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With its flaky, buttery crust and rich, creamy filling, this spinach quiche is delicious served warm or at room temperature. It’s just as good the next day, too!
Of all the spinach quiche recipes I’ve tried over the years, this classic French version is my favorite. The recipe comes from my childhood friend Trish, who is a great host and knows how to throw a good party. This spinach quiche is her go-to for brunch, and it’s easy to see why. With plenty of spinach, heavy cream, and nutty Gruyère, it strikes just the right balance between rich and light.
“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 because its nutty flavor works nicely with the eggs and spinach. If you can’t find it, Cheddar may be substituted.
How To Make Spinach Quiche
Bake the crust and cook the shallots: Prick the crust all over with a fork and bake until lightly golden. While it’s in the oven, cook the shallots in butter until soft and translucent, without letting them brown. Set aside to cool.
Pro tip: Don’t worry if the crust puffs up a bit—just gently prick it again to release the air. And if the crust cracks while baking, don’t worry—it’s easy to patch; see the recipe card below for instructions.
Make the custard: Whisk together the eggs, heavy cream, nutmeg, salt and cayenne pepper.
Assemble the quiche: Set the baked crust on a sheet pan—this makes it easy to move in and out of the oven—then layer in the shallots, Gruyère, and spinach. Make sure the spinach is very dry and break up any clumps as you scatter it over the cheese. Slowly pour the custard over the top, letting it settle evenly.
Bake: Bake until the custard is set and the top is lightly golden. Let the quiche cool for a bit before slicing.
Make-Ahead, Storage & Freezing
Spinach quiche is perfect for making ahead. You can bake it up to a day in advance, let it cool, and refrigerate until you’re ready to serve. Leftovers can be stored in the refrigerator, tightly covered, for up to 3 days. To reheat, cover the quiche with aluminum foil and warm in a 300°F (150°C) oven for 35 to 45 minutes, or until hot in the center.
The baked quiche can also be frozen for up to 3 months. Once completely cooled, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap followed by aluminum foil. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator, then remove the plastic wrap and reheat as directed above.
Video Tutorial
Spinach Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 (9-in) deep dish frozen pie crust
- 1 tablespoon butter
- ½ cup thinly sliced shallots, from 2 medium 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-oz) package frozen chopped spinach, defrosted and wrung free of water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F (205°C) and set an oven rack in the middle position. Remove the pie crust from the freezer and let it thaw for about 10 minutes, or until soft enough to prick with a fork. Prick the bottom and sides of the crust all over with a fork, making fork marks about 1 inch apart.
- Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until the crust is fully cooked and lightly golden. Keep an eye on it; if it puffs up, gently prick it with a fork to deflate it. Don't worry if the crust cracks during baking—see the note below for how to fix it. Set the crust aside and reduce the oven temperature to 325°F (165°C).
- 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 to make it easy to move in and out of the 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 (165°) for 50 to 55 minutes until the custard is set and top is lightly golden. Serve hot or warm.
Notes
- 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.
- 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. You need the spinach completely dry, otherwise your quiche will be watery.
Nutrition Information
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.
What to Serve With Spinach Quiche
Spinach quiche is lovely for brunch, lunch, or a light dinner. For a simple meal, pair it with a French carrot salad or a green salad tossed with my French vinaigrette. For brunch, add a platter of fresh seasonal fruit and some blueberry muffins to round out the spread.
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OMG best quiche ever! It is amazing and I am snob for a day!
I forgot to mention one thing about making this quiche crustless (e.g., if you don’t have a store-bought crust on hand or don’t have time to make one from scratch). I have baked this quiche several ways, including using a removable bottom quiche pan. The scalloped sides of the pan make for a beautiful presentation. After the quiche is baked and cooled, just push the bottom of the pan upward and gently slide it onto a serving platter. To avoid scratching the removable bottom of the pan, I slide the quiche onto a decorative paper doily in the center of a round coupe plate, which has no defined “well”.
As nearly everyone has commented, this quiche is the absolute best and does melt in the mouth (and yes, Gruyere Cheese is ridiculously expensive). I have two tips that might be helpful.
1) Squeezing Water From Cooked Spinach: Using a potato ricer to remove excess water from spinach and then need to clean the ricer afterward seems like a lot of trouble and inconvenience. Since I began my mad-scientist-in-the-kitchen routine as a young teenager, I have squeezed water from cooked spinach by wrapping it in a double layer of cheesecloth, cut in a square rather than in a rectangle (this method works for fresh or frozen chopped spinach, and also for cooked chopped broccoli). I measure the approximate size of cheesecloth I need based on the volume of spinach and then use my kitchen sheers to cut it. I learned this tip from Bon Appetit magazine all those years ago, and it works like a charm (I also use a double layer of cheesecloth over a fine mesh (flat) strainer with a long handle to de-fat chicken broth for soup).
