Quiches are a great lunch option and this easy quiche recipe with no cream is straightforward and a great option for using up any leftovers.
I love home made quiches for packed lunches as they can be made ahead of time and you can also keep them in the freezer for 3-4 months. You can make the pasty yourself, which is really easy, especially if you use a food processor. If you're in a real hurry, use shop bought shortcrust pastry, rolled out to 3mm thickness, no one is judging. As an alternative you might also like my Crustless Quiche, all the best bits but without the pastry.
Can you make quiche without cream?
This seems to be a really common question. I guess people want something that's not too heavy. The answer is, yes you can, which is a relief. You do need some fat in there to help it set, but you can get that from the cheese. Using just milk and eggs as the basis for the filling works perfectly well and I figure you are more likely to have these ingredients in, which is way more helpful. The one thing to watch, is that the filling will be runnier when you make it so take care pouring it into the pastry case. However, it sets just as well and of course tastes at least as good.
Do I have to prebake the crust?
When you make a quiche, you have to 'blind bake' the pastry first. This means baking the pastry case on it's own before adding the filling. If you didn't do this, the pastry wouldn't cook properly and would be soggy. The other thing about blind baking, is you need to weigh the pastry down. The pastry will naturally want to rise a little as it is being cooked. To stop this happening and keep a good shape, you need to weigh it down. You can buy special ceramic baking beads to do this, but if you don't have any then plenty of other things in your cupboard will do the same job. Cover the pastry with some greaseproof paper and use any dried food such as rice, lentils or beans to hold the pastry down. When the pastry is cooked, just tip them back into a jar to use again.
How to reheat quiche
Quiches are great served cold. Just take them out of the freezer the night before and leave to defrost in the fridge overnight. If you prefer, you can re-heat it from frozen in the oven at 180°C for 30 minutes. Cover it with foil to prevent it from going dry. It's best to reheat them in the oven rather than microwave as the eggs can go a bit rubbery in the microwave.
Sustainability
Quiches are great for using up leftovers and reducing food waste as you can add in pretty much any leftover veg or bits of cooked meat that aren't necessarily enough to do much else with. As they can be frozen, why not make a few at a time to save on energy costs too.
How to Store
Quiches keep well in the fridge for 3-4 days. They can be frozen for for 3-4 months.
Filling Ideas for Quiche
The basis for the quiche is eggs, milk and cheese. After that, you can add pretty much any veg. Remember to fry any veg first and only use cooked meat. Some of my favourite filling ideas are :- onion, bacon, spinach, mushrooms, peppers, caramelized onion, butternut squash. Broccoli and blue cheese go well together or why not try goats cheese & leek, goats cheese & fig or tomato courgette & onion...you get the idea. This is a great dish for adding your own personal touch and using up whatever you have.
For more easy ideas on what to include in packed lunches, click here
📖 Recipe
Easy Quiche No Cream
Ingredients
Pastry
- 200 g Plain Flour organic
- 100 g Butter organic
- 4-5 tablespoon cold water
Filling
- 1 onion peeled, chopped, organic
- 1 red pepper de-seeded, diced, organic
- 50 g spinach organic
- 3 eggs free range, organic
- 200 ml milk semi skimmed or full fat, organic
- 150 g mature cheddar cheese grated, organic
Instructions
For the Pastry. Food processor method
- Sieve the flour and add to the food processor with the butter and water. Whizz together for a few seconds until pastry is formed. Wrap the pastry in a beeswax wrap or clingfilm - something to keep out the air and prevent it from drying out and place in the fridge for 30 minutes
For the Pastry. Manual Method
- Sieve the flour into a bowl and ruv in the butter until it resembles fine breadcrumbs
- Gradually add the water and bring the mixture together until it forms a dough. Add more water if you need to. Wrap the pastry in a beeswax wrap or clingfilm - something to keep out the air and prevent it from drying out and place in the fridge for 30 minutes
How to cook the Pastry
- Pre-heat the oven to 180°C/360°F/gas 4.
- Dust a surface and roll out the pastry to ½cm thickness. Roll the pastry around a rolling pin and unroll it to cover a 23cm round tart tin. Alternatively, grease a foil tray about 3cm deep or use individual ones if you prefer.
- Lightly press the pastry into the tin or tray. Trim any overhanging pastry. Line with greaseproof paper or clingfilm. Fill the space with dried pulses or rice. This is to weight the pastry down and stop it puffing up whilst you cook it.
- Bake in the oven for 12 minutes. Remove the pulses or rice and liner and put back in the oven to cook for a further 8-10 minutes until golden and crisp.
For the Filling
- Fry up the vegetables then spoon into the pastry case in an even layer
- Crack the eggs into a bowl, whisk in the milk and stir in the cheese
- Pour the egg mixture over the top of the vegetables not quite to the top of the crust. This will be quite runny so be careful, but it will set well.
- Place the quiche in the oven at 180°C/360°F/gas 4. and cook for 35 - 40 minutes or until just set. Leave it to cool slightly before serving as this will help it set a bit more.
Nutrition per serving
The Nutritional Values are computer generated estimates based on industry standards and are provided as a helpful guide only.
Patricia
Brilliant recipe. Thank you!
REALMEALDEAL
Thank you so pleased you enjoyed it
kim
Brilliant quick and easy recipes to make with ingredients most people would already have in a family kitchen & they that taste great too. Kim
Brenda
Quiche is always a winner. Good to hear of the alternative fillings. Time to make a change !
Marie
Used left over gammon in the recipe , with a thumbs up from the rest of the family