This Quiche Lorraine is such a classic French dish. It’s light and fluffy, incredibly cheesy, loaded with bacon and a wonderful flaky crust! It’s surprisingly easy to make and a must for your weekend brunch!
The Best Quiche Lorraine Recipe
Quiche is one of those meals that you can have for breakfast, brunch, lunch or even dinner. Pair it with a nice salad, a delicious bottle of wine and you’ve got yourself a delicious dinner fit for a king. Quiche is a dish that’s easy to assemble, so if you’ve never made it before, don’t worry, there’s nothing to it.
When it comes to quiches, Quiche Lorraine has got to be the mother of all quiches, a real classic. There are hundreds of different variations of quiches, and that’s because these yummy tarts can literally be filled with anything. The base of a quiche is really eggs and cream, so in essence it’s an unsweetened custard tart.
What Is Quiche Lorraine
This classic quiche Lorraine is probably so popular because it has two ingredients that everybody loves; bacon and cheese. Traditionally it’s filled with bacon and Gruyere cheese but over the years people have used this recipe and modified to their likings based on leftover tidbits from the fridge. Don’t forget quiche is a custard so eggs and cream are a must!
Ingredients You’ll Need
- Pie Crust – I made my own pie crust for this recipe but you can definitely use a store-bought crust to make the process even easier. If you have the time, I recommend making your own, because it really is worth the effort.
- Cheese – the traditional cheese used in this quiche is gruyere cheese, but if you can’t find it, use a Swiss cheese or whatever your favorite cheese is like gouda, cheddar, provolone, etc. I also love to top my quiche with a bit of Parmesan cheese.
- Eggs – A quiche is not a quiche without eggs! This is what will hold your filling together.
- Cream – I used 35% cream for this recipe. Any type will work!
- Salt & pepper – You can completely omit the salt if you like. I topped the quiche with some fresh cracked pepper as well. Keep in mind that you will be getting lots of salt from the bacon and cheese.
- Bacon – I used some good thick-cut bacon. It’s cubed and fried, so thick-cut will hold up and give you meatier pieces.
- Onion – A white or yellow onion will do, just cut it thinly into slices.
How To Make Quiche Crust
Essentially a quiche crust is really a pie crust where the main ingredients are flour, butter and ice water. Check out my video and complete recipe instructions for how to make the perfect pie crust.
When making a quiche, you want to blind bake the crust first to ensure the bottom is cooked through and you don’t end up with raw dough.
What is Blind Baking
Blind baking basically means baking your pie crust before filling it and baking the entire pie. It’s usually necessary for quiches or for when you’re making a custard pie or the pie filling is unbaked.
Blind baking your quiche will prevent it from getting soggy, but it will also ensure that the custard and quiche are perfectly done at the same time.
How To Make Quiche Lorraine
- Make the crust: If you’re making your own pie crust, roll it out and place it in a deeper 9.5-inch quiche pan or a more shallow 11-inch quiche pan, pressing into the corners. Use a rolling pin to roll over the surface of the quiche pan, as seen in the pictures, to cut off the excess dough from the edges. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dried beans or rice.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake the crust for an additional 5 minutes. If using store bought pastry, follow the instructions on the package.
- Make the filling: While the crust is baking cook the bacon over medium-high heat until the bacon is cooked and crisp, or to your liking. Remove from the pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towels. Remove all but 1 tablespoon of bacon drippings from the skillet, then add the onion and cook over medium-hight heat. Cook until translucent and starts to brown.
- Whisk the eggs, cream, nutmeg, gruyere cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl together.
- Assemble and bake: Sprinkle the bacon over the inside of the baked crust, then top with the cooked onion. Carefully pour the egg mixture over the onions. Top with Parmesan cheese evenly.
- Transfer the quiche onto a baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden. The center should be a bit jiggly but the rest should be set. Garnish with parsley or chives and serve.
Expert Tips
- Although it takes a little longer, I strongly recommend to make your own crust, especially if you have the time. It beats the store-bought premade pie crust any day.
- Don’t forget the cheese! Quiche Lorraine is not a quiche without the cheese. While gruyere is best, a Swiss cheese will work too.
- Use heavy cream! You really don’t want to substitute this. If you want something with a little less fat use half and half.
- Quiche filling should not be cooked until it’s completely set. Quiche should be airy with a silky lightness.
What Other Ingredients Can I Add To My Quiche
Quiches are great because they truly are versatile. Some acceptable ingredients include smoked salmon, smoked haddock, crab, cauliflower, spinach, broccoli, zucchini, peppers, feta, garlic, chives or dill. However, keep in mind if you add any of these ingredients, it’s no longer a quiche Lorraine, but in the end it doesn’t matter.
