Classic Quiche Lorraine

Packed with bacon, chives, cheese and eggs, and baked in a flaky, buttery crust that’s so easy to make – this Classic Quiche Lorraine is rich, creamy and full of incredible flavor! Can be made ahead and frozen for later too.  

This quiche lorraine is perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or to serve a crowd. 

Once upon a time ago, I used to work in an indie movie theater in Christchurch, NZ. This was where my affection for coffee was nurtured. But it was also where I ate the most perfect Classic Quiche Lorraine! There was a cafe downstairs that served slices of quiche, and they were nothing but creamy, cheesy, bacony, eggy indulgence. 

Quiche lorraine is perfect for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or even as a light dinner with a side salad. I also make it on weekends, so I can freeze the slices to eat for breakfast throughout the week. It’s also perfect to serve a crowd. 

Plus, you can adapt the quiche recipe to incorporate whatever you have left in the fridge, helping you reduce food wastage. So it’s a very versatile recipe. 

How to make quiche lorraine

Making the crust

Quiche lorraine can seem intimidating for a first-timer, but I assure you, it’s easy. My first time was a disaster because the dough for the crust wasn’t enough, and the crust ended up shrinking as it baked. Now, my trick is to make a crust that’s slightly larger than the pie pan. This way, you never overwork the dough when you stretch it out in the pan, and have plenty of dough at the edges to crimp. The result is perfect crust, with perfect edges, every time. 

Here are some tips to make a perfect crust for your quiche lorraine 

• Start with chilled ingredients – All the ingredients for the crust need to be chilled before you start; butter, flour, egg, and water. This will ensure an incredibly flaky, delicious quiche lorraine crust. 
• Never overwork the dough – You must knead the dough to bring it together. However, I prefer to use a gentle fold-and-turn method to knead the dough. The folding action will also create buttery, flaky layers, while making sure you don’t overwork the gluten (which can cause the crust to shrink).
• REST THE DOUGH – This is so important! I let it rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour (usually overnight). The gluten will relax, and help prevent crust shrinkage. 
• Roll the dough freely – Make sure your work surface is lightly floured so that the dough doesn’t stick. Also apply equal pressure, so that you roll out the dough to an even thickness. 
• Do not stretch the dough – When placing the dough in the pie/quiche dish, make sure not to stretch the dough in the pan. If there are bubbles under the crust, or the crust hasn’t quite gotten into the edges of the pan, do not push the dough in and stretch it out. Instead, gently lift the dough, and replace it in the pan without bubbles or gaps. 
• Dock the crust – I like to dock the crust before baking, but I also dock the crust during the blind baking process as well. This helps the crust retain its shape as it blind bakes and cools. 

Should I blind bake the crust or not?

I prefer to blind bake the crust. This lets the crust become crisp and turn golden brown, reducing any chances of the dough being under-cooked. With blind baking, my crust is ALWAYS golden and flaky on the sides and on the bottom, and not a soft, soggy mess. 

So I recommend always blind baking. I also like to use my ceramic pie weights for blind baking. But if you don’t have those, no worries. You can simply use dry beans instead. Before getting ceramic pie weights, I had a container filled with dried beans that I only used for blind baking. 

Another tip to make blind baking easier is to line the pie crust with parchment paper before placing the pie weights inside. This way you can easily remove the pie weights when the time is right, and there’s nothing sticking to the quiche crust. I also crumple up the parchment paper first to create lots of wrinkles, so that it becomes easier to line the quiche crust with it. 

Quiche lorraine filling

The custard for the quiche lorraine is simple to make too. I like to use half and half, and cream to make the custard richer. This also prevents the filling from being too wet. Pair that with all the cheese and bacon in the filling, and this classic quiche lorraine is a veritable party in your mouth!

I’ve seen some recipes use minced onions in the filling too. This is a great option, but I personally love to add chives or caramelized onion. Here I’ve used chives because I love the specks of green in that creamy quiche lorraine. Minced onion, shallots, caramelized onion, chopped spring onion, chopped chives are all great options for this classic quiche lorraine filling. 

You can also add other ingredients too. Just make sure those ingredients do not have a high water content, which could make the quiche watery.

Here are some of my favorite additions for the quiche lorraine filling 

• Sauteed mushrooms
• Sauteed spinach
• Other herbs – thyme, rosemary, parsley
• Cheese – feta, parmesan, mozzarella
• Leftover meat – rotisserie chicken, cooked ground beef, ham

How to tell if the quiche lorraine is done

A perfectly baked filling is obviously a must. Bake it too long, and the quiche will be too dry. Bake it too short, and you end up with a soggy, unappetizing mess. 

The best way to know that your quiche is done is to take it out while it’s still a little jiggly in the middle. At this stage, if you insert a sharp knife or cake tester into the quiche about one and half inches from the crust, it should come out clean. Then let it sit in the oven (with the oven turned off and the door half open), while it cools down for about 10-15 minutes.  

