This Cheesy Crustless Quiche Lorraine is packed with bacon and gruyere cheese, but no crust! Easy to make, and completely gluten-free.
Why Make This Recipe
- Perfect for any meal of the day: This dish works just as well for breakfast as for a light lunch or dinner. You might eat a slice in the morning paired with some ripe berries, or eat with a Tomato Salad or green salad in the afternoon or evening.
- Delicious French flavor: Quiche Lorraine is a traditional and popular French dish, and you’ll see why. You can’t go wrong with the combination of eggs and bacon, and while cheese isn’t essential in the French version, I find it’s a welcome addition. Super kid-friendly too!
- Gluten-free and low-carb: This version of a quiche uses the same filling you find in a traditional quiche without the crust. Perfect for gluten-free eaters, or those of you just looking to cut down on the carbs. This recipe is totally delicious without them!
🥗 Ingredients
- Gruyère cheese: I love the flavor of gruyère in this dish, but you could substitute another form of Swiss cheese like an Emmental. You could also try Jarslberg or Comté. You could also try cheddar, though it will give you a more robust flavor than the mild gruyère. Or, you can leave out the cheese! Traditional French Quiche Lorraine recipes don’t even include cheese.
- Bacon/Lardons: You can replace these with some thinly sliced or chopped ham instead. (And bonus, if you replace with ham that’s already cooked, you can make this recipe even faster!)
- Crème Fraîche: Try replacing this with sour cream or even plain Greek yogurt if you can’t find crème fraîche.
- Herbs: You will notice that there are no herbs in this traditional Quiche Lorraine recipe. But that doesn’t mean you couldn’t add them for your own take on this dish. Some thyme, tarragon, or chives would be lovely.
🥣 Instructions
Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit. Grate gruyère cheese on the small holes of a box grater (or as finely as you can). If you have regular bacon strips, stack them on top of one another and cut into ½-inch slices. (Chilling the bacon in the freezer for 15 minutes before you slice them can help you cut them cleanly.) Now, put your bacon or lardons in a medium nonstick skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until bacon is as crispy as you like it, 5-8 minutes.
Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel. While bacon is cooking, add eggs, milk, crème fraîche, ground mustard, and pepper to a medium bowl. Whisk vigorously for one minute, and make sure crème fraîche is well incorporated.
Pour egg mixture into an 8-inch quiche pan or pie pan. Gently sprinkle cheese, and then cooked bacon over the top. Lightly grate nutmeg clove or sprinkle ground nutmeg over the top of the quiche.
Put in the oven as gently as possible, and bake for around 25 minutes, until the custard is fully cooked. Let rest for 5-10 minutes—quiche will fall a little as it sits. Serve it warm or at room temperature. Leftover Crustless Quiche Lorraine will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container.
🧐 Recipe FAQs
Like a crustless quiche, a frittata is not baked in a pie crust. But unlike a quiche, where the ingredients are mixed, poured into a pan, and baked, a frittata is normally started on the stovetop in an oven-safe nonstick skillet. The frittata skillet is then transferred to the oven to bake or broil for the final few minutes of cooking. In addition, a frittata is generally heavier on the eggs, and usually does not have milk or cream added. Try my Ham and Cheese Frittata for a similar recipe in frittata form!
Yes! Quiche is a dish that freezes very well. Make this Quiche Lorraine to eat one night, then slice leftovers into individual pieces and freeze each of them, well-wrapped. Defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then reheat in the oven or the microwave.
Let’s start with what a quiche is. A quiche is a traditional French dish that consists of a pastry crust filled with an egg custard. The custard is often mixed with small pieces of meats, vegetables, cheese, or seafood. One of the most classic quiches is Quiche Lorraine, named for the Lorraine region in France, whose filling includes lardons or bacon, eggs, and cream.
👩🍳 Expert Tips
The trick to this recipe is getting the cheese and bacon filling to spread throughout the quiche rather than sinking to the bottom. After much experimentation on this, I’ve found a couple of tips that worked for me. First is to make sure that the custard filling is thick enough to provide some resistance when you add the cheese and bacon—so, a high egg to milk ratio. Adding the crème fraîche helps thicken the egg mixture as well, as does whisking it well. Next, putting the egg mixture in the pan first, rather than adding the filling first and then pouring on the eggs. Then, grating the cheese finely and sprinkling it and the bacon oh-so-gently over the egg mixture will help it stay on the top and middle of the quiche. Finally, transferring the dish to the oven quickly and carefully without banging it down onto the oven rack will help too!
This Crustless Quiche Lorraine recipe will work with many different types of pans, from a ceramic quiche pan as pictured in these photos, to a glass or metal pie pan, to even a cast-iron skillet. I find that my quiche comes easily out of the ceramic pan (after I have cut around the edges with a knife) without greasing the pan, but you may want to butter your pan or spray with nonstick cooking spray if you are worried about sticking.
Note that depending on the size of your eggs, your filling may be close to the top of your dish when it goes into the oven. If it looks like the pan will be so full that it will be hard for you to transfer it to the oven by itself without spilling it, put the pan on a baking sheet before pouring in the egg mixture. Then transfer the baking sheet with the pan on it to the oven. That will also catch any drips if it runs over at all. Expect the custard to puff up a bit as it bakes, then sink down a bit after it cools.
Other Quiche and Frittata Recipes
I love a good egg-based main course, whether it’s for breakfast, lunch, or dinner. If you do too, you may want to check out some of my other favorite breakfast all-day recipes.
