Bake
by: Emma Laperruque
December2,2021
4.5
27 Ratings
- Prep time 3 hours
- Cook time 1 hour 45 minutes
- Makes 1 (9-inch) pie
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
The best quiche has a tender, flaky crust, a silky, creamy custard, and, most of all, can be customized to no end.
We adapted this crust from Rose Levy Beranbaum’s game-changing cream cheese pie dough. Inspired by rugelach, it’s just about impossible to mess up. While we incorporated a smidge of whole-wheat flour for nuttiness (it goes great with the savory filling), you could swap in white whole-wheat or use all all-purpose. Par-baking the crust at a high temperature, then sealing it with egg white, sidesteps a soggy bottom.
Now, about the custard: Equal amounts of heavy cream and whole milk yield the smoothest, tastiest results. A ratio of 2 cups liquid to 5 eggs and 1 yolk creates rich, eggy flavor. And to avoid curdling (the most common pitfall when it comes to quiche), we have two means of insurance—first, whisking some flour into the custard, and second, baking at a low-and-slow temperature.
When it comes to mix-ins, try roasted or sautéed vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, squash, onion, mushrooms, asparagus), pan-fried breakfast meat (bacon, sausage, ham, pancetta), or even raw greens (Tuscan kale, baby arugula); all should be chopped into bite-size pieces or smaller. The amount of mix-ins will affect the amount of custard. If your mix-ins are very compact (say, caramelized onions or bacon bits), use a smaller volume; if they’re more chunky (like broccoli florets or squash pieces), use a larger volume. Fill the pie all the way (this creates the most stable crust) and, if you have any leftover, bake or microwave in a ramekin for a snack.
With respect to the cheese, you’ll want something that’s highly meltable with a confident flavor (like cheddar, Gruyère, or young gouda). Or do a mix! There are no rules.
This is great barely warm, at room temperature, or cold. It will keep in the refrigerator for at least a couple days. I like to eat it cold, but you could gently reheat it, bundled in foil, in a low-temperature oven. —Emma Laperruque
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Watch This Recipe
Quiche, Any Way You WantIt
Ingredients
- Crust
- 1 cup(128 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling
- 1/3 cup(40 grams) whole-wheat flour
- 1/2 teaspoongranulated sugar
- 1/2 teaspoonkosher salt, plus more
- 1/8 teaspoonbaking powder
- 3 ouncescream cheese, very cold, cubed
- 4 ounces(1 stick) unsalted butter, very cold, cubed
- 1 1/2 tablespoonswater, very cold
- 1 1/2 teaspoonsapple cider vinegar
- 1 large egg white
- Filling
- 1 cupheavy cream
- 1 cupwhole milk
- 3 tablespoonsall-purpose flour
- 5 large eggs
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1 3/4 teaspoonskosher salt
- 3/4 teaspoonfreshly ground black pepper
- 1 cupgrated cheese (see headnote), divided
- 1 to 1 1/4 cupsmix-ins, depending on mix-in (see headnote)
Directions
- Make the crust: In the large bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, mix the flours, sugar, salt, and baking powder on low speed just to combine. Add the cream cheese and mix on low speed until mostly broken down. Add the butter and mix on low speed until mostly incorporated and none of the pieces are bigger than a chickpea; this should take 30 seconds to 1 minute (if there are any stragglers, just stop the machine and smush the piece with your fingertips—don’t overmix). In a small glass or glass measuring cup, combine the water and vinegar. Drizzle into the dough with the motor running. As soon as the sides of the bowl are no longer dusty and clumps and curds begin to form (it should not form a cohesive ball—that’s too far), turn the mixer off; better to undermix versus overmix at this point. Form the dough into a ball with your hands. Wrap well in plastic wrap and form into a flat disc. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to a couple days. (You can also freeze the dough for future quiches; just thaw in the fridge overnight.)
