Spinach Ricotta Bites
Lucky me that I have a cousin with two growing boys who loves to cook and feed her kids healthy foods. She makes a version of this recipe in a pie dish and has been trying to convince me that her boys absolutely devour it whenever she makes it for them. Although I sometimes find statements like that hard to believe when we’re talking about green foods and highly independent little boys, I’m always game for recipes that defy the odds.
I decided to take my cousin’s original recipe, make a few tweaks to the ingredients and then cook them in mini muffin cups instead of a pie dish, because it cooks faster (and after all, what kid doesn’t like something mini?). As for my my initial doubts about the kid appeal of this recipe, after watching Kenya repeatedly walk by the cooling rack to grab three of them within 15 minutes and Chloe scarfing down four at dinner, I realized these could be one of the all time greatest kid and parent friendly recipes I’ve ever made. Delicious, healthy and SO easy to make. My cousin gets total props for this kiddy culinary hit!
Spinach Ricotta Bites (Makes 20 Bites)
2 Tbsp Butter
1 Small Yellow Onion, chopped
1 Garlic Clove, minced
2 Large Eggs, Beaten
1 Cup Ricotta Cheese (low or full fat ricotta will work)
1/2 Cup Mozzarella Cheese, shredded
1/2 Cup Parmesan Cheese, Grated
1 10 Oz Pkg Frozen Chopped Spinach, defrosted and drained WELL (I use my hands to squeeze as much liquid out of the spinach as possible)
1/4 Tsp Salt
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2. Melt the butter in a sauté pan over medium heat and cook the onions for 4 minutes until tender.
3. Add the garlic and cook an additional minute then set aside to cool.
4. Whisk eggs in a bowl and stir in ricotta, mozzarella and parmesan cheeses.
5. Once combined, stir in spinach, salt and cooled onion and garlic mixture.
6. Pour the mixture into lightly greased mini muffin cups.
7. Bake for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is set and golden on top.
8. Serve.
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We don’t eat grains so I am always excited to see a “muffin” recipe without flour. I can not wait to try these!
These look so yummy. Hope my picky non-green eater will eat these up! Will these freeze well?
Ooh, these look great! How long do you think the baking time will be if using regular-sized muffin tins?
Bake them for 25-28 minutes
they are so good!
I have a bunch of fresh baby spinach, do u recommend cooking this down and using it or just opt for frozen version???
You may use fresh or frozen. I prefer frozen because it cuts the cooking time in half and is already chopped and prepared. But either way would be fine.
Same here. I only have the regular-sized muffin tins
This is basically the recipe for low-carb quiche that those of us who have been on Atkins for years will recognize
When I make this, I typically add in some turkey bacon as well. I personally wouldn’t waste my fresh baby spinach on this recipe, I’d use frozen and use the spinach for a salad instead. I also put this in regular-sized muffin tins and it works great, except of course you will lose a little of the “kid friendly” factor because they will be bigger.
Similar to the South Beach one as well. The fav version at my house has diced red and green bell pepper, onion, spinach with a little Cheddar and Parmesan in it. Sometime we add a little turkey sausage or bacon as well.
Looks great, think they’d freeze well?
With this recipe, it is hard to tell because it has Ricotta in them. I haven’t frozen these but if you let me know how they turn out!
My 15 month old loves the Spinach Gnooch-Wee, those froze well for us and also include Ricotta, hopefully this will be the same. I can’t wait to try this when I get home tonight!
The ricotta will freeze just fine…it’s a staple in Italian households
I always make extra veggie lasagna, stuffed shells and baked eggplant to pop in the freezer and never have a problem.
They freese beautifully….my son loves them and the babysitter always has them in the fridge for a snack or with lunch.
Looks so yummy, reminds me a bit of my daughter’s favorite “chicken nuggets” that are actually spinach nuggets from Costco. I just need to figure out a recipe for spinach nuggets now!
Thanks Catherine for all the GREAT recipes and inspiration in the kitchen!
