Broccoli-Cheddar Quiche

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Is it the best brunch ever or your favorite dinner? Our easy quiche is sure to delight.

Prep Time:
30 mins
Cook Time:
1 hr 15 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Servings:
8

Our broccoli cheddar quiche is a perfect example of how versatile quiche is—serve it as the savory star of your brunch or enjoy it for a light lunch or dinner accompanied by a simple green salad. The flaky pastry crust and creamy custard filling make it a perfect vehicle for an array of mix-ins. In fact, we think quiche, which often features green vegetables like broccoli or spinach, is a great way to help all kinds of eaters become veggie fans.

The secret to the perfect flaky, buttery crust for quiche is blind baking—baking the crust before adding the filling. Blind baking ensures the crust won’t get soggy. We think quiche tastes best with a homemade crust, but this recipe would still be plenty delicious made with a store-bought crust for ease.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
Credit:

Brie Goldman

What Is Quiche?

Quiche has a pastry crust filled with a cooked savory custard. The egg custard can be flavored with anything from bacon and cheese to vegetables, herbs, and various combinations of these ingredients. Quiche is a French dish, hailing from the region of Alsace-Lorraine, and the most famous type of quiche is quiche Lorraine which takes its name from the region. Quiche can be served as a brunch, lunch, or dinner entrée, or even as an appetizer.

The Pastry

Quiche is made with basic pastry dough, like our favorite pâte brisée or this basic pie crust. We prefer to use an all-butter crust for all our baking recipes. You can use homemade or store-bought pie dough for this quiche, just be sure it is ready to roll when you get out your rolling pin because if it is too hot or too cold, it will be difficult to roll out.

Most pie crust recipes make enough dough for a double crust pie, but you'll only need a single crust for a quiche. If you're making dough from scratch, you can opt to make one-half of the recipe, or wrap the extra crust tightly in plastic and freeze it for up to 3 months. Thaw the crust, still wrapped, in the fridge overnight before using.

Crimping the Crust

Our recipe calls for a basic crimped crust. Once the pie dough is fitted into the pie plate, use kitchen shears to trim the dough to a 1-inch overhang, fold under, and seal to form a rim. Crimp the rim using your fingertips and knuckles. If you prefer, you can decorate the crust simply with fork imprints or create a more unique design.

How to Blind Bake a Pie Crust

To avoid a gummy, soggy crust, we prefer to cook the crust before adding the filling, which is known as blind baking. First, you'll want to weigh your crust down by lining it with a piece of parchment paper, then filling it with pie weights or dried beans. (This ensures a flat bottom for your quiche and helps the sides from shrinking down as the dough bakes.) Next, bake your crust until it's dry to the touch and lightly golden. Remove the weights and parchment and let the crust cool slightly while you make your filling.

How to Tell When Quiche is Cooked

There are a few things to look for when judging if your quiche is cooked. The edges should be firm and set—press gently with your fingers to check—and if you wiggle the pie plate, the center should jiggle slightly. You can also check for doneness using an instant-read thermometer: Insert it into the center of the quiche but avoid hitting the crust; the temperature should read at least 165 degrees Fahrenheit.

Making Quiche Ahead 

Quiche is best served warm or at room temperature, so aim to serve the quiche the day you bake it. To get ahead, you can make the dough up to three days before you plan to make the quiche and prebake the crust a day ahead.

Directions

Ingredients for Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
Credit:

Brie Goldman

  1. Preheat oven and roll out pie dough:

    Preheat oven to 375°F. Lightly flour a rolling pin and work surface and roll out the dough to a 12-inch round.

    Roll out and slice pie crust for Broccoli Cheddar quiche
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  2. Fit dough into pie plate:

    Place in a 9-inch pie plate, fold overhang under, and crimp edge.

    Prep Pie Crust for Quiche
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  3. Add parchment paper and pie weights:

    Place a sheet of parchment paper over dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

    Bake pie crust
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  4. Blind bake crust:

    Bake until edge is dry and light golden, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights.

    Let Pie Crust Cool for Quiche
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  5. Melt butter and cook onion:

    Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

    Cook onions for Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  6. Whisk eggs and cream together:

    In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and cream.

    Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  7. Add onion, broccoli, and cheese:

    Add onion, broccoli florets, and cheese and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

    Bowl of Broccoli Cheddar Quiche mixture
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

  8. Whisk and pour into crust:

    Whisk to combine, pour into crust.

    Pour broccoli cheddar mixture into pie and bake
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

    Place the quiche pan on a sheet pan before it goes into the oven. This will help distribute the heat and cook the quiche evenly, and it eliminates the chance the pan will leak custard in your oven

  9. Bake:

    Bake until center of quiche is just set, 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Let Broccoli Cheddar Quiche Cool
    Credit:

    Brie Goldman

Serving, Storing, and Reheating Quiche

Never cut into a quiche while it's still hot from the oven. When it is hot, the custard will be liquid and you won't be able to cut neat slices. Allow about an hour for the quiche to cool. It will still be warm but ready to serve then.

Storing: Make sure the quiche has cooled completely before wrapping and storing. Refrigerate cooled quiche, tightly covered, for up to three days.

Reheating: Quiche is delicious served at room temperature but if you want to reheat it, cover with foil and place in a preheated 325-degree Fahrenheit oven until warmed, about 15 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • Can you prevent a soggy bottom when making quiche?

    Yes, you can prevent a soggy bottom when making quiche by blind-baking the crust. Blind baking is when you bake the crust before filling the quiche. The pre-baked crust is drier and less absorbent, so it doesn't soak up the filling and therefore prevents a soggy bottom.

  • Do you need to grease the pie pan for quiche?

    No, you don't need to grease the pie pan for quiche. This is because a pie crust (whether for a quiche, dessert pie, or a tart) contains a significant amount of butter or other fats. The butter in the crust acts as a “grease” making the pie not stick to the pan. 

  • Should the eggs and cream be at room temperature when making quiche?

    No, the eggs and cream do not need to be at room temperature when making quiche. Baking recipes often require ingredients like eggs, milk, and butter to be at room temperature so they'll combine more easily and bake up more consistently. With quiche, however, you can use eggs and cream that are still cold from the fridge without any issues.

5 More Quiche Recipes to Try

Updated by
Esther Reynolds
Headshot of Esther Reynolds
Esther Reynolds is an experienced recipe developer, recipe tester, food editor, and writer with over a decade of experience in the food and media industries.

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