A perfectly healthy, satisfying, gluten free meal. Enjoy a generous slice of this flavorful cheese and sausage quiche for only 140 calories. Bonus: it’s all prepared in one pan!
Today’s recipe is the meaty sequel to my very favorite crustless veggie quiche recipe. I just laughed out loud typing “meaty sequel.” That sounds very awkward.
Let me rephrase. Today’s crustless recipe is protein packed and full of cheese, sausage, green pepper, garlic, a little spice, and everything nice. It’s just like my favorite quiche recipe, only lightened up and crustless. But what it lacks in the crust department, it makes up for in taste. There’s so much flavor!
The best part: you can eat a huge serving for only 140 calories.
I don’t usually post calorie counts for my recipes because I’m not a calculator and hello! It’s usually dessert! But when I prepare a healthful homemade meal, I get a little curious. When I calculated my crustless veggie quiche only having 110 calories per serving, I knew I could make an equally delicious crustless quiche with meat.
Crustless Quiche or Frittata?
This quiche is kind of like a frittata, but it’s a definitely a quiche. What the heck is the difference between a quiche and a frittata? Quiche is usually prepared with a custard-type filling (think: cream or milk) and poured into a crust, then baked in the oven. Quiches do not always have to have a crust. A frittata recipe, on the other hand, never has a crust and has little, if any, milk or cream in the filling. Quiche is much more delicate in texture while a frittata more resembles an omelet. Today’s recipe has that unmistakable cheesy, creamy filling that we all know and love about quiche.
This recipe is all prepared in one pan on the stove and then baked in the oven until cooked through.
It all starts with sausage. This recipe uses two 3-ounce sausage links. I use chicken sausage—I love Trader Joe’s chicken apple sausage links. Their smoked andouille chicken sausage is great too. The chicken apple variety has only 120 calories per link. Chop or crumble up the links and mix them with a little diced onion and garlic. Onion + garlic = so much flavor. Once the sausage is a little browned, add the green pepper. I add the green pepper at this point (rather in the beginning) so that it keeps some green color and isn’t so dull and “blah” looking in the cooked quiche. Clearly, I’m all about appearances when it comes to quiche.
Now let’s add the egg mixture. You need 3 large eggs, 3 egg whites, milk, and cheese in this crustless sausage quiche.
Before baking, I sprinkle grated parmesan on top of the quiche. As it bakes, the entire thing will smell like a giant, deep-dish supreme pizza (cheese, sausage, onion, pepper) and yes, it’s glorious.
Sacrificing zero flavor, this low cal gluten free meal rivals my beloved fruit and cereal breakfasts. And guess what? It’s winning.
I used this recipe calorie calculator and the total calories for the entire quiche = 855. 6 large servings = 142.5 OR 8 smaller servings = 106.8. In the pictures, I cut it into 8 slices. I usually cut it into 6 larger slices because a larger slice is more satisfying. All this math gives me a headache. Forks up!
More Breakfast Favorites
- 1-Rise Cinnamon Rolls
- Easy Breakfast Casserole
- Whole Wheat Pancakes
- Coffee Cake
- Berries & Cream French Toast Casserole
- Breakfast Egg Muffins
140 Calorie Cheesy Sausage Quiche
- Prep Time: 25 minutes
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour, 25 minutes
- Yield: serves 6-8
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: French
Description
A perfectly healthy, satisfying, gluten free meal. Enjoy a generous slice of this flavorful cheese and sausage quiche for only 140 calories. Bonus: it’s all prepared in one pan!
Ingredients
- 3 large eggs
- 3 large egg whites
- 3/4 cup milk*
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
- 2/3 cup shredded cheese*
- two 3-ounce cooked sausage links*
- 1/4 cup yellow onion, diced
- 1 large green bell pepper, diced
- 1 clove roasted garlic, chopped
- 2 Tablespoons grated parmesan cheese
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350°F (177°C) degrees.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs, egg whites, milk, salt, pepper, and shredded cheese together until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Heat a 10 inch oven-safe skillet* over medium-high heat. A skillet larger in size will yield a thinner quiche. Spray the skillet with nonstick spray or lightly grease with olive oil or butter. Add sausage, onion, and garlic. Stirring frequently, cook for 5 minutes or until the sausage is a little browned. Add the green pepper and cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Stir in the prepared egg mixture, then sprinkle with grated parmesan cheese.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until filling is set and no longer jiggles. Cool for 10 minutes on a wire rack before slicing and serving. This quiche makes great leftovers. Store tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Freezing Instructions: Baked quiche freezes well, up to 2 months. Thaw overnight and bake at 350°F (177°C) to warm up for 20 minutes, give or take.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): Glass Mixing Bowl | Whisk | Oven-Safe Skillet
- Milk: Recipe tested with both skim milk and unsweetened plain almond milk. Any milk will be OK.
