Crustless Quiche Lorraine, a low-carb version of the classic dish, is made with a rich egg custard, bacon, onions and gruyere cheese. You will never miss the crust.
Classic Quiche Lorraine, which originated in the Lorraine region of France with heavy German influence, is ubiquitous among cafes throughout France. Traditional French quiche does not contain cheese, is baked in a brioche type of pie crust and is usually served at room temperature or slightly warm. Quiche Lorraine grew in popularity in mid-20th century and one of the most popular modern versions includes Gruyere cheese.
In recent years, the desire to find delicious low-carb and keto-friendly dishes led to the development of crustless Quiche Lorraine recipes like this one. Crustless Quiche Lorraine is surprisingly simple to make. In fact, the recipe is exactly the same as the version with crust, just no crust. Simply spray the inside of a glass pie pan with cooking spray and build the Quiche Lorraine directly in the pie pan. The egg custard will actually form a very thin golden brown crust on its own that does not stick to the pan. There are no specials tools or techniques. That's all there is to it.
Crustless Quiche Lorraine goes great with homemade applewood smoked bacon, Canadian bacon or breakfast sausage.
Ingredients
- Eggs
- Heavy cream
- Gruyere cheese
- Bacon
- Onion
- Nutmeg
- Kosher salt
- Black pepper
See recipe card for quantities.
Instructions
Add a layer of sautéed onion and cooked, crumbled bacon to a prepared glass pie pan.
Place a layer of cheese on top of the onion and bacon.
Add one more layer of onion, bacon and cheese.
In a large bowl, mix the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Pour egg mixture over the onion, bacon and cheese and bake until puffy and golden brown.
Variations
Quiche is very versatile and can be easily modified to accommodate what you have on hand. Some variations to try are:
- Mushrooms - Try adding ½ cup of sautéed mushrooms to the layers of onion and bacon.
- Pancetta - Rather than bacon, try using thick cut pancetta. Just cut into ¼" pieces and fry them first.
- Swiss Cheese - Gruyere cheese can be hard to find. Swiss cheese is a wonderful substitute.
Equipment
A glass pie pan works better for this recipe than a metal pie pan because a glass pie pan provides more even heat distribution and food is less prone to sticking.
Reheating
Reheat pieces of Quiche Lorraine in an oven at 275°F for about 8 minutes or until warm inside.
Top tip
Make sure the center of the Quiche Lorraine is "set" before taking it out of the oven. Using oven mitts, jiggle the pie dish side to side. If the center wiggles, it needs a few more minutes.
Related
Looking for other breakfast recipe ideas? Try these:
Pairing
These are my favorite dishes to serve with this recipe.
📖 Recipe
Crustless Quiche Lorraine Recipe
Equipment
- Glass pie pan
Ingredients
- 4 pieces bacon cooked and cut into ½" pieces
- ½ yellow onion thinly sliced
- 9 eggs
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper fresh ground
- ⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
- 1 cup gruyere cheese grated
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.
- Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. When the oil is hot, saute the onion until soft (about three minutes). Remove the onions. Season with a pinch of salt and pepper. Remove the skillet from the heat.
- Spray a 9-inch pie pan with cooking spray. Layer ⅓ of the bacon and onions in the pie pan and top with half of the cheese. Layer another ⅓ of remaining bacon and onions in the pie pan and add with the remaining cheese. Top with the remaining bacon and onions
- Gently beat the eggs with a wire whisk until combined. Add the cream, nutmeg, salt and pepper and stir to combine. Pour the egg mixture over the onions, bacon and cheese.
- Bake for 35 - 40 minutes or until the quiche is set and develops a light golden brown on top. Let the quiche sit for 10 to 15 minutes, then slice and serve.
Debbie says
I made this for our dinner tonight. I was hesitant, as I've never made quiche & I was afraid my husband wouldn't care for it. We loved it!! I'll be searching for more quiche recipes soon. Thank you for sharing this one!!
dvscott902 says
Debbie,
Thank you for the kind words, I'm so glad that you liked it. To be honest, I like the crustless leek and goat cheese quiche a bit more. Although, my wife prefers this one. You can find the recipe for the other quiche here ---> https://austin-eats.com/crustless-leek-and-goat-cheese-quiche/
Dave