Perfect Mary Berry Quiche Lorraine

Why you’ll love it

It’s no secret that a well-made quiche is perfect for a brunch, lunch, dinner, potluck, picnic or anything in between ’emergency’! This red pepper and feta vegetarian quiche is simple and tasty and my popular impossible quiche (crustless) cuts corners without compromising on flavour.

BUT let’s just admit it now. The mother of all quiche recipes is a classic quiche lorraine. This humble egg and bacon tart may be originally french, but it’s become as much of a British classic as a cup of tea.

With so many quiche lorraine recipes out there, how do you know which is the best? Without question my vote goes to Mary Berry, British food writer, chef and TV presenter, affectionately known as the Queen of Baking!

Here’s why:

• I find the proportions just right. This is not a deep-dish quiche with a thick crust. Mary’s quiche has perfect quantities of thin and crisp, buttery, flaky crust and rich, creamy egg filling. There’s plenty of bacon, caramelised onions and tasty gruyère cheese without any of the flavours being overpowering.

• The 3-ingredient homemade pastry is so simple to make in a food processor. You’ll be shocked just how quick and easy! (Or make it by hand if you prefer, of course). You blind bake the pastry to get a nice crisp pastry case. With this recipe you’ll never get the dreaded ‘soggy bottom’ that Mary is famous for referring to!

• Mary Berry’s recipes just work. They’re classic and simple, and above all reliable. Perfected over her many many years of experience. This quiche lorraine recipe is no exception!

About the ingredients

All you need is just a few humble pantry ingredients. And you don’t even need that much of each.

For the shortcrust pastry case

Flour: Just use ordinary all-purpose/plain flour.

Butter: Use a good quality unsalted butter (since the quiche filling is already naturally quite salty, I don’t recommend using salted butter). Use the butter cold, straight from the fridge, and don’t substitute with margarine. You really need butter for your quiche pastry to be buttery and flaky like it should be!

Cold water: You’ll add a few tablespoons of cold water to your flour and butter mixture to bring the pastry together.

For the filling

Eggs: You’ll need just 2 large.

Cream: The cream in this quiche recipe is important for the just-right creamy consistency. Use ‘single cream’ if you’re in the UK or ‘pouring cream’ if you’re in the US or Australia. Double or thickened/heavy cream works, too (it’s called different things depending on where you live). If you’re using thick cream you can substitute a little (maybe a third) of the cream for milk if you like.

Salt and pepper: To season the egg mixture. You won’t need much salt, since both the bacon and cheese are already quite salty.

Bacon: Mary suggests using ‘unsmoked streaky bacon’, or a fattier type of bacon. I tend to go for smoked and on the leaner side, but it’s fine to just use your favourite type of bacon. You can also use French style ‘lardons’ or even Italian style pancetta.

Onion: Strictly speaking, the onion is optional, but I think it adds a lovely extra depth of sweet, aromatic flavour. It only takes around 10 minutes to slightly caramelize them and you can do that while you’re pre-baking the pastry.

Grated cheese: Traditionally, a quiche lorraine contains Swiss gruyère cheese which has a slightly nutty flavour. It’s delicious, but by all means use another tasty cheese like strong cheddar or even parmesan.

How do you make a Mary Berry quiche lorraine?

The step-by-step guide below should help you make the recipe perfectly first time. Scroll down to the end for the full recipe including ingredient amounts.

First, make and blind bake the pastry.

I’m a big fan of easy options when it comes to any recipe. But in the case of this Mary Berry quiche I highly recommend making your own pastry. It helps to keep the proportions and contrast of textures just right.

If you’re usually the first one to reach for the store-bought pastry, don’t be nervous. This homemade pastry recipe is unbelievably easy, with just 2 ingredients – flour and butter – plus cold water to bring it together. If you have a food processor, you won’t believe how quick and easy it is.

Here’s how to do it:

Step 1: Throw the flour and cold (cubed) butter into a food processor and process for around 10 seconds until you have what looks like fine breadcrumbs. Mary says to rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips, which by all means you can do, but it just takes a little longer.

