This is a perfect base quiche recipe and it’s all baked in a super flaky homemade pie crust. Use a combination of milk and heavy cream for the richest, creamiest filling and add your favorites such as bacon, feta cheese, ham, white cheddar cheese, crab meat, or spinach. You can also try my mini quiche recipe in a mini muffin pan, too!
Often over-looked and underrated, quiche is a cornerstone brunch recipe. But don’t limit this dish to brunch! Quiche is fantastic for lunch, dinner, Easter supper, baby showers, bridal showers, potlucks, tea parties, and so much more. It’s my go-to food when I need a quick recipe that’s delicious, crowd-pleasing, and adaptable to what I have in the refrigerator.
This easy quiche recipe is simple, versatile, and consistently good.
What is Quiche?
Quiche is a savory egg custard baked in a flaky pie crust shell. Though you can certainly make a crustless quiche, too! The base of quiche filling are milk, cream, and eggs. The add-ins vary and can include meats, seafood, cheese, spices, and vegetables. One of the more popular quiche recipes is Quiche Lorraine, which combines bacon and cheese. Today I’m showing you how to make the perfect quiche with any add-ins you choose!
Video Tutorial: How to Make Homemade Quiche
The Texture of a Perfect Quiche
Quiche is egg pie. But “egg pie” doesn’t sound particularly appealing, does it? Let’s talk about the texture of a perfect quiche, the kind I’m teaching you how to make. Perfect quiche is creamy and soft with textural contrast from ham, crispy bacon, or sautéed vegetables. Each forkful is undeniably rich, but has a light and delicate mouthfeel. Think of the main ingredient being milk/cream, not eggs.
Quiche is not a frittata with crust. Frittata recipes (and their mini counterparts—breakfast egg muffins) use more eggs and less milk, so they are sturdy and solid, while quiche is moist and melts in your mouth.
Overview: How to Make Quiche
So now that we properly defined quiche and its texture, let’s dive into a perfect quiche recipe. I love quiche, so I’m REALLY excited about this!
- Blind Bake Your Pie Crust – I teach you in my how to blind bake pie crust tutorial, but scroll further down for a quick review.
- Prepare Add-Ins – This includes cooking meats and vegetables, shredding cheese, etc.
- Combine Eggs & Milk/Cream – Beat together, then whisk in the add-ins.
- Bake – Pour filling into crust and bake until just about set, at least 45 minutes.
Let it cool a bit, then slice and serve. To freeze, cool baked quiche completely, then cover tightly with a couple sheets of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months.
Quiche Recipe Ingredients
This quiche recipe requires:
- Pie Crust – Don’t skimp on flavor and texture—make homemade pie crust. My favorite pie crust recipe is straightforward and you can make it ahead of time and freeze. One of my best baking tips is to always have pie dough in the freezer!
- Heavy Cream and Milk – For the best tasting quiche, use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream. (Or simply use half-and-half.) Using just heavy cream produces an overly thick filling. Whole milk is great, but a combo of heavy cream and milk is better.
- Eggs – Use 4 eggs per 1 cup of milk. Some quiche recipes throw in an extra egg yolk or two, but I don’t find it necessary with the ratio of ingredients in my recipe.
- Salt and Pepper – I don’t add salt to the filling if I’m using a salty add-in, such as cheese or ham. However, if you are making a plain quiche I recommend both.
Add-Ins
Most quiche add-ins should be pre-cooked and can still be warm when mixing into the egg filling. I recommend patting them dry before using because excess moisture will create a soupy quiche. Spinach, kale, bell pepper, and tomatoes can be fresh, but you can definitely sauté them first if desired. Some of my favorite quiche add-ins:
- goat cheese
- cooked cubed ham
- bacon
- caramelized onions
- sautéed mushrooms
- sautéed chopped asparagus
- chopped fresh parsley
Stick to 1/2 – 1 cup cheese and up to 2 cups vegetables and/or meat add-ins. (Fresh spinach packs down, so you can go heavy on it.)
Partially Blind Bake the Pie Crust
Pie recipes call for a raw pie crust, a fully baked pie crust, or a partially baked pie crust. For example, apple pie bakes the filling and crust at the same time. Coconut cream pie has a no-bake filling, so it requires a fully baked pie crust shell. Quiche, on the other hand, can bake in a raw pie crust but it will likely taste soggy. So let’s partially pre-bake it, also known as a blind bake pie crust.
