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.
Just made this, followed to a T and added sausage and green beans. It is perfection!
Just made this amazing quiche with a mix of veggies and cheese. Blind baking of crust made a big difference. Won’t look for any other quiche recipes ever again. So versatile and great texture and flavor.
My go-to quiche recipe. It’s so delicious and honestly easy! Can’t wait to try more of your suggested add-ins.
I’ve made this a couple of times, and it’s always done in 25 minutes. What am I doing wrong that it doesn’t need 45–55 minutes?
This recipe is absolutely lovely would definitely recommend this and is very easy and simple to make with these instructions
Thanks!
Hi I love your recipes! I was wondering if I should I use 15% or 35% cream? I get confused because 15% cream is called cooking cream on the package…
Thank you 🙂
Hi Elsie, You can use your 35% cream for the heavy cream OR use your 15% to replace BOTH the whole milk and the heavy cream.
Forgot to rate….5/5 obviously
I haven’t made quiche in years, since giving up dairy. I needed a good refresher and this was it! I used Whole Foods canned coconut milk and Violife mozzarella shreds, with sauteed mushrooms and leeks as add-ins. Topped with thyme we grew in our garden this summer. It’s in the oven now! fingers crossed…
Thanks Sal’ Absolutely fantastic recipe. I immediately unseated my Aunt as the quiche monarch in the family. This was a big hit for Turkey Day 2020 breakfast. A+
Thanks Sal’ Absolutely fantastic recipe. I immediately unseated my Aunt as the quiche monarch in the family. A+ recommendation
Wonderful recipe and instruction on pie crust
Thank you for teaching me how to make the perfect pie crust, it is so good and worth all the efforts
Loved this recipe! I was a little confused at the blind baking part only because on the 2nd instruction it mentioned following the directions through 9 and I didn’t see a step 9? I found that whole second step a bit confusing and wasn’t sure how exactly to follow it, maybe I’m missing something though? It would be super helpful to have the exact directions and times for that blind baking step in the recipe directions since I would love to save this recipe and make it again! Other than that though this recipe was perfect and I really did love the quiche!!
Delish!!! Made it with simple ingredients laying around in my fridge – ham cubes, bacon, onion, pepper, shrooms, Swiss and a little yellow cheddar. OMG! Perfection!!
This recipe is right on! I’ve made two quiches over the last month. One with monterey jack cheese, roasted poblano and red bell peppers, and green onions. And one with swiss cheese, green beans, asparagus, and green onions. So good! I used Sally’s pie crust recipe (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/baking-basics-homemade-buttery-flaky-pie-crust). I also used the pie crust recipe with the French silk pie recipe (https://sallysbakingaddiction.com/french-silk-pie/). Love having a pie crust that easily moves between a sweet treat and a savory dinner. Keep these recipes coming! 🙂
I just made this using premade pie crusts, but I did follow the directions for blind baking the pie crust, and what a difference it made! I almost always end up with soggy crusts, but not this time…thank you! I used five eggs (because I misread) and filled the crust with zucchini, yellow squash, shredded carrots, scallions, orange bell pepper, asparagus, spinach and arugula (basically, I cleaned out my produce bin), all of which I had sauteed first and drained off the moisture. I also lined the bottom of the crust with swiss cheese slices and then topped the quiche with a three cheddar blend. It was fantastic. Thank you so much for sharing your recipe!
I made this tonight with Trader Joe’s pie crust. My mix-ins were ham and green onions with shredded swiss. It was delicious! The blind bake made all the difference! The crust was perfectly cooked for the first time ever. I thought the egg/milk ratio was spot-on. I did cut the salt in half since ham is so salty. I might cut it even a smidge more next time. Thanks so much for the recipe! It will be my new go-to quiche recipe!
Hello! Thanks for your wonderful recipes. Please, tell me: does lard substitute 1:1 for shortening? I’d like to try it in the butter mix. Am also using 1:1 vodka:H2O. Thank you.
Hi Char, Yes it’s a 1:1 substitution using lard. Let us know how it turns out!
It was tasty – but I found that using your pie dough recipe (the one with vegetable shortening), and the egg mixture (with no mix-ins because my children are just cheese fans) that it wasn’t enough dough or filling. The crust didn’t border the edges, and the filling only came up about halfway. Would be helpful if there’s a not that if there are no add-ins to up the eggs/cream/milk. Thanks!
I keep coming back to this recipe every time I make a quiche. In case you’re interested, I found a dairy-free alternative that works perfectly. Coconut milk and almond milk didn’t give the same consistency as whole milk and cream – it ends up watery and doesn’t quite set. In a pinch, I tried non-dairy coffee creamer (the unflavored kind that comes in a green and white carton at Publix).
It. Was. Perfect. It wasn’t watery and it was delicious! My husband was super excited, too, because he’s the reason I made it without milk. 🙂 I’ve seen other alternatives but honestly this just happened to work and it was way easier than mixing soy and full fat coconut milk or something.
