How to Make Homemade Quiche- Our Bakery’s Recipe

When we first started our bakery, the Flour Barn, five years ago we offered very few items. We wanted to make sure that even though we had a select menu, everything on that menu was amazing. Along with our favorite Cinnamon Rolls, our mom’s Ham and Cheddar Quiche is one of the items that made the cut. This creamy, flavorful quiche is so simple yet tastes so gourmet. Keep reading for tips to making a perfect quiche every time or jump right to the recipe to get started!

​The Crust is Key!

My mom’s specialty has always been pie crusts. People go on and on about her pies. Making the perfect flaky pie crust is a labor of love, but once you learn the secret to a good pie crust, you will be surprised how easy it is. Quiche crust is the same as a pie crust and is the key to an excellent quiche. For this recipe feel free to purchase a pre-made pie crust from the store, or check out one of our pie crust recipes. We have a Handmade Pie Crust recipe, Pastry Cutter Pie Crust Recipe and a Freshly Milled Flour Pie Crust Recipe. 

Par-baked crust

​To avoid having an undercooked crust, or a “soggy bottom”, a quiche requires you to par-bake your crust. This simply means that you partially bake your crust before you add the filling. This gives your crust a head-start to baking, since it may take longer than your filling. Now while par-baking is not difficult, there are some things you need to keep in mind…

• Your crust needs help holding its shape: Because your crust is baking without filling, to give the sides support, we must make some accommodations to help it keep its shape. The first tip is to make sure your crust is very cold, best kept in the freezer for at least 30 minutes. This will help your crust not to immediately soften so much in the oven and collapse, or shrink, on the sides.
• Blind bake the crust with pie weights. Line the empty, frozen pie shell with foil or parchment paper. Fill the foil-lined shell with pie weights. If you don’t have pie weights, you can use dried beans or uncooked rice as an alternative. Bake the crust at 375 degrees, until the edges are starting to brown, 15-20 minutes. Remove the pie shell from the oven and remove the foil (or parchment) and weights. Prick the bottom crust all over with a fork before you return it to the oven. This is called docking the crust and will prevent bubbles from forming while it finishes baking. Return to oven for 5-10 minutes, until the bottom crust is golden as well. I actually fully bake my quiche crusts, rather than partially bake them because I want it well done on the bottom, but that’s my personal preference.

Creating our Custard

Quiche filling is simply a custard. A mix of eggs, heavy cream and milk, along with omelet like additions. As long as you have the right balance of eggs, cream, and milk, you can’t go wrong! This is what gives our quiche a creamy texture. Cream, because of its fat content, makes the custard so tender. I have ordered quiche in a cafe or restaurant and found it to be a little rubbery–so disappointing. This problem is solved with the heavy cream because fat prevents that rubbery texture from happening. As I mentioned, our Ham and Cheddar quiche is my favorite quiche recipe. However, you can use the base of this recipe to make whatever flavor quiche you desire!

What to Add to Our Easy Quiche Recipe

• Eggs: The delicious base of our quiche
• Heavy Whipping cream: This gives our savory egg custard it’s rich and creamy flavor and texture. 
• Whole Milk: This helps keep the custard light enough to be slightly fluffy.
• Salt and Pepper: No matter the flavor, each quiche needs a little salt and pepper
• Cheese: 1 cup of cheese is the perfect amount to creating a great ratio between the egg mixture, the melty cheese and the flavorful meat. You can use shredded cheese or chunks of cheese. Just make sure you add in the cheese so that it can combine evenly with the rest of your ingredients while baking. A meatless quiche is simple and delicious with cheese as the star. Great cheese options include cheddar cheese, Parmesan cheese, hot pepper, and goat cheese. Top them with fresh herbs and you’re ready to serve.
• Meat: 1/2 cup of meat is the perfect amount to ensure a flavorful quiche while not disrupting the integrity of the custard. Bacon and Breakfast Sausage are great options, but must be cooked and drained before use. I love the ease of using deli meat, like Black Forest Ham.
• Veggies: I love adding lots of green onions to my quiche. For other veggies like spinach and peppers, keep in mind that they are baking in the custard. This means they are not cooking as quickly as they would by themselves. I often like to sauté my veggies before adding them so that they have the best texture. Bell peppers, fresh spinach, broccoli, and onions are all even better in a quiche when sauteed beforehand. 

Assembling Our Basic Quiche recipe:

1. Blind Bake Our Crust: your crust will par-bake in a 375-degree f oven for about 20-25 minutes. After the final step of baking the crust without the weights, you can begin filling your quiche. 
2. Create our Cream Mixture: While your crust is baking, in a large bowl mix your eggs, cream, milk and spices together. Use a spoon for a creamier texture or use a whisk for a fluffier texture. Fully mix all your ingredients until your mixture becomes homogeneous.
3. Add Cheese to Bottom of Crust:  Add your preferred cheese to coat the bottom of the crust. This can also help in preventing your crust from becoming soggy from the egg filling.  
4. Add Meat: Layer your meat evenly on top of your cheese mixture. If you’re using sausage or bacon, make sure your meat is properly cooked and well drained of grease. 
5. Add veggies: Evenly layer your veggies on your meat and cheese. Remember that they will only cook slightly while in the custard mixture. If you want your veggies more cooked, do so before adding to your quiche. 
6. Pour over Egg Mixture: Once all other ingredients are evenly layered, pour your custard over all of them.  
7. Bake Quiche: Bake your quiche at 325 degrees f for 40 minutes or until your egg mixture looks puffy but does not jiggle when moved. It should have an internal temperature of 170 degrees f.

Make-Ahead Instructions

You have two options if you want to do prep for your simple quiche recipe…

Freeze Your Pie Crust

Pie Crusts are great items to always have in the freezer. Not only is it convenient, but freezing pie crusts enhances their quality. Simply follow our Homemade Pie Crust Recipe and store them in the pie plate in a gallon freezer bag or 10-inch pie box (or simply wrap in foil). Then when you are ready to use them, they can be par baked directly from the freezer.

Freeze Your Whole Quiche

For an instant delicious quiche for later, simply bake your quiche as directed and then let it cool completely. You can then store it in the fridge in a gallon Ziploc bag or a ten-inch pie box. When you are planning to eat your quiche, simply bake it on a low setting in the oven, 275-300 degrees f, until warm. If you set your oven too high, the crust will brown too much. We only need it to get warm, so a low setting is perfect. Storing as individual slices is a great way to freeze them when you want to be able to just grab a slice. Just store each slice in separate freezer bags!

Favorite Flavor Combinations

We make Quiche as the refreshment for a lot of our classes, so we have tried many variations of this recipe. I have not tried a version of this classic quiche recipe that I have not loved! Here are some of my favorites…

Quiche Lorraine

Combine smoky bacon and Parmesan or Swiss cheese for this amazing quiche flavor. This is a classic and does not disappoint! Make sure to use cooked bacon and I like using shaved Parmesan. I also personally like to add in some sauteed spinach.

Garden Fresh Quiche

We love to just use whatever fresh produce we have from the garden for this quiche! I love using sauteed cherry tomatoes, shallots, and spinach with some fresh green onions. Mix that with shredded cheddar cheese and you have such a delicious breakfast or dinner!

Hot Pepper Quiche

Take spicy breakfast sausage and pair it with some jalapeno peppers and hot pepper cheese for a little heat in your quiche!

Add Quiche to Your Weekly Menu

Whether for breakfast or dinner, treat the whole family to a deliciously creamy quiche. Once you try out this recipe you will realize how simple it really is. You will be creating your own flavor combos in no time. Share your favorite combos in the comments below!