I made these tonight and they were fab! My 14 month old mowed down 4 of them and my uber picky 6 yr old devoured at least 5!!!
Bravo Weelicious! We will definitely be trying way more over your recipes.
Made these tonight. They were good!
If I were to make these for a potluck, how long will they be good after taking them out of the oven?
They will be good all night, just let them cool to room temp and refidgerate and when you are ready just pop them into the oven to heat a little through.
A great recipe by you. I will try it next week. It looks really good in the picture. Thanks for these wonderful recipes.
I love the recipe service! A new thing to try every day. I made these for the kids. Didn’t work (even for my little foodie) because the kids could see the spinach. Next time I will blend the mix so that it’s uniformly green. Green eggs and ham! Will look for the spinach gnooch-wee recipe and give it a try. In the meantime, leftovers are great for mommy’s breakfast!
Made these tonight but didn’t have ricotta so I substituted Cottage Cheese. They were so good.
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Made these yesterday – really enjoyed them – and so did my 10 month old. I might cut down the spinach to 3/4 a box or so…personal taste though!
Thanks!
Just made these – my 2 year old, who hates anything green, gobbled it up. This is a keeper!! Thanks! I tasted it and it’s definitely a delicious little mini-quiche. Wish I’d had a mini-muffin tin but only had a big one.
Awesome!! I love a successful recipe!
I am severely allergic to egg but want to make this recipe for the kids. What can I use as a substitute?
For an egg binder, you can combine 1 tbsp ground flax seed with 3 tbsp of water and pour that in. It will taste a little nutty because of the flax seed but you really need it to bind everything together.
My picky 14 month old ate two and wanted more…
These sound great! My son will eat spinach so they might just work. I’m glad Andrea tried using cottage cheese because I was wondering if it would work.
I’m thinking about putting these together one evening, then baking them for supper the next night. Would you recommend freezing them overnight, or would refrigerating them work? Or would it work better to go on and bake them, and then reheat them the next night?
Thanks; love the blog!
I have not frozen this recipe and I am not sure how it will be because there is ricotta and eggs in them so I would suggest that you bake them and refrigerate them over night and reheat
My 11 month old and 3.5 year old LOVED these! As did mommy:)
These were delicious. Thanks!
Just made these tonight for my daughter who is 2 1/2 and she gobbled every last bite of them up!!! what great recipes. Thanks from Canada!!
My daughter has not had egg whites yet. How many egg yolks would you need instead of two whole eggs?
Love your recipes!
Thanks for another great recipe! I made these for my toddler and me and we loved them.
In case you’re interested, I blogged about it here: http://somaybemomwasright.blogspot.com/2010/08/spinach-ricotta-bites.html
Thank You!!!
I made these tonight, and my 15month old -picky eater- ate three of them. My husband said ‘Eeeewwwww’, when he first came home from work. After trying one he changed his mind and ate four of them and said these would make a great appetizer! I think he’s right. They are delicious!!
Made these tonight & my 19-month-old loved them! He’s stopped eating vegetables until tonight, so thank you! We’ll definitely make these again. (The 9 yo liked them, too. The 6 yo … well, she said they’re okay.)
WOW, these are good! I know what I’m making next time I need hors d’oeuvres. And my daughter enjoyed them, too.
You’ve done it again, Catherine. Although I fibbed and redirected my son to the cheese part of the recipe, I actually used close to 16 ounces of spinach and he gobbled them up like a madman. This from a boy who avoids green vegetables like the plague (and most other color vegetables, too)! Thank you so much!
Is there any harm in blending/pureeing the spinach before adding to the cheese mixture? If my munchkin sees green flecks, he’s going to fold!
– there really needs to be an eye-roll icon 
It might be too watery if you puree and it will change the consistency and maybe not even bake through well. Have you tried chopping it up?
Plus if you pureed it the whole muffin would be green rather than just leaves here and there.
