Ham Broccoli and Gruyère Crustless Quiche

Crustless quiche with ham, broccoli and gruyère cheese is a delicious low carb lunch or dinner choice. It's super easy to put together, taking only 10 minutes before it's ready to pop into the oven.

A perfect recipe for brunch or breakfast, broccoli adds extra texture and nutrition.

Have you ever heard of a quick dump-and-bake recipe? Well, this one is top of my list of easy-peasy, toss-in-the-pan and bake dishes.

It takes about 40 minutes to bake in the oven, but as it bakes it fills the kitchen with a lovely savory aroma.

This recipe is so versatile, it can even be broken up or sliced, and used to stuff a wrap, if you still want a few carbs on the menu.

Table of Contents

Which Cheese To Use For Crustless Quiche?

You can use any cheese you like. Cheddar is the go-to cheese for most Irish recipes. Have you ever tasted Irish cheddar? It leaves the American variety in the ha'penny place. Sharp and tangy, that's how I describe Irish cheddar.

Anyway, after waxing poetically about Irish cheddar cheese, I'm going to tell you that I chose gruyère cheese instead for this recipe. (Welcome to the Irish American Mom rambling recipe corner.)

Gruyère works really well in this recipe because it melts beautifully yielding smooth and silky cheese - perfect for quiche baking. This Swiss cheese is made from whole cow's milk. The flavor is amazing because it's cured for a long time, usually at least six months.

I also love to eat Gruyère in thick slices with a few grapes on the side, or it's fantastic in a sandwich. It's also the main cheese used in most fondue recipes, because of its amazing smooth melting properties.

And so, you're probably realizing I love Gruyère cheese nearly as much as I love Irish cheddar.

Should You Use Cream Or Milk For Quiche?

There are a few points to consider when deciding which liquid is best for your quiche. If your goal is to reduce calories, then milk should be your choice. However, I don't recommend low fat milks. The additional fat found in whole milk helps create the custard and tightly bound texture in quiche.

Now if you're okay with a few additional fat calories, then cream should be your liquid of choice. The extra fat of heavy cream produces a luscious, creamy and custard like texture for quiche.

If you choose whole milk instead of cream then the texture will be a little less luscious. It's very important not to overcook quiche made with milk instead of cream. It's very easy to make an overcooked, rubbery mess.

Whole milk is used in this recipe - just a quarter cup. If you decide to replace the milk with cream, it's important to increase the amount to one third of a cup of heavy cream.

Storing Quiche in the Refrigerator

Quiche can be stored in the refrigerator for 3 to 4 days.

I like to leave the cooked quiche in its baking pan, and then I seal the pan with plastic wrap or foil, or with one of those new reuseable silicone covers.

This quiche stores better than a classic quiche with a crust, since there is no pastry base to turn soggy in the refrigerator.

Another option is to slide the whole casserole into a large, resealable plastic bag.

You can also slice the quiche and place each individual portion in an airtight container or a resealable plastic or silicone bag if you would like to freeze it.

Refrigerated quiche needs to be eaten within 3 or 4 days. It can be served at room temperature, but not everyone likes cold eggs. You can reheat quiche in the microwave. It only takes 1 to 2 minutes depending on the strength of your microwave. It can also be reheated in the oven. Place it on a heat proof plate or dish and bake for about 20 minutes in a 350-degree Fahrenheit oven.

How To Freeze Ham and Cheese Quiche

Quiche is best eaten freshly baked, but it still can be frozen. The texture may change slightly, with the eggs becoming a little more rubbery in the freezer, but quiche is still delicious even after freezing.

Here's the best way to freeze a cooked quiche. First remember to cook it in a foil dish or one that can be kept in the freezer and won't crack. After removing the quiche from the oven, let it cool down completely.

Next place the quiche in its dish on a baking sheet and place both in the freezer before covering the quiche. If you don't flash freeze the quiche in this manner, the top of the quiche will stick to any plastic wrap you use to protect it.

Once the quiche is frozen, wrap it in two protective layers of plastic wrap or silicone food protectors. It's important to seal out the air to protect the quiche and maintain the quality. Don't forget to mark it with the date of freezing. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months.

When you're ready to serve your quiche, you can place it in the oven without thawing it. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit, and bake for about 25 minutes until heated through.

If you thaw it first, it will take less time to reheat.

Enough quiche talk, so let's get on with sharing this recipe. If you're ready to bake a crustless quiche, then here's a favorite recipe from my home to yours.

Ingredients for Crustless Quiche

Here you’ll find a quick list of what you’ll need for this recipe. Check out the printable recipe at the bottom of this post for US and Metric equivalent versions of the recipe. There you can choose the measurement system that works best for you.

Here are the ingredients you'll need.

• eggs
• whole milk
• salt
• black pepper
• dry English mustard
• shredded Gruyere cheese
• cooked ham, coarsely chopped
• coarsely chopped broccoli

Ingredient Notes and Substitutions

This crustless quiche recipe does not call for any onion or garlic. Feel free to add onion, green onions or shallots if you like the savory flavor of onion. You can dice some onion and sauté it in some oil for about 8 minutes before adding it to the quiche with the broccoli and cheese.

I use broccoli for this version of crustless quiche. You could substitute some baby leaf spinach, or some baby kale instead. Other vegetables to choose from include diced bell peppers, and mushrooms. Since peppers may take longer to cook than the egg custard in the quiche, it is a good idea to sauté them in oil first.

This recipe calls for chopped cooked ham. You could substitute chopped cooked bacon instead, but the end product may be a little saltier.

Directions for Ham and Cheese Crustless Quiche

Here you’ll find step-by-step photographic instructions to help you recreate this recipe successfully. There are plenty of tips included along the way.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. This quiche is cooked completely in the oven. In comparison, a frittatas are first cooked in a skillet on the stove top and then transferred to the oven to finish cooking. An omelet is cooked completely on the stovetop.

Spritz a 9.5 inch baking dish with non-stick cooking spray. Don't forget to grease the dish because without a crust this quiche is sure to stick to an ungreased pie dish.

In the baking dish, toss together the gruyere cheese, ham, and broccoli. 

Make sure to distribute these key ingredients evenly throughout the dish.

In a mixing bowl, whisk together eggs, milk, and seasonings.

You can add extra dried herbs if you wish, but I really like the zing of dried English mustard in this quiche custard. And since my palate was trained on Irish food, salt, pepper and a little mustard are just fine by me.

Six eggs may seem like quite a lot, but since this quiche has no crust there's extra space for eggs in the pie dish.

Pour the egg mixture over the ham, chees and broccoli and gently move the ham and broccoli until the egg mixture works its way around the dish, and is evenly distributed.

Bake for 40 minutes in the pre-heated oven, or until the eggs are completely set.

Remove from the oven and allow the quiche to rest for 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

Printable Recipe for Ham and Gruyère Quiche

Here you’ll find links for a free printable recipe. You can choose to print this recipe either with or without images.

Thanks for following my recipes and ramblings.

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