Crustless Quiche
This Crustless Quiche is a favorite savory breakfast idea, perfect for a weekend breakfast or holiday brunch. With bacon, vegetables and cheese, this easy quiche recipe is packed with flavor!
A warm slice of quiche, fresh from the oven? If that’s not what breakfast dreams are made of, I’m not sure what is.
While traditional quiche made with pie crust is undeniably comforting, sometimes I want the richness and flavor of the egg custard filling without the heaviness of a pie crust. That’s where this crustless quiche comes in. Since there’s no crust, it’s lighter, healthier, gluten-free, and even easier to make than a classic quiche.
This crustless quiche is loaded with flavorful add-ins like bacon, cheese and fresh vegetables. It’s easily adaptable to use up what you have in your fridge, and you’ll find my suggestions for variations on this recipe below. This crustless quiche is perfect for including in a holiday or Mother’s Day brunch menu. It also makes a fantastic light lunch, served with a fresh green salad.
If you love quiche as much as I do, you’ll also want to try my Spinach Quiche, Broccoli Quiche and Asparagus Quiche recipes. Enjoy!
Crustless Quiche Recipe Ingredients
- Bacon: Bacon brings loads of flavor and a salty bite to this crustless quiche.
- Bell Pepper: An easy way to add color and a healthy veggie! I prefer the flavor of red, orange or yellow bell pepper in this recipe, but feel free to use a green bell pepper if that’s what you have on hand.
- Green Onions: Sliced green onions add a mild onion flavor.
- Gruyère Cheese: Rich, creamy and nutty, Gruyère cheese adds complex flavor and makes this crustless quiche extra irresistible.
- Eggs: Six large eggs are the base for the egg custard in the quiche.
- Whole Milk: I use a combination of whole milk and half and half to make the egg custard creamy and rich. I do not recommend substituting a lower fat milk. The custard needs the richness of whole milk.
- Half and Half: You can substitute heavy cream for the half and half for an even richer flavor.
- Salt and Pepper: To season the quiche. I have found that you only need to add a little bit of salt to the egg filling because the bacon brings lots of salty flavor. If you are sensitive to salt, omit the added salt.
How to Make Crustless Quiche
There are just a few quick and easy steps to making this crustless quiche recipe. Find the full printable recipe with ingredient amounts and instructions in the recipe card below.
- Cook the bacon. Bake the bacon in the oven at 400° F for 12-20 minutes, until it is cooked through and crispy. Or, if you have an air fryer, Air Fryer Bacon is another easy option. Place the cooked bacon on paper towels to soak up extra grease. Once cool, chop the bacon.
- Reduce the oven temperature to 350° F. Grease a 9-inch pie dish with cooking spray.
- Mix together the egg custard ingredients. In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the eggs, whole milk, half and half, salt and pepper until well combined.
- To assemble the quiche, scatter the chopped bell pepper, green onions, chopped bacon and cheese evenly over the bottom of the pie dish.
- Pour the egg custard over the other ingredients in the baking dish.
- Bake in a 350° F oven for 28-35 minutes, until it is set in the center. You can also test the temperature with an instant read thermometer. The center of the quiche should be cooked to at least 160° F.
- Let the quiche cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Recipe Variations
This recipe is so versatile and easily adaptable to fit your tastes. Here are a few suggestions for how to switch up the add-ins in this simple quiche recipe.
- Meat: I opted to use bacon in this recipe because it cooks quickly in the oven or air fryer and my family loves it. You can use cooked ham or sausage instead if you prefer.
- Cheese: Instead of the Gruyère, try cheddar cheese, white cheddar, feta cheese or swiss cheese.
- Vegetables: Feel free to substitute 1 cup of chopped fresh spinach for the bell pepper. Neither spinach nor bell pepper requires cooking before being added to the quiche. If you’d like to add other veggies, it’s best to cook them beforehand to soften them up. Try broccoli, mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, potatoes, red onion, butternut squash or caramelized onions.
