This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
This Bacon Spinach Quiche is welcome at any brunch party. Creamy egg custard, crispy bacon, and fresh spinach are mixed together and baked in a flaky pie crust.
Jump to:
My Bacon Spinach Quiche is here to make all of your brunch dreams come true. Tender baked eggs in a buttery and flaky pie crust with crispy bacon and melted cheese is literally my idea of heaven. It’s like an omelet, but better!
This is a savory egg pie that’s filled with lots of flavor and surrounded in a melt-in-your-mouth pie crust. No need to fret because this easy recipe is made with a storebought crust (although you’re more than welcome to make your own).
You can easily adapt this quiche recipe to your liking by adding in more vegetables like mushrooms or zucchini and all of your favorite cheeses. It’s a showstopping addition to any brunch table and goes great next to a refreshing gem lettuce salad and a tall bloody mary.
What is quiche?
Quiche is a French recipe that begins with a pie shell. After it’s blind baked, the dough is filled with an egg custard (beaten eggs mixed with cream) and add-ins like vegetables, meat, and cheese. Baked to perfection in a pie plate, quiche can be served hot or cold for breakfast, brunch, or with savory add-ins or side dishes for dinner.
Ingredients you need to make quiche
You need a few simple ingredients to put this recipe together. There are a few options available to speed this recipe up or to give it some extra love:
Pie dough
Learning how to make your own pie dough is well worth the effort. You can use these new-found skills to not only make amazing quiches but also galletes and pie tarts! You may even feel confident enough to try a homemade classic pâte brisée (which takes your everyday pie or quiche recipe up a notch).
If you do opt to make quiche with frozen pie crust, make sure to thaw the dough completely. It will still need to be blind-baked to ensure it doesn’t come out of the oven undercooked.
Eggs
This is what makes a quiche a quiche! The fresher the eggs, the better.
Test the freshness of your eggs by placing them in a glass of cold water. If they sink and lie flat on their sides, they’re fresh! Any eggs that float to the top are no longer fresh and should be thrown away.
Bacon
The strips of bacon will need to be pre-cooked before they go in the quiche. Crispy bacon is best when added to a quiche but you can cook it any way you like.
Go ahead and use your favorite kind of bacon in this recipe, whether it’s center cut, peppered, applewood smoked, or even turkey or veggie bacon.
Spinach
Spinach quiche with fresh spinach not only gives each bite a great flavor, but it also adds gorgeous specks of color throughout. We’re using fresh greens for this recipe but you can also use thawed and thoroughly drained frozen spinach if you want. Just throw it in with the cooked shallots and garlic until it’s warm.
Half and half
We need a little cream to make this bacon spinach quiche recipe extra creamy and delicious. Half and half is fatty and my favorite option to use for the egg custard. Milk will also work but it won’t make the quiche taste as rich. You can also substitute the half and half with equal parts milk and heavy cream to find a nice balance of flavors.
Flavor boosters
Here’s where everything really comes together and gives every bite a pop of flavor. Shallots, garlic, and spinach are cooked in the leftover bacon grease before being stirred in with the eggs, dijon mustard, and cream.
As one last boost of flavor, shredded cheese will melt as the quiche cooks, creating rich cheesy goodness as you slice into the decadent brunch pie.
How to make bacon and spinach quiche
Creamy, savory, and luscious quiche is just a few steps away:
Step 1: Roll out the pie dough and place it into the pan. Prick the bottom with a fork and place the pan in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Step 2: Put a piece of parchment paper on the dough and fill it with pie weights before blind baking.
Step 3: Remove the pie weights and bake the dough for another 10 minutes. When it's done, brush it lightly with an egg white.
Step 4: Cook the spinach and bacon, and make the egg custard.
Step 5: Add the spinach, bacon, and cheese filling to the crust.
Step 6: Pour the egg custard over top before baking the quiche.
Step 7: Let the baked quiche cool for about an hour. Once cooled, slice it up!
