Easy Crustless Quiche - Greekstyle
Crustless quiche is everything you know and love about classic quiches – minus the crust. No need to fuss with a crust or prefacing anything making this an easy and delicious way to have the tastiest most flavourful part of a quiche - the filling of course. A good quiche can be served up for breakfast, brunch, lunch, dinner, or a snack. They are a complete meal with plenty of protein, fat, and veggies. This one is loaded with spinach and everything that spanakopita has to offer minus the phyllo. It is savory, cheesy, delicious, and so easy to make! The filling contains both ricotta and feta cheeses - the feta for flavour and the ricotta for creaminess, replacing the cream traditionally used in quiche. Spring onions provide a nice warmth and all the fresh herbs like dill, parsley and mint give it a fresh, herby flavour, balancing the creamy and salty cheeses. Serve it with crusty bread a green salad like my Classic Greek Lettuce Salad (Maroulosalata) and whatever side beverage you prefer - coffee or mimosas or both.
Is a crustless quiche the same as a frittata?
In a way they are very similar. They are both crustless and have very similar if not the same components. They can almost be interchangeable but most often a crustless quiche is baked and frittatas can also be baked it is often started stove topping a skillet and baked for a shorter time until it’s set where a crustless quiche full bakes in the oven and usually bakes in a pie pan or pie plate. A crustless quiche is also similar to a strata (egg and bread casserole - savoury baked French toast) but without the bread. They are all delicious and all quite versatile. A crustless quiche is almost like a giant thick omelet that is baked or like a giant egg bite
Greekstyle Crustless Quiche recipe Ingredients:
- Eggs - I use large eggs
- Shallot & Garlic - if you don’t have shallots you could use a small yellow onion and as much or as little of both
- Green onions or spring onions- these add so much flavour to this crustless quiche recipe - a leek would also work really well here too
- Spinach - I always use fresh spinach but frozen spinach that has been thawed and squeezed thoroughly will work too. (otherwise you risk ending up with the dreaded soggy bottom!)
- Feta Cheese - spanakopita will not be spanakopita without some feta cheese - use the brand you love
- Ricotta - full fat creamy ricotta is what I always use and I aways add to my spanakopita filling. Feel free to substitute with heavy cream or thickened cream if you don’t have any ricotta
- Fresh herbs - my favourite to use are parsley dill and a little mint but feel free to use what you like and as little or much as you prefer as well
- Spices - salt, pepper and chili flakes - these are all to taste. Go easy on the salt depending on how salty your feta is
Crustless Quiche Variation and Add ins:
Generally speaking, the secret to adding in additional ingredients with success is to make sure they are fully cooked. Here are some delicious options for this Spinach Quiche. Make sure to rid them of excess moisture drain any excess fat on a paper towel too if cooking.
- Cooked Bacon crumbled
- Cooked Pancetta
- Ham
- Prosciutto Strips
- Sun Dried Tomatoes
- Sautéed Mushrooms - you can sauté them with the spinach
- Diced Olives
- Canned and chopped Artichoke Hearts
- Cooked Asparagus
- Smoked Salmon
- Different cheeses like cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese parmesan cheese
- Cooked and diced potatoes
How to make Crustless Mini Quiche:
You can use this recipe to make Crustless Mini Quiche by greasing a muffin pan and dividing the egg mixture between the cups. Pour the egg mixture into a muffin tin to make crustless quiche Lorraine muffins. Bake at 350°for 28-30 minutes.
Can I Add a Crust to this Easy Crustless Quiche?
You absolutely can. You can easily add a crust to this recipe. Use frozen, pre-made, or make your own fresh. Instead of spooning the pie filling into an empty pie plate, you’ll spoon it directly into the crust. No par-baking required. You could also use phyllo as your crust as well making this even closer to a spanakopita - just layer 8 - 10 sheets of phyllo (defrosted) in your pie plate making sure to spray or lightly grease with melted butter, olive oil or cooking spray in-between each layer, press dough onto dish, trim edges and such them under like a pie crust, preface for 8-10 minutes then pour filling in and bake as directed in recipe below.
Should I use a deep-dish pie plate or a shallow pie plate?
This recipe is designed for a shallow dish (1 to 1¼ inch deep) not a deep-dish pie plate that has a depth of 2 to 2.5 inches. You can easily double the recipe if you prefer a thicker crustless quiche but make sure to adjust baking time as it will need more time to bake.
