Cheese Flan was a favourite on many school dinner menus in Britain in the 1970s. Whether you're looking for nostalgia with an old-school cheese flan recipe or an easy alternative to quiche, you'll love this savory cheese and egg flan. A crispy shortcrust pastry base filled with a delicious cheese and egg mixture and baked until golden brown.
Flan is a traditional British version of the French quiche. Also known as egg flan, cheese and egg flan, or cheese pie. It's a cheap and easy midweek meal, can be frozen, and is perfect for buffets, potlucks, and lunches. This is my Grandma's recipe and my family has been making this for nearly 70 years.
The key difference with this Cheese Flan school dinner recipe is the rich cheesy pastry base, which once you've tried it, you'll never make it any other way.
If you're looking for a more traditional Quiche recipe but one that's not too heavy, try my Quiche recipe with no cream. Alternatively, for an even quicker version, my Crustless or Impossible Quiche (so-called in Australia) is just what you need if you're in a hurry. If you have any leftover pastry, then these Baked Cheesy Bites are just perfect.
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Cheese Flan Ingredients
This old school recipe needs just 5 simple ingredients.
- Plain flour - or All Purpose Flour
- Eggs - the recipe uses two altogether, half an egg in the pastry and 1 ½ in the filling.
- Butter - I use salted but you can also use unsalted
- Cheese - a mature cheddar is best for a rich flavour. It works best if you grate the cheese yourself rather than buying packet grated or shredded cheese. This is because pre-grated cheeses have a special coating on them to stop it clumping together in the packet. This also means that it doesn't melt as well. A mature cheddar rather than a mild cheddar will give the best flavour.
- Milk - I recommend full fat or semi-skimmed.
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
We start with the cheese pastry and then make the filling, which is very straightforward. The cheese flan then needs to be cooked straight away as otherwise, the filling will seep into the pastry and make it soggy.
How to make Flan Pastry in a Food Processor
Sieve the flour and add it to the food processor with the butter, egg, and cheese. Whisk all the eggs together and just use a quarter of the whisked mixture for the pastry as per the recipe. Whizz together for a few seconds until pastry is formed.
Wrap the pastry in a beeswax wrap or clingfilm to keep out the air and prevent it from drying out. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes.
How to make Flan Pastry by hand
Sieve the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Whisk all the eggs together and just use a quarter of the whisked eggs for the pastry as per the recipe.
Gradually add the egg and bring the mixture together until it forms a dough. Add a little water if you need to. Knead in the grated cheese. Wrap the pastry in a beeswax wrap or clingfilm to keep out the air and prevent it from drying out. Place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
How to assemble the Cheese Flan
Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas 8. Dust a surface with a little flour and roll out the pastry to ½cm thickness in a roughly round shape.
Wrap the pastry loosely around a rolling pin and unroll it to cover a 23cm /9-inch flan dish.
Lightly press the pastry into the tin or tray.
Use the rolling pin and roll over the edges of the flan dish to trim the excess pastry. Put this to one side. (use the excess pastry to make cheese biscuits)
Sprinkle the grated cheese over the pastry in an even layer.
Whisk the eggs and mix with the milk.
Pour the eggs and milk over the cheese.
Place the flan on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 12 minutes until the filling is just beginning to set. You will notice a slight skin forming on the top.
Turn the heat down to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and cook for a further 15 - 20 minutes until the filling sets.
Leave to cool and serve.
Hint: Use any leftover pastry to make cheese biscuits.
Why do you not blind bake the pastry?
If you are used to making quiches or pastry tarts, you may be wondering why this recipe doesn't tell you to blind-bake the pastry first before adding the filling? In this recipe, there is no need to blind-bake the pastry for two reasons. Firstly, we roll the pastry quite thinly. Secondly, the cheese flan is cooked at a high temperature which keeps the pastry nice and crisp.
Substitutions
There are not many substitutions you can make with this recipe as it is such as basic savory flan recipe. However, as an alternative to mature cheddar cheese, you can use another hard cheese. Choose one with a strong flavour and grate it yourself. Alternatives will give a different flavour but you could try Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, or a Gouda or Mimolette in France.
Variations
Although a Cheese Flan is a simple version of a Quiche, you can of course add in other ingredients, which is always good if you have food that needs to be used up to avoid foodwaste. For example
- crispy onions, sliced tomato, sauteed mushrooms, spinach,and bell peppers.
If you are short on time, you can of course use a shop bought shortcrust pastry. You can still add some grated cheese to it and re-roll it.
Equipment
You need a 23cm / 9inch round pie dish or flan dish or tart tin. Alternatively, you can use a round foil tray of a similar size.
Serving Suggestions
You might have memories of how this Cheese and Egg Flan was served at school and if it's nostalgia you're after, go with baked beans and chips or tinned tomatoes! However, you could also serve it with a green salad, a side of green vegetables, or a slaw.
