Quiche Lorraine is a homemade pie crust filled and baked with crumbled bacon, Gruyere cheese, and egg custard for a delicious breakfast, brunch, or dinner. If you love eggs for breakfast, be sure to try my Breakfast Tater Tot Casserole.
Quiche Lorraine
Quiche Lorraine is a specific quiche recipe (an open-faced savory pie or tart) that consists of egg custard, bacon or ham, and cheese. I used both bacon and cheese in this recipe. Quiches are very versatile and can be made with your favorite vegetables (like my Zucchini and Sweet Corn Quiche) and meats. Plus, they are simple to prepare. You can use a homemade pie crust or store-bought crust.
Quiche Recipe Ingredients
Crust: Again, I prefer my no-fail pie crust for this recipe, but you can use a store-bought crust. If you make my homemade crust, you will have two crusts (and only need one). So, save the other pie crust for another recipe, like my Apple Hand Pies.
Bacon: Be sure the bacon is cooked and crumbled before adding it to the dish. It’s easy to bake bacon to save on clean-up. Simply line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and bake the bacon for 18-20 minutes at 415°F.
Cheese: I opted for Gruyere cheese in this recipe for some added flavor. Sharp cheddar cheese would also be a flavorful choice.
Milk and Heavy Cream: Using both whole milk and heavy cream will give the quiche even more creaminess and a richer taste. We did test the quiche using all milk (no heavy cream). If you do this, the quiche is more like an egg bake.
Preparing the Crust
I am going to give you the instructions to use if making my homemade pie crust (which I recommend). Again, if using a store-bought crust, follow the package instructions for oven temperature and blind baking. You will still reduce the temperature when baking the quiche.
Once the pie crust has been made, transfer it to a 9-inch pie plate. Place a sheet of parchment paper over the crust. Top the sheet of parchment paper with pie weights. The weights hold down the pie crust while it is baking to prevent the crust from puffing up. You can use dried beans or pennies if you don’t have specific pie weights. Bake the crust (blind baking) for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is a light golden brown.
How to Make Quiche Lorraine
As the pie crust is baking, mix together the quiche custard. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Set the mixture aside. Next, after the pie crust has been baked in its allotted time, remove it from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F. While the crust is still warm, first, add the cooked and crumbled bacon and cheese to the crust (after removing the pie weights and parchment paper, of course).
Then, top the bacon and cheese with the egg mixture. Place the quiche back into the oven and bake for 30-35 minutes. The quiche is done when a knife is inserted into the center of the quiche and comes out clean. If any of the quiche mixture is on the knife blade, cook it for a couple more minutes and check again.
Remove the quiche from the oven and let it cool for ten minutes before cutting and serving. And, as I stated earlier, quiche is a dish that can be enjoyed at any time of the day, for any meal. It can also be served with a variety of foods from fresh fruit to mashed potatoes, to biscuits and gravy, just to name a few.
How to Store Quiche
You can store leftover (or an entire baked quiche) in either the refrigerator or freezer. In both cases, let the cooked quiche cool to room temperature. To store in the refrigerator, wrap the quiche with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for 3-4 days.
To freeze a cooked quiche, again, let it cool completely. Then, place it in the freezer for a few hours (or until the filling is frozen). Remove it from the freezer, wrap it in plastic wrap, followed by another layer of aluminum foil. Place it in a freezer bag, label and date, and store it in the freezer for up to a month for best results. Reheat it in a preheated oven.
More Breakfast Recipes
Quiche Lorraine
Ingredients
- 1 homemade pie crust, or store-bought crust
- 4 large eggs, room temperature
- ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 6 slices thick-cut bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1½ cups Gruyere cheese, shredded
- parsley, for garnish
Instructions
- Place the oven rack in the center position and preheat the oven to 375°F.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie crust to 12 inches and then transfer to a 9-inch pie pan, gently pressing the crust into the base and up the sides of the pan.
- Crimp or flute the top edges of the pie crust (if desired). If using a storebought crust, jump to instruction number 7, following the baking directions on the package. If using a homemade crust, continue with written instructions.
- Line the inside of the pie with parchment paper and weigh it down with pie weights. (We use dried beans; you could also use pennies.) This prevents the crust from expanding or ballooning while it cooks.
- Bake the crust for 15-20 minutes, or until a light golden brown.
- While the crust is baking, prepare quiche custard. In a medium bowl combine eggs, milk, heavy cream, salt, and pepper. Whisk until well combined.
- When the crust is done cooking, remove it from the oven and reduce the oven temperature to 350°F.
- To the warm pie crust, add the bacon and cheese. Pour the custard over the top and bake for 30-35 minutes, or until light golden brown and the center is mostly set. Quiche is done when a knife inserted in 1 inch from the crust will come out clean.
- Cool 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
Did you make this recipe?
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