Sometimes quiche gets classified as a breakfast food because it’s made with eggs, but not in our house. Quiche is a dinner dish for us. It’s fast, frugal, and often meatless. If it’s not already in your dinner rotation, you should give it a try.
In my effort to share with you some of the meals my family actually eats on our $300/month grocery budget, even though I’m not a food blogger or photographer, I am excited to share Cheesy Broccoli Quiche with you.
Since I make my pie crust dough in bulk, I always have dough in the freezer. If you haven’t tried it, you should! Having homemade pie crust available for quiche, pot pies, and, well, pie, is a huge time-saver!
Honestly, sometimes when I tell the kids we’re having quiche for dinner, they whine. They know I pack it full of broccoli, which isn’t their favorite food. I know, strange kids I’ve got.
I tried a new approach this time, though. And it worked like a charm. We didn’t have “quiche.” We had Scrambled Egg Pie. All of a sudden dinner was intriguing and egg-citing (sorry, I couldn’t help myself).
I like using broccoli because, even though the kids whine, they eat broccoli better in quiche than if I serve it plain. You can use fresh or frozen broccoli. We pretty much always have frozen broccoli on hand, so that’s what I usually use. If it’s in florets, I chop it up smaller.
You’ll want to soften your broccoli by sauteing it in a tablespoon or two of butter. Dice an onion and some garlic too, if you like. The butter gives it a nice flavor.
Of course you don’t have to add broccoli if that’s not your thing. Try spinach and tomatoes. Ham and cheese is yummy too. Pretty much anything you would put in an omelet is fair game.
You want to have about 2 cups of softened/tender veggies or other mix-ins (besides cheese). Spread the veggies or other mix-ins evenly in the bottom of an uncooked pie shell.
Add cheese over the top. I use 1/3 to 1/2 cup. Of course I never measure, but I try not to go overboard because cheese is expensive (and delicious, so I want it on pretty much everything).
You know I don’t usually stick to recipes and I’m not very strict here either, but the rough idea for the egg and milk solution is: 3-4 eggs and 1-1.5 cups milk. I also add in about 1 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Beat the egg mixture well with a fork, then carefully pour over the cheese and broccoli in the pie shell.
This is where you’ll need to be flexible. The amount of egg mixture will vary depending on the capacity of your pie plate and the volume of your mix-ins. Your quiche should be pretty much filled to the top so that you have to walk gingerly with it to the oven.
If your quiche is not full after pouring in the egg mixture, you can beat another egg with a bit more milk and add it. You can also sneak some more mix-ins into the quiche, just be sure to drown them in the liquid.
Cook for 30-40 minutes at 350 degrees. The best way to tell if it’s done is to make sure the middle doesn’t jiggle under the surface. Also, the entire top will be slightly inflated and puffed up. A couple minutes after you take it out of the oven, it will flatten. Letting your quiche cool a bit before serving will help it hold together better.
Keeping it Real
After sharing Hawaiian Haystacks with you, my sister texted me, “I died when I read your blog that said you cook 4 cups of dry rice for your family. We cook 1 cup and there is always some leftover.” For the record, she has a family of six, too, so it must just be that we eat a lot!
I suddenly feared that maybe we’re not as normal as we thought we were!
So I’m kind of embarrassed to tell you that when I make quiche I always make two. But hey– it’s true! Sometimes we do have a couple of pieces leftover though. And, truth be told, when there are leftovers, I guess we do sometimes have quiche for breakfast!
How about you?
- Is quiche one of your family’s standard meals?
- What do you like to put in your quiche?
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My wife makes almost this exact recipe except we also add a can of mushrooms which makes it even better!
That looks so good! I have children who could eat down a house too. I feel like I need to make shirts for them that say, “Is there anything else?” so that they don’t have to repeat themselves. It’s funny though, because I have a friend whose 4 kids are the pickiest eaters and run away from the table during dinner time. Never would happen in our house! 🙂 I feel like we are going to have to start doubling up recipes like you do pretty soon.
One thing we do differ on, though, is that my kids LOVE plain broccoli. At least the 3 oldest do. One of them “sneaks” into the broccoli when he thinks we aren’t looking if there are leftovers. I think one day he will realize how strange that is :).
That’s awesome! How crazy to have a kid that sneaks broccoli! What a wonderful “problem” to have!
I was happy to see you make two, because I was thinking how can one be enough for a family? :). We are eaters here (and none of us are overweight either). That looks so, so good!
Glad we’re not the only ones! 🙂
We love egg based dishes to save money while getting protein. Pancakes/eggs for dinner, frittata, french toast, etc! Keeps that grocery budget under $300 every time!
Oooo French Toast is my personal favorite! 🙂
I make double of anything that is in a pie plate. Always better to have too much then everyone hungry later on. I can’t believe I have never made a quiche but I haven’t. Can’t wait to try! I have frozen packs of ham in the freezer so I think I will try it for this Sunday’s breakfast. Have you ever froze one? I’m thinking it would be nice to have one in the freezer for a busy night.
That sounds like a great rule of thumb Jennifer! 🙂 I haven’t frozen one, but I bet it would work, you’d just freeze it after it is cooked. If you try it let me know how it works.