Spinach Quiche
This post may contain affiliate links. Read my full disclosure policy.
Made with heavy cream and Gruyère, this rich spinach quiche is classic French.
Of all the spinach quiches I’ve tried over the years, this classic French version is my favorite. The recipe comes from my childhood friend Trish, who is not only one of the funniest people I know, but also a stunning hostess. When Trish entertains, she goes all out – beautiful table settings, seasonal cocktails, fabulous food, and (best of all) hilarious party games. She once created an entire game of Jeopardy! for our old high school gang, complete with categories like Prom Dates, ’80s Pop Stars, and Senior Superlatives.
This spinach quiche is Trish’s “go-to” brunch dish. The combination of heavy cream and Gruyère makes it rich and flavorful. There’s also a good bit of spinach, which balances out all that richness and makes it just a little bit healthier. If you’d like to try another traditional French quiche, my quiche Lorraine made with smoky bacon, nutty Gruyère cheese, and shallots is one of the most satisfying dishes imaginable.
“This is the best spinach quiche I’ve had! It was a hit at our Easter brunch and I got several requests for the recipe. It came out perfect making ahead, freezing, and defrosting. This is a keeper!”
Ingredients For Spinach Quiche
To simplify things, I recommend using a store-bought crust. When buying frozen pie crust, be sure to check it carefully at the store for cracks. (If you unpack it and find that it’s cracked, no worries — there’s a fix below.) Also, make sure to buy a deep-dish crust; a regular pie shell is not deep enough to hold all the fillings.
Frozen chopped spinach also makes the recipe easy. It’s important to wring out all the moisture from the spinach before using. I usually gather it into a ball in my hands and squeeze it until dry. It takes a few minutes of squeezing to get all the water out. Be patient; you need the spinach completely dry, otherwise your quiche will be watery.
Gruyère is my first choice for this quiche – its nutty flavor works nicely in egg dishes, like strata, egg bites, omelettes, and more – but if you can’t find it, Cheddar may be substituted.
How To Make Spinach Quiche
Prick the bottom and sides of the crust all over with a fork. Bake on center rack until fully cooked and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes. If your crust cracks in the oven (or if it was cracked when you opened the package), make a smooth paste by mixing 1 tablespoon of flour with 1 tablespoon of softened butter. Use your fingers to patch up and fill any cracks, then place the crust back in the oven for a minute or so to set. It should be good as new.
Set the crust aside and turn the oven down to 325°F. Sauté the shallots in a bit of butter over medium-low heat until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside to cool.
In a medium bowl, combine the eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper.
Whisk to combine.
Place cooked pie shell on a baking sheet (this makes it easy to move in and out of oven) and spread the shallots over the bottom of the cooked crust.
Sprinkle the shredded cheese over top.
Scatter spinach evenly over cheese (breaking up clumps as best you can).
Then pour the egg mixture carefully over top.
Bake at 325°F for 50 to 55 minutes until custard is set and top is lightly golden. Serve hot or warm.
How To Freeze Spinach Quiche
This spinach quiche freezes beautifully for up to three months. After cooling the quiche, wrap it in a layer of plastic wrap and then a layer of aluminum foil. Remove the quiche from the freezer about 24 hours prior to eating. Remove the plastic wrap and reheat it, covered with foil, in a 300°F oven until hot in the center.
You May Also Like
- Quiche Lorraine
- Cheese Soufflé
- Spinach & Cheese Strata
- Spinach Frittata
- Spinach Artichoke Dip
- Spinach Egg Bites
Video Tutorial
Spinach Quiche
Made with heavy cream and Gruyère, this rich spinach quiche is classic French.