- Make pie dough ahead of time, then refrigerate or freeze until you’re ready to make the pie. Pie crust must chill for at least 2 hours before rolling out.
- Roll it out, then fit into your 9-inch pie dish. Crimp or flute the edges.
- Chill the shaped pie crust for at least 30 minutes. This prevents shrinking. Remember that pie dough must be cold.
- Fill with pie weights. As the pie dough bakes, its fat will melt. The melting fat causes the pie crust to shrink down the sides of the pie dish. To prevent the pie dough from completely losing its shape, weigh it down with pie weights. Carefully line the pie dough with parchment paper first, then pour in pie weights or even dry beans. (Note: 2 packs of these pie weights is needed!)
- Bake until the edges are lightly brown, about 15 minutes.
- Remove pie weights, then prick the crust with a fork.
- Bake crust for about 8 more minutes.
- Fill with quiche filling, then bake the quiche.
Pie crust edges usually begin over-browning, so a pie crust shield is helpful. I always recommend a pie shield with any/every pie recipe.
Quiche Recipes:
Now that you’re fully prepped with all this quiche info, let’s bake! Here are 3 new quiche recipes for you and each are pictured above. Follow the quiche baking instructions in the recipe below. Leave out the added 1/4 teaspoon salt. Whisk these add-ins into the egg/cream mixture in step 4. After baking the quiche, top with a sprinkle of fresh parmesan cheese or any cheese used in the filling. Feel free to add a small handful of fresh herbs such as chopped parsley, dill, or basil. I served each of these with homemade hollandaise sauce and definitely didn’t regret it. 🙂
- Crab, Old Bay, & Gruyere: 1 and 1/2 cups fresh jumbo lump crabmeat (it’s sold as “fresh” but it is always pre-cooked), 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese, 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, dash of hot sauce.
- Bacon, White Cheddar, & Scallion: 6-8 cooked and crumbled bacon slices, 1 cup white cheddar cheese, 3 Tablespoons chopped scallion.
- Ham, Spinach, & Feta: 1 cup cooked and cubed ham, 3 cups chopped fresh spinach (sauté for a few minutes with a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat), 1 cup crumbled feta cheese.
I have these favorite quiche recipes too:
- Spinach Cheese Quiche – simple & classic!
- Goat Cheese Spinach Sun-Dried Tomato Quiche
- Mini Quiche
Which flavor combinations will you try? I’d love to hear some new ideas because I bake quiche on the regular. Love having one in the freezer. Have fun customizing your own!!
What to Serve with Quiche
Here’s what I serve with quiche. It’s usually 1 or more of the following:
- Fruit Salad, Bacon, or Sausage
- Cinnamon Sugar Donuts
- Nutella-Stuffed Muffins
- Cinnamon Rolls
- Blueberry Muffins or Banana Muffins
- Strawberry Bacon Salad
- New York-Style Crumb Cake
For even more inspiration, see 18+ of my favorite Easter brunch recipes—which includes this quiche, of course!
Print
Quiche Recipe
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour, 20 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This is a perfect base quiche recipe and it’s all baked in a super flaky homemade pie crust. Use a combination of milk and heavy cream for the richest, creamiest filling and add your favorites such as bacon, feta cheese, ham, white cheddar cheese, crab meat or spinach.
Ingredients
- 1 unbaked Flaky Pie Crust (what I used) or All Butter Pie Crust*
- 4 large eggs
- 1/2 cup whole milk*
- 1/2 cup heavy cream or heavy whipping cream*
- 1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper*
- 1 cup shredded or crumbled cheese such as feta, cheddar, goat cheese, or gruyere
- up to 2 cups add-ins (see recipe note)
- optional toppings for serving: extra cheese, chopped herbs, hollandaise sauce, & freshly ground pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare pie crust: I like to make sure my pie dough is prepared before I begin the quiche. Make pie dough the night before because it needs to chill in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours before rolling out and blind baking (next step).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough: On a floured work surface, roll out one of the disks of chilled dough (use the 2nd pie crust for another recipe). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is completely smooth. To make a lovely edge, I do not trim excess dough around the edges. Instead, fold the excess dough back over the edge and use your hands to mold the edge into a rim around the pie. Crimp the edges with a fork or use your fingers to flute the edges. Chill the pie crust in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes and up to 5 days. Cover the pie crust with plastic wrap if chilling for longer than 30 minutes.
