Breakfast, Pies & Tarts

How To Make Quiche (With Homemade Buttermilk Pie Crust!)

4.48 from 38 votes
From my Buttermilk Pie Crust to the hearty egg custard, you'll learn how to make quiche perfectly with all the fillings you love!
Homemade quiche, packed with cheese, meat, and vegetables, is presented on top of a floral table cloth. Two slices are served on blue plates next to the quiche in its pie plate.

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Hi Bold Bakers!

WHY YOU’LL LOVE THIS RECIPE: If you’re wondering how to make quiche, my Homemade Quiche recipe couldn’t be easier — or harder to resist! My quiche has a perfectly baked buttermilk pastry crust and a customizable filling that everyone will enjoy! Have this quiche for breakfast or with a green salad for the perfect lunch.

On weekdays, you may opt for on-the-go breakfast foods for school or work. But, on those weekend mornings when you may have a bit more time to spend in the kitchen with family and friends, what can you make?

There’s nothing better than making a shareable dish that is fully customizable. I’ve created a foolproof Homemade Quiche recipe that not only feels like a warm hug but is also a hearty and filling dish. Packed with delicious proteins, vegetables, and cheeses alongside an incredibly tender crust, you’re in for a real treat.

Though predominantly eaten for breakfast, quiches can be made and eaten for any meal! Round up some basic tools and household ingredients, and I’ll show you how to make a quiche in no time! 

Table Of Contents

Two slices of homemade quiche are served on blue plates beneath the rest of the quiche, which rests in the baking dish.

What Is Quiche?

Quiche (pronounced KEESH) is a savory French tart composed of pastry crust and egg filling or custard. There are many varieties of quiche made with meat, cheese, vegetables, or seafood. It’s predominantly considered a hot breakfast food, but you can enjoy it for any meal and at any temperature.

Though quiches are typically known to be a French dish, there have been other accounts of quiches prior to the French. Quiche Lorraine, a traditional dish made of eggs, heavy cream, bacon, and Swiss cheese, originated in Germany during the 1500s.

Lucky for quiche lovers, I have a homemade Quiche Lorraine recipe you can try here. If you’re looking to make a tasty quiche in minutes, check out my Microwave Mug Quiche recipe while you’re at it.

Tools You Need

Quiche Ingredients

Custard Base:

  • Eggs: Make sure to use good quality, large eggs at room temperature.
  • Heavy cream: 30% fat content or higher heavy cream will give your custard a creamy texture.
  • Milk: Use some full-fat, whole milk for this recipe.
  • Salt: Just a touch will bring out the flavors of your ingredients.
  • Black Pepper: Pepper will add some depth and spice to your quiche.

Mix-Ins:

  • Cheese: Grated, hard but meltable cheese, like cheddar or gruyere, or crumbled cheese, like feta or blue cheese, is perfect for a quiche.
  • Protein: I recommend using cooked and crumbled bacon or sausage or diced cured meat such as ham or prosciutto.
  • Veggies: You can use steamed, sauteed, roasted, or diced vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, kale, onions, peppers, or cherry tomatoes.

A detailed image of the ingredients needed to make a quiche.

Homemade Vs. Store-Bought Pie Crust

Any good quiche begins with a dependable crust. For this recipe, I used my Homemade Buttermilk Pie Crust recipe because it’s got a wonderful buttery flavor and flaky texture.

You may be wondering whether you should make your own crust or buy one at the store. Here’s my line of thought — if you take the time to make your custard filling, take the time to make the homemade crust too. However, if you’re pinched for time, you can buy a premade crust. Just be sure it’s good quality and properly defrosted if used from frozen.

Whether you use a homemade or store-bought pie crust, make sure to blind-bake it to ensure a crisp crust. Instructions to do so are in the recipe but also check out my post How to Blind Bake Pie Crust.

How To Make Quiche

To Blind Bake The Pie Crust:

  1. Preheat the oven and line a deep dish pie pan with the pie crust.
  2. Line the crust with parchment paper, fill it with pie weights, and bake.
  3. Remove the paper and weights and continue baking until the bottom of the crust looks dry and shows a bit of color. Remove from the oven and lower the heat. Set aside the crust.

Homemade Buttermilk Pie Crust is shown in a side-by-side photo. On the left, it is unbaked and covered in parchment paper and sugar, serving as pie weights. On the right, the crust is baked and golden brown.

To Make The Filling:

  1. In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, salt, and pepper until smooth. Lastly, stir in your choice of cheese, protein, and vegetables.