- Roll out and crimp the crust: On a floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 12-inch or so circle, then transfer to a 9-inch pie pan (not deep-dish), making sure the bottom corners are tightly pressed against the pan. Using scissors, trim the dough, leaving a 1-inch overhang. Fold the edge under itself. Using your fingers, press and even out the sides, making sure the bottom corners are tightly pressed against the pan. Crimp the edges however you’d like (I like using my left hand’s thumb and pointer finger as a guide, then crimping with my right hand’s pointer finger, to form ruffles). Freeze for at least 15 minutes or up to 2 days.
- Parbake the crust: Arrange a rack in the bottom third of the oven; heat to 400°F. Line the frozen crust with a square of parchment, fill with dried beans (or another pie weight), then set on a sheet pan. Bake on the lower rack, rotating halfway through, for about 40 minutes, until the crust is starting to brown along the edges and the bottom no longer looks raw and doughy. While the crust is baking, using a fork, whisk the egg white with a pinch of salt until very loose. When the crust is done, remove the parchment and beans and prick the bottom and sides of the crust a few times with a fork. Brush the inside of the crust with the salted egg white, then return to the oven to bake for 1 more minute to set.
- Remove the parbaked crust from the oven to cool, then reduce the oven temperature to 325°F.
- Make the custard: In a medium bowl, combine the cream and milk. Place the flour in a small bowl and add a splash (figure, 1 tablespoon or so) of the cream mixture. Stir with a fork or whisk until smooth. Repeat this (splash, stir, splash, stir) until completely smooth and pourable. Pour into the bigger bowl of cream and milk and stir to combine. Add the eggs, egg yolk, salt, and pepper and whisk until smooth.
- Fill the quiche: Sprinkle half of the cheese evenly over the bottom of the crust. Sprinkle the mix-ins on top, spreading out as much as possible (even scooching up the sides is fine), so that you can see the cheese and crust below. There should not be a packed-solid layer of mix-ins; the custard filling needs to be able to get through. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Slowly and evenly pour in the custard, taking it as high to the brim as possible. It should be on the verge of overflowing. If you have any leftover custard, bake in a ramekin or microwave it as a snack.
- Bake the quiche for 55 to 65 minutes, until it no longer shimmies when shook. (If the crust starts to brown too much mid-bake, you can carefully tent it with foil.) Let cool until warm before serving. It’s also great at room temperature and cold.
Tags:
- Quiche
- American
- Vinegar
- Cream Cheese
- Egg
- Milk/Cream
- Cheese
- Chill
- Freeze
- Bake
- Christmas
- Mother's Day
See what other Food52ers are saying.
-
Starmade
-
Tina Ostwald
-
Dawn DeSimone
-
Miss_Karen
-
Steph Lockman
Emma was the food editor at Food52. She created the award-winning column, Big Little Recipes, and turned it into a cookbook in 2021. These days, she's a senior editor at Bon Appétit, leading digital cooking coverage. Say hello on Instagram at @emmalaperruque.
Popular on Food52
41 Reviews
YourQuicheSucksKaren October 31, 2023
Putting flour in a quiche is a sin. This tasted like raw crap.
[emailprotected] December 3, 2023
Making up an identity just to insult the person who provided you with a recipe she believes you might enjoy? Please take some time to think about why you needed to do that, and then — please work on it. I will hope for your success.
Katie January 16, 2023
Started this recipe and left the crust in a disk in the fridge overnight. it is REALLY difficult to roll out and is hopelessly cracking- I triple-checked the recipe and I followed it to the T! did anyone else have this problem?
Smaug February 12, 2024
It may have been too dry, but crusts generally roll a lot more easily at a bit higher than refrigerator temperature.
Kathy December 7, 2022
I love this recipe! It turns out perfect every time, no matter what fixins I use or the type of cheese. Sometimes I use Cheddar, Broccoli and Bacon and my husband loves it! I do reduce the amount of milk and cream to 3/4 cup each. Alternatively, you can use the left over custard for another breakfast!
