Spring is the perfect time to enjoy brunch recipes, and what better way to celebrate warmer weather than with a quiche? This simple breakfast quiche is healthy, low-carb, and crustless, making it an ideal choice for those following a ketogenic diet or simply looking for a lighter alternative. Made in under 30 minutes with only a handful of ingredients, this recipe is perfect for a quick breakfast, lunch, dinner, or meal prep.
Why Choose a Crustless Quiche?
Omitting the pastry saves loads of time and carbs, making this recipe a convenient and healthy option. As a nutritionist, I love to create recipes with wholesome, real food ingredients. This quiche is loaded with protein, veggies, and antioxidants! Adding in fresh greens and asparagus to any dish allows us to get a full serving of vegetables in our first meal. Nothing says spring like sautéed asparagus!
What You'll Need
This crustless keto quiche recipe requires just a few simple ingredients:
- Eggs
- Heavy cream (or half and half)
- Shredded cheese (such as Gruyere, Swiss, cheddar, Gouda, Edam, Halvati, or Monterey Jack)
- Cooked ham (leftover or deli-sliced)
- Fresh spinach (or other vegetables like broccoli, kale, asparagus, zucchini, mushrooms, bell peppers, onion, or tomatoes)
- Bacon
- Onion
- Thyme
- Cayenne Pepper
- Salt and pepper to taste
Recipe Variations
The basis of this crustless quiche is just eggs and cream + meat + veggies + cheese. One of the best things about this recipe is its versatility. You can easily substitute different veggies and protein to suit your taste or use whatever is in season.
- Protein: Sausage, bacon, cooked chicken or turkey work perfectly in place of ham. For a buffalo chicken flavor, use cooked chicken, cheddar cheese, and hot sauce or pepper flakes.
- Vegetables: Feel free to add bell peppers, onion, mushrooms, spinach, asparagus, zucchini, broccoli, or tomatoes.
- Cheese: Swap out the cheese for your favorite variety.
- Spices: Vary the flavor with different spices and herbs.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Here are two methods for making this delicious crustless quiche:
Read also: Easy Low-Carb Cheese Crackers
Method 1: Cast Iron Skillet
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook the bacon: On the stovetop, heat a 10-11 inch cast iron skillet or oven proof skillet with cooking spray to medium high heat. Once hot, add the bacon and cook to desired crispiness 3-5 minutes per side. Remove from heat, reserve 1 tablespoon of rendered bacon fat.
- Sauté the asparagus: Toss in the chopped asparagus to the hot skillet, and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove the skillet from heat.
- Prepare the egg mixture: In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and half and half until smooth. Toss in most of the bacon (reserve 1/4 cup of the bacon for the topping), 1 cup of the cheese and the chopped greens.
- Combine and bake: Pour the egg mixture inside the hot skillet with the asparagus. Give it a quick stir and transfer to the oven.
- Bake for 18 minutes, or until the quiche is puffing up and mostly firm. Remove and top with remaining cheese and bacon.
- Bake for another 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
Method 2: Pie Plate or Baking Dish
- Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Prepare the ingredients: Chop the ham, spinach, and cheese. Sauté diced onions along with ham to pack as much flavor as possible into your low carb quiche. Cut broccoli into small, bite-sized florets before adding it to the low carb quiche. Place broccoli florets in a microwave-safe bowl and add 2 tablespoons of water. Microwave for 2-3 minutes until broccoli is lightly steamed and tender.
- Blend the egg mixture: Add the eggs, heavy cream, salt, and pepper to a blender and blend for 30 seconds or so to get it nice and combined. This will make the quiche nice and fluffy.
- Combine ingredients: Pour the egg mixture into a big bow with the ham, spinach and 1 cup of the cheese and mix well.
- Bake: Spray a pie plate baking dish with cooking spray and then pour the mixture in. Add the remaining ½ cup of cheese on top.
- Bake for 40 minutes until cooked through and nicely browned on top. A toothpick in the middle of the quiche should come out clean if it's cooked through.
Tips and Notes
- Try to use the bender for the eggs and cream as it whips up and makes the eggs nice and fluffy.
- Check on your quiche towards the end to make sure it's not browning too much on top. Cooking times may differ depending on the size pan you use. Note you could use a cast iron skillet as well.
- I used roughly 1 ½ cups of meat and vegetables and 1 ½ cups of cheese.
Serving and Storage
- Let it cool before slicing.
- You can store this quiche in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Slice up and store or keep it in the pan and cover with foil.
- To reheat, I suggest keeping the foil on top and reheating in a 350 degree oven for 15-20 minutes.
- After it is baked, it should be refrigerated within two hours.
Make-Ahead and Freezing Instructions
Make Ahead:
Yes! You can make it ahead and bake within the next 1-2 days. I would suggest setting it on the counter so that it can warm to room temperature before baking. The night before mix together all of the ingredients and pour them into your prepared dish. Make sure you are using a dish that can go from cold to hot safely. Then cover and place in the refrigerator overnight. In the morning remove from the refrigerator and place it in the oven to bake according to the instructions. Because it is going in cold you may have to bake a few extra minutes.
Freezing:
You can freeze this quiche for a quick keto breakfast or on the go. Just store individual pieces in a air tight container and microwave to reheat. Freeze it either way. So you don’t have a mess, be extra careful when transporting it uncooked to the freezer and make sure to place it where it won’t be disturbed until it is fully frozen. If it is already baked, it will keep two to three months in the freezer. Cover the entire dish with foil so it doesn’t burn and reheat in a 350-degree oven for approx 15-20 minutes.
Nutritional Information
The nutritional information for 1 piece of this crustless quiche recipeis 321 calories24.9g fat / 2.4g carbs / 0.2g fiber / 21.5g protein = 2.2g net carbs
Note: Nutrition facts are an estimate and are provided as a courtesy. They are generated by an online API which recognizes ingredient names and amounts and makes calculations based on the serving size.
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