This Bacon Cheddar Quiche Recipe is filled with crisp bacon, cheese and spinach in a flakey pie crust. Perfect for breakfast, brunch, baby showers or brinner (breakfast for dinner).
Quiche is one of my favorite breakfast recipes because it’s like having an omelette inside pie crust! Hello, that’s like having dessert for breakfast and that’s a win in my book.
But really, quiche is great because it’s also super customizable. You can use what you have on hand, which makes it great for using up leftovers in the fridge.
Basic Quiche Ingredients
Like I said, quiche is great because it’s customizable, but you’ll need a few basic ingredients as your base, then the add-ons to fill it up. Here’s what you’ll need…
- Pie Crust – you can use store bought, but my Perfect Pie Crust Recipe is simple and tastes great.
- Eggs
- Half and Half – you can also use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream.
- Salt and Pepper
- Bacon – cooked crisp and crumbled
- Cheddar Cheese – feel free to substitute with your favorite cheese!
- Baby Spinach – just a handful that’s been roughly chopped.
How To Make A Quiche
- The first thing you’re going to want to do is get your pie crust ready. Roll it out and fit it into a 9″ pie pan then trim and crimp your edges.
- Blind bake (or partially bake) your pie crust to ensure no soggy bottom when finished.
- While your pie crust is baking, crisp up a few strips of bacon and then crumble them up.
- Whisk together the eggs and half and half and season with salt and pepper.
- Add all the quiche topping ingredients to the pie crust and then pour the egg mixture over the top. Bake until the eggs are set and let cool slightly before slicing!
Do I Need To Blind Bake My Crust?
WHAT does blind baking a crust mean? It simply means you’re going to partially bake your pie crust before adding your filling (in this case your quiche filling).
WHY do I need to blind bake my crust? When you blind bake a crust it helps to prevent a soggy bottom pie crust after your pie has finished baking. Using this method takes just a few extra minutes of prep, but you’ll be happy you did it in the end.
That being said, I have tested this recipe both ways, and while I did like the results of the blind baked crust better, tossing all the ingredients in the unbaked crust wasn’t terrible and was still very much edible.
HOW do I blind bake a pie crust?
- Roll out your pie crust and fit it into a 9″ pie pan. Trim and crimp the edges.
- Cut a square of parchment paper or foil and line your pie crust, making sure it fits nicely up the sides to hold them in place.
- Fill the parchment or foil with dried beans, rice or pie weights.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges just start to turn pale/light and look dry.
- Remove from oven, carefully lift the parchment or foil out of the pie crust and set aside to cool.
- Return the pie crust to the oven and bake an additional 5 to 7 minutes, until the bottom and sides turn pale/light and look dry.
- The bottom of your crust may start to dome during this final step, but don’t worry, it’ll settle back down when it’s pulled out of the oven.
Tips and Variations:
The sky is the limit on the different sorts of toppings you can add in a quiche, but the quantity is something to keep in mind.
- Keep it between 1/2 cup – 1 cup of cheese and up to 2 cups of vegetables and/or meat add-ins.
- You can use a combination of whole milk and heavy cream in place of half and half.
- You can prep the pie crust and fillings up to 24 hours in advance, then combine and bake when ready.
- Store leftover quiche covered tightly in the fridge, then microwave by the slice to reheat.
- Try topping the prepared quiche with my 1 minute Hollandaise Sauce for an epic treat.
More Breakfast Recipes To Try:
- Fluffy Scrambled Eggs
- Sausage Egg and Cheese Breakfast Muffins
- Classic Waffles Recipe
- Quick Blueberry Muffins
Get ready for an amazing breakfast! You’re going to love this delicious quiche recipe!
Helpful Products To Make This Recipe:
Bacon Cheddar Quiche Recipe
Ingredients
- 9 inch unbaked pie crust, homemade or store bought
- 6 strips bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 handful baby spinach, roughly chopped
- 5 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- salt and pepper , to taste
- Optional - Hollandaise Sauce for topping
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place pie crust in a 9" pie pan then trim and crimp the edges. Fit a square sheet of parchment paper or foil on top of the pie crust and fill with about 1 pound of dried beans, dried rice or pie weights.
- Bake the crust for about 10 to 12 minutes, until the edges turn pale. Remove from oven, carefully lift the parchment and weights out and continue baking an additional 5 to 7 minutes until bottom and sides are pale. The crust might dome up on the bottom, but it will settle back down once removed from the oven.
- Place the bacon, cheese and spinach in the partially baked crust* and set aside.
- Whisk the eggs and half and half together until mixture is a pale yellow. Season with salt and pepper to taste, then pour mixture over the quiche filling.
- Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees F. Bake quiche for 35 to 45 minutes, until center is set and no longer jiggly.
- Let sit for a few minutes before slicing. Top with hot sauce, sour cream or my hollandaise sauce for an extra treat.
Notes
Nutrition
PIN THIS IMAGE TO SAVE THE RECIPE:
Slow Cooker White Chicken Chili
Leonard
Love this recipe made it many times. I switch it up with artichoke hearts. It’s great.
Len
Kelli Salmon
Ditch the crust for a great low-carb option!
KATHY
We’re having a blizzard. I have everything for this except for fresh spinach.. Could I use frozen chopped if I dry it well?
Emily
Hi Kathy, I have the exact same question. Did you end up trying it with frozen spinach?
Thanks, Emily
Gg
Can or should I blind bake a store bought pie crust that’s in the tin? I’ll make your dough next time o just want to use the one o have up 🙂
Jill Alford
This was easy to put together for my family of 5 and delicious! I made it for brinner and served it with bacon, mini waffles, and breakfast potatoes. I will definitely make this again! I used a store bought pie crust which worked great!
Maggie
Hi Shawn,
Can this be made in advance and frozen? Trying to get a head start for the holidays!
Thanks, your recipes are amazing.
Sophia
Shawn
I haven’t tried freezing this recipe before so I’m not 100% sure. I would think refrigerating would be just fine though!
Jeanne Quinn
Hi Shawn. I want to make this for Christmas morning but my family doesn’t like spinach. What’s a good substitute vegetable? Thank you.
Trish
Delicious and I am a big quiche lover. I am considering trying to make this without the crust to lower the calories. Have you ever made this recipe without using the crust?
Shawn
I have some Frittata Muffins that are crust-less that you can give a try here: Frittata Egg Muffins 3 Ways
Debra Kauffman
Made this last night for a light supper. I followed the recipe exactly except omitted the spinach, we are not fans, and was wonderful. It was even better for breakfast this morning. I would classify this as company good. Yep this is a good one!
Shawn
Oh that’s wonderful to hear! I’m so glad you all enjoyed it!
Fran Ivester
This recipe looks delicious and easy…My kind of recipe!
Thank you!
Shawn
Enjoy!
Carrie
This is even better with Bérnaise sauce. I absolutely love a good quiche and will eat them anytime. Breakfast for dinner anyone?
Shawn
Yummm!! I’m so glad you are enjoying it Carrie! 🙂
Linda
I have only just come across this and all the recipes look delicious. How can I get to see all recipes and how to make them?
Shawn
Hey Linda! Feel free to browse my recipe index for all different recipes to try. The recipe cards are located at the bottom of each blog post. Enjoy!