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch deep dish frozen pie crust
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup thinly sliced shallots
- 4 large eggs
- 1¼ cups heavy cream
- Pinch ground nutmeg
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1 cup (4 oz) finely shredded Gruyère, packed
- 1 10-ounce package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung free of water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F and set a rack in the middle position. Remove the pie crust from freezer and thaw until just soft enough to easily prick with a fork, about 10 minutes. Prick the bottom and sides all over with a fork (pricking about an inch apart). Bake until fully cooked and lightly golden, 10 to 15 minutes. (Keep an eye on it...if it puffs up while cooking, gently prick it with a fork so it will deflate.) Don't worry if the crust cracks while baking; see my note below on how to fix it before proceeding. Set aside and turn oven down to 325°F.
- Heat the butter in a small skillet over medium-low heat. Cook the shallots until soft and translucent, about 8 minutes. Do not brown. Set aside to cool.
- In a medium bowl, whisk together eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper.
- Place the cooked pie crust on a baking sheet (this makes it easy to move in and out of oven). Spread the shallots over the bottom of the cooked crust, then sprinkle the shredded Gruyere over top. Scatter the spinach evenly over cheese, breaking up the clumps as best you can. Pour the egg and cream mixture over top.
- Bake at 325°F degrees for 50 to 55 minutes until the custard is set and top is lightly golden. Serve hot or warm.
- Note: I usually defrost the frozen spinach quickly by placing it in a fine mesh strainer and running hot water over it. I then gather the spinach into a ball and squeeze it dry. It takes a few minutes of squeezing and re-squeezing to get all the water out. Be patient...you need the spinach completely dry, otherwise your quiche will be watery.
- Note: Don't panic if your crust cracks—you can easily fix it. Make a smooth paste by mixing 1½ tablespoons of flour with 1 tablespoon softened butter. Use your fingers to patch up and fill any cracks, then place the crust back in the oven for a minute or so to set. It should be good as new.
- Make-Ahead Instructions: This quiche can be made up to a day ahead of time and refrigerated. To reheat: Cover the quiche with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated 300°F oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until hot in the center.
- Freezer-Friendly Instructions: The cooked quiche can be frozen for up to 3 months. Remove the quiche from the freezer about 24 hours prior to eating and reheat it, covered with foil, in a 300°F oven until hot in the center.
Nutrition Information
Powered by 
- Per serving (6 servings)
- Calories: 504
- Fat: 39 g
- Saturated fat: 21 g
- Carbohydrates: 25 g
- Sugar: 3 g
- Fiber: 2 g
- Protein: 14 g
- Sodium: 472 mg
- Cholesterol: 218 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
See more recipes:
Comments
Add a Comment
This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.
I tried this quiche for Easter Brunch– everyone loved it! It was so creamy and perfect. Usually my pie crusts brown a little too much but this was a nice golden color– this will be my favorite Quiche! I’m making this again!
While I love vegetables, I never ate quiche before. A “spinach pie” was just not appealing to me. However, I grew up and decided for some reason that I wanted to make a quiche. I used this recipe, and I am hooked! HOOKED I tell ya. I make it just as is here, I sometimes add bacon and mushrooms, sometimes I don’t. Either way it’s always awesome. Really, I haven’t made anything from this site that wasn’t awesome, and as a foodie, I appreciate that.
Hi Jenn, thanks for such a great recipe. One question- when I prebaked the store-bought pie crust (8 minutes for 180c) the edge shrunk a bit so it wasnt as nice. Any idea how to avoid that?
Love you website! I come here a lot to look for ideas! Thanks for sharing. –Anita
Hi Anita, Yes, that can happen. The best way to avoid it is to weight the crust down with a sheet of parchment paper and dried beans or pie weights. Here’s a link that shows how it’s done: http://www.thekitchn.com/how-to-blind-bake-a-pie-crust-cooking-lessons-from-the-kitchn-197553
I made this quiche for the first time with all the ingredients, just as described. It was fantastic, and quite possibly the best quiche I’ve ever made! My family was raving about it on Easter, and I was thrilled. I do believe the 325 degree oven is the key for a light quiche, so thank you for that tip. The only thing I did differently from the recipe was to heat up my pre-made crust with pie weights. Thank you, Jenn! I’m excited to make this again and again! 🙂
Hello!