Recipe tips
Make the best spinach bacon quiche with a few simple tips:
Add toppings and garnish
Top the quiche with more savory garnishes to bump the flavor up even more. With each slice you can add roasted tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and microgreens or sprouts on top.
Overcooking quiche
I love quiche but only when it’s cooked right. Often times it is overcooked and can become watery. To keep that from happening, use an instant-read thermometer (the ThermoPop is my go-to thermometer!) to ensure the eggs are fully cooked from the inside out.
The optimal internal temperature for quiche is 170ºF. If you can’t check this with a thermometer, look and see if the quiche still has a slight jiggle in the center and hasn’t yet begun to puff up. Once it puffs, you’ll know it’s overcooked.
Make it ahead of time
You can make the custard base as well as the bacon and spinach mixture up to 3 days ahead of time. Keep each of them in airtight containers in the fridge until you’re ready to put the quiche together.
After the quiche has been cooked, leave it to cool completely before covering it in plastic or foil. You can freeze it for a couple of months and then reheat in a 300ºF oven for around 30 minutes.
It's time to cook!
Okay friend! It's your turn to make this delightful brunch dish. When you do, make sure to leave a comment below so I can hear what you think!
Recipe
Bacon Spinach Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 pie dough store bough or homemade
- 4 large eggs, divided
- 4 ounces bacon, chopped about 4 slices
- 1 shallot, finely chopped
- 2 cups chopped spinach
- 1 clove garlic, minced
- 2 cups half and half
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Position one oven rack to the bottom position of your oven and preheat to 400 degrees.
- Roll dough out to a 12-inch circle and place into a 9-inch pie pan, trim the edges if needed, and crimp using your favorite design.
- Using a fork, prick the bottom of the dough a few times (this is called docking) and freeze for 15 minutes
- Place a piece of parchment paper on the dough and fill with pie weights. Bake on the bottom rack of the oven until the edges look dry, about 8 minutes.
- Carefully remove the pie weights and continue to bake until the bottom of the dough looks dry and the edges slightly brown, about 8 minutes.
- While the dough bakes, separate the white from the yolk of one egg and place the yolk into a large bowl.
- Thoroughly whisk the egg white and, brush a thin layer of the beaten egg white all over the warm pie crust. Discard any remaining egg white and allow the crust to cool.
Filling
- Reduce oven temp to 325 degrees.
- Cook bacon until crisp in a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 6 minutes. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate.
- Remove all but 1 tablespoon bacon fat from the pan and add the shallot. Cook, stirring often until the shallot is lightly browned, about 2 minutes
- Add the spinach and garlic and, stirring often, cook until the spinach has wilted and most of the liquid has cooked off, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat and season with a pinch of salt and pepper.
- Add the remaining three eggs to the large bowl with the egg yolk. Thoroughly whisk until uniform.
- Add the half and half, dijon, and salt and pepper and gently whisk to combine.
- Place the pie pan onto a baking sheet. Evenly sprinkle the bacon, spinach and cheese into the pie crust. Fill with the egg and half and half mixture.
- Bake on the bottom rack of the oven until the edges of the quiche are just set and the center has a slight jiggle or using an instant-read thermometer, cook until the center of the quiche reaches 170 degrees, about 1 hour.
- Allow the quiche to cool for 1 hour before serving.
Notes
-
- This post contains affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Melissa says
I made this for a Mother’s Day brunch, and it was a hit! Confession: I don’t usually like cooked spinach. But this recipe sounded tasty and I knew it would be a crowd pleaser, so I made it anyway. And it was so good! The bacon/shallot/garlic mixture added some great flavor. I made a second quiche using the same egg mixture and using just ham and cheese, and it turned out well, but I missed the flavor of the bacon and shallot that’s in this original recipe. I’d definitely make this again!
Michelle Ferrand says
Wow, I love hearing how this was a hit for your Mother's Day brunch! Thanks for sharing 🙂