A side-by-side photos show the ingredients of quiche custard. On the left there are two liquid measuring cups filled with milk and heavy cream, brown eggs in a bowl, and salt, and pepper in serving dishes. On the right, the ingredients have been whisked together.

How To Bake Quiche:

  1. Pour the filling into the crust and bake until the filling is slightly puffed and set in the middle.
  2. Let cool down before serving.

Different options for quiche are shown in a side-by-side photo. On the left, ingredients like cheddar cheese, tomatoes, spinach, mushrooms, bacon, and sausage are in individual bowls. On the right, the ingredients have been mixed in with the quiche custard.

Eggless Quiche

A quiche without eggs? It sounds unheard of, but you can substitute eggs with other amazing ingredients!

Chickpea flour, or garbanzo bean flour, sets up and binds with other ingredients while baking. It also creates a similar texture to eggs once baked. It has a very neutral flavor, so it shouldn’t overpower your quiche. I suggest adding 1 cup of chickpea flour to the cream mixture.

For more information on egg substitutes, check out this article!

Can I Make Quiche Ahead Of Time?

I recommend making quiche an hour or two before you want to serve it, as it’ll be the freshest and warmest then. However, you can always make quiche ahead of time and serve it by reheating it. 

A side-by-side photo shows an unbaked quiche on the left, with the custard still liquidy, and a baked quiche on the right. The baked quiche is set and golden brown.

How To Store Quiche

Though quiche tastes amazing the day it’s made, it also makes for great leftovers. If you have leftover quiche, store it loosely covered in the fridge for up to 3 days.

To reheat, cut your quiche into slices and pop it in the microwave or a low oven.

FAQs

Why is my quiche watery?

Your quiche can seem watery when it comes out of the oven because it needs some time to set before serving. Since the filling is a custard, it’s normal for there to be a bit of a wobble. As a quick test, gently press your finger on the custard. It should spring back slightly when done and feel firm under your finger.

If your quiche is not set and watery even after 30 minutes of setting up, you may have run into a few problems. Some of the most common causes of watery quiche are overbaking or underbaking your quiche, getting the egg and dairy ratio wrong, or using ingredients that have too much liquid.

Can I save a watery quiche?

The good news is you can save a watery quiche! If you happen to underbake the quiche, pop it back in the oven for a few extra minutes. Keep doing this until your filling is firm with a slight spring. 

If you overbaked your quiche, wrap the top of it with aluminum foil and pop it back in the oven on the lower rack. This should help the inner part of the custard to cook without burning the top.

For other watery quiche causes, make sure to use the right size eggs, measure the proper amount of dairy and keep your ingredients as dry as possible before use.

Why is my quiche leaking?

This is a common problem if you don’t blind-bake your crust. Blind-baking allows the crust to harden before you put in your wet filling. If this step is skipped, all of your filling will seep into the crust and cause it to leak. 

How do I keep my quiche from getting soggy on the bottom?

Even after blind-baking, you may end up with a Homemade Quiche with a soggy bottom. This can be solved by removing extra liquid and moisture from the ingredients you use beforehand. For example, you can sautee or roast some of your vegetables before mixing them into your custard to get rid of extra moisture.

Why is my quiche sinking?

You want a lovely fluffed-up quiche at the end of the day, but sometimes it ends up sinking and sad. If you bake your quiche too quickly, it will fluff up, sink and have an unsavory rubbery texture. Make sure to cook it at the right temperature to prevent this in the future.

Gemma’s Pro Chef Tips To Make Homemade Quiche

  • Some quiche recipes don’t require blind-baking the crust, but this extra step ensures a crispy bottom.
  • Keeping the custard ingredients at room temperature ensures even and quick baking.
  • You can bring the milk and cream to room temperature in the microwave or very briefly in a small pot over low heat on the stove.
  • For a vegetarian quiche, just double the amount of veggies and leave out the meat.
  • If the edges of the crust start to over-brown before the quiche is ready, cover the quiche loosely with foil for the remainder of the baking time.
  • For a gluten-free quiche, use my Gluten Free Pie Crust!
  • When making the crust, rub the flour and butter together until it reaches the texture of breadcrumbs or wet sand. This means the butter is evenly distributed, and that’s what creates the perfect crust.
  • Let your crust rest. The crust needs time to chill before it can be rolled out. Working with a colder crust means working it less, which is another secret to a great crust – you never want to handle it too much.
  • For an extra beautiful quiche, crimp the edges of your crust with your fingers!

