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Tofu and Spinach Breakfast Muffins

Savoury vegan breakfast muffins made with blended tofu and chickpea flour, packed with spinach, red pepper and spring onion. Make a batch at the weekend: 27g of protein a serving and naturally gluten-free.

Breakfast

50

Serves 4 (3 muffins each)

A hand reaching into a container of golden savoury breakfast muffins flecked with spinach, outdoors

Ingredients

  • 1 x 400g (14oz) block firm tofu, drained and patted dry
  • 100g/3½oz/1 cup chickpea flour (gram flour or besan)
  • 15g/3 tbsp nutritional yeast
  • 1 tsp baking powder (check the label if you need it gluten-free), half a tsp ground turmeric and half a tsp salt
  • 150ml/⅔ cup unsweetened soya milk (soy milk)
  • 1 tbsp (15ml) olive oil, plus a little for the tin
  • 2 cloves garlic (about 8g), crushed
  • 150g/5oz baby spinach
  • 3 spring onions (scallions, about 45g/1½oz), thinly sliced
  • 1 red pepper (bell pepper, about 100g/3½oz once deseeded), finely diced
  • Black pepper

Method

  1. Heat the oven to 190C (170C fan, 375F) and brush a 12-hole muffin tin with a little oil, or line it with paper cases.
  2. Heat the oil in a frying pan (skillet) over a medium heat. Add the garlic for 30 seconds, then the spinach, and stir until wilted. Tip into a sieve, press out as much liquid as you can and chop.
  3. Blend the tofu, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, baking powder, turmeric, salt, soya milk and plenty of black pepper until smooth and thick.
  4. Stir in the spinach, spring onions and red pepper. Divide between the 12 holes and smooth the tops.
  5. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden and firm, and a skewer pushed into the middle comes out clean. Leave in the tin for 10 minutes, then lift out; they firm up as they cool.
  6. Serve 3 each, warm or cold. They keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 2 days, or in the freezer for a month.

Why it works

Three muffins give you about 27g of protein and only 16g of carbohydrate for 325 calories, from the tofu and chickpea flour.

How they hold together without eggs. Chickpea flour binds the blended tofu and sets firm in the oven, much like egg. Nutritional yeast adds a savoury, cheesy flavour, and turmeric gives the golden colour.

Why it is tagged for blood sugar. With plenty of protein, nearly 8g of fibre and little carbohydrate, this is a breakfast unlikely to cause a sharp rise in blood sugar.

Squeeze the spinach. Spinach holds a lot of water. Pressing it out after wilting stops the muffins turning soggy.

Contains soya. Chickpea flour is naturally gluten-free, but check the baking powder label. For other make-ahead breakfasts, try the spinach, feta and red pepper egg muffins or the besan chilla chickpea flour pancakes.