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Sometimes you can’t beat a homemade quiche with a baked potato and a nice fresh salad, but it always takes me longer to make a quiche than I think it will! Which is why I was very excited to ‘discover’ this amazing (magic?) crustless quiche. The Aussies call it ‘impossible quiche’! Read on to find out why, and how to make it…
All quiches are easy to make… right?
A big thumbs down for traditional homemade quiche!
Whenever I make quiche, which we all enjoy in our family (including our super picky toddler!), I find it surprisingly time consuming to make.
I also find the end result varies.
I’m sure it’s just me, but I often end up with holes in my pastry (aka half the filling dripping out onto the oven – oops. See this post. Delicious quiche, terrible photos desperately in need of an update!).
Or I undercook or overcook the filling.
Even if everything goes swimmingly and my quiche is perfect, it takes ti-iiiiii-me. Especially if I make my own pastry.
So now… I either make THESE mini quiche lorraine, because you don’t have to precook the pastry or fillings, or I make THIS crustless quiche.
Impossible Quiche!
Have you ever heard of impossible quiche? I’ve only ever seen recipes for it in Australia, but it’s pretty well known there, and for good reason. It’s a delicious quiche – and a little bit different!
Most crustless quiche recipes I find a bit too interchangeable with a frittata. The thing that makes this recipe different is that you add flour to the egg mixture.
The idea is that the flour sinks to the bottom of the quiche during cooking and makes a very light ‘crust’.
Quiche or souffle?
I say crust, but really I’d describe it as a sort of pancake-y layer that’s slightly heavier than the rest of the quiche. Sometimes it’s a bit more defined than other times.
I think it might depend of the type of fillings that you add to the quiche, and whether or not they are cooked.
Either way the quiche is delicious. If the flour doesn’t sink so much, I find that the eggy mixture has a slightly different texture to a regular quiche – almost like a souffle! The top of the quiche is also a bit crunchier than usual. As some of the flour stays on the top, it forms a kind of light batter topping.
This quiche reheats really well, and when you reheat it the top gets even more deliciously crunchy. Try it and see!
Erm… but what’s Impossible Quiche?
If I’m totally honest I don’t know why this is called impossible quiche. At first I thought it was because of the thin ‘crust’ that forms at the bottom, as if by magic!
But this feature of the quiche is subtle, and like I said before seems to depend on what fillings you’ve added.
So maybe it’s because the quiche is ‘impossibly’ quick to make?
Lightly cook the onions and mushrooms (or whatever fillings you want to add), then pour everything into your quiche pan and cook it for just 30 minutes.
Caramelizing the onions. Mmmm, delicious!
Before…
After…
Of course it doesn’t really matter why it’s called what it’s called. The important thing is that it’s a really delicious quiche. Recently it’s become my go-to, and I wonder if it will become yours too if you give it a go!
Why is this the best crustless quiche?
To summarize, I think this is the very best crustless quiche because…
- It’s REALLY quick and easy to make, but it ISN’T just another frittata!
- It seems really cheesy, even though there isn’t that much cheese in it – almost like a souffle.
- This particular quiche is made with ham (so no pre-cooking!), mushrooms, and the most amazing caramelized onions.
- If you’re lucky there’s a kind of magic thin crust on the bottom of your quiche.
- 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 seem to end up with the best ‘magic crust’ on the bottom of the quiche when I do this.
- You use milk to make this quiche, not cream. So it’s a little lighter than a regular quiche – but no less delicious!
- This crustless quiche reheats really well. If anything it’s more delicious when reheated!
So next time you’re craving a quiche, I challenge you to ditch your regular recipe (or store-bought go-to!) and give this crustless quiche a chance.
What to serve with a crustless quiche
Our favourite way to eat quiche is with a baked potato and salad. Don’t forget the coleslaw – trust me, it’s the icing on the cake 😉
Another easy quiche recipe for you!
If you’re loving the easy quiche vibe in the post, but would rather keep the crust…
- 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!
The very best crustless quiche (Impossible Quiche!)
