Classic Quiche Lorraine Recipe with Bacon (2024)

FAQs

What's the difference between a quiche and a quiche Lorraine? ›

Quiche (/ˈkiːʃ/ KEESH) is a French tart consisting of a pastry crust filled with savoury custard and pieces of cheese, meat, seafood or vegetables. A well-known variant is quiche lorraine, which includes lardons or bacon.

The first quiche to come to the attention of the American public was the quiche Lorraine in the 1950s. Craig Claiborne, who started as food editor of The Times in 1957, created this classic recipe with bacon, onion and cheese to fill a pie dish. If you use a tart pan, expect to have extra custard.

Heavy Cream and Milk – For the best tasting quiche, use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream. (Or simply use half-and-half.) Using just heavy cream produces an overly thick filling. Whole milk is great, but a combo of heavy cream and milk is better.

Salt, cayenne pepper, ground nutmeg: These seasonings flavor of the quiche, with salt balancing the flavors, cayenne pepper adding a slight heat, and ground nutmeg providing a warm, nutty undertone.

And yes, as you'll see, you should always prebake quiche crust to avoid a gummy pastry. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Roll out your homemade or purchased refrigerated dough into a 12-inch circle.

The name Quiche Lorraine is French. A Quiche is basically an open-topped savoury tart, starting with a savoury pastry case and made with eggs, a little cream and some chopped bacon (lardons) - (sometimes the odd extra item such as herbs or cheese).

Another tip is to run a chopstick around the quiche so the solid ingredients in the filling don't all sink to the bottom. "For us the aim is to get the outside golden and the inside just set like scrambled eggs," he says.

A good quiche custard typically features: 1 large egg to 1/2 cups of dairy. The dairy can be any combination of milk and/or half-and-half, for example: 1 large egg : ½ cup milk. 1 large egg : ½ cup half-and-half.

The French typically eat quiches for lunch and dinner or as appetizers, but I've found that Americans like to eat quiches for breakfast and brunch. It doesn't matter when you eat it, my Quiche Lorraine recipe will taste good any time of the day.

If your quiche appears watery it may just need to set for a little longer. The recipe may also contain too much dairy, so make sure that the recipe you are following has the ratio of 4 eggs to 1 cup dairy. The added ingredients could also contain too much moisture, so it is important to cook or drain additions.

Why does my quiche always have a soggy bottom? ›

Instead of using raw vegetables in quiche, the outlet recommends roasting or sautéing vegetables with a high moisture content before adding them to quiche: That way, they'll release the majority of their water before landing in the egg custard and reducing the chances that it will become soggy.

The Kitchn cautions that using too many eggs can make the consistency of the quiche rubbery and tough, while using too few eggs can prevent the custard filling from setting properly, giving you a runny, soggy quiche. The recommended proportion is one egg to one-half cup of cream or milk.

Cornstarch and flour help bind the proteins together and help keep the custard in a quiche from curdling.

After warming the quiche, place it under the broiler for a few minutes to add a little caramelization and color to the top. Go one step further and sprinkle the top with grated Parmesan or a meltable shredded cheese like cheddar or Gruyère before broiling for extra flavor.

A frittata, sometimes called a crustless quiche, has no crust, and you can bake it directly in a pan or skillet.

The mother of all quiche recipes is the quiche Lorraine, a light custard with lots of bacon in a buttery crust.

Central to the Quiche Lorraine's appeal is the delicate balance of flavors. The creamy custard base, crafted from eggs and cream, provides a velvety backdrop to the savory bacon and cheese.

Classic Quiche Lorraine Ingredients

Bacon is the most traditional choice for the meat in a quiche Lorraine, but ham is just ever so slightly less classic and is every bit as yummy. So use what you have or what you prefer—your quiche will be a show-stopper either way.