Quiche Lorraine
Updated April 4, 2024
- Total Time
- 1 hour 10 minutes
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:6 to 10 servings
- Pastry for a one-crust 9-inch pie (see pastry recipe)
- 4strips bacon
- 1onion, thinly sliced
- 1cup Gruyère or Swiss cheese, cubed
- ¼cup grated Parmesan
- 4eggs, lightly beaten
- 2cups heavy cream or 1 cup each milk and cream
- ¼teaspoon nutmeg
- ½teaspoon salt
- ¼teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- Tabasco sauce to taste
Preparation
- Step 1
Heat the oven to 400 degrees.
- Step 2
Line a nine-inch pie plate with the pastry. By all means build a rim with the pastry and flute it. This is essential for the amount of custard indicated in this recipe.
- Step 3
Cover the bottom of the pastry with a round of parchment paper and add enough dried beans or peas to partly fill the shell. Bake 10 minutes.
- Step 4
Reduce the oven heat to 375 degrees. Remove and discard the beans and parchment paper and set the pastry-lined pie plate aside.
- Step 5
Cook the bacon until crisp and remove it from skillet. Pour off all but one tablespoon of the fat remaining in the skillet. Cook the onion in the remaining fat until the onion is transparent.
- Step 6
Combine the eggs, cream, nutmeg, salt, pepper and Tabasco sauce. Crumble the bacon and sprinkle the bacon, onion and cheeses over the inside of the partly baked pastry.
- Step 7
Strain the cream mixture over the onion-cheese mixture. Slide the pie onto a baking sheet.
- Step 8
Bake the pie until a knife inserted one inch from the pastry edge comes out clean, about 50 minutes. Remove to a wire rack. Let stand 5 or 10 minutes before serving.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Travis Creston
Something that really helps prevent soggy bottoms: after taking any pie crust out of the oven once you blind bake it, remove the beans or pie weights & parchment, paint the bottom with egg white & place back in the oven for a good five minutes or so. The EW will crisp up & create a nice barrier to prevent a soggy bottom! Works every time.
Mike Haller
FYI I'm a real greenhorn but my experience on my second try w this:
1. Used a prefab 9" frozen crust.
2. Cut up a large onion used about 3/4 of it.
3. Cut gruyere into very small cubes.
4. Used 3 eggs and 1 3/4 cup heavy cream
5. Put extra leftover cooked onions on top of custard before baking.
6. Baked for 35 min at 400 (elec oven)
I'd love to post a pic. Wish I could.
NYT Cooking is helping me learn cooking at age 71. THANKS.
Kristin PC
Flavors were great, but I had a few baking issues. I'd make it again with these adjustments:
ISSUE: The bottom of the finished quiche was VERY soggy. A good bit of liquid actually seeped through the crust onto the baking sheet.
FIX: After the 10 minute par-bake, remove weights and parchment. Continue to par-bake for 6-8 more minutes. Before adding ingredients and egg mix, protect the edge of the crust with foil strips.
ISSUE: Under baked.
FIX: Cook for 28-30 minutes.
Linda
Delicious! I've used bacon many times but, now prefer to dice a ham steak and add to transparent onions to heat through before adding to pie dish. I also grate the swiss cheese instead of cubes so it melts better. Cooking time was about 50 minutes at 375. I always refer to this recipe when making a quiche.
Phyllis
I made this today. To fit a grocery store pie crust (9inch deep dish) I made the following changes: used three eggs and reduced the cream to 1.5 cups. Every thing else was the same. It was PERFECT. No leftover custard with those amounts.
N.M.Nicholas
Quiche generally take a long time at a low temperature, so the eggs do not cook too quickly and ruin the texture. I set my timer for 45 minutes then I check generally it. Often it take a awhile longer, try separating the eggs, creaming the yolk, and then beating the whites until you have stiff peaks. That will give it more body and a more fluffy final product.
Ayla
A bit atypical a quiche lorraine (we use smoked lardons and we don't use parmesan in France, eg) but really good recipe nonetheless. I had to let it in the oven for a longer time (45')
Deana
I've made this several times and it's always satisfying! I double the bacon, reduce the cream to 1 1/2 cups and use a deep pie plate. I also add a dash of cayenne in place of the tabasco. Great with spinach and mushrooms, too!
Mylene
So very good - the flavors of France. I followed the recipe closely, just baked the shell st 375 for 10 minutes with the beans and another 5 without them. Used a good quality, thick-cut bacon and then layered onion, then bacon, then cheese, then onion, bacon and cheese again before pouring the egg mixture in, this kept everything well-distributed. Everything turned out delicious, truly the definitive quiche recipe.