After I cut the cheesecloth, I put the cooked spinach in the center. Then I pull the corners so they meet (the spinach is now in a ball) and tie the top of the ball with one of my high-heat baking bands. These bands are similar to thick rubber bands and are typically used for tying chicken or turkey legs together before roasting. If you don’t have the bands, you can just hold the top of the cheesecloth and squeeze the liquid out with the other hand (before you begin squeezing the spinach that is now wrapped, be sure to allow it to cool a little bit so you don’t burn your hands). This takes just a few minutes, and the cheesecloth can be thrown away after the spinach is added to the bowl or mixture (no cleanup of appliances needed).
2) Removing Quiches From Mini Muffin Pans or Ramekins: Several people mentioned baking mini crustless quiches (I have done this as well), and then using the dull side of a knife to “coax” (loosen) them out of their “wells”. I have two high-heat mini spatulas, which I use almost daily (I believe I purchased them at Bed, Bath & Beyond). One is rounded, like a large spoon-like spatula, and the other is flat, like a large one used to scrape the side of a bowl.
Instead of risking marking up my baking pans (I have done this one too many times), I now only use my mini high-heat spatulas to loosen the edges in confined spaces. You can try both types — spoon-like or scraper spatula. This method works better for small portions, because large spatulas are unwieldy in confined spaces.
Would love to have baking time and temperature for mini crust less quiches in ramekins. Thank you!
My family loved this quiche! They said it was eggcellent (pardon the pun). This is what we call- a make again recipe. I usually tweek recipes but this quiche is perfect the way it is. It did take about 10 minutes longer to bake than stated in the recipe but that’s perfectly acceptable.
Delicious…even DH said, “This is a do-over!”…Yes, real men eat quiche. ?
Just made 2 of these yesterday. The price for the gruyere at our local grocery was outrageous, so I substitued swiss. Could not find the shallots, so for 2 quiches I carmelized a medium vidalia onion, and used this in place of the shallots. I normally always make my crust, but on advice of the recipe bought the Pillsbury deep dish crusts. They were actually very good . The quiche was super easy, and delicious. I am going to pick up gruyere at Bjs, and make some for the freezer. This is my new go to recipe. I love it warm, or cold. Jenn, I love that your recipes always turn out so well. Looking forward to your cookbook. Take care.
Hi Jenn, you mentioned in one of your replies that this quiche can be baked the night before and reheated on the day of serving. At what temperature should it be reheated at and for how long?
Hi Beatrice, reheat the quiche, covered with foil in a 300-degree oven until hot in the center. (I’d start checking it at about 20 minutes)
This is the best quiche recipe. My daughter and I crave it. I added 1/2 cup diced mushrooms and we both liked the extra veggies..yummy!
This sounds delicious, I’d like to adapt it to mini quiches for a bridal shower. If you think that would work, how long do you think I should cook it? I’m referring to mini-muffin size as opposed to little 3 or 4″ ones, although that would be good to know as well.
Hi Kathleen, I think it would work, they’d just be really delicate. I’d start checking them at about 15 minutes, but I’m not certain how long they’ll take, so keep a close eye on them. I’d love to hear how they turn out!
I make 24 mini quiche in my pan. I measured the volume of one “well” and it takes 2 TBSP water, so these minis are very small, but a perfect size for an appetizer. I scale down all the ingredients: for example, I use about 7 oz. heavy cream and only 1 large egg. Of course, other ingredients are scaled back. I bake these at 375 for around 25 minutes to get a nice touch of browning on the top. They puff up in the oven, but deflate when cooled. Given the size of my pan, the adjustments I make allow for no leftover custard–though that would not be a bad thing, as buttered ramekins on hand would provide for a crustless version. I allow them to cool for at least 5 minutes before gently removing them. My pan has that gold-tone finish (Chicago Metallic @ William-Sonoma) that allows for easy release. On occasion, I use the dull size of a small knife blade to coax any part of the casing that might be stuck. A few variations: chopped green onion in place of shallots; real bacon bits instead of spinach. Makes a great appetizer!
First try at making spinach quiche. I love the simplicity of your recipe which subcontracted me more. It came out fantastic and my family loved it. Thank you for sharing. Wish I could add the pic of my dish but I couldn’t figure out how.