Crustless Egg and Cheese Quiche

Crustless Egg and Cheese Quiche
Romulo Yanes for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Vivian Lui.
Total Time
1 hour, plus cooling
Rating
4(1,006)
Notes
Read community notes

If you love quiche, get to know this crustless version, dotted with cheese, mushrooms and herbs (and no fussy pastry to chill or roll). Once you master the perfect dairy-to-egg ratio, you’ll find this recipe to be as much of an ally to the Friday fridge clean-out as it is to a brunch for friends. Pay close attention to the baking time: The center should be a touch wiggly when you remove the quiche from the oven. The end result is a quivering, spoonable custard that melts in your mouth, to be served with a bracing salad. Crisp greens with mustardy vinaigrette, or a citrus laced endive and radicchio number — anything in that vein will do.

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Ingredients

Yield:4 servings
  • 2tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for greasing the pan
  • 1tablespoons fine plain dry bread crumbs
  • 2heaping cups/4 ounces stemmed and thinly sliced wild or button mushrooms
  • 1cup grated cheese, such as Comté, Gruyère, Emmental or Cheddar
  • 1cup half-and-half or heavy cream
  • 1cup whole milk
  • 4eggs, lightly beaten
  • ½teaspoon kosher salt
  • ½teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • ½teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
  • ¼cup freshly grated Parmesan (about 1 ounce)
  • 2tablespoons finely chopped chives, for serving
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)

408 calories; 32 grams fat; 18 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 10 grams monounsaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 9 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 7 grams sugars; 23 grams protein; 567 milligrams sodium

Note: 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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Preparation

  1. Step 1

    Heat oven to 325 degrees with the rack positioned at the top. Butter a deep 8-inch round, square or oval casserole generously and sprinkle all over with bread crumbs.

  2. Step 2

    Heat the 2 tablespoons butter in a large pan over medium-high heat. When melted and foamy, add the mushrooms and cook until lightly browned, about 3 to 5 minutes. Scatter the cooked mushrooms and grated cheese over the bread crumbs.

  3. Step 3

    Whisk together the half-and-half, whole milk, eggs, salt, pepper and nutmeg. Pour the mixture over the cheese. Sprinkle the top with Parmesan, and bake until the top is golden and the custard is just set in the center, about 40 to 45 minutes. Set aside 5 to 10 minutes to cool before serving. Sprinkle with chives, cut into wedges or scoop out, and serve.

Tip
  • To serve 8 to 10, double the recipe, and bake in a 9-by-13-inch pan for about 1 hour.

Ratings

4 out of 5
1,006 user ratings
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Private Notes

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Cooking Notes

I'm hoping that it would be okay to leave out the breadcrumbs? Should I mix in some almond flour?

I made this with 8 eggs and used 1.5 cups of milk and 1.5 cups of half and half. The ratio turned out great. Everyone enjoyed this.

This was an easy recipe to follow, but my family and I all agree that half a teaspoon was too much nutmeg. A 1/4 t would have been perfect.

Used shiitake mushrooms Cauliflower rice for crust 6 eggs Sautéed 1 jalapeño with the mushrooms Baby spinach

Must read instructions! The first time, I did not move the shelf to the top of the oven. When bake time was complete, the top was still creamy colored and not brown, so I left it in longer. Never did darken up, but the custard “broke” or curdled. Such a disappointment. I just took my second try out of the oven at 42 minutes. Fingers crossed…

On repeat. Steam broccoli and sautee mushrooms the night before and leave them uncovered in the fridge to let them dry out a bit so the custard won't get soggy. Reheats beautifully.

The timing on this is off. I used a 8" circle casserole and it took almost an hour.

Really liked this. Substituted almond flour for the breadcrumbs and used 6 eggs instead of 4. Cooked at 350 and it needed more like 50 minutes to set up. Delicious and will make again.

I, too, had some liquid in the bottom from the mushrooms, despite sautéing them till nicely browned. The mushrooms still retained some of their moisture. I remembered Julia Child's recipe for sautéed mushrooms: "Place a skillet over high heat; melt 2 tbsp butter and 1 tbsp oil. When butter foam subsides, add the mushrooms. Toss them in the pan for 4-5 minutes. As soon as lightly browned, remove from heat.

Hi--Is this recipe supposed to include ham? It is mentioned in the introductory narrative but not listed in either the ingredients or the instructions. Looks great otherwise!

