No other savory pie is more elegant than classic Quiche Lorraine. Get the step-by-step instructions to make this elegant, rich, custardy French dish in your home kitchen.
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I avoided making shortcrust pastry from scratch for years. I dreaded it even. I’d read advice from seasoned cooks who hammered on how important it is to have a good pie pastry recipe in your repertoire and insisted that it’s quick to master once you’ve practiced it a few times. Yet somehow, the art of the flaky crust had eluded me. No matter how hard I tried, something always went wrong. It felt like the pie gods had decided that I wouldn’t ever enjoy the pleasures of a deliciously flaky, perfectly golden homemade crust.
Because trying and failing at making shortcrust pastry was so frustrating, I eventually turned to store-bought crusts. I was happiest when we lived in Paris and I could buy the “Marie” brand: made with real butter, sold already rolled out, and large enough to fit fluted tart pans. It was my go-to solution to churn out delicious sweet and savory tarts and pies in a flash.
Unfortunately, I couldn’t find a good-quality, all-butter, ready-made shortcrust pastry back home, so I had to abandon my pie-making adventures for a while. After a couple of years of no homemade quiches, tarts, and pies, I thought, enough! If I’d mastered finicky things such as macarons and éclairs, surely I could learn to make simple, humble pie dough, right? I decided I’d tackle the task once and for all.
I went back to reference books and applied the years of recipe development and testing experience I had under my belt. I took notes of what worked best for me and tweaked my recipe until I got it down to a science. Now I can make shortcrust pastry in a flash, and the recipe never fails. Ever.
Mastering shortcrust pastry finally allowed me to resume making pies and savory tarts at home. I now have lots of pie and tart recipes up my sleeve, from Lattice-Top Blueberry Pie to Quiche Lorraine.
If you too have struggled with making shortcrust pastry from scratch, I encourage you to try my foolproof shortcrust pastry recipe. It literally comes together in seconds in the food processor! I promise, it’s life-changing.
No other savory pie is more elegant and spectacular than classic Quiche Lorraine. Making that classic bistro dish at home allows me to travel back to Paris on a dime. Serving a generous slice of Quiche Lorraine with a lightly dressed green salad (and an optional glass of wine!) is as French as it gets. I’m happy to share my go-to recipe for this rustic French dish.
There are various versions of Quiche Lorraine, the most basic of which is just eggs, bacon, milk, and cream. The addition of caramelized onions and Comté cheese is one of the most frequent adaptations and the one I like most because the flavors compliment each other so well.
Here are the staple ingredients you need to make Quiche Lorraine:
Quiche Lorraine comes together in several steps, so this is not a last-minute recipe. It is, however, the perfect make-ahead dish: blind baking the crust, baking the quiche, and refrigerating it overnight creates a textbook rich, custardy result.
This deep-dish quiche requires the use of a 9-inch (23 cm) springform pan, which should be 3-in (7.5 cm) deep.
If you don’t have a springform pan, you can also divide the recipe (including the pastry) between two regular 9-in (23 cm) pie plates. See the notes in the recipe card, below, for additional tips and baking instructions for this alternate baking method.
To comfortably fit the deep-dish springform pan, you need to make a double batch of shortcrust pastry. I recommend making the two batches separately, one after the other, then gathering and rolling them together. This is easier and quicker than overcrowding the bowl of the food processor and compromising the final texture of the pastry. See the recipe below for additional instructions.
“Blind baking” means baking a tart shell “naked”—that is, before you pour the filling into the shell. This step is especially important when the tart filling you use is wet, such as that of a lemon tart, or this quiche lorraine. Blind baking ensures the crust will be cooked through and crisp, which would be difficult to achieve under a wet filling.
Invest in pie weights—or just dry peas: Since this quiche lorraine recipe uses a straight-edged pan, you will need to line the frozen pie crust with parchment paper and then fill the pan with pie weights to the brim. If you don’t, the crust will crumple down upon baking, making for a very sad-looking Quiche Lorraine. Pie weights can be expensive: if you don’t have them on hand, you can simply buy a 2-lb. (900 g) bag of dry whole yellow peas or chickpeas and use those instead. Note that you won’t be able to cook those peas after they’ve been used as pie weights, but you can let them cool, store them in a zip-top bag, and reuse them over and over again. (I’ve been using the same bag of dry peas for years!)
No pie weights or peas? Overhang! If you don’t have pie weights or dry peas to keep the pastry in place, you can let the pastry hang over the sides of the pan and blind-bake it as-is. The pastry will hold up nicely, so you then fill the quiche and keep baking. For a neat presentation, you can cut out that extra pastry with a sharp knife before you unmold and serve the quiche.
