To tailor a classic quiche for two, we need to ditch our full-sized pie plate and grab a 6-inch pie plate to produce a perfect-size quiche for two people. This is not a light recipe, but rather a smooth, no-holds-barred quiche made with cream, cheddar cheese, mushrooms, spinach and bacon. To keep this easy we will use a store-bought, refrigerated, roll-out pie crust.
This quiche recipe is a family favorite, at Greg and Martha’s. They were given the "Colorado Cooking” cookbook by dear friends years ago. When Greg submitted this recipe on Our Table 42 Submit A "Keeper" Recipe, he made the comment “we always use a store bought pie crust to keep it easy, but some I hear make their own.”
My challenge was to figure out how to make a small sized quiche when serving two. In the kitchen, I made the recipe 5 times over the span of 3 months, tweaking and adjusting until I achieved a flaky, crisp crust and a filling with a creamy texture and lightly eggy flavor. Enjoy!
JUMP TO THE SECTION TO LEARN:
- WHAT IS THE SECRET TO MAKING A QUICHE FOR TWO?
- INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THIS QUICHE FOR TWO
- WHAT GOES WITH QUICHE FOR BREAKFAST?
- FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTION ABOUT QUICHE
- RATE THE RECIPE
WHAT IS THE SECRET TO MAKING QUICHE FOR TWO?
Using the right 6-inch pie plate makes a perfectly sized quiche and crust to filling ratio when serving two.
I found that pre-baking or par baking the pie crust keeps the filing from turning the crust soggy. And figuring out the right measurements for the filling ingredients led to success.
It is worth mentioning the texture changes as it cools. It comes out of the oven puffy, but settles down and smooths out as it cools. No worries, this is normal and doesn’t mean you made a mistake.
For me, the hardest part of making quiche is not cutting into it right away.
COOKING QUICHE FOR TWO PEOPLE? USE A 6-INCH PIE PLATE!
I love using my small batch baking dishes for our meals for two! This recipe calls for a 6-inch pie plate and a refrigerated roll-out crust.
If you don’t have a 6-inch pie plate, you can buy one on Amazon. A six-inch cake pan should also work. I also made this recipe using individual removable bottom tart pans. The ones I have measure exactly 4 inches on the bottom, and about 4 ½ inches if you measure across the top.
If using removable bottom tart pans, you’ll have enough crust for four and enough filling for two. I’ve also experimented with 4-inch removable bottom cheesecake pans. They work but tend to leak if you don’t really build up the crust. The tart pans are a little easier to work with.
PAR-BAKE THE CRUST
For a crisp, flaky crust, we parbaked the dough to keep the filling from turning the crust soggy.
First, unroll the dough. Gently place the dough onto 6-inch pie plate, letting the excess dough hang over the edge. Using a knife or kitchen shears, trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of the pie plate.
After crimping the dough, wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and place in freezer until dough is fully chilled and firm, about 30 minutes. This is really important, so the crust won’t slouch which happens if the butter in the crust melts too fast when it hits the hot oven.
After chilling the crust for 30 minutes, fill with pie weights. No pie weights? Hit your change jar and fill the pie shell with loose change.
Bake until pie dough looks dry and light in color.
RIGHT FILLING MEASUREMENTS FOR A SMALL QUICHE
For the filling, two eggs and ⅔ cup cream gave us a creamy texture and lightly eggy flavor. Cheddar cheese, sauteed mushrooms, spinach with some bacon round out the flavor.
It is important to add the custard filling while the pie crust is still warm. Otherwise, the crust will be too brown and begin to dry out as we wait for the custard filling to cook.
If the crust has cooled, be sure to rewarm in the oven for 5 minutes before adding the custard.
INGREDIENTS TO MAKE THIS QUICHE FOR TWO?
Here is what you will need to make this quiche:
- Fresh mushrooms – button mushrooms or shiitake mushrooms work well in this recipe,
- Cheddar cheese – you can vary the cheeses, some favorites include feta, goat cheese, white cheddar, Swiss, and gruyere.
