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!
PrintQuiche 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.
Good Morning! We are doing pre prepped meal kits for Mother’s Day and have always loved this recipe! We are using 10″ pie crusts. Should we just add another 2 eggs or up the eggs and the cream? Thoughts?
Hi Nikki, you can try adding 2 more eggs and an extra 1/4 cup of milk or cream. Feel free to add an extra pinch of salt and/or pepper or another 1-2 Tablespoons of cheese or add-ins, too.
I tried this today. Yummy. I used a little bacon,broccoli and cauliflower and a little brie cheese. Very good.
Could almond or oat milk work as a substitute? Combined with maybe some soy creamer? Looking for a nondairy alternative.
Lower fat or thinner milks or nondairy milks will make the quiche a bit more liquid-y, but you can try to extend the bake time to make up for it. I haven’t tested this recipe with a mix of soy creamer, but let me know how it turns out.
Four eggs for each cup of milk is a perfect ratio, thanks for that. I made this using a potato crust (grated potatoes, egg, flour, oil) and it turned out great.
Wow!! I mean Wow!! Being quarantined and having food that was going to go bad, I made four quiche. I love quiche And liked my recipe but yours is so much better. I made them all different. Quiche Lorraine, spinach and mushroom. Feta, spinach and prosciutto. Gruyere and country ham I added in a few spices here and there. White pepper. Onion nutmeg celery salt parsley. All four were so incredibly good. Thank you so much!!
We had ham for Easter and so we made a quiche with the leftovers. We included ham, chives, peppers. This was so delicious and simple. Thank you.
Could I make this without a crust? Like a frittata?
You can, or see my recipe for Crustless Quiche
I have made many quiches, and they all turn out good, but this one is the BEST! The egg, milk, and filling ratios are spot on and are what make this quiche so good. I’ve made this quiche three times in the last 2 months. It is the only quiche recipe I will ever use from now on. Thank you..
Hi Sally! Have you ever made an all egg white quiche? Any experience with that? My mom loves the quiches that I’ve made using your recipes during the quarantine, but has an egg yolk allergy. I know. So random! Any advice? Thanks!
I have, yes! Use 8 large egg whites instead of 4 whole large eggs.
I made this for Easter… it was soooo good! I had a hard time with the pie crust, it kept coming apart when I was rolling it, so I smashed it into a pie dish and it actually turned out delicious, but not so pretty. I followed the instructions and set the timer at 45 minutes and when I checked it the center didn’t jiggle so I took it out. We ate it about 40 minutes after coming out of the oven and my friend said it was so wonderful and creamy, just what I was hoping for! I used 1/2 c whole milk and 1/2 c cream… perfection!
Banana Bread is unbelievably amazing! Dense, moist with a crusty top. This recipe turned out beautifully. A few changes to the ingredients.
I followed the recipe, including the walnuts, but I used Red Mill Rice Flour, sour cream, and added a 1t of baking powder. I do not have a loaf pan so I used an 8 in spring form pan. Baking time was 1 hr 15 min on 350 degrees.
This was absolutely, hands down, the best recipe for quiche. Light and fluffy custard!
2/3 c leek, white and green parts, halved and sliced, sauteed til wilted.
3/4 c ham, cubed
Gruyere cheese, 1/2 cup. Use most in mixing ingredients and some to sprinkle on top. This will give the top a golden brown
1 1/2 strips of bacon, chopped
My 17 year old son found this recipe today and made it for our supper tonight. His ad ins were spinach and bacon. He used sharp, old cheddar cheese. It was fantastic! The cream gave it a lovely richness. I’m sure we will come back to it again.
Thanks for this Sally! I’ve moved to Australia and for some reason quiche isn’t on the menu; you either can’t find it or it’s really pricey! So I’ll have to make it myself. Red bell peppers and quiche go insanely well together, so definitely try a Mediterranean flavour (peppers courgette squash feta cherry toms)some time! Broccoli goes great too, balsamic onions, mushrooms… lots of fun to be had!
That’s funny, I’m Australian, live in Sydney and I never have a problem finding quiche.
Second time I’ve made this one – delicious! Thanks
Hi Sally, I have made quiche in the past and can’t find my recipe. Yours sounds close to what I’ve used and well tested.
I hope it’s for a 9 inch pie? I’ve read through the recipe but I don’t see if it’s a 9 or a 10 inch pie. Thanks!
Yes, 9 inch! Hope you love it as much as we do.
i did bacon and sauteed onions cheddar motz. best quiche i ever made thank you!
