Spinach Quiche

Tested & Perfected Recipes Cookbook Recipe
Spinach Quiche

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Made with heavy cream and Gruyère, this rich spinach quiche is classic French.

Spinach & Gruyere Quiche

Of all the spinach quiches I’ve tried over the years, this classic French version is my favorite. The recipe comes from my childhood friend Trish, who is not only one of the funniest people I know, but also a stunning hostess. When Trish entertains, she goes all out – beautiful table settings, seasonal cocktails, fabulous food, and (best of all) hilarious party games. She once created an entire game of Jeopardy! for our old high school gang, complete with categories like Prom Dates, ’80s Pop Stars, and Senior Superlatives.

This spinach quiche is Trish’s “go-to” brunch dish. The combination of heavy cream and Gruyère makes it rich and flavorful. There’s also a good bit of spinach, which balances out all that richness and makes it just a little bit healthier. If you’d like to try another traditional French quiche, my quiche Lorraine made with smoky bacon, nutty Gruyère cheese, and shallots is one of the most satisfying dishes imaginable.

“This is the best spinach quiche I’ve had! It was a hit at our Easter brunch and I got several requests for the recipe. It came out perfect making ahead, freezing, and defrosting. This is a keeper!”

Jen from Newburyport, MA

Ingredients For Spinach Quiche

spinach quiche ingredients

To simplify things, I recommend using a store-bought crust. When buying frozen pie crust, be sure to check it carefully at the store for cracks. (If you unpack it and find that it’s cracked, no worries — there’s a fix below.) Also, make sure to buy a deep-dish crust; a regular pie shell is not deep enough to hold all the fillings.

Frozen chopped spinach also makes the recipe easy. It’s important to wring out all the moisture from the spinach before using. I usually gather it into a ball in my hands and squeeze it until dry. It takes a few minutes of squeezing to get all the water out. Be patient; you need the spinach completely dry, otherwise your quiche will be watery.

Gruyère is my first choice for this quiche –  its nutty flavor works nicely in egg dishes, like strata, egg bites, omelettes, and more  – but if you can’t find it, Cheddar may be substituted.

How To Make Spinach Quiche

crust pricked with fork

Prick the bottom and sides of the crust all over with a fork. Bake on center rack until fully cooked and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes. If your crust cracks in the oven (or if it was cracked when you opened the package), make a smooth paste by mixing 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Use your fingers to patch up and fill any cracks, then place the crust back in the oven for a minute or so to set. It should be good as new.

golden baked crust

Set the crust aside and turn the oven down to 325°F. Sauté the shallots in a bit of butter over medium-low heat until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside to cool.

Skillet of cooked shallots.

In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper.

eggs, cream, and seasoning in bowl

Whisk to combine.

whisked egg and cream mixture

Place cooked pie shell on a baking sheet (this makes it easy to move in and out of oven) and spread the shallots over the bottom of the cooked crust.

layering shallots in crust

Sprinkle the shredded cheese over top.

layering shredded cheese in crust

Scatter spinach evenly over cheese (breaking up clumps as best you can).

layering spinach in crust

Then pour the egg mixture carefully over top.

egg and cream mixture poured into crust

Bake at 325°F for 50 to 55 minutes until custard is set and top is lightly golden. Serve hot or warm.

baked spinach quiche

How To Freeze Spinach Quiche

This spinach quiche freezes beautifully for up to three months. After cooling the quiche, wrap it in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Remove the quiche from the freezer about 24 hours prior to eating. Remove the plastic wrap and reheat it, covered with foil, in a 300°F oven until hot in the center.

Slices of Spinach Quiche on plates with forks.

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Video Tutorial

Spinach Quiche

Made with heavy cream and Gruyère, this rich spinach quiche is classic French.

Servings: 4 to 6
Total Time: 1 Hour 30 Minutes

Ingredients

  • 1 9-inch deep dish frozen pie crust
  • 1 tablespoon butter
  • ½ cup thinly sliced shallots
  • 4 large eggs
  • 1¼ cups heavy cream
  • Pinch ground nutmeg
  • ¾ teaspoon salt
  • ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 1 cup (4 oz) finely shredded Gruyère, packed
  • 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung free of water