- Cheese: I use mozzarella cheese. Use your favorite kind of cheese. Cheddar is great too. If you aren’t watching your calories too much, increase to about 3/4 – 1 full cup. My husband likes it with a little more cheese.
- Sausage: I use Trader Joe’s chicken apple sausage links, which are 120 calories each. I also love their smoked andouille chicken sausage. If using another kind, the calorie count in the quiche may change.
- No Oven-Proof Skillet? No problem. Prepare the recipe through step 3 in any frying pan or large pot. Then pour the mixture into a lightly greased 9-inch pie or cake pan. Bake as directed in step 4.
Keywords: cheese sausage quiche, healthy quiche recipe
I loved that you gave a Gluten Free recipe and with calories. Being Celiac doesn’t always make for good fun eating. Thanks!
Hi Sally! I have cookedcubed ham that I’d like to use here instead of the sausage.
Any ideas on how much ham I should use? And should I still be sauteing the ham? Thanks!
Hi Shuba, I would use about 6 ounces of the ham and would also cook it as you would with the sausage. Enjoy!
Can you use 6 whole eggs instead of the egg whites? I wasn’t sure if there was a reason for that other than calories/fat.
Hi Leanne, The whites keep this a bit lighter but you can use whole eggs if you wish. Enjoy!
Sally, you don’t say how to cut up sausage… slice? Chop up? Please specify. Looks delicious… thanks
★★★★★
Hi Geri, We usually chop or crumble up the links for this recipe. You can see a photo above with the chopped sausage in the pan with the green peppers. We hope you love the quiche!
I love this recipe! I’ve made it with so many different fillings. My favorite being chicken and cheese sausage with pat cheese and sundries tomatoes. It’s am amazingly easy make-ahead lunch that’s great all week.
Just made this but used crumbled breakfast sausage and poured the filling into a pie crust before baking. So good! Not too rich but full of flavor. This is my new go to quiche recipe! Thank you!
A definite winner in my house. I will put it on my do over and over again! Breakfast or dinner. Made with saute’d onion, chopped zucchini and broccoli pieces. Also used sharp cheddar and asiago cheese. Absolutely delicious!
Could this be doubled in a 9×13? Also could this be placed in the fridge overnight and baked in the am? Thanks!
Yep! You can double this recipe for the larger pan. Refrigerating overnight then baking it works! I do that a lot.
Do you think I could do these in muffin tins to make minis? If so, any tips? Thanks!!
Definitely! Make sure you spray the muffin cups with nonstick spray. I don’t suggest muffin liners. Unsure of the exact bake time. 20 minutes or so? Maybe a little less.
I’d love to make this for dinner and freeze the leftovers. I’m not very sure how to freeze it though. Do I remove it from the pan and store in a freezer safe container?
That’s how I freeze it, yes.
Just fyi: I used beyond sausage for a vegetarian version and it worked out beautifully!
★★★★★
I made this tonight and it’s was very good! Though we found it way too salty. I will decrease to 1/8-1/4 tsp. of salt next time. I didn’t have a 10 inch iron skillet, so I used your alternate directions with a pie pan. Worked perfectly! Thanks for the recipe!
I would agree. Too salty for my family. Will cut back the salt next time.
Sally – could we possibly use a regular crumble type sausage? I have some Jenni-o breakfast sausage in my freezer I think this would be great in! Maybe just use 6 oz of it? Or more?
Thanks!
You can use 6 oz of regular crumble type sausage, yes.
I made this for dinner tonight. It was very yummy! My children enjoyed it too. We definitely will be making this again and again. Thank you!
Is it possible to make with only egg whites? I have a slight intolerance to eggs, but whites seem okay with my stomach and I love quiche!
Absolutely.