Sustainability
A Cheese Flan can be great for using up small amounts of vegetables and cooked meats that are not enough to make a meal out of. As it can be easily frozen, making several at once will save on energy costs.
Storage
Cheese Flan can be stored in the fridge for 3 - 4 days and should be placed in the refrigerator within two hours of cooling.
It freezes well and can be frozen for 3-4 months.
How to Reheat
The best way to reheat cheese flan is to cover it with foil so the top doesn't brown further and reheat it in the oven at 160 / 325°F for about 15 minutes. This will ensure it is heated consistently all the way through.
Top tip
Making your pastry beats a store-bought one and this cheesy pastry crust is what makes this savory flan.
FAQ
Chilling pastry before rolling it out helps the gluten strands relax, meaning your pie crust won't shrink when it bakes.
In this case, a quiche is a traditional French dish and a Flan is a British version. The other main difference is that with a flan the pastry is cooked at the same time as the filling, whereas with a quiche, the pastry is blind-baked first.
Related
Looking for other quiche or egg recipes? Try these:
📖 Recipe
Cheese Flan
Ingredients
Pastry
- 115 g Plain Flour organic
- 70 g Butter organic
- 0.5 Egg beaten/whisked
- 60 g Mature cheddar cheese grated (shredded)
Filling
- 115 g Mature cheddar cheese grated, organic
- 280 ml milk semi skimmed or full fat, organic
- 1.5 eggs free range, organic
Instructions
For the Pastry. Food processor method
- Sieve the flour and add it to the food processor with the butter, egg, and cheese. I recommend whisking all the eggs together and just using a quarter for the pastry as per the recipe. Whizz together for a few seconds until pastry is formed.115 g Plain Flour, 70 g Butter, 0.5 Egg, 60 g Mature cheddar cheese
- Wrap the pastry in a beeswax wrap or clingfilm to keep out the air and prevent it from drying out. Place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
For the Pastry. Manual Method
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.115 g Plain Flour, 70 g Butter
- I recommend whisking all the eggs together and just using a quarter for the pastry as per the recipe. Gradually add the egg and bring the mixture together until it forms a dough. Add a little water if you need to. Knead in the grated cheese. Wrap the pastry in a beeswax wrap or clingfilm to keep out the air and prevent it from drying out. Place it in the fridge for 30 minutes.0.5 Egg, 60 g Mature cheddar cheese
Assembling the Cheese Flan
- Preheat the oven to 230°C/450°F/gas 8. Dust a surface with a little flour and roll out the pastry to ½cm thickness in a roughly circular shape..
- Roll the pastry loosely around a rolling pin and unroll it to cover a 23cm /9 inch flan dish.
- Lightly press the pastry into the tin or tray.
- Use a rolling pin and roll over the edges of the flan dish to trim the excess pastry. Put this to one side. (use the excess pastry to make cheese biscuits)
- Sprinkle the grated cheese over the pastry in an even layer.115 g Mature cheddar cheese
- Whisk the eggs and mix with the milk.280 ml milk, 1.5 eggs
- Pour the eggs and milk over the cheese.
- Place the flan on the middle shelf of the oven and bake for 12 minutes until the filling is just beginning to set. You will notice a slight skin forming on the top.
- Turn the heat down to 200°C/400°F/gas mark 6 and cook for a further 15 - 20 minutes until the filling sets.
- Leave to cool and serve.
Notes
Ingredient Notes
-
- Plain flour - or All Purpose Flour
-
- Eggs - the recipe uses two altogether, half an egg in the pastry and 1 ½ in the filling.
-
- Butter - I use salted but you can also use unsalted
-
- Cheese - a mature cheddar is best for a rich flavour. It works best if you grate the cheese yourself rather than buying packet grated or shredded cheese. This is because pre-grated cheeses have a special coating on them to stop it clumping together in the packet. This also means that it doesn't melt as well. A mature cheddar rather than a mild cheddar will give the best flavour.
-
- Milk - I recommend full-fat or semi-skimmed.
Storage
Cheese Flan can be stored in the fridge for 3 - 4 days and should be placed in the refrigerator within two hours of cooling. It freezes well and can be frozen for 3-4 months.How to Reheat
The best way to reheat cheese flan is to cover it with foil so the top doesn't brown further and reheat it in the oven at 160 / 325°F for about 15 minutes. This will ensure it is heated consistently all the way through.Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Bren
This is absolutely great ! Easy peasy tasty.
I love the fact that you take photos of the ingredients. Able to find them all quickly without doing a monster shop involving ingredients that only get used once !
Jules
Yum! So nostalgic and still super tasty! Great with a fresh tomato salad 👍😋
REALMEALDEAL
So pleased you like it - sometimes the old recipes are still the best!