Starmade October 16, 2022
I was interested in the recipe as I have never added flour to a quiche and I wanted to see how it would set up. I like to use a tart pan for quiche in part because being flatter it cooks faster, can take a slightly higher heat and you don't have to work as hard to protect crust from filling. For a tart pan I used 1.5 cups milk and cream, three eggs, scant 2 tbsp flour and only about a half tsp of salt. For filling ingredients used bacon, portobello mushroom chopped and fried in bacon fat with about the same weight of broccoli florets, the mix ins probably being about 1.5 c when cooked. Six oz gruyere and a little nutmeg. Did not blind bake crust on this occasion but if I did I would do it not more than 10 minutes (40 minutes must be an error here). Baked the whole quiche at 375 between 25 and 30 minutes. Was really very good, crust was acceptably cooked through with a smooth rich custard. I will use these proportions again, though I might take it out of oven slightly earlier.
Smaug October 16, 2022
We used to call those quiche pans.
Starmade October 16, 2022
I see 40 min is based on a frozen crust and I can see the point of it for a crispy crust if you are using a deeper pan and thicker crust. I was using up some pie crust from a previous dinner, rolled pretty thin, hence not following the crust instructions at all. I think Paule Caillat's tart crust would also work well here I think.
Rita82 February 12, 2024
A lot depends on the size of the tart/quiche pan, including the depth. Mentioning the type of pan (Pyrex pie pan, fluted or non-fluted tart or quiche pan), diameter, and depth of their pan would be helpful, especially in calculating the amount of custard to make and how large to roll out the dough. For this recipe, Emma did mention this recipe makes 1 (9-inch) pie.
Kira December 19, 2021
Gahhh rookie mistake of not reading reviews first. Against my better judgment, I did the 40 recommended minutes of parbaking. My beautiful crust edges were hopelessly burned. Luckily the parchment and beans saved the bottom but I had to cut off my crust edges.
Another issue I had was that the filing amount was not enough for my pie dish. I actually needed another 1.5 cups of liquid and 4 eggs to fill it. It's not an abnormally deep dish but definitely go with one on the shallower side.
Bri138 June 22, 2021
Par baking the crust for forty minutes = setting yourself up to fail. I did 30 minutes and my crust was still a bit burned. This is clearly an issue for most users - author, please decrease the par bake to 15-20 minutes on the recipe and stop sabotaging reader’s brunches.
clementscooks January 16, 2021
Is there a difference between using 1 cup milk/1 cup heavy cream to using 2 cups of half and half?
Emma L. January 16, 2021
Hi, you can def swap in 2 cups of half-and-half here!
Smaug January 16, 2021
The half and half will likely have a lower fat content but will make a perfectly good quiche. Half and half also sometimes contains other ingredients such as emulsifiers and stabilizers.
chop C. January 2, 2021
While I cook a lot I have never made a quiche before. My wife made the crust which turned out great. Did roasted broccoli, cremini mushrooms, carmelized mushrooms, and pancetta. Used a Gruyere and double cream Gouda. The custard was so creamy and everyone loved it. For me the salt portion was too much for my tastes (and my wife) but that is a matter of personal taste.
NXL October 19, 2020
So, I wouldn't necessarily want my cholesterol checked just now, bu wow! What a creamy, silky quiche. I used roasted 1 c. acorn squash, roasted garlic, and 1/4 c arugula chopped well. The cheese was cipollini. Served with a side of green tomato soup. Fantastic.
Heather C. July 21, 2020
I made this last night with Caramelized onions, broccoli, ham, and with Gruyere and sharp cheddar. Since I was going to the trouble of making it. I made 2 and froze 1. Best. Quiche. Ever. And I mean Ever. I used the recipe from The Kitchn website. So so easy. I brown my cubed ham in a 1 Tbsp oil, then steamed my broccoli in the fat and pan, and cut it up. Added a little extra seasoning. Oh boy, oh boy.
Shira May 14, 2020
Just wondering, what's the reason for recommending not using a deep dish pie pan? Can't wait to try this! :)
Emma L. May 14, 2020
Hi Shira! Because this was developed with a standard-size pie pan, a deep-dish alternative would change how the crust/filling fit (and, in turn, how long it takes them to bake).
Tina O. May 10, 2020
Made this today for Mother's Day for brunch with my daughter's family. My very first quiche so took some time, but well worth it. The quiche was delicious. I used a frozen pie crust. and it was prebaked after 30 minutes, not 40. I used frozen spinach, which was a pain to squeeze out moisture, so may try fresh next time. Will try to use a homemade crust in a 10 inch pan as the frozen crust was just a tad too small. But overall this recipe is great. Will definitely do again.
