It has recently come to my attention that I have been making hoards of crustless quiche lately. Not that I'm not necessarily always a fan of quiche. But I have been buying eggs in bulk and it's hard not to think of quiche when I am staring into my refrigerator pondering what's for breakfast, lunch, or dinner and absolutely thinking quiche. Also, copious amounts of eggs are kind of an Easter problem and, being only a hop, skip, and a jump from Easter? Advertising may be playing a toll here. And, while I have not actually bought anything ridiculous for Easter, I might be predisposed to making hoards of quiche! And...buying too many eggs.
Why Do You Make Crustless Quiche?
None of that process, however, explains the type of quiche that I'm making. And I specifically do not make quiche with crust.
I have made pie crusts before and it is in my culinary repertoire. But I don't like it. And there are a number of reasons for that.
First and foremost, it's not the easiest of things to make. You have to freeze vodka and rapidly cool it and you can't mix it by hand because it warms everything up, which means that you absolutely do need a mixer and time is of the essence and getting that perfectly, light and flaky almost biscuit-like texture is incredibly not fun.
My second reason for not making crust is that it's simply wasted calories. Now, I don't count calories. I don't diet. And I don't recommend choosing foods based this ideology of diet culture. However, I don't like eating foods that are entirely devoid of any nutritional value. And I generally consider dairy products and bleached, bromated, and hydrogenated flour. Not that I don't eat copious amounts of cheese and make hoards of Homemade Bread. I also am quite a big fan of cookies and keep my body weight in chocolate chips in the freezer. However, I consider these dessert. And that's what I think of quiche. So, I don't necessarily need to add dessert on top of dessert with both dairy-laden quiche and white flour crust.
Also, crust is just a pain in the arse to make.
And I don't want to.
Although feel free to, if you so choose.
You have been warned.
Coming from someone who has worked in the culinary industry for about 15 years, now, and who has a twice a week food blog.
What Do You Use Instead of Crust?
Technically, you don't need anything in the stead of crust. Just lightly grease the dish with butter or oil and the eggs won't stick. Just like you would for an omelette. Every now and then I'll fill the bottom of the dish with a ring of sweet potatoes or chopped spinach. But, for the most part, I just don't do anything at all.
Eggs tend not to stick that much to well seasoned or oiled pans. They're quite oily to begin with, particularly if you add any sort of cheese or dairy product.
Do You Need Milk, Cheese, or Other Dairy Products?
No, no you do not. I frequently don't use milk or cheese in my recipes. Cheese is entirely unnecessary. It's only added for flavor and plays no integral role in quiche.
Milk also isn't entirely necessary. Adding some kind of liquid can be helpful, but it doesn't have to be milk or cream. I oftentimes add in Greek yogurt or squash, instead. Really, anything remotely viscous in consistency is fine to thin the quiche.
You can make quiche entirely with just eggs. I have probably done this before. If you scour the blog, you'll probably find a time in which I did actually do this. Although I would probably recommend adding in a few more egg whites than yolks, just because these are more liquid than the yolks. The yolks tend to be more of a binding agent and will thicken the quiche, resulting in more of a very large omelette than a quiche.
So, yes, in summation, you could absolutely make a diary-free quiche. I feel like part of the point of quiche is to be slightly decadent. But if you have lactose intolerance or simply prefer not to have that much dairy in your food? You. absolutely can find ways to omit it. And I do quite often decrease the amount of dairy.
What Kind of Pan Do You Need for Crustless Quiche?
I usually use a well-seasoned cast iron pan. This is my go-to for almost anything and everything. However, it isn't explicitly necessary for quiche. As long as the pan is seasoned enough for the quiche to come cleanly out of? It really doesn't matter what you use.
I have a pumpkin-shaped casserole dish that I'm incredibly fond of making quiche in. It also looks quite fun and festive during the holidays or for dinner parties. Although any cast iron, ceramic, or glass dish will do. They don't even have to be round. You could just as easily make a square quiche.
Cast iron also isn't necessarily the ideal pan to use because dairy tends to degrade the seasoning. So, I really would recommend a glass or ceramic one. I just don't have that many round baking dishes! And have an abundance of well-seasoned cast iron pans. If you do a crust, I'd particularly recommend a tart pan where the edge and bottom pieces are separate. This makes it easier to get the quiche out of the pan. Just don't try to do that with a crustless quiche because their not not meant for liquids.
What Kind of Toppings Can You Use?
I am incredibly fond of staring into the deep, dark depths of my refrigerator, pantry, and fruit/vegetable dishes to find the most obscure of ingredients to put into quiche. They're one of those foods where there are very few things that don't work.
Quiche is basically a savory custard. So, anything that you would put into a pie or casserole also usually goes well quiche the quiche model. I add a lot of spinach, salmon, blue cheese, and sweet potatoes. But this is really personal preference. Any number of peppers, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce, and cheese go incredibly well in quiche. I've even been known to add avocado and Greek yogurt. Really, anything that would go with an egg is fair game.
How Difficult Is Making Crustless Quiche for Beginners?
Quiche is a great recipe for winging it. You don't have to be very precise with quiche for it to still turn out. That makes it a great beginner-friendly dish. Really, almost any amount of eggs-to-dairy ratio will make something that resembles a crustless quiche. Too much dairy will make it difficult for the quiche to set. Although, as long as you add both some kind of liquid and egg mixture? You should be fine. You can even use a variety of things for the dairy portion, like milk, cream, heavy whipping cream, Greek yogurt, water, and any number of dairy-free milks.
As long as you roughly follow the directions, quiche is a great recipe to have fun with and make your own. If you don't have quite enough of a single ingredient? Don't worry too much about it. You'll more likely than not end up with something edible in the end!
Variations of Crustless Quiche
Crustless quiche is far becoming one of my staples. It's quick and easy to put together. And, quite frankly, easier to flip than an omelette. Really, I might make quiche mainly because making too thick or thin an omelette that is ever-so-slightly over- or under-cooked isn't always worth the effort. Especially when it's far simpler just to load the thing up with eggs and toss it into the oven!
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