How To Serve Quiche Lorraine
Hot or cold? That is the question! I think quiche should be enjoyed warm, not extremely hot, but just a little bit warm. Cold quiche, straight from the fridge is not my favorite thing.
Along with a slice of warm quiche goes a good salad or slaw. You’ll hardly ever find when you order quiche at a restaurant that it comes without a side. Usually it’s a nice simple green salad, or a Greek salad works great as a side to this classic quiche. Here are some other suggestions:
- Easy Tossed Salad
- Kale and Quinoa Salad
- Fattoush Salad
- Warm Kale Salad with Roasted Butternut Squash
- Tabbouleh Salad
How To Store Leftovers
Store your quiche in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze it for 3 to 4 months. Because it is a custard, quiche must be refrigerated within two hours of cooling.
How To Reheat
The best way to reheat quiche is to cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in an oven preheated at 325°F degrees for about 15 minutes.
More Brunch Recipes To Try:
- Quiche Florentine
- Sausage Potato Breakfast Casserole
- Spinach Ricotta Brunch Bake
- Pancake Muffins
- Crustless Quiche
- Crescent Bacon Breakfast Ring
- Shakshuka
- Cheesy Zucchini Quiche
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Quiche Lorraine
Equipment
Ingredients
- ½ recipe pie crust or a prepared frozen pie crust
- 8 strips bacon chopped
- 1 medium onion thinly sliced
- 1 cup gruyere cheese shredded, or Swiss cheese
- 4 large eggs
- 1 ½ cups heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt or to taste
- ¼ teaspoon pepper or to taste
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese freshly grated
Instructions
Quiche Crust
- Prepare pie crust: If you're making your own pie crust, roll it out and place it in a deeper 9.5-inch quiche pan or a more shallow 11-inch quiche pan, pressing into the corners.
- Use a rolling pin to roll over the surface of the quiche pan, as seen in the pictures, to cut off the excess dough from the edges. Line the crust with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dry beans or rice.
- Blind bake the crust (pre-bake): Preheat the oven to 425°F. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes. Remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Reduce the oven heat to 375°F and bake the crust for an additional 5 minutes.
- If using store bought pastry, follow the instructions on the package.
Prepare filling
- Cook the bacon: While the crust is baking cook the bacon over medium-high heat until the bacon is cooked and crisp, or to your liking. Remove from the pan and drain on a plate lined with paper towels.
- Cook onions: Remove all but 1 tbsp of bacon drippings from the skillet, then add the onion and cook over medium-hight heat. Cook until translucent and starts to brown.
- Whisk the eggs, cream, nutmeg, gruyere cheese, salt and pepper in a bowl together.
Assemble and Bake
- Sprinkle the bacon over the inside of the baked crust, then top with the cooked onion. Carefully pour the egg mixture over the onions. Top with Parmesan cheese evenly.
- Bake: Transfer the quiche onto a baking sheet and bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until the top is golden. The center should be a bit jiggly but the rest should be set.
- Garnish with parsley or chives and serve.
Video
Recipe Notes
- Store your quiche in an airtight container in the fridge for 3 to 4 days. You can also freeze it for 3 to 4 months. Because it is a custard, quiche must be refrigerated within two hours of cooling.
- The best way to reheat quiche is to cover it with aluminum foil and bake it in an oven preheated at 325 F degrees for about 15 minutes.
- Please keep in mind that nutritional information is a rough estimate and can vary greatly based on products used.
Can this recipe be made with frozen puff or phyllo pastry?
Sure, I’d blind bake the puff pastry for about 10 minutes at 375 first.
This quiche looks incredible however it’s from a certain area in France and being native from there I have things that need to be said 😉 there is no cheese in the real quiche Lorraine. Cheese makes quiche extremely tasty, but in this case, it’s not a quiche Lorraine anymore.
Hi Violette!
Thanks for your input and perspective 🙂
I wasn’t what to temp preheat the oven to bake the quiche. I saw the preheating instructions for the crust. So I baked it at 425 I hope that was right!! Literally just put it in the oven.
In step 3 of the crust instructions it tells you to reduce the heat to 375F and so that’s the temp you bake the quiche at too.
What oven temp do you use for baking the quiche?
As per step 4, the oven will be set at 375!
Thank you for this delicious recipe!!!!! I’ve always wanted to make a quiche that is more fluffy and this recipe was PERFECT!!!! It will be my go to recipe from now on!
Hi There! I enjoyed traveling through your blog site. I wanted to make everything! But … I did settle in with Quiche Lorraine. It had been years since I’d made it, so I was glad you the recipe for me. I actually had all ingredients on hand, including our own Maui onions. I used the Swiss cheese because that’s what I had. The dish turned out great and was a big hit. Thanks for sharing!!
Hi Nancy! So happy to hear this!
great recipe and walk through, love this dish, so much appreciated, thank you
My pleasure!!