Tips, Storage, Make-Ahead, Reheating and Freezing Instructions:
- Wrap and STORE any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. REHEAT single servings in the microwave in 30-second increments until warmed through, approximately 60-90 seconds total. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: to FREEZE the cooled quiche it must be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and foil or in a sealed container and frozen for up to 3 months. Remove the quiche from the freezer about 24 hours prior to eating and reheat it, covered with foil, in a 300°F oven until hot in the center.
- MAKE-AHEAD: Prepare all your mix-ins up to 1 day in ahead, and refrigerate them until you are ready to assemble the quiche. You can also fully assemble the unbaked quiche as directed up to 1 day in advance. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then bake as directed in recipe below.
- TIP: One of the most common questions when it comes to quiche is why is my quiche soupy or why is my crustless quiche watery? To prevent a soggy quiche, allow the moisture to completely evaporate from the spinach and onions as you cook them. Be sure to sauté spinach (or any other vegetables or mix-ins you use that have a high water content) thoroughly to cook the water out. If you don’t, you may make your crustless quiche watery.Feel free to empty them on a paper towel lined plate while they cool a few minutes if you are worried that they might be too wet.
- TIP: Every oven heats differently, so I always recumbent starting to check your quiche 5-10 minutes before the recommended time. Once the top is set puffy and edges are golden, your crustless quiche is done and ready to come out of the oven.
- TIP: Since this recipe bakes the quiche without a crust, you’ll want to coat your baking dish generously with non-stick spray to keep crustless quiche from sticking.
If you liked this recipe you may be interested in these other delicious breakfast and brunch dishes:
Recipe
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 1 small shallot, peeled and minced (or one small yellow onion)
- 3 spring onions, ends trimmed, thinly sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and minced
- ¼ teaspoon chili flakes
- 10 ounces fresh baby spinach, coarsely chopped
- ½ cup crumbled feta cheese
- ½ teaspoon lemon zest
- 1 cup creamy ricotta
- 5 eggs
- ¼ cup finely chopped fresh herbs (I did parsley mint and dill)
- Freshly ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350°F and lightly grease a 9 inch round baking dish or pie plate (not a deep dish)
- In a medium skillet or frying pan heat oil over medium heat. Add the spring onion, shallot, garlic and chili flakes and cook, stirring, for 2-3 minutes or until soft
- Add half the spinach and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes or until spinach just wilts. Add the remaining spinach and cook, stirring, for 2-4 minutes or until just wilted and most of the moisture has cooked off. Remove from heat and transfer to a large bowl. Mix in the feta, herbs and lemon zest until combined and set aside to cool slightly.
- Whisk the ricotta, eggs and pinch of salt and pepper together in a medium bowl.
- Pour egg mixture in the spinach mixture and stir to combine.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared baking dish and bake 30-40 min until set and golden around the edges
- Remove from oven and allow to cool 10 minutes then slice and serve
Recipe Notes
Tips, Storage, Make-Ahead, Reheating and Freezing Instructions:
- Wrap and STORE any leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days. REHEAT single servings in the microwave in 30-second increments until warmed through, approximately 60-90 seconds total. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: to FREEZE the cooled quiche it must be wrapped tightly in plastic wrap and foil or in a sealed container and frozen for up to 3 months. Remove the quiche from the freezer about 24 hours prior to eating and reheat it, covered with foil, in a 300°F oven until hot in the center.
- MAKE-AHEAD: Prepare all your mix-ins up to 1 day in ahead, and refrigerate them until you are ready to assemble the quiche. You can also fully assemble the unbaked quiche as directed up to 1 day in advance. Cover it tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate. Let sit at room temperature for a few minutes, then bake as directed in recipe below.
- TIP: One of the most common questions when it comes to quiche is why is my quiche soupy or why is my crustless quiche watery? To prevent a soggy quiche, allow the moisture to completely evaporate from the spinach and onions as you cook them. Be sure to sauté spinach (or any other vegetables or mix-ins you use that have a high water content) thoroughly to cook the water out. If you don’t, you may make your crustless quiche watery.Feel free to empty them on a paper towel lined plate while they cool a few minutes if you are worried that they might be too wet.
- TIP: Every oven heats differently, so I always recumbent starting to check your quiche 5-10 minutes before the recommended time. Once the top is set puffy and edges are golden, your crustless quiche is done and ready to come out of the oven.
- TIP: Since this recipe bakes the quiche without a crust, you’ll want to coat your baking dish generously with non-stick spray to keep crustless quiche from sticking.