- Quiche Florentine
- Spinach Mushroom Quiche with Tomatoes
- Bacon, Broccoli, and Cheddar Frittata
- Spinach Frittata with Mushrooms and Feta
- Cheesy Pancetta Frittata with Corn and Leeks
- French Crêpes with Eggs and Cheddar
- Croissant Breakfast Sandwich with Spinach
- Ham and Cheese Frittata
Now, once you've got the quiche, you'll want to know what to serve with it. What about serving with this hash brown casserole? Or check out these options in our Best Side Dishes for Quiche post!
More Gluten-Free Recipes
And, if you're looking for other delicious gluten-free main courses, try my Chicken Soup with Rice and Lemon or my Stir Fry Salmon. Or, check out this delicious Baked Sausage and Sauerkraut recipe from our friends at Low Carb-No Carb!
If you try this Crustless Quiche Lorraine recipe, I would love to hear from you! Leave a comment below—I read them all, and your feedback is invaluable to me. And please follow along on Instagram, Pinterest, and Facebook or subscribe to my newsletter. I'd love to inspire you with more delicious, healthy, and seasonal recipes!
📖 Recipe
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Cheesy Crustless Quiche Lorraine
Ingredients
- 2 ½ ounces gruyère cheese
- 7 ounces bacon strips or lardons
- 5 large eggs
- 3 ounces milk
- 2 ounces crème fraîche
- ½ teaspoon ground mustard
- ¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
- 1 whole nutmeg clove to grate or ⅛ t. ground nutmeg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius/350 degrees Fahrenheit. If you are using a glass or metal quiche or pie pan, butter it or spray with nonstick cooking spray. If you’re using a white ceramic pan like the one I’m using, you don’t need to grease it before adding the ingredients.
- Grate gruyère cheese on the small holes of a box grater (or as finely as you can).
- If you have regular bacon strips, stack them on top of one another and cut into ½-inch slices. (Chilling the bacon in the freezer for 15 minutes before you slice them can help you cut them cleanly.)
- Now, put your bacon or lardons in a medium nonstick skillet and cook over medium heat, stirring frequently. Cook until bacon is as crispy as you like it, 5-8 minutes. Remove from pan and drain on a paper towel.
- While bacon is cooking, add eggs, milk, crème fraîche, ground mustard, and pepper to a medium bowl. Whisk vigorously for one minute, and make sure crème fraîche is well incorporated.
- Pour egg mixture into an 8-inch quiche pan or pie pan.
- Gently sprinkle cheese, and then cooked bacon over the top.
- Lightly grate nutmeg clove or sprinkle ground nutmeg over the top of the quiche.
- Put in the oven as gently as possible, and bake for around 25 minutes, until the custard is fully cooked.
- Let rest for 5-10 minutes—quiche will fall a little as it sits.
- Serve it warm or at room temperature.
Notes
- The trick to this recipe is getting the cheese and bacon filling to spread throughout the quiche rather than sinking to the bottom. After much experimentation on this, I’ve found a couple of tips that worked for me. First is to make sure that the custard filling is thick enough to provide some resistance when you add the cheese and bacon—so, a high egg to milk ratio. Adding the crème fraîche helps thicken the egg mixture as well, as does whisking it well. Next, putting the egg mixture in the pan first, rather than adding the filling first and then pouring on the eggs. Then, grating the cheese finely and sprinkling it and the bacon oh-so-gently over the egg mixture will help it stay on the top and middle of the quiche. Finally, transferring the dish to the oven quickly and carefully without banging it down onto the oven rack will help too!
- Leftovers will keep for 3-4 days in the refrigerator in an airtight container. And, this dish freezes well. Just slice into individual pieces and freeze each of them, well-wrapped. Defrost in the refrigerator for 24 hours, then reheat in the oven or the microwave.
Nutrition
Instagram Users: Now that you've made this recipe, tag me @vanillabeancuisine or #vanillabeancuisine because I'd love to see your results!
More About Molly
Cooking healthy(ish) meals with seasonal ingredients is my passion. Trained as a French pastry chef, I spent over 10 years as a personal chef. Here you'll find well-tested recipes that you and your family will love!
Sarah Richardson says
Do you mean fl Oz for milk and crème fraiche or do I weigh them in the scales?
Chef Molly says
I usually use fluid ounces for the milk, and weigh the crème fraiche. But it should work either way. If you don't have a scale, the amount of crème fraiche should be about the same as if you scrape it into a quarter cup dry measuring cup.
YtheWait says
Thank you for sharing!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Chef Molly says
My pleasure! Enjoy!
Katerina says
Definitely a brilliant kid-friendly recipe, Molly - my son especially would go crazy for this! Bacon and egg pie is one of his favourite recipes and a crustless version would be perfect. I will give it a go! Thank you for sharing and hope you're ok.
Chef Molly says
Can't go wrong with the combo of bacon and eggs! Especially for the kiddos. Enjoy!
Heidi | The Frugal Girls says
The bacon and gruyere cheese make your beautiful quiche so crazy good!
Chef Molly says
Mmm, such a yummy combo of ingredients, right?!
Chef Mimi says
Gah, this is all so sad. Thank god the French believe in their cheese, charcuterie, wine, and flower shops being open! Definitely essentials. The pandemic hasn’t been too different for us, as my husband and I are retired. We don’t normally go out much, especially out to eat. But having to cancel a major international trip was really sad. And then this week we had an ice storm and didn’t have power for 6 days, and had to also put my dog to sleep. So it was definitely like salt in a wound. But power’s back, and thank goodness I can get products from Amazon! Life is good.
Chef Molly says
Oof! That's a rough week! I'm so sorry about your dog! We are ok here really--my kids are in school, and I can get all the yummy food and wine I need. But it's hard living in such a wonderful city and not being able to explore it. There are still so many places I want to go! But slowing down a bit and being patient is a good thing. 🙂