- Spinach – I use frozen. Make sure to thaw and squeeze this dry to avoid a watery custard filling.
- Extra Large Eggs
- Whipping Cream – I have also made this recipe substituting half and half, which worked well.
- Seasoning and spices such as Worcestershire, sugar, crushed garlic, onion salt and freshly ground pepper round out the flavor
- Bacon
- Parmesan Cheese
- 1 store-bought refrigerated pie crust
Want to keep it vegetarian? Leave out the bacon to keep this vegetarian. You can also vary the cheese and add more vegetables. However, if you do add vegetables make sure you cook them and press them dry so that the moisture from the vegetables doesn’t leak in and ruin the smooth texture.
WHAT GOES WITH QUICHE FOR BREAKFAST?
I like to serve quiche for a weekend breakfast or special breakfast with fresh fruit, oatmeal, yogurt and granola, cinnamon rolls or muffins or breakfast breads like this Blueberry Lemon Yogurt Cake.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT QUICHE
Rich source of protein, due to the dish’s high egg content. Boosts your fiber intake, since many vegetables contain both soluble and insoluble fiber. Eggs contain vitamin B-12, a nutrient that helps maintain the health of your nervous system. The major nutritional drawback of a quiche comes from its pastry crust, cream and cheese content.
One of the biggest differences between a classic quiche and a Lorraine is the filling ingredients. A Lorraine has a heavy cream and egg base and is filled with bacon and French cheeses. Whereas a traditional quiche is made with an egg center and mixed with a variety of cheeses, meats, and vegetables.
Yes, and if adding vegetables be sure to cook and pat them dry before adding to avoid
For a crisp, flaky crust, we parbaked the dough to keep the filling from turning the crust soggy.
Quiche For Two
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Equipment
- pie weights or use loose change (penny's, quarters, etc)
- aluminum foil
Ingredients
- 1 store-bought rolled pie crust
- 2 bacon slices
- ½ Tablespoon Butter
- ½ cup fresh mushrooms sliced (button or cremini)
- ⅔ cup whipping cream
- 2 large eggs slightly beaten
- 1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
- ¼ teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon garlic crushed
- ⅛ teaspoon onion salt
- ⅛ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- ⅓ cup frozen spinach thawed and squeezed dry
- ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese grated. You can vary the cheeses. Some favorites include feta cheese, goat cheese, white cheddar cheese, Swiss cheese, and gruyere.
- 2 Tablespoons Parmesan ,shredded
Instructions
- Spray the pie plate with cooking oil or rub with butter papers (What is this?) to grease the pie plate. Preheat oven to 375 degrees and adjust oven rack to lower-middle position.
Pre Bake the crust
- Unroll the dough. Gently place the dough onto 6-inch pie plate, letting the excess dough hang over the edge. Ease dough into plate by gently lifting edge of dough with your hand while pressing into plate bottom with your other hand, letting excess dough overhang the edge of the pie plate.
- Using a knife or kitchen shears, trim overhang to ½ inch beyond lip of the pie plate. Tuck the overhang under itself, the folded edge should be flush with the edge of the pie plate. Crimp the edges of the dough using your fingers. After crimping the dough, wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and place in freezer until the dough is fully chilled and firm for at least 30 minutes.
- Remove chilled dough from freezer, set the plastic wrap aside and line chilled pie shell with parchment paper or heavy-duty aluminum foil, covering the edges to prevent burning. If you do not have heavy-duty aluminum foil you can use a double layer of aluminum foil. Fill the pie plate with pie weights. If you do not have pie weights filling with penny’s or other like sized coins works perfectly fine. Bake until pie dough looks dry and is light in color, this will take about 25 to 30 minutes. Transfer the pie plate to a wire rack and remove weights and parchment.
For the Filling:
- While crust bakes, cook 2 slices of bacon, cut into ¼” pieces, in 8 or 10-inch skillet over medium-low heat until crisp, about 10 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, transfer bacon to a paper towel-lined plate. Pour off all but 1 tablespoon fat from skillet, add butter and melt. Add mushrooms and cook over medium high heat until softened and lightly browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Then set aside.
- Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees. Line baking sheet with aluminum foil, this will catch any spillage and make for an easy clean up. In a 4-cup liquid measuring cup, whisk together eggs cream, Worcestershire, sugar, garlic, onion salt, and pepper. Stir in spinach, cooked mushrooms and half of the crumbled bacon into the egg mixture until well combined.
- It is important to add the custard to the crust while it is still warm; if the crust has cooled, rewarm it in the oven for 5 minutes before adding the custard. Place warm pre-baked pie crust on prepared baking sheet. Sprinkle cheddar cheese into the bottom of the pie plate and return to oven. Carefully pour egg mixture into crust until it reaches about ½ inch from top edge of crust (yes, you are pouring the egg mixture into the crust with the pan in the oven). Use a fork to spread the mushrooms and spinach evenly. Sprinkle with parmesan. You may have left over egg mixture. Bake quiche for 20 minutes then spread the remaining bacon on top. Continue baking until top is lightly browned and the very center still jiggles and looks slightly underdone, and a knife inserted about 1 inch from the edge comes out clean. This will take about 30 – 40 minutes. Let the quiche cool on a wire rack for at least 30 minutes. Serve slightly warm or at room temperature.
Notes
Your Notes, Tips and Tricks
Nutrition
Nutritional information is only an estimate. The accuracy of the nutritional information for any recipe on this site is not guaranteed.
DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?
Please let me know how it turned out for you! Leave a comment below and share a picture on Instagram with the hashtag #ourtable42.
Jill R says
Doesn't the pie plate crack going from freezer to oven? That's a big temperature change.
Pam Werley says
Thank you for reaching out and what a great question.
I believe your question is about chilling the crust to avoid a slouchy crust…
“ After crimping the dough, wrap dough-lined pie plate loosely in plastic wrap and place in freezer until the dough is fully chilled and firm for at least 30 minutes.”
Because we are doing a fast chill the pie plate will be fine going from freezer to oven (no longer than 30 minutes). We are not completely refreezing the crust in the pie plate.
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If you are freezing the pie crust overnight in the pie plate before par baking, you will need to let the pie plate rest at room temperature for at least 30 minutes before putting in the hot oven. Check that the pie crust is still chilled and firm and the pie plate has not cold to the touch.
If the pie crust is not chilled and firm before par-baking you may have a slouchy crust. To avoid this, assuming your pie plate is room temperature follow the instruction in recipe to: To chill until firm in freezer, about 30 minutes.
If you are freezing a fully baked quiche, it is very important to let the quiche sit at room temperature for 30 minutes before placing in hot oven to avoid pie plate cracking. Another option is toplace frozen baked wuiche in the refrigerator the night before.
Remove from refrigerator for 30 minutes and then reheat quiche in oven if desired.
Hope this makes sense. And Thank you for sending an email.
I will add these notes about freezing to the recipe as I think this is a good question.
Again Thank you for your comment, I really really enjoy hearing from my readers.
Jill R says
The quiche was very good and surprisingly was enough for 2 seniors. However, I made a few changes. 1) Since I didn't feel comfortable putting the pie plate and crust in the freezer and then straight to the oven (manufacturer of pie plate in recipe said NOT to), I cooked the crust with pie weights as I normally would. 2) The parm to be sprinkled on the top was not in the list of ingredients, but I always have some on hand. 3) I didn't have onion salt, so I used dried onion flakes and salt. 4) I didn't want to waste the extra pie crust, so I put it on a small sheet and baked it with the crust until golden. For the extra egg mixture, I sprayed a ramekin with cooking spray and put it in there and cooked with the quiche. I'll make this again since a normal quiche would last 4 meals for us.
Pam Werley says
I am so glad you liked this quiche. What great tips and tricks for using up the second pie crust, ingredient substations and calling out the missing ingredient.