The size of the dish for a given recipe, hence the depth of mixture is critical to cooking time. Quiche can be cooked longer than recipes often say, and many times people are afraid of having an under cooked egg dish and leave it longer, but they are missing out. Make 2 and pull one out while the center is still quite giggly, the other when it's firm, then decide which you prefer. Also some ovens cook unevenly, and if the browning of the top is not even you may want to rotate the dish.

It's not in the title, either. I'm guessing you just dot some on the top or add it at will. A recipe like this lends itself to a lot of improv.

I would say yes--though you ought to make sure that they won't release too much liquid when mixed with the egg custard and baked. This is very similar to a quiche I make with a crust--and I make that with cooked kale, broccoli, or zucchini. I made this one pretty much as written except that I added cubed ham. It was delicious, and lighter than quiche with a crust.

This was really good! I doubled the recipe and used 12 eggs. Cooked it 50 minutes. But I did have the problem with the liquid on the bottom of the pan, even though after reading comments, I let the cooked mushrooms drain before adding them to the pan. Mushrooms may just not work. Next time I would try a different vegetable.

Used 6 eggs and added a couple handfuls of baby spinach. I cooked it for about 55 minutes and it still wasn’t quite set - still delicious!

Delicious & easy. Doubled recipe for large group. Used gluten free breadcrumbs, but think they could be skipped altogether. Also bought pre-sliced cremini mushrooms making it even faster to prep.

Made almost as directed but added 10 oz of frozen spinach which I microwaved, drained and cooled. Used King Oyster mushrooms and sauted a few leeks instead of onions. Layered them all as noted in the recipe. Delicious.

I substituted 3 cups of buttermilk in the place of the half and half and milk, used 5 eggs, and for veggies I sautéed a half an onion, diced, and a bunch of chopped collard greens and just 4 thinly sliced mushrooms. I also added a cup of sautéed tofu cubes. 45 minutes at 330 degrees. The whole thing came out exquisitely perfect. Creamy and fluffy and not watery in the least.

This was huge success! I made the following substitutions: shake of ground cloves instead of nutmeg. Salt and black pepper. No parm, no mushroom, but some cubed ham steak pieces. ~1 c of cheddar cheese. I cracked four eggs into a glass measuring cup, then filled with evaporated milk until total volume was 2 cups. I think I saw somewhere 0.5 c total liquid per egg used is a good ratio. Worked for me! Buttered 9" pie dish, covered the bottom with breadcrumbs, added ham then cheese then egg mix.

This worked out wonderfully. I added shallots(and cooked with mushrooms) because I now love them. Cooked for 45 minutes, but had intention of cutting pieces and reheating the next day in a toaster oven. It worked out well. Very easy dish and perfect for a Christmas breakfast. Oh, used 5 eggs not 4, after reading other notes. Will actually use 6 eggs next time, but everything else the same.

Followed the recipe , let it cook 5 minutes more ( my oven is off a little) it was perfect . My entire family loved it . Will make again YUM!

Lardons to start, then fished them out and fried onions, peppers and scallions. No mushrooms. Chunks of stale bread instead of fine bread crumbs. Voila, western omelette style quiche. I know, didn't follow the recipe but it can be changed a bit for a yummy lunch.

Used Panko instead of plain bread crumbs. 1.5 Cups of cream no milk. Came out perfectly in 45 minutes. This will now be my go to quiche base.

Like others, I increased the recipe. Used 4 cups half and half, 12 eggs, 2 cups cheese. Was perfect proportions. I cooked at 325 for 70 minutes. Top rack.

Made in a 7”X10” casserole. Followed recipe but used 6 eggs instead of 4. Cooked in our Breville toaster oven for 45 minutes, then put under the broiler in gas oven for two minutes. Turned out perfectly. Serves 6-8.

P.S. I made this Roquefort cheese and portobello mushrooms. Oh my god, so good!

I made this a day ahead for a Mother's Day brunch. I doubled the recipe used 2 nine in pie plates. As noted in comments, you can basically add anything you like to the quiche, but I usually make sure that the additions have been sauteed so I am not adding extra moisture to the quiche. I use heavy cream and and whole milk, so I do not have any problems with sogginess after cooking. My family loved this and it's so easy. Great recipe!

For double recipe use 1 1/2 cups each, milk and half-and/half. Cook about 50 minutes

For a double batch, 1 1/2 cups each milk and half-and-half

Made with potatoes and scallions instead of mushrooms. Used dill instead of nutmeg. Sliced potatoes really thin (about 4-5 medium small) and cooked them in butter. Threw in scallions cut in the bias. Used labneh and cream cheese instead of cream. Delicious!!!!

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