I’m going to try this recipe for the first time on Easter. What are your recommendations for making the night before and reheating? Also, will using freshly steamed spinach be too problematic due to moisture? If not, how many ounces of fresh spinach would use suggest?
Hi Marlene, Go right ahead and make it ahead of time. Reheat, covered with foil, in a 325 degree oven til heated through. You can use fresh spinach (you’d probably need twice as much) but you’d need to squeeze it dry just like the frozen. To be honest, I’d probably just stick with the frozen — it’s easier and your quiche will come out just as mine does. Hope you enjoy!
Hi Jenn- I will be using the pillsbury refrigerated pie dough and my pie plates are 9.5″ x 2″ deep – will this be ok? Should I reduce the height of the dough in the pie plate since the recipe calls for 9″? Thanks! Can’t wait to make this!
Hi Jules, You could just a bit, but I wouldn’t worry about it too much — it will be fine 🙂
I am making brunch for a large group and am interested to know if this recipe can be doubled and baked in a casserole dish without the crust? It looks amazing and I can’t wait to try it, but I’m afraid I would have to make 4 of the original recipe to feed everyone! Thank you!
Hi Christa, Yes that would be fine; you might also want to check out the Spinach & Cheese Strata I just posted.
Perfect ratio of eggs/cream. I have made this several times, lately subbing 1 cup ham cubes for spinach and 1 Tbl minced green onions. Also my family prefers an equal mix of gruyere, havarti and extra old cheddar. Pre-baked crust and baking @ 325 a perfect combo. This is my go-to quiche recipe.
Wonderful quiche! I followed the recipe as is, except for subbing havarti cheese (cheaper) and making the pie crust myself. I’m keeping this recipe in my arsenal to wow guests at brunches.
I’ve made this quiche at least 5 times by now, and each time I find it dreamy. I’ve used fresh spinach instead of frozen every time. Also, I’ve forgotten about the shallots and it’s still amazing.
YUM! This quiche is delicious and I will make it over and over again. I added some chopped deli ham and used a whole wheat pie crust (it was much cheaper than the other) and worked well, tasted delicious.
I had never made a quiche before but I have loved every recipe of Jenn’s that I’ve made so I thought I’d give this one a try. It was great! I made the quiche exactly like the recipe called for but did forget the cayenne pepper. My quiche still turned out great and nobody noticed it was missing anything. The leftovers were also still good – both refrigerated and frozen.
One of my favorites!…and of everyone to whom I’ve served it! Perfect as is – wouldn’t change a thing. Mimosas make a lovely partners.
It’s hard to go wrong with this recipe and it can be used as a base. I made it once following the recipe as is. Delicious. Tonight I had other vegetables I wanted to use up and I only had 1/4 cup of heavy cream so I used that and the rest skim milk. I added sautéed mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and tomato to the spinach and shallots as well as feta, gruyere, and Alpine cheese. It was also very good.
This quiche recipe is PHENOMENAL. I have made this numerous times and it is a hit all of the time. Easy to make and quick to assemble for last minute guests.
No alterations needed. Recipe is perfect.
I made the spinach and Gruyere cheese quiche last night. It was delicious! So creamy. I’m having it again for breakfast. Heaven on earth. I made a few adjustments: I didn’t have shallots and so I sautéed leeks. I used fresh spinach (1 lb.) purchased from the Amish market here and so you know how good the spinach was. I cleaned it and some yellow squash that I sliced. I sautéed the spinach in the leftover butter from the leeks I sautéed. I bought a package of Pet-Ritz deep dish frozen pie crusts. They come two to a package; I used both. I followed the directions until the end when I stuck a few pieces of squash in the pies and used 1/4 tsp of cayenne instead of 1/8 tsp that the recipe called for. I prepared the crusts as directed. I am so pleased with my pies. They are so creamy. I used a little extra cream to stretch the recipe to make two pies. The purchase of the cheese was a first for me. I used it in scrambled eggs and was concerned I would run out. (Softly scrambled eggs, apple sauce and buttermilk biscuits from scratch with strawberry preserves for breakfast. Yum.) Anyway, this site is aptly named. Thank you so much for the recipe. I can hardly to wait to share it with my friends.