Dawn D. May 9, 2020
I followed this recipe but decided to use a 10” fluted tart pan with removable bottom because my pie pans are all glass and that doesn’t work when placing frozen into a hot oven. I think the 40 minutes is too long, at least for my oven. Flavor is excellent, but the crust cracked and so I ended up wrapping the bottom of the pan tightly in heavy duty foil to keep the custard In the pie, and placed on rimmed baking sheet. Worked fairly well. My mix ins included 4 oz. diced pancetta, cooked well and drained of grease, cooked broccoli, spinach, and roasted red onion, 1.5 cups total. All of the custard fit in the 10” pan. I will def make agin, but will not bake crust as long. Also thinking the cracks came from mixing the pastry in the food processor and butter wasn’t incorporated as well as it should have been. Will cut in by hand with a pastry blender. I liked it enough to make it work!
Smaug December 20, 2021
I have placed frozen crusts in pyrex pans in a hot oven without problems, but I must say it makes me pretty nervous.
Miss_Karen April 8, 2020
It's not a review it's a question...
Since everyone says there is leftover custard, can't the measurement of all liquidy things be reduced before it's poured into the crust?
Emma L. April 8, 2020
Hi! The amount of liquid is meant to accommodate a range of mix-ins—so, depending on the exact type of cheese, green, meat, etc, the quantity of custard you'll need will shift a bit. In our testing, we often had no surplus and sometimes had a relatively small amount, which we felt was better than not having enough for the pie. Popped in the microwave, any extra makes a great snack!
Steph L. April 6, 2020
PERFECT 4 quarantine!
1. Any fridge ingredient works. Really, anything.
2. The crust, when reheated -EVEN in the microwave STAYS CRUNCHY!!!
Trust the recipe.
suzanne March 13, 2020
Really pre-bake the crust for 40 minutes at 400? Seems quite long.
Emma L. March 16, 2020
Really! The crust goes in frozen (this helps maintain the shape) and you want it to start to lightly brown and lose its rawness (this avoids a soggy bottom later on). That said, it's worth noting that the time measurements here (and in pretty much all recipes!) are always guidelines, that depend on your oven, pan, etc. If it seems ready to you before the 40 minutes are up, then it's probably ready. Hope that helps!
MsGamgee89 January 3, 2020
I'm not sure you really meant this: "taking it as high to the brim as possible. It should be on the verge of overflowing." Followed this instruction and ended up with about a cup's worth of baked filling outside the quiche. Thankfully, I always bake quiches on cookie sheets, but I shudder to think of the state of my oven if I didn't!
Smaug January 3, 2020
This is so- custards always grow a bit in baking- they claim these recipes are tested, but sometimes I wonder.
katharinec April 9, 2020
Yeah, you should see my oven right now. Custard oozed out everywhere and has set nicely on the oven floor.
Smaug December 24, 2019
It helps to start the custard warm, or at least room temp.; it will cut baking time quite a bit. One way or another, I think starting temp. needs to be specified in the recipe.
Barbara T. January 5, 2020
The temp is specified. 325 right after the crust.
Smaug January 6, 2020
The comment wasn't about the oven temperature, it was about the temperature of the custard when it goes into the shell.
Ella Q. September 30, 2019
This quiche is worth it!!!! Best one I've ever made. (I went with roasted broc, sautéed onions, arugula, and cheddar.)
Emma L. October 1, 2019
You're making the quiche blush!
jeanne H. September 28, 2019
Very tasty. Rich and perfect vehicle for add in’s. First pie was Spinach, Roasted red pepper, caramelized onions and marinated artichoke hearts. Second was sausage, green chili’s, candied jalapeños and pickled carrots. Only note is one should use pie crust protector shield on the par bake. My frozen crust came out too brown after 40 minutes at 400. Will have custard left over for buttered ramekin next day breakfast !
Emma L. October 1, 2019
Wow, they both sound awesome!