- While the crust is chilling, preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Partially blind bake: Line the chilled pie crust with parchment paper. Fill with pie weights or dried beans. Make sure the weights are evenly distributed around the pie dish. Bake until the edges of the crust are starting to brown, about 15-16 minutes. Remove pie from the oven and carefully lift the parchment paper (with the weights) out of the pie. Prick holes all around the bottom crust with a fork. Return the pie crust to the oven. Bake until the bottom crust is just beginning to brown, about 7-8 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside. (Crust can still be warm when you pour in the filling. You can partially pre-bake the crust up to 3 days ahead of time. Cover cooled crust tightly and refrigerate until ready to fill.)
- Reduce oven temperature to 350°F (177°C).
- In a large bowl with a handheld or stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, beat the eggs, whole milk, heavy cream, salt, and pepper together on high speed until completely combined, about 1 minute. Whisk in add-ins and then pour into crust.
- Bake the quiche until the center is just about set, about 45-55 minutes. Don’t over-bake. Use a pie crust shield to prevent the pie crust edges from over-browning. Allow to cool for 15 minutes. Top with optional toppings before slicing and serving, if desired. Or you can cool the quiche completely before serving—it’s fantastic at room temperature!
- This quiche makes great leftovers! Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: The pie dough can be prepared ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. You can pre-bake the crust ahead of time too. See end of step 2. To freeze, cool baked quiche completely, then cover tightly with a couple sheets of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the refrigerator or on the counter, then bake at 350°F (177°C) for 20-25 minutes.
- Special Tools (affiliate links): 9-Inch Pie Dish | Pie Weights | Electric Mixer (Handheld or Stand) | Whisk | Pie Crust Shield
- Pie Crust: Both linked pie crust recipes make 2 crusts. You only need 1 crust for this pie, so freeze the 2nd half for another use.
- Mini Quiche: Here is my mini quiche recipe and instructions.
- Whole Milk & Heavy Cream: Use this combination for best taste. If desired, use 1 cup of half-and-half instead.
- Cheese: Some favorites include feta cheese, goat cheese, cheddar cheese, white cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, and gruyere.
- Add-Ins: Add up to 2 cups add-ins including vegetables and meat/seafood. Most quiche add-ins should be pre-cooked and can still be warm when mixing into the egg filling. Pat dry prior to mixing in. See blog post for more information.
- Added Salt: Reduce or leave out salt if your add-ins and cheese are particularly salty. For example, in the 3 recipes listed in the next note, I don’t even add salt!
- Quiche Recipes: Leave out added salt, then whisk in these ingredients in step 4. Crab, Old Bay, & Gruyere: 1 and 1/2 cups fresh jumbo lump crabmeat (it’s sold as “fresh” but it is always pre-cooked), 1 cup shredded gruyere cheese, 1/2 teaspoon Old Bay Seasoning, and dash of hot sauce. Bacon, White Cheddar, & Scallion: 6-8 cooked and crumbled bacon slices, 1 cup white cheddar cheese, and 3 Tablespoons chopped scallion. Ham, Spinach, & Feta: 1 cup cooked and cubed ham, 3 cups chopped fresh spinach (sauté for a few minutes with a drizzle of olive oil over medium heat), and 1 cup crumbled feta cheese.
Keywords: quiche, brunch
Could I use puff pastry for this? I’m assuming if I did I don’t pre Cook the pastry? Thank you!
Hi Kate, we haven’t tested it, but imagine that should work out okay. We would still recommend par-baking the pastry crust since the quiche filling is so wet—the crust needs a little head start on baking before the filling is added. Let us know what you decide to try.
Great recipe. I use a store bought crust. I made it with bacon, Swiss and Gruyère cheese and green onions. I love it.
★★★★★
Best quiche recipe. I make it crustless & it’s always delicious. The egg to dairy ratio is key. I add a dash of nutmeg & mustard powder. Thank you for the perfect recipe
★★★★★
Was inspired to try this because I needed to use up some cream. Turned out great! Used storebought crust, and my add-ins were bacon, leftover steamed broccoli, sauteed onion and cheddar cheese. Thanks for sharing!
★★★★★
Very good quiche. Used spinach, bacon, ham, and swiss cheese.