How many calories are in the spinach quiche?
Hi Lee, The nutritional data has been added underneath the recipe.
Can I use fresh spinach instead of frozen?
Hi Dorothy, Yes, fresh baby spinach will work fine.
can we substitute fresh spinach?
Hi Maggie, Yes, fresh will work fine.
This was my 1st quiche, ever. Making or eating. I searched a lot of recipes, but chose this one even over Emeril’s (his stuff is always delicious). I followed the recipe except I added mushrooms and bacon. OMG this was great. Even my 16 yr old food critic loved it, so I know it’s good. I was afraid I wouldn’t be able to find a gruyere at a reasonable price, but Trader Joes never fails, 1 lb for $7. POW!
What would be good to serve with this wonderful quiche?
Hi Denise, I think tomato soup would be nice. You could also do a salad (a grated carrot salad would work well), sliced ham or fresh fruit.
One of my friends and I made 6 of these for a wedding shower today and it turned out wonderful! I did use the other type of cheese which is called roth grand cru alpine…it was much cheaper than the gruyere and excellent. My girlfriends asked me for the recipe. This is probably the best spinach quiche I have ever had!
My mom has been trying out a bunch of Once Upon a Chef recipes this month! She made this quiche yesterday for Christmas (Christmas morning quiche is our tradition!). I’ve never had a quiche so light and rich at the same time. I think cooking it at the lower temperature really let the eggs stay fluffy.
My only regret is that we only made one. It was gone in the blink of an eye.
I have made this quiche so many times for so many people and they all love it! I was going to make for a new mom to take to her tomorrow and now realize (at 8pm on Christmas) that I have no frozen spinach. I do have fresh red peppers and mushrooms. Can I sauté those and put instead of the spinach? Thanks for any suggestions oN. Substitutions!
Hi Mita, Yes, I think other vegetables would work fine.
If I make it 2 days before serving, do I cook it completely then refrigerate to hold. Then rewarm on day of dinner.
Hi Dorothy, Yes that is will work. Hope you enjoy it.
I want to make this quiche for our Christmas gathering. I got Gouda cheese instead of the right one you used . Will Gouda be OK ? Is it a melting cheese?
Hi Sue, It will be absolutely fine — gouda melts well.
I made this quiche so many times and still have a frozen one in my freezer. It is so good. I didn’t have a nutmeg, so I made mine without it and it was still soooooo yummy. The first time, I’ve tried to make it using a store bought pie crust-I liked the cheesey-spinach part, but the crust was too dry and hard to slice without turning it into crumbles. The second time, I made the crust from scratch using my own recipe (butter+flour+egg+sour cream+salt). the quiche came out perfectly. Definitely will be making it more frequently. Thank you as always!
I LOVE your quiche!!!!!!! The gruyere was really expensive, so I substituted it with swiss, parmesan, and mozzarella. Is that alright? It tasted so good, I make it whenever I have guests coming over. If I was going to add canadian bacon, which step should I slip it into?
Hi Lexie, It’s absolutely fine to switch out the cheese, as long as you use good melting cheeses, which you did 🙂 I would cook the bacon with the shallots.
This was such a good recipe!!! So glad that I doubled the recipe and made two 🙂 Thank you!
I will be making this dish for thanksgiving. Do you think it will be too salty if I sauté the spinach stovetop with a little salt first then proceed to follow your recipe?
Hi Cyn, Could be; I’d reduce the salt in the custard by whatever you add to the spinach.
Question: Can I use fresh baby spinach instead of the package of frozen chopped spinach?
If so, do I need to cook the spinach some first so it’s more condensed?
Thanks!
Hi Andrea, Yes you can but you will definitely need to cook it first and chop it up.
This was the best quiche I have ever had! I never had Gruyere cheese before either but will be using that in some of my other recipes.
If I was using fresh spinach, how much should I use?