- Pie Crust: If you’d like to add a pie crust to make a traditional quiche, you can use store-bought or homemade pie crust. I usually do not pre-bake my pie crust for quiche before adding the filling, but feel free to do so if you prefer a crisper bottom crust.
What to Serve with Crustless Quiche
When I’m serving a savory quiche for breakfast or brunch, I like to round out the meal with a healthy salad and something on the sweet side, such as muffins or a quick bread. Here are a few ideas:
- Salad: I love to serve a fresh, healthy salad with quiche. Try a simple Green Salad, Kale Salad or Fruit Salad.
- Muffins/Bread: Adding in a few types of muffins or breads is an easy way to round out a brunch menu. Delicious options include Blueberry Muffins, Cranberry Orange Muffins, Banana Muffins, Healthy Banana Bread, Pumpkin Bread, Biscuits, croissants or sliced crusty bread. Serve with Honey Butter for spreading.
- French Toast: This Baked French Toast Casserole is a delicious make ahead option, or try my easy classic French Toast Recipe.
- Potatoes: These crispy Breakfast Potatoes are so delicious and pair perfectly with egg-based dishes, including this crustless quiche.
Storage and Reheating Tips
Leftover crustless quiche reheats wonderfully! Once cool, wrap leftover quiche tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The easiest way to reheat quiche is to heat individual slices in the microwave. You can also reheat it in a 350° F oven.
If you would like to freeze the baked quiche, let it cool completely and then wrap it tightly. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
More Favorite Breakfast Ideas
Crustless Quiche
Ingredients
- 4 slices bacon
- ½ cup finely chopped bell pepper*, red, yellow or orange
- 3 green onions, chopped, white and light green parts only
- ¾ cup shredded Gruyere cheese*
- 6 large eggs
- ¾ cup whole milk
- ¼ cup half and half, or heavy cream
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
Instructions
Cook the Bacon
- Preheat oven to 400° F. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil and fold up the edges of the foil to catch any grease. Lay the bacon in a single layer on the foil.
- Bake bacon for 12-20 minutes, until cooked through and crispy. Reduce oven temperature to 350° F.
- Transfer bacon to a paper towel lined plate to soak up excess grease. Then chop the bacon.
Assemble and Bake Quiche
- Grease a 9-inch pie dish. Scatter the chopped bell pepper, green onions, chopped bacon and shredded cheese evenly over the bottom of the pie dish.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, half and half, salt and pepper until well combined. Pour the egg mixture over the other ingredients in the pie dish.
- Bake at 350° F for 28-35 minutes, until quiche is set in the center. (The center should register at least 160° F on an instant read thermometer.) Let cool for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
Notes
- You can substitute 1 cup chopped fresh spinach for the bell pepper.
- Instead of Gruyere, you can use cheddar, white cheddar, swiss or feta cheese.
- To store leftover quiche: Once cool, wrap tightly with plastic wrap and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. The easiest way to reheat quiche is to heat individual slices in the microwave. You can also reheat it in a 350° F oven.
- If you would like to freeze the baked quiche, let it cool completely and then wrap it tightly. Freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating.
This crustless quiche recipe sounds delicious, but I’m watching my cholesterol. I will substitute with turkey bacon, but would it work to sub the whole milk with almond milk or nonfat dairy milk? Thanks!
My concern with using almond milk or nonfat dairy milk is that the quiche might not set up as well. It may work though, so if you give it a try let me know how it turns out.
This sounds so yummy. I want to make it tomorrow but only have whole milk not half and half. Will the consistency be ok without it?
Yes, just add an extra 1/4 cup whole milk in place of the half and half. Enjoy!
Can the quiche be assembled and placed in the refrigerator the night before ??
Yes, that should work. You could also put the mix ins in the pie dish, mix up the egg mixture in a bowl and refrigerate the two separately until the morning. Then pour in the egg and bake.
This is a very good basic recipe for a crustless quiche. It was great to see all the possible variations which made me feel comfortable using what I had on hand. I used a mix of heavy cream and 2% milk, sautéed summer squash, scallions, halved cherry tomatoes, and and herbs de Provence. For cheese I had Mozzarella. It was really good. Thank you for the recipe!