Broccoli-Cheddar Quiche

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Is it the best brunch ever or your favorite dinner? Our easy quiche is sure to delight.

Prep Time:
30 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 30 mins
Servings:
8

Who doesn’t love quiche? This versatile dish goes from the brunch buffet to the dinner table in a snap and is great with a leafy green salad. The flaky pastry crust and creamy custard filling make it a perfect vehicle for an array of mix-ins, like the broccoli and cheddar in this favorite rendition. In fact, we think quiche, which often features green vegetables like broccoli or spinach, is a great way to help all kinds of eaters become veggie fans.

Baking the crust before adding the filling, known as blind baking, ensures it won't get soggy. Our favorite pie dough recipe is Basic Pie Crust but this easy-going recipe can be made using a store-bought crust for ease.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Brie Goldman

What Is Quiche?

Quiche is a pastry crust filled with a cooked savory custard. The egg custard can be flavored with anything from bacon and cheese to vegetables, herbs, and various combinations of these ingredients. The most famous type of quiche is quiche Lorraine which has bacon and sometimes Gruyère cheese in its filling. That quiche takes its name from the French region that quiche originated in, Alsace-Lorraine. Quiche can be served as a lunch or dinner entrée, or as an appetizer.

The Pastry

Quiche is made with a basic pastry dough, like our favorite pâte brisée. We prefer to use an all-butter crust for all our baking recipes. You can use homemade or store-bought pie dough for this quiche, just be sure it is ready to roll when you get out your rolling pin because if it is too hot or too cold, it will be difficult to roll.

Crimping the Crust

Our recipe calls for a basic crimped crust, Once the pie dough is fitted into the pie plate, use kitchen shears to trim dough to a 1-inch overhang; fold under, and seal to form a rim. Crimp the rim using your fingertips and knuckle. If you prefer, you can decorate the crust simply with fork designs or use a more complicated design.

Making Ahead 

Quiche is best served warm or at room temperature, so aim to serve the quiche the day you bake it. To get ahead, you can make the dough up to three days before you plan to make the quiche and prebake the crust a day ahead.

Ingredients

  • All-purpose flour, for rolling

  • 1 homemade or store-bought single-crust pie dough

  • 1 tablespoon unsalted butter

  • 2 cups medium diced yellow onion (from 1 large onion)

  • Coarse salt and ground pepper

  • 6 large eggs

  • ¾ cup heavy cream

  • ¾ pound broccoli florets, steamed until crisp-tender

  • 1 cup grated sharp cheddar (4 ounces)

Directions

Ingredients for Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Brie Goldman

  1. Preheat oven and roll out pie dough:

    Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly flour a rolling pin and work surface and roll out dough to a 12-inch round.

    Roll out and slice pie crust for Broccoli Cheddar quiche

    Brie Goldman

  2. Fit dough into pie plate:

    Place in a 9-inch pie plate, fold overhang under, and crimp edge.

    Prep Pie Crust for Quiche

    Brie Goldman

  3. Add parchment paper and pie weights:

    Place a sheet of parchment paper over dough and fill with pie weights or dried beans.

    Bake pie crust

    Brie Goldman

  4. Blind bake crust:

    Bake until edge is dry and light golden, about 20 minutes. Remove parchment and weights.

    Let Pie Crust Cool for Quiche

    Brie Goldman

  5. Melt butter and cook onion:

    Meanwhile, in a large skillet, melt butter over medium-high. Add onion, season with salt and pepper, and cook until light golden, 8 to 10 minutes.

    Cook onions for Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

    Brie Goldman

  6. Whisk eggs and cream together:

    In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs and cream.

    Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

    Brie Goldman

  7. Add onion, broccoli, and cheese:

    Add onion, broccoli florets, and cheese and season with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper.

    Bowl of Broccoli Cheddar Quiche mixture

    Brie Goldman

  8. Whisk and pour into crust:

    Whisk to combine, pour into crust.

    Pour broccoli cheddar mixture into pie and bake

    Brie Goldman

    Place the quiche pan on a sheet pan before it goes into the oven. This will help to distribute the heat and cook the quiche evenly, and it eliminates the chance the pan will leak custard in your oven

  9. Bake:

    Bake until center of quiche is just set, 40 to 45 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.

    Let Broccoli Cheddar Quiche Cool

    Brie Goldman

Serving, Storing, and Reheating

Never cut into a quiche while it's still hot from the oven. When it is hot, the custard will be liquid and you won't be able to cut neat slices. Allow about an hour for the quiche to cool. It will still be warm but ready to serve then.

Storing

Make sure the quiche has cooled completely before wrapping and storing. Refrigerate cooled quiche, tightly covered, up to three days.

Reheating

To reheat quiche, cover with foil and place in a 325 degrees oven until warmed, about 15 minutes.

Broccoli Cheddar Quiche

Brie Goldman

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you make a quiche without a soggy bottom?

Blind baking the crust is key. Our quiche recipes all call for blind baking the crust, that is baking the crust prior to filling the quiche. Pie weights or dried beans are placed in the uncooked crust so that it does not puff up during baking. The prebaked crust is drier and less absorbent, so it doesn’t absorb the filling and prevents a soggy bottom. 


Do you grease the pie pan for quiche?

No, our quiche recipes do not call for greasing the pan before adding the pie crust—just as our pie recipes do not call for this step. This is because a pie crust (whether for a quiche or a dessert pie or tart) contains a significant amount of butter or other fats.


What is the best dish to cook quiche in?

Most quiche recipes call for a pie plate—use the size of pie plate your recipe specifies. We prefer to use a metal pie plate because the metal promotes browning of the crust or a glass pie plate where we can see how the crust is cooking, rather than a ceramic pie plate. 

6 More Quiche Recipes to Make:

Originally appeared: Everyday Food, December 2011
Updated by
Victoria Spencer
Victoria Spencer, senior food editor, MarthaStewart.com
Victoria Spencer is an experienced food editor, writer, and recipe developer. She manages the Martha Stewart recipe archive and is always curious about new ingredients and the best techniques. She has been working in food media for over 20 years.

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