Equipment (affiliate links)
Ingredients
- 1 onion sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon butter for cooking
- 5 ounces mushrooms (around 4 medium mushrooms)
- 3½ ounces ham chopped
- 1 cup grated cheese (strong cheddar cheeses or similar work well)
- ½ cup self-raising flour
- 1½ cups milk
- 4 eggs lightly whisked
- 2 teaspoons mustard (I usually use wholegrain, but any mustard works)
- salt & pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 390F / 200C.
- Melt the butter in a large frying pan or saucepan, then cook the onions slowly for about 10 minutes or until soft and beginning to caramelize.
- Add the mushrooms to the onions in the pan and cook for a further couple of minutes.
- Grease a standard quiche dish (or other round pan) with a little butter, then spread the onions and mushrooms evenly over the bottom. Scatter over the chopped ham and cheese.
- Slowly add the milk to the flour in a large jug. Whisk continuously so that there are no lumps, then whisk in the eggs, mustard, and salt and pepper.
- Pour the egg mixture over the fillings in the dish/pan, then bake for 30 (to 40) minutes or until the mixture is just cooked in the centre. Slice and serve!
Notes
A note on the fillings
The amount/type of fillings in this recipe are just a guideline. You could easily make a more traditional quiche lorraine with just bacon, onions and cheese if you prefer. To make this quiche even quicker and easier, don’t pre-cook a single thing! I’ve made it with just finely chopped raw onion and peppers, halved cherry tomatoes, and lots of cheese! Interestingly, this made for the best ‘magic crust’ on the bottom. Or add things like: leftover cooked roasted vegetables (I often add these)asparagus (no need to pre-cook)
chopped spinach (blanched and squeezed) & cubes of feta cheese
Elaine says
Absolutely delicious, I used wilted Silverbeet, and corn instead of mushrooms, gf flour and soy milk. Very easy to make. Thanks
Helen says
Aw you’re welcome Elaine and thank you! It’s great to hear that it works well with soy milk too!
Julia says
Can you also use cottage cheese instead of cheddar?
Helen says
Hi Julia! Yes, no problem at all! You can use any cheese you like actually. I hope you enjoy it!
Janet Appleby says
So quick and easy and delicious. Will definitely be a regular on the menu!
Helen says
Hello Janet, and thank you so much for letting me know you enjoyed this! My whole family enjoy it too!
Peg says
The term “impossible” is because of the forming crust. There are different versions of Impossible pies that have been around in the USA as far back as I can remember (the 60’s). The most popular are the sweet pies: Impossible Custard Pie, Impossible Lemon Pie, and Impossible Coconut Pie. Impossible Custard Pie is my favorite. I have never tried the Impossible Quiche so I will be trying this tonight. Thanks for sharing!
Helen says
Hi Peg! Yes I’ve also seen the sweet magic cakes floating around on the Internet. They look delicious too! I hope you enjoyed the magic quiche. The ‘crust’ can depend on a number of factors, but all the same it’s a yummy quiche!
Nancy Frey says
Loved this! Excellent, light and easy to make! Thank you!
Helen says
Hi Nancy – thanks so much for the feedback. I’m so glad you liked it!
Hol says
I’ve never made quiche before and tried this recipe, it was so easy and turned out really well! Looking forward to making more and experimenting with some different flavours, thanks very much!
Helen says
Hi Hol! You’re so welcome! I’m so glad your first quiche making experience turned out so well! 🙂
Joanne Reeves says
I’ve made this quiche twice now and each time, delicious! It’s so quick and easy to make, it’s a winner! Me and my family love it, also tastes yummy cold too!
Thanks for a super recipe Helen!
Helen says
Hi Joanne! I’m so glad you like it! I like the fact it’s quick, but doesn’t taste like a frittata or an omelette! Thank you so much for leaving a review!
Becca says
Fyi, the “impossible pie” first started in the 80’s. The “impossible cheeseburger pie” won one of their contests, and the company embraced it. They covered their boxes with several recipes, loke this. And it refers to the “makes its own crust” as the reason for the “impossible” status. This is similiar, just using components of Bisquick instead of the product. If you adjust the measurements, I’m sure you’ll get that thicker crust. However, it’s more of a thin biscuit type crust. Hope this helps.
