The Only Basic Quiche Recipe You'll Ever Need (2024)

FAQs

What is the formula for quiche? ›

What Is the Best Eggs-to-Dairy Ratio for Quiche? The ratio maintains your custard's consistency. A good quiche custard typically features: 1 large egg to 1/2 cups of dairy.

The Custard: For your custard to set properly in the oven, use this easy ratio: 1 part dairy to 2 parts eggs. Classic custards use heavy cream, but 2% milk contains a fraction of the saturated fat and is still plenty rich.

Heavy cream is traditional in Quiche Lorraine, however, we seem to have better luck with light cream in our quiche recipes. They bake up lighter and the filling ingredients really shine through instead of getting masked by the milk fat.

To be considered Quiche Lorraine, the quiche must be made with eggs, heavy cream, bacon, and Swiss cheese. Any quiche that strays from this formula with the omission of bacon or the addition of other ingredients such as ham, sausage, vegetables, etc. is considered quiche, not Quiche Lorraine.

Heavy Cream and Milk – For the best tasting quiche, use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream. (Or simply use half-and-half.) Using just heavy cream produces an overly thick filling. Whole milk is great, but a combo of heavy cream and milk is better.

Quiche Ratio: 1 large egg to 1/2 cup of dairy

You'll need to increase the amount of eggs and milk based on the size of your quiche, so knowing the basic ratio makes it really easy to scale up or down. For a standard 9-inch quiche: Use 3 large eggs (6 ounces) 1 1/2 cups of whole milk or cream (12 ounces)

If your quiche appears watery it may just need to set for a little longer. The recipe may also contain too much dairy, so make sure that the recipe you are following has the ratio of 4 eggs to 1 cup dairy. The added ingredients could also contain too much moisture, so it is important to cook or drain additions.

Too little dairy, and your quiche will be dry instead of creamy.

If you're low on dairy ingredients, don't fret. Greek yogurt can substitute milk, sour cream and heavy cream. Milk: If you're short on milk, half and half or light cream, Greek yogurt can be used to make up for the difference.

Using too many eggs in the custard.

The best quiche consists of a custard that's the perfect ratio between eggs and milk. Using too many eggs in the custard results in a quiche that rubbery and too firm when baked, while not using enough will prevent the custard from setting.

Why is blind baking important when making quiche? ›

The foil weighs down the crust, which prevents it from bubbling up or blistering. This technique, known as blind-baking, creates a stronger crust that can better hold a moist filling, such as the egg mixture in quiche. Bake 8 minutes on a baking sheet. This helps keep the crust crispier when you add the filling.

A frittata, sometimes called a crustless quiche, has no crust, and you can bake it directly in a pan or skillet.

Editor: Yes, I recommend pre-baking the crusts for quiches because I think it helps keep them from getting soggy from the filling. Here's a little more information on blind baking: How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust.

Origin: Frittata is an Italian dish whereas quiche is a French dish. Crust: A quiche has crust while a frittata does not. Sometimes, quiche is baked without crust. Base Ingredients: While both frittatas and quiches are made with eggs, quiche is made with an egg custard, which also includes cream or milk.

Frittatas are Italian in origin and can be described as a cross between an omelet and a crustless quiche. Frittatas take less time to make than quiche or strata. The dish is traditionally made by beating eggs with dairy—often heavy cream or half and half—together with ingredients like vegetables, meats and cheeses.

Adding milk or plain water to scrambled eggs is an optional step that affects the texture of your finished dish. For creamy scrambled eggs, you'll add up to 1 tablespoon of milk for every egg. For fluffy scrambled eggs, you'll add up to 1 tablespoon of water for every egg.

Place quiche on baking sheet. Bake uncovered in hot oven until quiche reaches a minimum internal temperature of 165 degrees, 20-25 minutes. Carefully remove from oven.

Quiche crusts are made with shortcrust pastry. The name “shortcrust” refers to the baking term “short” which means pastries that are flaky and crumble when you cut into them.

If your quiche appears watery it may just need to set for a little longer. The recipe may also contain too much dairy, so make sure that the recipe you are following has the ratio of 4 eggs to 1 cup dairy. The added ingredients could also contain too much moisture, so it is important to cook or drain additions.