Quiche looks so elegant and tastes so delicious — it’s the perfect weekend breakfast! Bring it to a brunch with friends, or serve it with a green salad and a glass of white wine for a light lunch. Just don’t tell anyone how easy it is to make!
This recipe is for traditional quiche Lorraine — named after the “Lorraine” region of France — which is just eggs, cream, and bacon. While it is absolutely delicious just as it is, quiche Lorraine really is the “kindergarten” of quiche recipes, and you can use it as a starting point for a number of more extravagant quiche creations.
You can add practically anything to quiche: different cheeses (I especially love blue or goat cheese), onions, spinach, sautéed mushrooms, peppers, tomatoes… the list goes on! This is a perfect recipe to get creative with.
In this recipe, I use my recipe for homemade Flaky Pie Crust from the freezer. I try to always have a few portions stowed away in there. Although I recommend using a homemade pastry dough, you can always use a store-bought pie shell in a pinch. Just follow the directions on the box to pre-bake the crust before filling and baking.
A note on texture: Traditionally, quiche has a soft and delicate “custard-y” texture. If you prefer a more firm, “eggier” texture, just add in an extra egg to the recipe.
First, start by preparing the pastry dough. If you are using a store-bought pie shell, or if you already have the pastry dough rolled out and pressed into a pie plate, you can skip to the blind-baking step of this recipe.
Otherwise, place the pastry dough on a well-floured surface and roll it out using a floured rolling pin. Keep rotating the dough to prevent sticking. Then, carefully transfer the rolled-out dough onto a pie plate or tart mold and gently press the dough into the bottom edges of the dish. Cut off any excess dough, leaving roughly 1 inch of extra dough around its circumference.
Fold the outside edge of the dough under itself to form a thicker crust. Press very gently to push the dough into the sides of the dish. Chill in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Next, blind-bake the pastry dough. If you are using a store-bought pie shell, simply follow the directions on the box to pre-bake it.
If you are using homemade pastry dough, pre-heat your oven to 400ºF. With a fork, prick the bottom layer of the pastry dough inside the dish.
Then, place aluminum foil against the surface of the dough and gently press the foil into the bottom and inner edges of the dish. Using baking beans or pie weights, weigh down the aluminum foil. Bake the dough for about 15 minutes, then remove the foil and baking beans (or pie weights) and bake for another 5 to 8 minutes, until the crust is lightly golden brown.
Meanwhile, cook the bacon. While you can always fry it, I like to cook my bacon in the oven for this recipe. I don’t have to pay attention to it at all! I can just leave it in the oven while I am preparing the rest of the ingredients. This step can be done ahead of time or while rolling out the pastry dough — it’s really up to you!
To cook the bacon in the oven, line a sheet pan with parchment paper and lay the bacon strips down on the parchment paper. Cook the bacon — still at 400°F — for about 30 minutes. Pat the bacon strips dry with kitchen paper towel and cut them into ½-inch pieces. Set these aside until you are ready for them.
When you are ready to make the quiche, reduce your oven’s heat to 375ºF.
In a bowl, whisk the eggs until they are light and airy. Add in the cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg, and continue whisking until the mixture is well combined.
Place the bacon pieces onto the bottom of the pie crust and pour your quiche mixture into the dish. Evenly drop the butter pieces throughout the quiche.
Place your quiche onto a sheet pan and into the upper third of your 375ºF oven. Bake it for 45 minutes. The quiche should be puffed and wiggle slightly when shaken. Remove it from the oven and allow it to cool slightly before serving. Serve warm, or allow to cool completely and refrigerate.
Basic Quiche (Traditional Quiche Lorraine)Quiche looks so elegant and tastes so delicious — it’s the perfect weekend breakfast! Just don’t tell anyone how easy it is to make!
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Ingredients
- Pastry dough (click for my homemade Flaky Pie Crust recipe)
- 4–5 strips of thick-cut bacon
- 3 large eggs
- 1 ½ cup cream
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
- ¼ tsp ground black pepper
- ⅛ tsp ground nutmeg
- 2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened and broken into pea-sized lumps
Instructions
Preparing the Pastry Dough (skip if using store-bought pie shell)
- Place pastry dough on a well-floured surface and roll out dough using a floured rolling pin. Keep rotating the dough to prevent sticking.Pastry dough
- Carefully transfer rolled-out dough onto a 9" pie plate or tart mold and gently press into bottom edges of the dish. Cut off any excess dough, leaving 1" to 1½" of excess dough around the circumference of the dish.
- Fold outside edge of dough under itself to form a thicker crust, pressing gently.
- Chill in freezer for 5 minutes.
Blind-baking the Pastry Dough
- For store-bought pie shell: Pre-bake according to instructions on package.
- For homemade pastry dough: Preheat oven to 400ºF. With a fork, prick the bottom layer of pastry dough inside the dish. Place aluminum foil against the surface of the dough and gently press into bottom and inner edges. Using baking beans or pie weights, weigh down the aluminum foil. Bake for about 15 minutes. Remove the aluminum foil and baking beans (or pie weights) and bake until crust is lightly golden brown (about 5–8 minutes more).
Cooking the Bacon
- Leave oven at 400ºF.
- Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and cook bacon strips until fully cooked (about 30 minutes). With kitchen paper towel, pat bacon dry. Cut bacon into ½" pieces, and set aside.4–5 strips of thick-cut bacon
Making the Quiche
- Reduce oven temperature to 375ºF.
- In a bowl, whisk eggs until light and airy.3 large eggs
- Add in cream, salt, pepper, and nutmeg. Continue to whisk until mixture is well combined.1 1/2 cup cream1/4 tsp kosher salt1/4 tsp ground black pepper1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
- Place bacon pieces onto bottom of pie crust and pour quiche mixture into dish. Evenly drop butter pieces throughout quiche.2 Tbsp unsalted butter, softened and broken into pea-sized lumps
- Place quiche onto sheet pan and into upper third of preheated oven.
- Bake for 45 minutes. Quiche should be puffed and wiggle slightly when shaken.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving.
- Serve warm, or allow to cool completely and refrigerate.
Notes
- Check out my recipe for homemade pastry dough, here!
- You can use any type of dried beans for blind-baking the quiche shell. You could also use dry lentils or rice.
- Traditionally, quiche has a soft and delicate “custard-y” texture. If you prefer a more firm and eggier texture, just add in an extra egg to the recipe.
- This recipe uses ¼ tsp of salt which accounts for the saltiness of the bacon. If you want to make another type of quiche (without bacon), you can add a bit more salt.
- You can use a store-bought pie shell for this recipe. Just follow the directions on the box to pre-bake the crust before filling.
- Quiche freezes perfectly well. Just wrap the cooled quiche in plastic wrap and freeze it in an air-tight plastic bag.
