yummy too. My sister was visiting and she wanted the recipe also. Thank you!
Really glad you enjoyed it, thanks Beany!
Love! I used cherry tomatoes, scallions, basil and my secret ingredient, chili crunch!
Amazing!
Wonderful to hear! Glad they turned out tasty 🙂