Make that cream mixture extra-frothy: The secret to keeping the filling ingredients from sinking to the bottom of this deep-dish Quiche Lorraine is to beat the liquid ingredients until the mixture gets extra-frothy using a hand mixer or a stand blender. As you layer the caramelized onions, the bacon, and the cheese with the frothy custard, the air bubbles will “hold” the solids and keep them distributed throughout the quiche during baking.
Use a hand mixer or a blender to make the quiche mixture extra-frothy:
Layer the filling ingredients with the quiche mixture to distribute them evenly:
The extra-frothy quiche lorraine mixture will hold the filling ingredients throughout the baking process, preventing them from sinking to the bottom of the tart:
Classic Quiche Lorraine is an extraordinary dish. It can be made a day or more ahead, and it’s just as delicious hot or cold. It can also be served any time of day, from breakfast to a late-night snack!
Tell me how you liked it! Leave a comment or take a picture and tag it with @foodnouveau on Instagram.
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Author: Marie Asselin
Tasted great. I substituted spinach for the onions and it came out awesome
Sounds like a delicious substitution! Happy you enjoyed the quiche, Laura!
I’d like to make this ahead of time to serve at a baby shower. Is there a way to reheat the entire quiche without doing it by individual slices? With a lot of guests, individually reheating seems time consuming. If not, how do you reheat individual slices! Thx!!
Hey Aileen! If you’re making the quiche ahead of time and not simply reheating leftovers, you can (and should!) definitely reheat the whole quiche, it’s much more efficient that way. You don’t want the quiche to be hot, just warm. I would put it in a low oven (300°F/150°C) for 15 minutes, then turn the oven off and leave the quiche in for 15 minutes more. This will allow the heat to spread to the whole quiche evenly. Remove from the oven, let rest for 5-10 minutes, then unmold, slice, and enjoy!
I love this recipe. I have used this recipe about 8 times now, I follow the recipe to the tee and it always comes out perfect. It is well worth the time it takes. It is elegant and the taste is amazing. I freeze some individually wrapped slices for later. . They come out great. I thaw a slice in the as I need it refrigerator and reheat in toaster oven or air fryer . Thank you for this wonderful recipe. It is the only one i will ever use!
Your message made my day Antoinette, thank you so much for taking the time to write it! I absolutely love your tip to freeze individual slices and reheat them later. Nobody would ever complain about such luxurious leftovers! 😍
I made the pastry dough from your recipe, and was stunned by how quickly, easily, perfectly it came together.
And this quiche…..oh my goodness….I followed all instructions to a “tee” and it is UTTERLY DIVINE. Worth every second of effort!
Many, many thanks for your clear instruction, and for these outstanding recipes!
Thank you so much for your message Neva, you make my day! Isn’t a deep-dish quiche a wonderful treat? It’s so elegant and rich in flavor. And it’s even better when you make your own shortcrust pastry! I’m really happy it all worked out for you.
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Quiche is such a classic and tasty recipe and I appreciate how this recipe outlines out to make it in such a straightforward and easy to understand way.
Hey Moop, happy the post was helpful! Quiche is an impressive French dish but it’s totally doable at home! It’s a great dish to entertain. I know my guests are always impressed when I serve it!
After seeing these pictures we had to try your recipe. It’s simply delicious, easy to follow, and totally worth the extra time of making our own crust. A recipe to keep!
I think the homemade crust makes the quiche even better! My foolproof shortcrust recipe is so quick to make too, it barely adds a few minutes to the whole process!
Oh my goodness! The crust for this classic quiche looks fabulous! What a great dish to serve from a.m. to p.m. Lovely!
Quiche is definitely an all-day treat! And it’s such an easily reheatable dish, too. In fact, I think I enjoy leftover slices even more than when the quiche is freshly baked!
I love a good classic recipe and this Quiche Lorraine is perfect ! This recipe is super easy to follow and I love that this is made in a springform pan. The presentation is beautiful and I promise there wasn’t a crumb left. Great recipe !
Thanks so much Debbie! A springform pan is definitely my go-to for that deep-dish look. That classic French bakery look is so spectacular!
I’m chuckling reading about your crust making woes..because your crust was the thing that stuck out to me the most about this recipe! Maybe there’s hope for me yet, because I struggle with crust and still buy store-bought!
I feel your pain! I struggled with making homemade shortcrust for so long. I really hope you’ll give my foolproof recipe a try, I promise it’s life-changing!