Loaded Vegetarian Quiche Recipe

Quiche is a popular dish that originated in France and is now enjoyed around the world. Quiche can be made with a variety of fillings and is convenient because you can make it in advance and store it in the refrigerator until you're ready to serve — a huge plus when entertaining. At first glance, quiches and frittatas seem the same, but there are quite a few differences. Frittatas don't have crusts, include more eggs, and are cooked in a skillet, while quiches are baked in a pie tin or cake pan.

Recipe developer Miriam Hahn brings us this loaded veggie quiche recipe. "I always like to serve a variety of food at a brunch and lean toward a few main dishes that can be made ahead," she says. "This quiche can be made a couple of days ahead and then just warmed up before serving. The homemade crust is easy to make and worth the extra effort."

Gather the ingredients for loaded vegetarian quiche

To make this recipe, you'll need a fair amount of ingredients. You can hit up the produce aisle for some mushrooms, red pepper, zucchini, and diced onion. Then, collect some dairy items: butter, whole milk, heavy cream, and mozzarella cheese, along with some eggs. Hopefully, you'll have the pantry items on hand — ice water, all-purpose flour, salt, baking powder, oil, and pepper. 

"This combination of vegetables tastes great in this quiche," Hahn shares. "If you have other veggies you want to use, you can easily swap them out." This recipe uses about 2 cups of chopped vegetables, and broccoli, asparagus, and leeks are good substitutions.

Make the crust dough

To start the crust, put the butter in the freezer for 10 minutes. We want it nice and hard so it will hold up to grating it into our dough. Grab a large bowl and combine the flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the baking powder. When the butter is ready, grate it into the bowl using a hand-held grater. Stir to combine, then add the ice water, incorporating 1 tablespoon at a time before adding more. 

When the dough ingredients are combined, roll it into a ball, flatten it into a disc, and place it into the fridge for 15 minutes. To roll it out, flour a work surface and add some flour to the top of the dough and to a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle. "I have a mat with measurements that makes this very easy," says Hahn. "If you don't have one of those, just pull out a measuring tape. I also use a paring knife to make the edges of the circle sharp." Transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate.

Crimp the edges and bake the crust

To make the pretty edges on the crust, press in toward the center of the pie with your finger and use your other hand to help form the point. "If you want a simpler way to decorate the edge, you can just use a fork and press in the fork tines around the edges to form precise lines," Hahn shares. Now, poke the sides and bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing out. Set the pie crust into the freezer for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 375 F.

We'll need to pre-bake the quiche crust (i.e. blind bake) before we add the filling so that it won't get soggy. Crumple up some parchment paper (so it is more flexible) and lay it in over the crust. Place some pie weights or dry beans in the center to weigh it down. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Then, remove the weights and parchment paper and bake for 8 more minutes. 

Remove it from the oven and reduce the heat to 350 F. "If you're wondering if you can still use the beans after blind baking, you can! " says Hahn. "They will still cook up just fine in the Instant Pot with about 10 extra minutes, so don't throw them away. However, if you have used them several times as pie weights, it will be time to retire them."

Make the vegetable filling, then bake and serve the quiche

Quickly soften up the veggies for the filling: Add the oil to a frying pan and bring heat to medium-high. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms, red pepper, and zucchini. Sauté for 10 minutes. In a large bowl combine the eggs, milk, cream, cheese, the remaining salt, and pepper. Add the cooked vegetables and stir. 

Now, we're ready to fill our crust, so pour the mixture into the pie shell. "To protect the crust from additional browning, I like to place a large piece of foil under the pie plate and bring it up over the crust edges so they are fully covered," Hahn explains.

Bake the quiche for 50 to 60 minutes, or until the center is mostly set and the top is nicely browned. Let the quiche cool for one hour before cutting it into slices to serve. If you wish, top it with fresh herbs, such as basil or Italian parsley. This quiche pairs nicely with a fresh salad. Leftovers will last up to five days in a sealed container in the fridge.

What to serve with a loaded vegetarian quiche

Loaded Vegetarian Quiche Recipe

5 (49 ratings)

For your next weekend brunch, make this vegetarian quiche with an easy homemade crust that's loaded up with vegetables, mushrooms, and mozzarella.

Prep Time
50
minutes
Cook Time
1.38
hours
servings
8
Servings
slice of quiche on plate with salad
Total time: 2 hours, 13 minutes

Ingredients

  • 7 tablespoons unsalted butter
  • 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt, divided
  • ¼ teaspoon baking powder
  • 9 tablespoons ice water
  • 1 teaspoon oil
  • 1 cup chopped mushrooms
  • ½ cup diced red pepper
  • ½ cup diced zucchini
  • ¼ cup diced onion
  • 3 eggs, beaten
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • ½ cup heavy cream
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ¼ teaspoon pepper

Optional Ingredients

  • fresh herbs

Directions

  1. Put the butter into the freezer for 10 minutes. In a large bowl, combine the flour, ¼ teaspoon salt, and the baking powder. Grate the butter into the bowl using a hand-held grater. Stir to combine, then add the ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and incorporate before adding more. When the dough is combined, roll it into a ball and flatten it into a disc. Then place it in the freezer for 15 minutes.
  2. Flour a work surface and place the dough on top. Add some flour to the top of the dough and to a rolling pin. Roll out the dough into a 12-inch circle. Now transfer the dough to a 9-inch pie plate.
  3. Crimp the corners by pushing in a finger and cupping it with the other hand around the perimeter of the dough or press a fork around the edges. Poke the sides and bottom of the crust with a fork to prevent the dough from puffing out. Put the pie crust in the freezer for 15 minutes and preheat the oven to 375 F.
  4. Crumple up some parchment paper and place it in the center of the pie pan. Pour in some dry beans or pie weights. Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Then remove the weights and parchment and bake for 8 more minutes. Remove from oven and reduce heat to 350 F.
  5. Add the oil to a frying pan and bring heat to medium high. Add the onions and cook for 5 minutes, then add the mushrooms, red pepper, and zucchini. Saute for 10 minutes. In a large bowl combine the eggs, milk, cream, cheese, the remaining salt, and pepper. Add the cooked vegetables and stir.
  6. Pour the mixture into the pie crust and place a large piece of foil under the pie plate and bring it up over the crust edges to prevent those from getting too browned. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until the center is mostly set and the top is golden brown. Let it cool for one hour before cutting.

Nutrition

Calories per Serving 370
Total Fat 27.0 g
Saturated Fat 16.0 g
Trans Fat 0.4 g
Cholesterol 139.0 mg
Total Carbohydrates 19.4 g
Dietary Fiber 1.0 g
Total Sugars 3.4 g
Sodium 405.1 mg
Protein 13.0 g
The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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What are some tips for making the best quiche?

In this recipe, we mix the eggs, dairy, and veggie fillings together before adding them to the blind-baked shell, but you can also layer these ingredients — batter, filling, then more batter. This helps the fillings stay suspended between layers of pillowy egg, and you can go for a third option by spreading the fillings onto the crust's base and topping them with all of the batter. Regardless of which orientation you pick, you'll want to do the majority of the pouring with your quiche already on the oven rack to avoid transfer spillage.

When it's almost time to eat, your temptation might be to pull the quiche out of the oven when it's firm all the way through. However, the hot quiche will continue to gently cook itself out of the oven, so you want to pull it out when the edges look firmly set but the middle still has the slightest wobble. Following this, you should let your quiche rest for that middle to finish cooking before you slice into it — we recommend an hour, but you can probably get away with 15 minutes or so.

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