Hi Norma, I believe it would be about 1-1/2 pounds fresh spinach.
Is it ok to use smoked gruyere cheese
Hi Rya, Sure, I bet that would be delicious.
This recipe is easy and the quiche came out of the oven looking gorgeous and tasting great.
Loved. Loved. Loved this dish! Needed something for guests and decided on this quiche. Wish I had made two as nothing left but crumbs. Everyone loved it and some went home with the recipe.
I made this quiche for dinner when a friend visited. The flavor is amazing . I will be using gruyere cheese in other recipes now also. I love the flavor. We enjoyed it for dinner , then leftovers for lunch. Tasted great re-warmed.
This is delicious! I made this for a family brunch along with the strawberry and orange salad. Both were a huge hit. Thanks for posting.
This was exellent. Thx so much. Only substitute was a different cheese. Store out of guyere. Used roth grand cru alpine style cheese. Very easy too!
I am a novice cook. I decided to step out of my box and make this. We ate on it for three days and never lost its wonderful flavor. The directions are great and I really need that step by step like popping the bubbles. I did use a cheese cloth to help squeeze out the extra water in the spinach. Was amazing how much I left behind in just squeezing. I also used Swiss cheese to save on cost and did not use all the spinach. Can’t wait to make it again.
Is it possible to make this as a crustless quiche?
Hi Laura, Yes absolutely.
Hi!
Thanks for posting this recipe!
If I was to substitute the heavy cream for, say, evaporated milk, how much of it would I need to retain the 4-6 serving size?
Hi Lawrence, I’m sorry, I would not recommend substituting evaporated milk but the same amount of half-and-half would work.
What part(s) can you make the day before or can you make it a day before and serve? Should it be refrigerated and then warmed, if so how should it be warmed?
Hi Alena, You make the entire thing a day or two ahead of time and then just reheat it in a 300 degree when you’re ready to serve. It should take 20-25 minutes but keep an eye on it. If the crust looks like it’s getting too brown, cover it with foil. Hope you enjoy it!
Simple to make and absolutely delicious! Made for a light Sunday evening supper along with a mixed greens salad. Chose to make my own crust, which took it up a notch, but using a frozen crust would still make a great dish. This is going in the permanent recipe file. I wouldn’t change a thing!!!!
OMG!! This quiche was delicious; flavorful and creamy. I have been searching for the perfect recipe for a while. Gruyere Cheese was $18 and some change at my local grocery store, so I substituted Swiss Cheese instead. I also added a minced garlic clove, a hand full of turkey sausage (that I cooked first), and sun dried tomatoes on the top. This was the perfect meal paired with a salad of field greens. Thanks you so much for sharing this recipe.
I made this yesterday as a part of our Christmas dinner! It was absolutely wonderful. I used half and half instead of heavy cream, and it turned out fine. I also used a combination of Swiss and cheddar! Thanks for the recipe!!!
I was very disappointed with this recipe! Usually, a quiche is the easiest thing to make. I chose this recipe because I was hoping for something outstanding but this was a disaster. First off, I have never precooked the crust – this sounded like a good idea but the egg mixture leaked through the bottom and caused the crust to stick to the bottom of the pan. Because I used a quiche pan with removable bottom, the mixture leaked out of the pan. Presentation-wise, it didn’t look so great.
It was tasty though and I will make it again but will not precook the crust and instead of slicing the shallots, I will chop them as the “stringy” texture of sliced shallots was not appealing.
Hi Linda, I’m so sorry you had trouble with the crust. Precooking the crust is really the only way to get a crisp crust. If it cracks, you can make a thick paste of butter and flour and patch it before filling it. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn, Just finished cooking 2 quiches. The recipe doubled perfectly! I’ve made spinach quiche before, but your recipe was a little different. PERFECTION!!!! Light, fluffy, delish!!!
Thank you very much!!!!
a potato ricer is the best thing for getting all the moisture out of spinach. It’s also great for getting the excess moisture out of shredded potatoes destined for latkes.