Such great information. I make them often but have yo look up a recipe each time. I’ve bookmarked this for future reference. Sometimes I make a crust with shredded hashbrowns and carmelized onions, it delicious if you havent tried it.
Hi “sally” this recipe looks wonderful but I would like to use my premade walnut crust, ” the new nut crusts pie crust by nabisco” they have walnut and pecan, most recipes seem to be savory for these. Do you have any idea if it makes any difference in baking time (minus the blind baking time, which I don’t need) or temperature to bake this in a quiche lorraine?
Thanks…I was going to just mix add to pre made nut crust and use same time for exactly the same filling recipe.?
I haven’t tried this particular crust, Stacy. The oven temperature and time should stay the same but let me know if you try it.
Hi Sally,
Your goat cheese, spinach and sun-dried tomato quick sounds amazing!
I’d like to make quick for a bridal shower and I have a round 13″ quiche pan. I’m wondering if you could tell me how to adjust the recipe for the 13″ pan! Thanks.
Hi Gail, I’ve never made this in a 13 inch pan – that’s a big quiche! You can try to roll out the full recipe of pie crust into one very large crust (instead of just using half of the recipe) and doubling the filling but I have not ever tested it. Let me know if you try!
Hi Sally
I am going to make 8 quiches for an upcoming baby shower. When you say 2 cups add ins, does that mean for example if I were going to make spinach and caramelized onions and cheese; I would do 1 cup of cheese of choice, and 1 cup of cooked and patted dry spinach and 1 cups of onions? If it is a quiche with meat it would be 1 cup of the meat, and 1 cup of vegetable and 1 cup of cheese. Do I have that correct?
Hi Sandra, Yes that is correct! 1 cup and cheese and then 2 cups total of meat and veggies. Enjoy 🙂
This quiche is rich and full of flavor. I even like it without the crust for a low-carb, gluten free alternative.
We have not had Quiche is a very long time. It always turned out dense and the crust was too thick and tasteless.
This quiche (and crust), was delicious.
Your step-by-step and tips were spot on!!!!!!!!!!!!
First quiche I’ve ever made, first pie crust ever made. SO GOOD. Thank you Sally for always posting the best recipes. Perfect ratios! Had odds and ends to use up and this was so perfect. Surprise company came for supper and they enjoyed it too! I will definitely make again. Especially now that I’m not scared of pie dough!
I’m trying this out. I have a Cheddar, spinach, ham and mushroom quiche in the oven right now. Yum!
Hi Sally, I am really bad at making pie crusts. Are there any pre-made pie crusts that you can recommend that I can use?
Hi Carol, I don’t have a specific brand of store bought crust that I can recommend since I always make my own. If you are up for trying, I recommend reading through my post on Homemade Flaky Pie Crust and watching the video in that post. I hope it gives you the confidence to try!
Hi Sally, My husband has stage 4 bladder cancer and he hasn’t been able to eat very much. My daughter sent me this recipe and I made it today adding bacon, sharp cheese, onion and Broccoli. To my surprise, my husband ate a whole slice and wants it for breakfast tomorrow.
Thank you so much, you are my answered prayer.
I’m so sorry to read this, Linda. But I’m glad that he was able to enjoy this recipe.
Great recipe! Perfect texture. My family is in love with my quiche. Thank you!!
I have a store bought crust that I want to use up for this recipe. Do I need to prebake it?
Yes, I still recommend it.
Hi Sally !!! Believe it or not, I’ve never made a quiche Ever !!! Always loved them though. So, I’m going to attempt to make one. I would like to make it with mushrooms, Swiss cheese and spinach kind of like my favorite omelet could you give me some basic amounts of each ingredient for a single pie crust. Thank you so very much
Hi Leah, 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.)
Thank you for the recipe!
I simplified a bit with the dough – didn’t use ‘ice cubey water’, replaced 100g of missing flour (woops) with oatmeal and didn’t refridgerate, baking right away for 25 minutes straight, it turned out fantastic.
I edited the filling too with half a teaspoon of baking powder for light fluff, worked splendid.
I’ve been making quiche Lorraine since the early 80s, but this combination was the best I’ve ever made! I used 1/2 cup of grated Gruyere cheese, bacon, and a cup of half & half. Lucky for me, I had a pie crust (Sally’s of course) in the freezer and I thawed that in the refrigerator overnight. Another winner! Thanks, Sally!