How to serve quiche lorraine

I prefer serving this warm, or at room temperature. 

I also like to keep the sides simple too. A green salad with a simple vinaigrette is my idea of the perfect side dish, since this quiche lorraine really quite rich and flavorful. You can also serve it just as is, or even with a dollop of crème fraîche. 

Since I’ll be making this often for summer brunch, I’ll be pairing this with a pitcher of my galaxy lemonade, or my ginger rose fizz drinks. They are the perfect summer drinks to complement this creamy quiche lorraine. 

Tools used to make quiche lorraine

Silicone pastry mat –  Makes it much easier roll out the pastry.

Rolling pin – A heavy rolling pin ensures evenly rolled out pastry dough. 

Pie dish –  I like using a deep pie dish so that I can add more of the filling, plus this is so beautiful that the quiche can be served right in this dish.

Ceramic pie weights – I love using these to blind bake my pie crusts.

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Quiche Lorraine

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch

Cuisine: American, British, European

Keyword: Bacon, Eggs, Pie, Tarts

Prep Time: 30 minutes

Cook Time: 1 hour

Resting / cooling time: 4 hours

Total Time: 5 hours 30 minutes

Servings: 8 servings

Calories: 419 kcal

Author: Dini @ The Flavor Bender

Step by step recipe to make perfect quiche lorraine. Rich, creamy and packed with bacon and cheese! 

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Ingredients

Quiche crust

• 2 ¼ cups AP flour 270 g
• ¾ tsp salt
• 1 ½ sticks unsalted butter chilled and cubed (170 g)
• 1 egg
• 2 - 4 tbsp chilled water

Quiche Lorraine

• 12 slices of bacon chopped and pan-fried
• 1 cup gruyere cheese or Swiss cheese (75 g)
• 3 tbsp finely chopped chives
• 5 large eggs
• ¾ cup half and half or full cream milk
• ¾ cup whipping cream
• ½ tsp salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Quiche Crust

1. Place the 2 ¼ cups (270 g) flour and ¾ tsp salt in a large bowl, and mix to combine.

2. Add the 1 ½ sticks (170 g) cubed butter, and using a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter into the flour. The flour-butter mix should mostly resemble coarse bread crumbs with some larger chunks.

3. In a small bowl, beat the egg with 2 tbsp of chilled water.

4. Add the egg mix to the flour, and mix it into the flour using a fork or floured hands. Knead gently to bring the flour together to form a dough. Add more water if needed. I use about 3 tbsp of water.

5. Knead the dough gently to form a dough disc. Place the dough in a ziploc bag (or wrap in plastic wrap), and refrigerate for a minimum of 1 hour.

6. When ready to bake, preheat the oven to 400°F/205°C.

7. Lightly butter a 9 inch pie pan (or quiche pan).

8. Lightly flour a work surface (or pastry mat), and roll out the dough to a 14 - 15 inch diameter circle, and about 3 - 4 mm thick. Make sure the dough isn’t sticking to the work surface while you’re rolling it out.

9. Carefully place the dough in the pie dish, without overstretching the dough, and make sure it's laying flat on the pie dish, with no bubbles underneath.

10. Trim the excess crust, while leaving a small overhang from the sides of the pie dish. Fold the overhang, and create a fluted crust edge (using a fork or your fingers). Dock the base of the pie crust and refrigerate the crust for at least 30 minutes.

11. Before baking, take a large piece of parchment paper (to fit inside the pie dish), and crumple it up. Then uncrumple the parchment paper and place it on top of the pie crust, followed by ceramic pie weights or dried beans to weigh it down.

12. Bind bake the pie crust for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven and then remove the pie weights and parchment paper. Return to the oven to be baked for a further 5 - 10 minutes. You can cover the edges of the crust with foil if you like (to prevent the crust from burning).

13. Remove from the oven and let it cool completely.

Quiche Lorraine

1. Preheat the oven to 325°F/162°C.

2. In a large bowl, place the 5 eggs and whisk well.

3. Set aside a handful of the cooked bacon. Add the rest of the bacon to the whisked eggs.

4. Add the ¾ cup half and half and ¾ cup cream, salt, 1 cup cheese and chopped chives to the egg mix. Whisk to mix well. Set aside.

5. Cover the edges of the cooled quiche crust with foil. Pour the filling into the crust.

6. Bake the quiche in the preheated oven for about 15 minutes, and then sprinkle the bacon that you set aside earlier.

7. Bake the quiche for a further 20 - 30 minutes (a total time of 35 - 45 minutes) until the filling is baked. The middle should still be just a little jiggly, but not runny.

8. Turn off the oven, and let the quiche cool in the oven for about 10 minutes with the oven door half open.

9. Serve the quiche while still warm or at room temperature with a side salad.