I made these today, subbing fresh sauteed curly kale from my CSA share…and both of the kids liked them!! My 3 yr old still required ketchup (but that didn’t surprise me), my 8 yr old inhaled 2 before swimming lessons and asked that they be in his camp lunch tomorrow!!! Thanks weelicious!!
I made these today and my son is gobbling them up. Out of laziness, I made some changes- I used 1.5 pkgs of spinach because I had leftovers. I didn’t use onion, garlic or butter, I just threw some garlic powder on it. Then we were out of mozerella so I used a “mexican blend”. I baked it in a regular size muffin tin. They are good and now that I know they work, I’m going to make a large batch for the freezer.
My Italian family went NUTS over these. You have to rousing approval of some of the most stubborn Italian eaters on the planet. Ricotta+spinach+healthy = EPIC WIN!! Thank you
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[...] Weelicious’s Spinach Ricotta Bites (The perfect way to get your kiddo to eat his/her veggies and a great snack to take on the run.) [...]
If I don’t have mozzarella, can I use cheddar insted?
Yes, but it will change the flavor of the bites. But, you can still give it a try
I just made them with cheddar. They were delish!!
I made this today for lunch for ME! I cooked them on a cookie sheet and made ’rounds’. So beautiful! I topped them on a green salad with veggies on the side. It was awesome!
These. Are. Awesome! These are even better than those frozen mini quiche appetizers! I put some chunks of ham in my food processor and pulsed until it was shredded and fluffy. I figured it would add some extra protein. Delicious! My 9-month old couldn’t stop saying “mmmmm.”
My only problem was that they stuck a bit in the muffin tins. I greased them well with olive oil. Am I doing something wrong?
Hm, you shouldn’t have a problem if you are greasing the tins,what kind of tins are you using? are they nonstick?
I had a problem with mine sticking also, and my pans were nonstick and greased. I just cooked them a little longer and they were fine.
these were a huge hit with my 2 yr old! thanks!!
I made these any my daughter liked them– had two at dinner! They came out a little bland because I went light on the salt, but they are very yummy.
I added sliced mushrooms and sauteed them with the garlic and onion in the beginning. They were very good, thanks for sharing! My husband looked at them a little strange, but had at least 6 when I gave him a bit of marinara to dip them in. Our 3yo ate one without too much fuss. I was a bit surprised. I have a few in the freezer for later.
I added chopped mushrooms to the second batch, phenomenal. made the mistake of baking them at work, and ended up passing most them out to customers!
Unbelievably good! Added kale too, they were mostly green but my daughter ate two anyway with dinner. Definitely a keeper!
what would i have to do differently if i used fresh baby spinach?
Saute the spinach and then squeeze all it’s water out
then follow the recipe!
How long will these keep in the refrigerator? I’m making them tomorrow and am wondering how many days of daycare snacks I’ll have before they get yucky.
You can also freeze these. They are good in the fridge for about 2-3 days since there is a raw egg in them
My husband loved them and my 3 year old ate it but only because he had to, 11 month old poo poo’d it.
Lifesaver with my 11 month old, who is going through a picky phase! This recipe (without the onion and a little less parm) got the “happy hands” wave of approval. She could feed them to herself or eat off of a fork—having these options also made her happy. Thank you!
LOVE LOVE LOVE this recipe! The kids love it and I love it for a nice quick lunch – especially the leftovers!
Well, I had high hopes after reading all the comments, but unfortunately my 19 month old son was not impressed. He loves mini muffins, but he won’t have anything to do with these, even though he likes ricotta and eats other things seasoned with onion and garlic. The good news is that my husband and I find them delicious and are quickly eating up the whole batch! I’ll try again with my son in a few more months and with any luck he’ll be more receptive then.
I made these a while ago and my son (14 months at the time) wouldn’t eat them. In the spirit of making him try things more than once, I froze the rest. Two days ago (now 15 months) I was searching for something to give him instead of our overly spicy meal (that was too spicy for me), I pulled them out, nuked them till they were warm and he loved it! So glad that I didn’t give up and just eat them myself.
