Ina Garten’s Gruyère Quiche and Other Favorite Things
I love nothing more than a simple meal of quiche and salad. But not just any quiche; Ina Garten’s Gruyère quiche is one of my favorite things!
It’s simple to make and can be served at breakfast, lunch, or dinner. How many dishes can you say that about? I order it out, especially at bistros in France, but making it is easy and almost as satisfying.
Is Quiche French?
Some may have an issue with this, but according to Wikipedia, quiche is considered a French dish. Quite simply, it is a pastry tart filled with savory custard, meat like bacon or ham, and cheese.
Quiche Lorraine
The most common type of French quiche is Quiche Lorraine. A tart with a filling made of cream, eggs, bacon, and gruyère cheese.
What is the difference between a quiche and a frittata?
Quiche typically has a delicious flaky crust and a creamier, custard-like texture because it contains more dairy and is cooked entirely in the oven. A frittata starts out in a skillet on the stovetop, finishes cooking in the oven, and contains less dairy.
How to Serve Quiche
This is one of the best things about quiche. It can be served warm, at room temperature, or even cold. It’s great for a brunch or even a picnic.
I prefer it served warm with a simple green salad.
The Ingredients You’ll Need to Make Ina’s Quiche
- Pie crust (homemade or store-bought)
- Butter
- Onion
- Bacon
- Fresh thyme
- Gruyère
- Heavy cream
- eggs
- salt and pepper
Special Equipment I used to Make Ina’s Quiche
- 9″ fluted tart shell with removable bottom
- Whisk
- A mandoline to slice the onion (optional, but it does slice them nice and thin).
- A cast iron skillet for cooking the bacon (I’m a huge fan of Lodge cast iron skillets for everything from making bacon and grilled cheese sandwiches to s’more in individual skillets.
Ina Garten’s Gruyère Quiche
This recipe was adapted from a few I saw online for Ina Garten’s Quiche Lorraine, although I don’t know if Ina actually calls it that.
- Prep Time: 60 minutes
- Cook Time: 60 minutes
- Total Time: 2 hours
- Yield: 4-6 1x
- Category: breakfast, lunch, brunch
- Cuisine: French
Ingredients
- pastry crust (homemade or store-bought)
For the Filling:
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion, sliced very thin
- 1/4 to 1/2 cup of water (to cook the onions)
- salt and pepper
- 4 ounces of bacon, cut into 1/2” pieces
- 2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
- 5 ounces shredded Gruyère Cheese
- 1 1/4 cups heavy cream
- 3 eggs
Instructions
- On a lightly floured surface, take your pie crust and roll out the dough to measure about 11″ round and about 1/8″ thick. Center the pie crust over the fluted tart pan with a removable bottom. You’ll have about a 2″ overhang all around the pan. Press the dough into the edges of the pan. Then take the rolling pin and roll it over the top in order to cut off the excess dough. Poke the bottom and sides with a fork. Chill for 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 375º
- Press a piece of parchment over the chilled crust and fill it with pie weights, dry beans, or rice. Put it on a baking sheet and bake until the crust is set and golden brown around the edges, or about 15 minutes.
- Remove the pie weights, rice, and parchment paper and bake for another 15. minutes. Let cool completely.
- For the filling: Combine the butter, sliced onion, salt, and water and cook until the onions have softened and the water has evaporated.
- Cook the bacon in a separate skillet until crisp. Remove with a slotted spoon and add to the onion mixture. Add freshly ground black pepper and a little more salt. Spread the onion mixture over the bottom of the tart shell and sprinkle the Gruyère cheese over the top.
- Whisk the eggs and cream together and pour over the filling in the crust and then sprinkle with the fresh thyme.
- Bake the quiche on a baking sheet until set, about 30 minutes.
- Allow the quiche to cool for at least 30 minutes before serving.
Pin For Later!
Here is another fun breakfast recipe
Let’s see what Mary Ann and Cindy are up to:
Classic Casual Home
Cindy Hattersley Design
Thanks for reading Ina Garten’s Gruyère Quiche and Other Favorite Things. I hope you have a lovely day!
Madeline’s article is great!!! And the quiche looks amazing. Happy Easter!
Quiche and salad is a favorite of mine too, Annie. And Ina knows how to get it done. I pinned and printed the recipe and I’m going to make it this week. Yum! xo
Yum Annie! I feel like quiche is so often overlooked as being dated or played out. Yet it truly is the perfect lunch meal. I, too, have my “go to” quiche and it never disappoints!
Hi. Can you prepare the night before and bake in the morning?
Hi. just about to try this. Forgive me if this is just some basic cooking thing that I’m ignorant of but you mention using water when cooking the onions but it isn’t listed in the ingredients so I don’t know how much to use.
This quiche was delicious and easy to make!
Hi Linda! THanks so much for taking the time to leave a message and rating the recipe!
THERE IS NO “WATER” IN THE INGREDIENTS LIST BUT IN THE INSTRUCTIONS
IT SAYS “ADD THE WATER”????????????
Hi Carol, We will make that correction. It’s just about 1/4-to 1/2 cup of water while cooking the onions. It evaporates.