This Spinach & Gruyére Quiche truly the best way to eat eggs! A flaky crust is filled with a cheesy egg custard with plenty of spinach to go around. You will be making this for brunches, Mother’s Days and dinners every chance you get.
Quiche is one of my favorite lunches. Add a little side salad and a bit of crusty herbed bread and you’ve got all your bases covered.
What makes this quiche so amazing?
- The egg filling is extra rich and silky thanks to a combination of whole milk and heavy cream. Paired with a flaky crust, you have a great combination.
- A quick spinach sauté with shallots and garlic is a great flavorful base.
- This quiche is easily made ahead of time for your next brunch.
Ingredients
The base of this quiche is an egg custard with flavors stirred in. Let’s talk about the main ingredients:
- Eggs. Obviously! And plenty of them.
- Whole milk and heavy cream. The mixture of the two makes for a really silky custard.
- Baby spinach. I prefer to use fresh baby spinach as opposed to frozen. This way I can sauté it with other flavors.
- Gruyére cheese. This is a nutty and creamy cheese, not too strong. Feel free to substitute for your favorite variety if you prefer cheddar, Swiss or provolone cheese instead.
- Shallots & garlic. The base flavors of the sauté.
- Dijon mustard & red pepper flakes. Just a hint for extra depth.
- Pie Crust. You can use your favorite pie crust here, or even a premade crust to save time (I promise not to tell!) I used my cream cheese crust.
Quiche Filling
The quiche filling itself is very easy, just whisk milk and eggs together and technically, you’ve got a quiche filling.
To make things even yummier, we are going to add some sautéd spinach and cheese to our mixture, along with a few other flavors.
To begin, sauté shallots and garlic until just translucent, then add the spinach. You only want to cook until the spinach has just wilted for the best texture once baked again in the quiche.
Bake the filling only until the eggs are just set. The center should still have a bit of a wobble.
Need help with the pie crust? I go through all the details of rolling and baking in my cream cheese crust post for reference.
No Soggy Bottoms
The biggest downfall to quiche is a soggy bottom, or undercooked crust on the bottom. It’s the greatest bane of my personal existence and happens on most pies without the proper precautions. A few tips are below:
Eliminate moisture. Besides the flavor, one of other reasons to sauté the spinach is to help release the moisture. Once the spinach is welted and cooled, place between paper towels and squeeze out the excess moisture. Repeat if needed until the mixture is dry.
Avoid ceramic. Ceramic pie plates are gorgeous but they are terrible at conducting heat. Use a glass or metal pan for a better crust.
Blind bake. Before adding the egg filling, we are going to bake our crust through to give it a chance to set. Placing dried beans or pie weights will keep the crust in place. I follow the same process in my fig tart or apple slab pie.
Bake in the bottom. Use the bottom third of the oven to bake so the bottom of the crust is closer to the heat elements.
Use a baking stone. Bake directly on a baking stone or pizza stone.
Egg wash. This is optional, but a quick egg wash on the crust bottom after blind baking will create a seal against moisture.
Frequently Asked Questions
Use a pie shield or strip of aluminum foil around the edge to prevent the crust from browning too much.
The likeliest cause is not blind baking long enough. But also follow all the above tips for soggy bottom success.
Yes! Quiche can be baked up to 3 days in advance and reheated in the oven (don’t microwave). Baked quiche can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and aluminum foil and frozen.
Sure, any semi-hard cheese will work – cheddars, Swiss or provolone are all great options.
Yes, thaw the spinach and wring out any water between paper towels. Do not sauté and add directly into the custard mixture.
Spinach & Gruyére Quiche
Equipment
- 9" Deep Pie or Quiche Pan
- Pie weights or dried beans
- Baking or pizza stone optional
- Pie shield optional
- 12" or larger skillet
Ingredients
- 1 cream cheese pie crust or preferred unbaked pie crust
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 small shallot finely diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- salt & pepper
- 200 g fresh baby spinach 7 oz.
- 6 large eggs
- 1 ½ cup whole milk
- ½ cup heavy cream
- ½ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard
- 226 g Gruyére cheese grated, 8 oz.
- Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water) optional
Instructions
- Crust. Roll pie dough on a lightly floured surface into a 1/8" circle large enough to fill pie pan. Using rolling pin to assist with moving, fold pie crust over pin and transfer to pie pan. Pat crust into corners of pan.1 cream cheese pie crust
- Trim crust to fit pan and crimp edges with the tines of the fork. Alternately, to create a decorative, wave pattern, trim dough about 1" longer than the edge of the pan. Fold crust under to meet edge and using thumb and forefinger on one hand, press into the finger on the other on each side of the crust. Piece bottom of crust all over with fork, cover with parchment paper and fill with pie weights or dried beans.
- Transfer pie pan to fridge to chill for at least 30 minutes. While chilling, position oven rack in bottom 1/3 of oven, and place a baking or pizza stone if using. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Once chilled, blind bake pie crust until edges are set, about 10-15 minutes. Remove pie weights and parchment paper and return crust to oven for another 15-20 minutes or until your crust is lightly browned on the bottom.
- Filling. While crust in cooking, prepare filling. In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add diced shallots and cook just until translucent, about 2 minutes. Add minced garlic, cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Season with salt and pepper.1 tablespoon unsalted butter, 1 small shallot, 2 cloves garlic, salt & pepper
- Add baby spinach (work in batches if your skillet is too small). Sauté until just barely wilted, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool.200 g fresh baby spinach
- Once spinach is cooled to the touch, place between sheets of paper towels. Squeeze any moisture out of the spinach mixture. Repeat as needed.
- Custard. Prepare custard by whisking eggs, milk, cream, Dijon mustard, red pepper flakes and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Stir in spinach mixture and Gruyére cheese. Set aside until crust is baked and cooled.6 large eggs, 1 1/2 cup whole milk, 1/2 cup heavy cream, 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes, 2 teaspoons Dijon mustard, 226 g Gruyére cheese, salt & pepper
- Turn oven heat down to 350°F (175°C).
- If desired, brush bottom of crust with egg wash to seal out moisture. Pour custard mixture into cooled pie crust. Bake until mixture is barely wobbling in the middle and the edges are set. About 50-60 minutes. If edges of pie crust being to brown too quickly, cover with pie shield or strip of aluminum foil.Egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon water)
- Custard will puff during baking and sink once removed. Serve warm or room temperature.
Notes
- Custard amount will fill 9″ deep pie pan. If using a standard pan, you can reduce filling to 4 large eggs, 1 cup whole milk, 1/4 cup heavy cream. Adjust amount of spinach and cheese as desired. Reduce cook time, beginning to check for doneness at 35 minutes.
- Quiche can be stored in fridge in air-tight container for up to 2 days. Quiche, whole or in slices, can also be wrapped in plastic wrap then aluminum foil and frozen to up to 2 months. Refresh quiche in a 350°F (175°C) oven for 5-10 minutes.
- Gruyére cheese can be substituted for other semi-hard cheeses like cheddar, provolone or Swiss cheese.
- Frozen spinach can be substituted for fresh. Thaw and wring all moisture out. Do not sauté, add directly to custard mixture.
Disclaimer: We test all recipes using the metric weights shown, we cannot guarantee outcomes when switching to US measurements.