Helen says
Hi Becca, and thank you so much for the info. I definitely didn’t know this! I do love the concept though – I get varying thicknesses of ‘crust’ at the bottom of my quiches, but I love the souffle-like consistency you get from adding flour to the egg mixture. Have a lovely day!
Jo says
Hi, I struggle to eat pastry so this sounds fab. Just wondering which recipe to use as US says 1½ cups milk (approx 180ml) and Metric says 375ml so am assuming metric typo should be 175ml? – which is correct for the recipe please?
Also can you use a halogen oven for your Mini Banana Cake as it seems similar?
So many lovely sounding recipes to try…
Helen says
Hi Jo! I just double checked my conversion and 1.5 cups is indeed around 375ml. I’ve used both the cup and ml measurements to make this and it turns out great both ways. It doesn’t matter whether you use US or Australian/UK cups. The difference doesn’t matter for this recipe. Hope you enjoy it! I make this all the time!
As for the mini banana cake – I think it would work in a halogen oven! You might have to keep checking the cake for doneness after about 25 minutes, but once you’ve got it right once with your particular oven it should work well every time. Good luck!
Amanda says
Delicious recipe, I added some sweet corn and used lardons instead of the ham. I substituted 1/2 cup of double cream to skimmed milk for the mix and used whole meal self raising flour. It came out beautifully, clean plates all round. Will definitely cook it again. The beauty of this dish is that you can use fridge and store cupboard items that you need to use up or have to hand and although it will be different every time it will be great, thanks for sharing.
Helen says
Hi Amanda! Thank you so much for your review. I agree that this recipe works really well no matter what you throw into it. I find the ‘crust’ varies according to how many ‘bits’ you add, but it’s always really delicious – sometimes more like a souffle texture, and sometimes with a distinct pancake-y base on the bottom. Yum!
Leanne says
I didn’t add meat but still unbelievably delicious!!
Helen says
Hi Leanne! That’s the beauty of this recipe – you can add whatever you like. So glad you enjoyed it!
Mummy Mouse says
Thank you very much for the recipe! I used salami instead of the ham (that was all I had 😆 ) and also made 12 muffin sized ones out of the recipe. That way I hope I can put them into my daughters school pack lunch for tomorrow that is if they even last that long. 😂 We already had a little taste and she described them as “a little slice of haven”. And hubby already requested that I make more as they are sooooo delicious 😋
Helen says
Hello! Thank you so much for letting me know how you got on with the recipe! I LOVE your idea of making small muffin versions. I have to try this myself! It’s so helpful to know that the recipe still turned out well. How long did you bake them for? 🙂
Mummy Mouse says
I baked them for 30 minutes at 175C in a Fan oven. But monitored them constantly so that they don’t get burned. I tried to put a picture of them on twitter (but think 🤔 I might have not linked you properly to it.) They turned out quite cute heart shaped with 🦄 embossing. 😁
Helen says
Oh wow, thank you so much for sharing the photo! I’ll pop over to Twitter to see if I can find it! 🙂
Judy says
I tried this recipe and it was so delicious I omitted the mushrooms and added tomatoes instead it’s a winner with the family
Helen says
So happy to hear this, Judy – thank you so much for letting me know!
Louise says
Just made this – absolutely delicious – and huge!
Helen says
So happy you liked it, Louise – thanks so much for letting me know. I love that it’s big. I sometimes freeze bits for another day. It reheats really well!
Mary Yasuda says
Thank you for the recipe. I used olive oil instead of butter. Instead of ham, I used frozen shrimp. I also added spinach [again, frozen]. I live in Japan and mushrooms are not easily available and tend to be too expensive for our family, so I used shitake mushrooms and leeks since the leeks I had needed to be used soon. I didn’t precook the shitake mushrooms or Japanese leeks.