Elizabeth
Absolutely delicious. Didn't use the parchment paper, but did use pie weights. Needed about 12 minutes longer in the oven, but had a wonderful texture. Small cubes of gruyere worked well (less than 1 cm).
Remember to chill pastry after shaping, before blind baking.
michelle
But what you’re making is nowhere near Quiche Lorraine. Vanilla? Allspice? Yuck.
Jim A
While this is a quiche/tart of some sort an likely fine, it is not a quiche loraine with those substitutions. Some classic dishes are what the are.
g33kygurl
Great recipe! Substituted half and half for heavy cream and pinch of cayenne for Tabasco. Also forgot to add parmesan. Turned out fantastic.
Required 50 min baking time @ 375.
SLR
After blind baking brush bottom of tart with egg white... put back in oven and bake another 5 minutes This will keep the crust from getting soggy.
Pamela
I wish that people would stop presenting recipes with other ingredients than those that belong in the original recipe. Craig Claiborne should have known better. Quiche Lorraine never has cheese in it. Call it a cheese/bacon quiche but not Lorraine. This only perpetuates incorrect expectations of a certain dish.
Natasha
Just milk works!! I made this with no cream and only whole milk. It makes a delicious quiche.
Jon
It's in the oven and I have questions! First: why do you strain it? I did, and so much black pepper and nutmeg seemed to get left behind. I actually poured off the last bit of egg mixture that didn't want to go through, but there was still a lot of spice left back. Is that what you want? I did 8 oz of gruyere and about 2 oz of pecorino (didn't have parmesan). Worried it'd be too much since I was going by weight instead of volume, but everything fit fine in a ceramic pie dish.
sophia
Don’t be like me. Don’t forget to drain the oil from the skillet after cooking the bacon.
Theresa Z
I made this today for Mother's Day Brunch. So glad I read the notes. No soggy crust by using tips from other cooks! The quiche was delicious and I did add spinach once the onions were almost finished cooking.
Susan
Excellent! Only diff in my recipe is that I used ham cubes - not too much.
A
Fragrant not Flagrant. Nutmeg, especially freshly grated.
A
We never used Swiss. We used Gruyere and Jarlsberg mixed. Cab use cheddar too. Especially if you use Broccoli or make the quiche vegetarian. More flavor to the profile. No to Parmesan cheese. Onions or leeks, browned before adding, a must. Nutmeg, just a sprinkle. Is flagrant spice so small pinch enough.
A
Very worth it to bake at two temps during your cook. Cook at 450 for 20 minutes. Yes, protect edge crust with tinfoil. Reduce oven to 350 for 25 minutes. No over cooking or burning. Will be nice and brown, crusty on top and smooth and tasty inside but solidly baked. We made using spinach and gruyere or broccoli and gruyere, grated by wheel. We grated the cheese ahead and prepared the frozen spinach or broccoli ahead with nutmeg. Can add ham cubes if desired or bacon bits. About a half a cup.
Laura Fernandez
A very good recipe but I found it was a bit too salty… the bacon has enough salt in it already..
WendyK
Thinly sliced sautéed leeks are so much more tasty, and more traditional than the sliced onion (or even shallot).
L
insane recipe. makes way more filling than can fit in a standard pie crust. I would use 3 eggs and 1.5 cups of cream to make it closer to fitting, even that might be too much. did anyone test this? were they drunk??
Kitty
You are correct. If you use 2 cups cream to 4 eggs, break out the deep dish pie pan.
Elizabeth
Yes, previous reviewers have said 1 and 3/4 cup cream and 3 eggs - works perfectly for deep dish crust. I usually double it and make 2 pies. Not everyone drinks, but a glass of wine while cooking is nice :) Excellent recipe!
Peter Keenan
FYI - This recipe will make TWO, 9” quiches if your crust is store bought. I was in a hurry and cheated.
Robert R
“Blind baking” the pie shell will always take 30 minutes. Bake with foil & weights for 20-25 minutes, then without foil & weights fir 10 minutes more. You will have a lightly-browned, dry, par-baked crust.
Steph
I have great admiration for Mr. Claiborne and he reminds me of my Mom . I made this tonight and it is now gone eaten by only three of us. I have made quiche for 30 years and can say this is my new favorite. I did put salt in the crust because I did not have salted butter. That is the only change made and I served it with a spinach salad . Perfect week night dinner , from start to finish plan on 2 hours . Well worth it .
cjs
Used Jane’s pat in crust. 7oz gruyere shredded Caramelized onions 1 c whole milk and 1c half and half Used nutmeg and 3-4 drops tobacco Used red pie dish Would try 350 convection bake. Had to turn 375 down to 325 half way through as too was getting too brown 50 min and was done.
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