Hi there, can’t wait to make this for thanksgiving. When re-baking the entire pre-made quiche, do you typically use the pie shield?
Hi Kaitlyn, You shouldn’t need one if you are just re-heating the quiche but you can certainly use one if you notice the crust browning.
This is a wonderful guide, Sally. I live on the Texas Gulf Coast and we have been catching blue crabs off the dock, but we are pretty terrible fishermen and only get one or two at a time. It’s not enough for a full meal so, we like to cook them and freeze the meat to save for quiche. This recipe does not disappoint. Our current favorite combo is crab, feta, green onion and Old Bay. I’ve even experimented with using 2% milk blended with Greek yogurt instead of heavy cream (two things we usually have on hand). It’s simple to pull together but feels so fancy. Thank you, Thank you!
Dbl checking the 2 cups of vegetables are measured before sautéing?
Hi Susan, you’ll want to add 2 cups of an add-in, such as cooked vegetables. Measure 2 cups after cooking.
I’ve never tried quiche because it seemed so complicated, thank you, thank you, thank you! I have added your amazing dish to my breakfast menu!
Hi and thank you for this quick easy and delicious recipe! Made two for dinner and enjoyed both First was low sodium bacon cooked crisp and drained,choppped sauted onions and red pepper cooked spinach and Swiss cheese. Second was onions,baby Bella mushrooms,spinach and cheddar cheese. Prebaked two crusts I had popped into freezer for 20 mins. Everything turned out perfectly well set, golden crust and nothing burned. My partner and I ate half of each pie! Love having leftovers. You are a peach grateful to you.
I have a question about baking times.
I made this recipe twice – two pies each time.
I love the flavor (I added various ingredients to each – my favorite was a bacon, chicken, shallot, fine herbs with gruyere and mild cheddar – it was lovely).
My question is about the cooking times. I’ve tried the low end of the scale and the higher end. I’ve ended up with dry custard and with a vaguely runny custard.
What should the quiche look like when it comes out of the oven? i.e. How set is the center supposed to be?
I appreciate any feedback…thanks so much! Love the site!
Hi Tristan, Thank you for trying this recipe! Use your oven light to keep an eye on the quiche as it bakes. You want to remove it when the center is just about set. If the edges are baking faster than the center, I highly recommend using a pie crust shield to prevent the pie crust edges from over-browning while the center continues to bake. If you don’t have a pie shield a piece of aluminum foil with a hole cut in the center (or just strips of the foil around the outside) works well. I hope this helps!
The amounts in this quiche recipe are perfect. I buy premade crusts at my local co-op and the recipe with 1 cup of cheese and 1 cup of add-ins fits in the pan perfectly and it’s wonderful to eat!
I’m going to try recommend a “philly cheesesteak quiche” we did a Philly cheesesteak pizza recently and I thought it would translate well to this medium. Leftover steak (or thin sliced sandwich style) Sauteed onion, mushrooms, and green peppers. A splash of Worcestershire and provolone cheese. I suppose you could go original & do cheese wiz…but I prefer provolone.
I’ve made a many a quiche in my day but not one so quick and easy to make! I loved it!
I made your quiche recipe for my birthday last month. I was inspired to make one after seeing a certain made-for TV movie that was made in the 1980s where a character made one. I never had quiche before I made one and it turned out pretty darn good. I enjoyed every bite for it. Not bad for a first-timer, huh?
NOTE: I used Pillsbury Pie Crusts instead of following your pie crust recipe. Not because I didn’t trust you; not because I was rebelling against you; not because I thought I knew more than you did (it certainly wasn’t that), but because I didn’t have the money to buy all of the ingredients I needed for it and time was running short. I had the money for just about everything else, just not for that. Plus, I had some of the ingredients already. I wound up making two quiches intending to only make one, because I didn’t want the second pie crust to go to waste. I really only needed one. I figured that the second one could come in handy in case I screwed up the first time. I didn’t. Anyway, thanks and to show my appreciation, I printed up the recipe and who knows? I just might bake one again.
I love your recipe! I’m trying to reduce the amount of high cholesterol foods so can you suggest how I can make this with egg whites? Or perhaps some egg whites and maybe 1 whole egg? Thanks you!!
Hi Patricia! You can use 8 large egg whites instead of 4 whole large eggs.
I loved this recipe thank you! I actually had some left over pie dough from another recipe and I mixed up the quiche with just 1 egg, and 1/8 cup milk & cream. I didn’t have whole milk so substituted 1%. And it came out great! Just put some red pepper flakes and generously sprinkled cheddar for the fillings and it was really nice even plain. Bake time was a pain though because after about 15 min I just baked in small intervals and came back to check if because I had no idea about what was ideal lol. And I didn’t blind bake, and I think that was for the best.
Very filling though, I ate 3/4 of it and gave the rest to someone else! But so glad this recipe scaled down really well, even to one egg.