Want More Savory Tart Recipes? Try These:

And don’t miss more everyday baking recipes in my NEW Bigger Bolder Baking Every Day Cookbook!

How to Make Quiche

4.48 from 38 votes
From my Buttermilk Pie Crust to the hearty egg custard, you'll learn how to make quiche perfectly with all the fillings you love!
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 8 people
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
From my Buttermilk Pie Crust to the hearty egg custard, you'll learn how to make quiche perfectly with all the fillings you love!
Author: Gemma Stafford
Servings: 8 people

Ingredients

Buttermilk Pastry

Custard Base

  • 5 large eggs, at room temperature
  • ¾ cup (6 fl oz/180 ml) heavy cream
  • ½ cup (4 fl oz/120 ml) milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper

Mix-Ins

  • Cheese: 1 cup (6 oz/170 g) grated hard but meltable cheese like cheddar or gruyere, or crumbled cheese like feta or blue cheese
  • Protein: 1 cup (8 oz/225 g) cooked and crumbled bacon or sausage, or diced cured meat such as ham or prosciutto
  • Veggies: 1 cup (10 oz/282 g) steamed, sauteed, or roasted diced vegetables such as spinach, broccoli, mushrooms, kale, onions, peppers, cherry tomatoes, etc.

Instructions

To Blind Bake The Pie Crust

  • Preheat the oven to 350°F (180°C) and line a 9-inch (23 cm) deep dish pie pan with the buttermilk pie crust.
  • Line the crust with parchment paper, fill it with pie weights (rice, beans, etc.), and bake for 15-20 minutes.
  • Remove the paper and weights and continue baking for 5-10 more minutes until the bottom of the crust looks dry and just beginning to show a bit of color. Remove from the oven and lower the heat to 325°F (165°C). Set the crust aside while you prepare the filling.

To Make The Filling

  • In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, cream, milk, salt, and pepper until smooth. Lastly, stir in your choice of cheese, protein, and vegetables.

To Bake The Quiche

  • Pour the filling into the crust and bake for 45-60 minutes, until the filling is slightly puffed and set in the middle. It will spring back slightly when done and feel firm under your finger.
  • Let cool down for 30 minutes before serving. This is best the day it is made, but you can store leftovers, loosely covered, in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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Lori
1 year ago

Oh my! I made this quiche for lunch today using sharp cheddar cheese, broccoli, and diced ham. It was absolutely delicious; wouldn’t change a thing! The blind-baked buttermilk pie crust was flaky and added soooo much flavor to the already amazing flavors of the quiche. I plan to make this again really soon. Thanks for another winning recipe, Gemma!

EA70124D-3F4E-4242-9A7A-CF3D6B3BECDD.jpeg
Julie heiskala
1 year ago

Yum! Love scratch baking. You make it easy and I love knowing what’s in my food. Super easy savory crust.

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Anam Javed
Anam Javed
1 year ago

Your recepies are so easyy…nd yumy
I follow u from pakistan.
Lots of love.

Maria
Maria
1 month ago

Can I make these crustless in a muffin tin?

Rosemary DiGiovanni
Rosemary DiGiovanni
1 year ago

Hi Gemma. I love your recipes and have always wanted to make a homemade quiche. I just ordered a deep dish pie pan and will make this quiche next weekend. So not critical to blind bake? Do you poke the pie dough with a fork before filling the pan? Lastly, confirming this recipe is for a deep dish pan. Thank you very much! Rosemary

Carmen
Carmen
1 year ago

Gemma, I so truly enjoy your recipes, I want to thank you 😊 for sharing them with us. I look forward to seeing more of you.

C.J.
C.J.
1 year ago

I make quiche frequently and I use all sorts of add ins, usually minimum of 10 eggs, meat combinations, veg combinations, cheese combinations, like chev goat cheese a lot! I never blind bake the crust and it’s always flaky. Always complimented on my flaky crust! 60 to 80 min baking time. They are rarely the same. All add in veg and meats are pre cooked.

About Us

Meet Gemma

About Us

Meet Gemma

Hi Bold Bakers! I’m Gemma Stafford, a professional chef originally from Ireland, a cookbook author, and the creator of Bigger Bolder Baking. I want to help you bake with confidence anytime, anywhere with my trusted and tested recipes and baking tips. You may have seen one of my 500+ videos on YouTube & TikTok or as a guest judge on Nailed It! on Netflix or the Best Baker in America on Food Network. No matter your skills, my Bold Baking Team & I want to be your #1 go-to baking authority.

 

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