These are fantastic!!! I used a little broccoli as well as spinach and they turned out great.
Would adding chopped turkey bacon to make these more of a breakfast treat work or would it change the finished product too much? I’m looking for a breakfast-y version of an egg-based “muffin.”
I don’t think much would change if you added 1/2 a cup of chopped turkey bacon
it would be so good1
for an egg allergy, what could we sub for eggs? flax?
thanks!!
hmm for this recipe, sound a little tricky. The egg is the main binder so not sure how it would hold if you used the flax/water sub. Do you have any other egg substitute in mind?
Do you think cottage cheese could be substituted for the ricotta, we have a ricotta allergy?
I haven’t tested it with cottage cheese, but I don’t see why it wouldn’t work. Let me know how they turn out!
How would you reheat after being in the freezer?
Just made these for my 10 month old and she really likes them! Thank you. I omitted the extra salt.
I have some fresh spinach I need to use up – any idea how much to use in place of the frozen?
thank you!
I would use 1 cup of cooked spinach that is packed and drained
OMGosh Delicious! Hope there is still some left when the baby wakes up hahahah
Can you freeze and reheat these?
I make these in double batches, freeze and reheat a few at a time. To defrost I usually just put them in the oven for a few minutes while I’m reheating it for another purpose.
And Frank, you should try them again – these turn out fine for me, and even my very picky 15 month old twins will eat them!
If you only have regular sized muffin tins, what would the cook temp and time be?
I just made regular sized ones and it was about 35 minutes
Sorry, but this is a horrible recipe, and certainly a far cry from anything healthy!To begin with, the recipe does not “gel” in the mini-muffin tins, even after cooking an extra 1/2 hour!Anyone who actually followed this recipe, would know this. This recipe has to go back to the drawing board for some more thought even though I think it may have potential, but perhaps with a little flour?
Gosh, so not true for me and many other who have definitely tried the recipe! I followed the recipe to the letter as I do with all Weelicious recipes (I depend on them being accurate) and the batch came out perfectly. I made a batch again tonight, this time using zucchini instead of spinach and they came out perfectly, like little quiches.
I’ve made these at least a half dozen times over the last 6 months and never had an issue – give them another try Frank, they are WORTH it!
These came out perfect for me with one try. A friend of mine who doesn’t even cook wanted to try out this recipe and she was successful as well. Did you try to cook them in a regular sized muffin tin perhaps? That would require a longer cooking time.
I didn’t even measure the Ricotta, Mozzarella or Parmesan Cheeses & this recipe worked great! Also, I only used half a box of frozen spinach (as we don’t work in oz here in Australia) & all turned out great.
Frank,
I’ve made these several times and they’ve always turned out really well. I wonder what you are doing differently. Sorry you had a bad result but I agree Jaime.
Laura
wow! another fantastic recipe. I wonder if anybody has tried to change it up with a little artichoke, red pepper flakes or possibly mushroom?
My daughter didnt like these but I love them! Anyone know what the cook time or temperature difference would be if I wanted to make it in a large casserole dish instead of muffin tin? thanks
I made these this morning and what a huge success! My in-laws are visiting and they ate them all up. So easy to make. Great recipe.
Thanks for this recipe – easy & super YUM!!!!!!
Easy recipe and super yummy!! Thanks for sharing.
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these little. Uggets are the bomb. My toddler students loved them and so do the teachers. We enjoyed the spinach delights all week long. Love the mom who prep the snack for our class at Montessori.
We are not onion fans at my house. If I left the onions out, do you think I would still need to cook the garlic in melted butter before mixing everything together?
Yes, lightly saute the garlic just to get it soft and aromatic! Raw garlic will be very potent. You can reduce the butter to 1 tsp!
Thank you! Made a double batch for a party. Used olive oil instead of butter and added some black pepper and basil. Had to keep my family (and myself) from eating everything before the party. They were much appreciated by some low-carbers and a gluten-intolerant guest. Recipe was easy enough to rattle off to anyone (everyone) who asked.