Instructions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F and set a rack in the middle position. Remove the pie crust from freezer and thaw until just soft enough to easily prick with a fork, about 10 minutes. Prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork (pricking about an inch apart). Bake until fully cooked and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes. (Keep an eye on it...if it puffs up while cooking, gently prick it with a fork so it will deflate.) Don't worry if the crust cracks while baking; see my note below on how to fix it before proceeding. Set aside and turn oven down to 325°F.
  2. Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the shallots until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside to cool.
  3. In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper.
  4. Place the cooked pie crust on a baking sheet (this makes it easy to move in and out of oven). Spread the shallots over the bottom of the cooked crust, then sprinkle the shredded Gruyere over top. Scatter the spinach evenly over cheese, breaking up the clumps as best you can. Pour the egg and cream mixture over top.
  5. Bake at 325°F degrees for 50 to 55 minutes until the custard is set and top is lightly golden. Serve hot or warm.
  6. Note: I usually defrost the frozen spinach quickly by placing it in a fine mesh strainer and running hot water over it. I then gather the spinach into a ball and squeeze it dry. It takes a few minutes of squeezing and re-squeezing to get all the water out. Be patient...you need the spinach completely dry, otherwise your quiche will be watery.
  7. Note: Don't panic if your crust cracks—you can easily fix it. Make a smooth paste by mixing 1½ tablespoons of flour with 1 tablespoon softened butter. Use your fingers to patch up and fill any cracks, then place the crust back in the oven for a minute or so to set. It should be good as new.
  8. Make-Ahead Instructions: This quiche can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated. To reheat: Cover the quiche with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until hot in the center.
  9. Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooked quiche can be 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.

Nutrition Information

Powered by Edamam

  • Per serving (6 servings)
  • Calories: 504
  • Fat: 39 g
  • Saturated fat: 21 g
  • Carbohydrates: 25 g
  • Sugar: 3 g
  • Fiber: 2 g
  • Protein: 14 g
  • Sodium: 472 mg
  • Cholesterol: 218 mg

This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.

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Comments

  • Jenn, I need to make this a day ahead of time for a church function. Would it still be o.k. after refrigerating overnight? I could warm in up in the morning. Thanks for your help.

    • — Vicki Frederick
    • Reply
    • Oops, never mind. I just saw your answer to this question! I will let you know how it turns out :).

      • — Vicki Frederick
      • Reply
  • Great recipe. This was my very first quiche and it came out perfectly. Made the pie crust from scratch and pre baked it. Even my picky daughter liked it. This recipe will be going into the Witherun Farm cookbook.

  • Delicious! I have made this several times. In fact a friend has requested it tonignt for a party.

    My question is this: Do you have a good lemon meringue pie recipe? I have been craving one for a while……
    I will use your recipe for those christmas cookies with almond extract for the crust.

    • Glad you like the quiche! Unfortunately, I don’t have a proven recipe for lemon meringue pie. I’ll have to add that to my list of possible recipes to develop! This one looks good though and gets good ratings. (Please keep in mind that I haven’t tried it myself.)

  • Can this be made in advance and frozen? Or could you par bake the crust and make the filling, and just assemble and bake before having company over? I want to make this for a party but won’t have time to make it right beforehand.

    • Hi Rebecca, Yes, you could go either way with this one. Hope your company enjoys!

  • This quiche is fantastic! I made a few minor changes: I added finely minced ham between the shallot and cheese layers, and used 2% lactose-free milk because my boyfriend is lactose intolerant. In my oven, it took closer to 1.5 hours to cook. Anyway, I will make this again and again.

  • I must admit, I didn’t follow the recipe because I made my own crust – SUPER EASY and way healthier. (Not like that matters much with all the cream in this!). Otherwise, I followed the instructions exactly as written and this quiche was AMAZING….a definite keeper. The only thing I’ll change will be to dice, rather than thinly slice, the shallots. Otherwise, absolutely perfect as is.

    Oh…and I made mine the day before…warmed it up gradually in the convection oven and it was fabulous.

  • Hi there
    I was wondering if the crust really needs to be cooked before adding the filling. I made a quiche , filled the pie crust while it was uncooked and the edges still turned out too brown. I’m just concerned about burning the crust.

    • Hi CC, I think the baking the crust on its own really helps to keep it from being soggy once it has the filling. If the crust looks like it’s getting too brown when you’re baking with the filling, just cover it with foil. Hope you enjoy!

    • As a chef who has made gazillions of quiche yes you can and should actually not precook the dough. The only thing is that you have to put the rack at the bottom of the oven so the bottom of the quiche can cook. Bake it at least at 350 . I used a removable bottom tart pan and the quiche is ready when the bottom is brown

  • Made both this and the leek parmasean quiche for a fancy brunch and both were very good. I made a second batch using a lighter cream and they were just as good. The quiche froze well. Thanks for the delicious recipes.

  • Thanks! And one more question: any idea whether using fresh (i.e. not frozen) spinach will be ok? Costco has 1lb packages of triple-washed fresh organic spinach which is convenient…. I noticed your spinach strata recipe also uses frozen spinach so was wondering whether fresh might work for that one as well…..

    • Hi Ponyo, Yes, you can use fresh spinach in the quiche and the strata. You would just need to cook the spinach first and squeeze out any excess water.

  • This is a perfect quiche. I made this it yesterday and my husband came out of the office, because it smelled so good. Reheated two slices this morning at 300 for about 10 mins. Nice breakfast with some fruit. I plan to freeze the remaining slices for a couple more breakfasts. The volume of ingredients was exact, the lightly browned custard beautiful. Who could ask for more? Oh, what to do with the 2nd pie crust? Suggestion from husband….. a PECAN PIE ! So I did. Only make those once a year, but could not waste the 2nd pie crust!

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