Will do this again!
★★★★★
I made mine with roasted broccoli and onions. [cut into tiny florettes] I would have added a minced bell pepper. but what’s worth commenting about, I added about a half teaspoon of sage, and oregan. and I am here to tell you the sage elevated it more than anything ever could. raving reviews from my husband!
★★★★★
Aloha from Hawaii. Love LOVE your recipes!
Question: I don’t have a pie pan. Can I use 2 store bought rolled pie crusts in a 13 x 9 pan?
Hi Derrilyn, we’ve never made this in that size pan. You can try to roll out the full recipe of pie crust (or 2 store bought pie crusts) into one very large crust and increasing the filling but we have not ever tested it to know exactly how it would bake up. Your best bet may be to purchase some disposable pie pans. Let us know if you try!
This recipe is great; I’ve made it on a few occasions. I like to add paprika, a tiny bit of cayenne and a touch of garlic powder to give it some bite. Instructions are very clear. Thanks!
★★★★★
How many cups of milk would I need for a deep dish quiche?
Hi Nancy! You may need extra filling – stick to the ratios of 4 eggs per 1 cup of milk.
I’ve made quiche for years with pretty good success, but I have too-long been intimidated by making pie crust. You made it seem possible so I tried. Success! and it was sooo much better than the store-bought pre-made crust. I will never go back. You gave excellent instructions that gave me confidence. I’ve now made a double crust pie (fresh cherry) following your instructions to the T. You’re my hero! You’ve made me look good. Thank you so much.
So glad you had success with our pie crust recipe, Phyllis!
When do you add the cheese? Is the cheese considered an “add in”?
Hi Sue, correct–you’ll add it with the other add-ins at the end of Step 6.
Hi, the recipe calls to prick holes in the crust for the second step of blind baking but the video shows the filling going into a crust that wasn’t pricked. I’m hoping my filling doesn’t seep through from the small holes pricked. Which is the best method?
Hi Cindy, that’s one oversight from the video. Follow the written instructions, and prick the holes as directed.
Very easy because I made it without the crust. : ) Used 1/2 & 1/2, grape tomatoes & zucchini. Another great recipe. Thank you Sally & “team.”
★★★★★
This recipe is amazing
★★★★★
Great recipe. Would using a square pan for a potluck change the baking times?
★★★★★
Hi Ashley, we haven’t tested it in a square pan to know how well the crust would bake. If it’s for a potluck, our mini quiche recipe might be perfect! Let us know what you try!
I’ve made this now three times for my family and neighbors and everyone is so happy with this recipe. I’ve been cooking a long time but intimidated by quiche. This makes it straightforward and gives great tips. My husband loves this with ham, cheese, and green onions.
★★★★★
Made a caramelised onion, squash and broccoli. Also a crustless one with kielbasa.
★★★★★
Great recipe. I did the pie crust too. The first quiche was Italian sausage and mushrooms, leftover grilled veggie salad and Swiss/Gruyère cheese mix. In the oven now is ham broccoli, and the Swiss/Gruyère cheese.
★★★★★
Love this recipe. Very easy to follow
I’ve used this recipe 3 times now, filling it with with goodies from my farm share. The quiche in the oven now is broccoli, sauteed carrot greens, garlic, monterey jack cheese and a little speck. Last week’s was sauteed beet greens, garlic and mushrooms with smoked gouda… which is all to say the recipe works beautifully. I even use a store-bought pie shell and it’s wonderful. Highly recommended. Thanks for such a great, versatile recipe!
★★★★★
Do you have to pre bake a store bought pie crust?
Hi Sydney! If it is a raw crust then yes, we would follow these pre baking instructions.
The crust turned out really fantastic, flaky and buttery (butter/shortening). Will try adding grated cheddar and Italian seasoning in the crust next time. Thank you very much !
★★★★★
I was given a half gallon of heavy cream and so want to freeze a few quiches. Just to make sure I’m understanding your directions, I full bake the quiche for the freezer and then bake for another 20-25 minutes after thawing?
Hi Danette, that’s correct!
This is my go-to. AWESOME recipe.
★★★★★
I’m excited to try this, I love your recipes! Do you think these amounts would work for a 10inch tart pan, or would I need to make adjustments? Thanks!
Hi Kelly, tart pans typically are much shallower and would require some tweaking of the filling amounts. Let us know if you try it!