The Very Best Crustless Quiche (Impossible Quiche!)

This crustless quiche is ‘magic’! Otherwise known as ‘Impossible Quiche’, added flour ‘makes its own crust’ (kind of) during cooking. It’s fluffy and cheesy like a soufflé, and so tasty, even though it’s made with just a few simple ingredients. With no pesky crust, you’ll need just 15 minutes of prep and 30 minutes of cook time to make it.

Read on to find out why this is the very best crustless quiche recipe, and how to make it…

I love a classic quiche lorraine with a buttery crust as much as anyone, and think it’s sometimes worth the extra effort. But for me it can be surprisingly time consuming to make as I find myself patching up holes in the pastry, and other pastry mishaps!

Which is why on busy weeknights, it’s this incredible crustless quiche recipe (otherwise known as impossible quiche) that I find myself turning to again and again.

I’ve hopefully included below everything you need to know to make the recipe perfectly first time, including some of the many tips in reviews received from readers who’ve tried this recipe over the years.

Crust lovers, I promise you, you won’t miss the crust!

Why you’ll love it

I’ll try to be concise with the list below because I could literally rave about this recipe all day long!

• Makes its own pastry! I say pastry, but really I’d describe it as a sort of pancake-like layer that’s slightly heavier than the rest of the quiche. Sometimes it’s a bit more defined than other times (but always delicious!).
• Great texture. The added self-raising/self-rising flour (or flour + baking powder) works miracles in the recipe. It fluffs up like a soufflé, as well as creating the light ‘crust’ as the quiche cooks. The top of the quiche is also crunchier and more golden than a regular quiche.
• Quick and easy. Some say this is called Impossible Quiche because it’s virtually impossible to mess it up! Also, it’ll take you about 30 minutes less to make than a regular homemade quiche with a crust.
• So tasty! This is made with ham (so no pre-cooking), mushrooms, and delicious caramelized onions. It also tastes beautifully cheesy, although it doesn’t have a ton of cheese in it.
• Economical. This recipe is a very versatile pantry dinner, meaning you can use whatever you already have in your fridge. It’s also made with milk not cream, and uses less eggs than many other crustless quiche recipes.
• Reheats really well. If anything it’s more delicious when reheated (my favorite way is in my air fryer!).

Butter: Starting off this recipe by lightly caramelizing a chopped onion in a little pure butter adds an extra sweet and delicious punch of flavor. Can you use olive oil instead? Sure, if you prefer!

An onion: I have used both a brown onion and a red onion for this recipe. I like to slice them thinly, or feel free to chop them finely instead if you prefer.

Mushrooms: For extra flavor and texture. If you aren’t a mushroom fan, feel free to leave them out or replace with something else such as finely chopped peppers or asparagus.

Ham: This recipe uses ready-cooked ham. It just makes the recipe easier to not have to cook it (like you would have to cook bacon). Ideally, I like to use nice chunky slices of off-the-bone smoked ham. However, any chopped ham is fine.

Obviously it’s also fine to replace the ham with bacon if you prefer – it will just add a little extra preparation time.

Cheese: For convenience, I use grated cheddar, which I usually have in the fridge. Sharp (strong/tasty) cheddar is the best. However, feel free to mix things up with some parmesan, gruyere, crumbled feta, ricotta cheese or any other cheese that you like.

Flour: This is the key ingredient to make the recipe work – don’t skip it! Use self-raising (or self-rising) flour, which is what makes the quiche fluff up like a soufflé as it cooks. If you don’t have any, use plain/all purpose flour with three quarters of a teaspoon of baking powder added.

This recipe will also work well with Bisquick instead (for those of you in the USA!).

Milk: I’ve made this recipe with both whole milk (full cream) and reduced fat (semi-skimmed/high-low/2%). Most times, I use reduced fat since that’s what we always have in the fridge.

Some readers have successfully used dairy free milks as well (there are a few examples in the comments section).

Others have asked if they can replace some or all of the milk with cream. You absolutely can, but there’s no need. The texture will be richer and of course creamier, and the flour may not sink as much. It will still be a delicious quiche!

Eggs: You’ll need just 4 large eggs for this recipe (which is less than in most crustless quiche recipes). If you only have small eggs, just add an extra one to the mixture.

Mustard: I prefer the taste of a mild wholegrain mustard, but Dijon mustard is also a good choice. If you only have mustard from a squeezy bottle, use that!

Salt and pepper: Don’t overdo it with the salt, since the ham and cheese are already quite salty. However, feel free to increase the amount of pepper to taste.

How to make the best crustless quiche

The first step is to lightly caramelize the onions (for about 10 minutes) in some melted butter. You’ll find these will add a lovely sweetness to the finished crustless quiche!

For the final couple of minutes, you can add the mushrooms. Cooking them lets the liquid evaporate so that they don’t make the quiche soggy.

Spread them into a quiche pan (grease it with butter or oil first).

Sprinkle the ham and cheese on top.

Then here’s the important part. Slowly add the milk to the flour. A large jug is good for this.

Then whisk in all the other ingredients – so eggs, mustard, and salt and pepper.

Variations

Have fun and make this crustless quiche recipe your own! Over the years, readers have made it with too many filling substitutions to list! However, here are some ideas:

• leftover roasted vegetables
• cherry tomatoes (halved)
• asparagus chopped into small pieces (goes especially well with smoked ham)
• finely chopped onions or green onions (spring onions) – try this if you don’t like caramelized onions
• frozen vegetables such as peas, small pieces of broccoli, green beans
• sautéed leeks (instead of onions)
• bacon instead of ham, or leftover sausage or other cooked meats
• different cheeses such as parmesan, feta, ricotta, gruyère
• spinach (use this recipe for sautéed frozen spinach, or simply use chopped defrosted frozen spinach portions with the water squeezed out)

One more option: Sometimes, when I’m feeling especially lazy or short on time, I don’t pre-cook any of the veggies. I just add finely chopped onions, peppers and chopped cherry tomatoes (as well as ham and cheese, of course!). Surprisingly I often end up with the best ‘magic crust’ on the bottom of the quiche when I do this.

Serving ideas

My favorite way to eat this crustless quiche is with potatoes (either baked potato or fries) and a simple green salad or vegetables such as broccoli or green beans. A little coleslaw is the icing on the cake!

Here are a few easy side dish recipes that would go well:

• sautéed frozen green beans or sautéed frozen broccoli, sautéed frozen spinach, or sautéed butternut squash
• these easy parmentier potatoes (little roasted diced potatoes that you could put into the oven at the same time as the quiche)
• Mediterranean roast vegetables
• Greek salad or Greek lettuce salad

If you’re serving the quiche to guests and would like to serve something else substantial with it, I’d recommend either Greek potatoes or a veggie pasta such as this creamy green pea pasta or this simple orzo pesto salad.

A great salad to serve it with is this beetroot, walnut and feta salad.

Alternatively, I wrote a huge list of recipes to serve with quiche, in case you’d like to check that out instead.

More easy quiche recipes

If you’re loving the easy quiche vibe in the post…

• try these easy mini quiche lorraine! They do have pastry, but you don’t need to pre-cook it. In fact you don’t pre-cook anything. The quiches are super super quick and easy, contain only 6 ingredients, and are perfect for freezing and/or taking along to parties!
• zucchini slice or easy spinach egg muffins (quite similar to a crustless quiche, and perfect for packing into lunch boxes!)
• Mediterranean style red pepper and feta quiche (so easy to make with a pre-made crust)