I just sliced them on the thin side and laid them out in the olive oiled pan. Put the frozen shrimp on top, and put frozen cut spinach on top of that. Then I followed the rest of the directions with the following variation…..I had about a third of a can of evaporated milk which needed to be used and a tiny bit [maybe 2 tablespoons of plain yogurt] which I added to the milk with a little water…came to 2 cups but since the shrimp and spinach were frozen, that was just the right amount of liquid. We love garlic in our home, so I added a little powdered garlic to the salt and pepper, too. This quiche came out light and fluffy. I used a toaster oven set at 200C for 30 minutes without pre-heating. With the olive oil coating, there was almost no sticking at all…..my pan was rectangular and just fit inside my toaster oven/oven toaster. The sides were perfect. The bottom stuck just a little bit. We don’t have self-rising flour in our area so I looked online and found how to make my own with regular flour, baking powder and salt. I never knew you could make quiche without making crust first and I am so delighted. Last time I made regular quiche, it was tough and my family didn’t like it. This time it worked out perfectly.
Helen says
Hi Mary! I’m so glad that you tried this recipe and that it turned out well for you. I posted this recipe not knowing how it would go down with readers, but it’s been surprisingly popular. I’ve also made this with many different ingredients, not just the ones I’ve mentioned on this page. I once made it with just finely chopped vegetables and cheese and that turned out really well. It’s interesting to hear that your quiche didn’t stick at all with the addition of a bit of olive oil! Again, I’m very happy this worked out well for your family. Thank you so much for such thorough feedback!
Ani says
Made this last night. Was a big hit! Everyone had seconds. I even took some for lunch today. Will definitely make this again. Thanks.
Helen says
Hi Ani! I’m so pleased this turned out well and everyone enjoyed it! I think I’ll put it on the menu for later this week too!
Jayapura Nokamura says
Cooked this in a quiche dish. Top was a dark brown after 30 minutes, took it out and it wasn’t cooked inside. Cooked it in a preheated oven on 200 degrees Celsius. Not sure what went wrong? Maybe because it’s a fan oven?
Jayapura Nokamura says
I did go rogue with veg as I can’t eat bacon due to the preservatives they add to keep it looking pink and the bacon without these is too expensive. Maybe that’s what did it.
Jayapura Nokamura says
I figured out what it was! Frozen cheese!!! Don’t use frozen cheese 🤦🏻♀️ It was liquid inside.
Helen says
Hi Jayapura! Usually this recipe is quite forgiving of substitutions, but I have to admit I’ve never made it with frozen cheese! 😉 It might have just needed another 10 minutes or so in the oven. I often find my quiches need different amounts of time in the oven each time I make them, depending maybe on how much filling I do or don’t stuff inside! I hope you give it another try – let me know how you get on!
Mary Yasuda says
Also, if it was rather well done on top but not done inside, your oven temperature was too high. Next time, try 160C for 30 minutes. You can check if it is done inside with a knife. If it is not quite done, turn you oven off and let it sit in the oven as is. The heat inside from when you cooked will finish off the cooking.
Helen says
Thank you so much for this little extra tip, Mary – so helpful!
Renee says
Perfect, just like mums growing up. But I think I remember her cooking it in a large Bessemer pot on the stove
A big hit with my kids and hubby too.
Helen says
Hi Renee! So glad you enjoyed this and it reminded you of your childhood, and I’m so glad it didn’t disappoint!
Christine Clements says
Not a lover of quiche but really enjoyed the crustless recipe, will definitely make it again. The base turned out just right.
Also love the sweet potato massaman curry, have cooked it a few times now, so easy and delicious.
Helen says
I consider it the highest compliment to have impressed you with something you usually don’t like!!! Thank you so much for letting me know, Christine! 🙂 Also, I’m so glad you like the curry too. Have you tried the chicken & butternut squash satay curry as well? There’s pretty much always some of that hanging out in our freezer!
Julie says
I’m not a huge crust fan so I LOVED this recipe. It was quick, easy and delicious. Can’t wait to make it again!
Helen says
So glad you approve, Julie – thank you so much for the positive review!
Renee Goerger says
This is the perfect quiche recipe for those watching their carbs! Well done!
Helen says
Thanks, Renee!!!