Easy Spinach Swiss Quiche with Frozen Pie Crust
Spinach Swiss Quiche is incredibly easy to make with a pre-made, frozen pie crust. Delightfully dense with spinach, Swiss and parmesan cheeses, a creamy egg custard and a bit of onion for the most pleasant crunch, this is not like other traditional quiche recipes!
Servings: 6 servings
Equipment
Ingredients
- 20 ounces frozen chopped spinach, thawed and completely squeezed dry
- 8 ounces Swiss cheese, shredded
- ½ cup small diced yellow onion
- ½ cup grated parmesan cheese (about 2 ounces)
- 4 large eggs, beaten
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 4 Tbsp melted butter, cooled a bit
- ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- 1 (9" or 9⅝") deep dish, pre-made, frozen pie crust
Instructions
- Prep and gather all ingredients according to specifications above. Make sure spinach is thawed and that all liquid has been squeezed out of it. Take the pie crust out of the freezer to thaw and remove its packaging about 20 minutes prior to getting started on the recipe. (It doesn’t need much time to thaw.) Arrange a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat it to 350℉. (Do not use the convection setting.)(Please see the section above in the blog post for Step-By-Step instructions with photos.)20 ounces frozen chopped spinach,, 1 (9" or 9⅝") deep dish, pre-made, frozen pie crust
- Combine the thawed and squeezed-dry chopped spinach, shredded swiss cheese, diced onion and grated cheese in a bowl and mix well. Set aside.20 ounces frozen chopped spinach,, 8 ounces Swiss cheese,, ½ cup small diced yellow onion, ½ cup grated parmesan cheese
- Then, whisk the eggs, heavy cream, melted butter and black pepper in a separate bowl until well-combined.4 large eggs, beaten, ½ cup heavy cream, 4 Tbsp melted butter,, ⅛ tsp ground black pepper
- Pour the egg mixture into the spinach mixture and mix very well until all ingredients are well-incorporated. It should be a very thick mixture and not soupy at all. (See photo above.)
- Carefully transfer the quiche mixture to the thawed crust, using a spoon or small spatula to spread it out evenly and flatten.
- Place the uncooked quiche on a rack in the lower third of a 350℉ preheated oven. The quiche will take at least 50 minutes to cook, depending on your oven. It took 60 minutes in my electric oven but would take less time in my previous gas ovens.Test the quiche’s doneness the same way that you would a cake–by inserting a toothpick or thin skewer into the center. If it comes out clean, the quiche is done and should be removed from the oven. If there are custard remnants on the toothpick/skewer, continue cooking and checking the quiche in 5 minute increments.The quiche and crust should be a bit golden brown in areas. If you think that the crust is getting too brown, you can cover the quiche with foil and/or move it to the top rack of the oven, but I have never had to do this.
- Let the quiche cool a bit (about 15 to 20 minutes) to set before slicing. Then, dig in! Buon Appetito!
Video
Notes
- Be sure to buy a “deep dish” pre-made frozen pie crust for this recipe. If all you can find or have are the regular, shallower crusts, they will work. But, you will need two of them. Just divide the filling between the two shallower crusts.
- There’s no need to blind bake the crust for this recipe. Trust me. It’s been well-tested.
- I use frozen spinach in this recipe for convenience and because I always have it on hand. You can use either chopped or whole spinach leaves, but the key is to squeeze out as much liquid as possible once it's thawed, otherwise the resulting quiche will be watery. I just gather the thawed spinach into a ball and use my hands to squeeze it until dry. It takes a couple times squeezing to get all the water out but this step is really important. You can also place the thawed spinach in cheesecloth and squeeze it or press it against the bottom of a strainer.
- You can also start with fresh spinach, but will have to blanch/boil it first briefly and also squeeze it dry. You’ll need to start with roughly 3 pounds fresh spinach to end up with the same amount of frozen spinach needed in this recipe.
- It’s always best to shred cheese yourself to avoid the anti-caking agents that are added to pre-shredded cheeses. I always buy whole block cheese and then shred it myself on a box grater.
- Because of the large amount of cheese in the recipe, there is no need for salt.
- If you’re not a fan of swiss cheese, gruyere, cheddar, fontina, gouda, mozzarella and Monterey jack are all great cheese alternatives for this recipe.
- You can make the quiche 1 to 2 days in advance of serving. Cool it at room temperature first, then wrap it well in plastic wrap and refrigerate it. Since quiche is wonderful hot, at room temperature or even cold, you have lots of serving options. If you’d like to reheat it, remove plastic wrap, cover it with foil and place it on the middle rack of a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes or until it’s heated through.
- Leftovers can be stored in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months.
- To freeze, wrap the cooled quiche in a couple layers of plastic wrap, then a layer of aluminum foil. Thaw in the refrigerator for about 24 hours, then remove plastic wrap, cover it with foil and place it on the middle rack of a 325°F oven for about 15 minutes or until it’s heated through.
