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.
Can I just double this for two quiches at the same time?
Hi Carol, sure can. The pie crust recipes that we link yield two crusts. You can double the quiche filling, but you may want to do them separately if you’d like to use different add-ins.
I loved using this as a base recipe. I made a spinach, mushroom and swiss quiche using Just Egg (vegan egg) in place of the eggs. It was delicious.
I’d like to make 2 and freeze one. Any suggestions on how best to do this?
Hi Lynda, absolutely. To freeze, cool baked quiche completely, then cover tightly with a couple sheets of aluminum foil and freeze for up to 3 months. See recipe notes for more details.
Thank you very much! i followed it step-by-step and worked perfectly ✨:) the level of detail and the kind and fun tips are remarkable. I wish you have a tiktok account to follow you because is the only social media i use but well, thanks! ✨<3
We always make a kitchen sink quiche. Just toss in leftover meats and veggies and whatever cheese we have on hand. Tonight, goat cheese, parm, and cheddar, broccoli, bell pepper, mushrooms, onion bacon and chicken.
No matter what I add to this recipe it’s always yummy.
I used 1/2 cup plain unsweetened soy milk and 1/2 cup lactose free sour cream. I was going to use a dairy free creamer, but when I tasted it I found it to be quite sweet. Add ins were diced ham, sautéed mushrooms, and aged cheddar cheese. Used a gluten free crust. Everyone loved it ! Not soupy, set up well.
This is great! My son started raising chickens, so we have lots of eggs now. Love the simple instructions. Have made several different kinds now. I, however, do not use any crust. And the edges still come out a little crispy.
Thanks for sharing your recipe.
This quiche was delicious! I have leftovers- how do you recommend storing and re-heating? Thank you!
Hi Katie, this quiche makes great leftovers! Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. We enjoy reheating leftovers in the oven so that the crust doesn’t get too soft, but a microwave is just fine as well.
A toaster oven does a nice job heating individual slices, too 🙂
Hi Sally, I make this quiche almost weekly now. I love it! Here’s my struggle. I always blind bake to your instructions and the pie crust looks like it’s lightly browned before I add the filling but every time I end up with a soggy bottom. any idea what I could do to fix this? I love your pie crust, but I really struggle with it cracking when roll it out. could that be because I’m leaving the butter/crisco pieces too large?
Thank you so much for what you do! I would be lost without your patient detailed recipes.
Hi Melissa! I’m glad to help. First, the pie crust cracking is usually a sign that it’s thirsty– add 1-2 more Tbsp of ice water next time. I always, no matter what, use at least 1/2 cup of water. Your dough may benefit from 9 or 10 Tablespoons total. (1/2 cup + 1-2 Tbsp) The butter chunks could also be too large as well, so see if working the dough a bit more helps. For blind baking– bake the crust a little longer so it’s more of a golden brown. That could simply be what your dough needs to achieve the crisp you’re looking for. Hope all of this is helpful.
My Aunt Edie taught me to add 1 tsp apple cider vinegar to my crust to keep it pliable and not crumble, longer working time.
I made this tonight, with ham, bacon, leeks, bit of bell pepper, red pepper, and a bit of jalapeno pepper, spinach and four cheeses! It was great!
This was delicious! I do have to disagree with a block of frozen spinach being easier and less hassle and less messy than fresh. There is nothing messier than frozen wet spinach that you have to drain and squeeze the water out of! Whereas fresh spinach cooks in seconds! Just toss in a handful or two in the last couple of minutes of cooking your vegetables.
Simply, THANK YOU! I LOVE quiche and it is nice to see a basic recipe that can be adapted to any add-in! You truly are a “baking addiction”! Thank you!
If I make this the day before I’m wanting it, will it just heat in the oven to be like fresh the next day??
Hi Rachel, that should work just fine! Make sure to cool completely before refrigerating.
I love the versatility of this recipe. It was a great way to use leftover ham. I admittedly cheated and used a store made crust. I followed the instructions baking recipe and the crust was perfect. We made 2 and froze them for easy dinners or brunch. Total hit!
Always wonderful recipes. This was delicious.
So, I’m making this for my culinary class, and I wanted to make the dough for the crust. I’ve seen different suggestions on how to cook it. Do you first cook the dough then add the quiche itself? Or do you cook it partially then cook it with the quiche until it is golden brown? What do you suggest?
Hi Elizabeth! For this recipe we partially blind bake the pie crust – see step two of this recipe for details.
Bacon, onion, mushrooms, cheddar, Swiss and guyere.
Delicious
I’m going to make some for the freezer. Everyone loves this for any meal.
Excellent creamy texture. Used leftover green beans that I chopped up, sautéed green pepper, diced cherry tomatoes and cheddar cheese. Delicious. Can’t wait to try other combinations.
Much richer than my usual go-to but also more company worthy. I do have an odd quiche idea that I picked up many years ago and is a family favorite…leftover taco meat. I also throw in some cheese and chopped veggies left over from the tacos, such as onion, mild jalapeño, sweet red pepper, whatever, which I do sauté first and pat dry. I serve it with salsa, sour cream, and guacamole on the side. It’s ridiculously good!
I added in fresh spinach and used light cream, delicious! This is a versatile recipe.
Such a versatile recipe! All my guests loved it! I ended up using bacon, spinach, green onion and white cheddar at the amounts suggested. I went the lazy way and used a pre-made pie shell. Was still amazing!
Can you make this without a crust?
Hi Alli, absolutely — or see our Crustless Quiche recipe.
Excellent recipe. I just made it with ham, onion, cheddar and Swiss cheese. Very creamy and yummy!
Blanch your broccoli (then dry it off well), sauté your shallots and mushrooms, use cooked ham–you’ll be good to go.
I made mine with broccoli, mushrooms, shallots, and ham
This is a great base recipe, Thank you!
So easy and so elegant! This is my go-to quiche recipe.
I made for a luncheon and it turned out great. I made as recipe said. I’m making again for upcoming events.
I made this for Christmas and my family loved it. I kept it simple with sharp cheddar and Monterey jack. We topped it with avocado and Trader Joe’s jalapeno sauce. Delicious!
I use this recipe regularly including the pie crust (lard not shortening). My entire family loves it.
I am going to make this for Christmas brunch. I was wondering if I could make it the day before and reheat it the next day to serve? Or can I make it but not cook it until the next morning?
Hi Lenna, You can definitely make this the day before. After it bakes, cool it completely, cover, and refrigerate for up to 4 days. You can reheat it in the oven to your liking or just set it on the counter to bring back to room temperature before serving. For more make ahead tips see the recipe notes.
Is it possible to make quiche night before and bake in morning?
Cant’ wait to try this Christmas morning!!!
Hi Carol! You can prepare and bake the pie dough ahead of time, then assemble and bake the whole quiche in the morning. See note 1 after the recipe for more details.
Delicious!!!!!!!!!!!