Step 2: Add 3 tablespoons cold water and process again until you have a pastry ball. If the pastry doesn’t quite form a ball, just add a little more flour and bring it together with your hands. If not using a food processor, simply do this whole part by hand (don’t worry, it’s easy too).

Step 3: Roll it out until it’s about 30% bigger than an 8 to 9 inch quiche pan.

Step 4: Use the pastry to line the quiche pan (you can use the rolling pin to lift it). Then trim it around the edge with a sharp knife.

Step 5: Now it’s time to blind bake the pastry. To do this, first prick the pastry all over with a fork (this is to stop it puffing up). Then line with baking paper and fill with baking weights, dry beans, rice or even sugar.

Like this (this is a time I made my quiche with a pre-made crust, but it works exactly the same with a homemade crust):

Step 6: Bake for 10 minutes at 220C or 430F. Then remove the weights and paper and bake for another 10 minutes. No risk of a soggy bottom with Mary’s quiche!

At this point, turn the oven down to 180C/355F.

Step 7: While you’re blind baking the pastry, cook your chopped bacon in a little olive oil on a medium heat for about 10 minutes until it’s all crisped and almost caramelized. Ditto with your onions, which you cook slowly in the same pan you cooked the bacon in … mmmm!

Step 8: Meanwhile, you can also whisk the eggs with the cream and season.

Step 8: Layer up the filling ingredients in the cooled pastry case – first the cooked bacon, then the onions, then the cheese. Carefully pour over the egg and cream mixture. I like to save a few bits of bacon to place right on top!

Step 9: Mary says to bake at 180C/355F for 25 to 30 minutes. I find sometimes 20 minutes is long enough in my oven which runs a little hot. The quiche should be set but still a bit jiggly in the middle.

What to serve with quiche lorraine

In the Scrummy household we’ve always loved to pair quiche with baked potatoes and a simple salad for dinner. But also it makes a great lunch for guests – with a chilled glass of something, of course.

Or you can pack up the leftovers for school or work and enjoy this quiche cold.

A quiche lorraine is so flavourful that you don’t want any sides to outshine it. Simple is best. Here are a few ideas:

• A very simple green salad with cherry tomatoes and cucumber. Or this Greek lettuce salad. It also goes well with coleslaw. Try this Greek yogurt brussel sprouts coleslaw if you want to feel all smug and healthy!
• Delicious Greek giant beans in tomato sauce. These are so easy on the stovetop!
• Easy no mayo Greek potato salad. You’ll be amazed how delicious this is!
• A wild card option. I think quiche lorraine goes very well with this simple Instant Pot tomato soup (don’t worry, there’s a stovetop version too!). It must be all the cheese and bacon. Mmm.

Looking for more ideas? Check out this list of 40+ easy side dishes for quiche.

More easy recipes using eggs

More egg-based dishes, including quiches, slices, frittatas, omelettes and more! Yum.

• When you just don’t want to make pastry, no matter how easy it is, this crustless ham and cheese quiche (aka impossible quiche!) is the one for you. Alternatively, this zucchini quiche without crust is a just-as-delicious veggie version!
• When you do want a quiche with pastry, but you really don’t want to make it yourself, this very easy Mediterranean quiche with feta and red peppers is the perfect solution.
• For something a little different, try this Greek scrambled eggs recipe. Easier than classic scrambled eggs, and not just for breakfast!
• These 6-ingredient mini quiche lorraine are the much easier baby version of a classic quiche lorraine. Perfect for parties, picnics and lunch boxes!
• This easy zucchini slice is like a veggie-packed crustless quiche in slice form! Also perfect for picnics and lunch boxes.
• This Spanish omelette is pretty legendary, once you’ve learned how to make it properly. Try it and see!
• Use up all the odds and ends in your fridge with this ‘everything’ sheet pan vegetable frittata. For the same in cute muffin form, go with egg muffins with spinach and cheese.