French Quiche Lorraine

Have you tried a proper French quiche Lorraine? Melt in the mouth buttery shortcrust pastry is baked blind, then filled with cheese and bacon and baked with a delicious egg custard.

It's perfect for lunch or dinner and eaten hot, cold or just warm, so it's perfect for having friends round too.

I'm taking you step by step on how to make homemade shortcrust pastry, including baking blind, so you will have perfectly crisp pastry that is so easy to do.

You have probably already got all of the ingredients to hand in the kitchen too.

Bon appétit! 

Jump to:

• ❤️ Why you will love this dish
• 🥘 Ingredients
• 🍽 Equipment
• 🔪 Instructions
• 🥗 Side Dishes
• 🥙 Substitutions
• 📖 Variations
• 🍣 Storage
• 🍱 Prepare in Advance
• 🤔FAQs
• More pastry dishes
• 📋 Recipe
• 📖 Variations
• Savoury Pies & Tarts
• 💬 Comments

There's nothing better than the smell of a proper French quiche Lorraine baking in the oven. I can never wait to get my hands on it!

The French don't really have pies like the British, but they do have quiche. The combination of eggs and milk with tasty fillings, all encased in melt in the mouth pastry, is one of my favourite comfort foods.

It's so easy to buy a ready made quiche in the shops, but there is nothing better than the smell of cheese and pastry baking together, when you are making your own. Chances are that you already have the basic ingredients to hand, so it's easy to throw this dish together, without dashing to the shops.

For some people, pastry, (also known as a pie crust), can be scary to make, and by all means please use a store bought sheet of readymade pastry if time is really short. However, once you have made the pastry, with my step by step instructions, it has so many other uses.

I've also included instructions on

baking it blind. This is essential for larger tarts, if the filling is quite liquid. There is nothing worse than soggy pastry that is not cooked properly.

And, of course, there are plenty of ideas for filling variations including vegetarian quiche.

❤️ Why you will love this dish

✔️ Delicious hot or cold.

✔️ Easy to cistomise the fillings.

✔️ Great for feeding a crowd.

✔️ Typical French starter or main course served with salad.

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🥘 Ingredients

For the pastry.

• Flour - plain or all purpose flour.
• Lard - perhaps not regularly used now, but lard really does make melting pastry.
• Butter - salted or unsalted. If you use salted, there is no need to add the salt.
• Salt - cooking salt to enhance the pastry.

For the filling.

• Eggs - free range eggs.
• Bacon - I prefer to use smoked bacon lardons, as they have great flavour.
• Cheese - Gruyère cheese, although Swiss, is used a lot in French cooking and it gives a deliciously nutty taste.
• Milk - full fat milk for a creamy taste.
• Onion - chopped spring onions give some crunch and a mild onion flavour without overpowering the dish.
• Parsley - fresh chopped parsley.
• Seasoning - cooking salt and frehsly ground black pepper.

The printable recipe card with full ingredient quantities and instructions can be found at the bottom of the article.

🍽 Equipment

• 22 centimetre or 8 inch loose bottom flan tin
• food processor - optional
• baking beans or dried pulses
• parchment paper
• cling film
• sharp knife
• chopping board
• cheese grater
• baking sheet
• small frying pan or skillet
• rolling pin

🔪 Instructions

For the pastry

I always make shortcrust pastry in the food processor, but if you don't have one you can use the rubbing in method.

Start by cutting very cold butter and lard into small cubes and put in a large glass bowl with the salt and flour. Gently rub the butter with the flour with your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. If you prefer you can use a fork or a pastry cutter to get the same effect.

If you have a food processor simply tip the ingredients into the bowl, attach the lid and pulse the mixture three or four times until it gets to the breadcrumb stage. Next add two tablespoons of cold water and pulse twice.

At this stage check the dough with your fingers to see if it sticks together when pressed. You might need to add another tablespoon or more depending on the atmosphere and the dryness of the flour. Add any extra water a few drops at a time. Too much water can make the pastry tough.

Turn the processor on full and within a few seconds the mixture should come together into a ball.

Form it into a flat round shape with floured hands.

You can use a loose bottomed flan dish, but I prefer to use a 22cm/8 inch, loose bottom cake tin. This gives a deeper quiche.

Lightly flour the work surface and roll out into a circle to cover the bottom and sides of the tin. Trim the edges flush with top of the tin and fork the bottom of the pastry. This helps it to bake evenly

Chill in the fridge for 30 minutes. This helps to reduce pastry shrinkage when cooking.

How to bake blind and why

• When you have a wet filling in a large pastry case it helps to bake the pastry blind first before adding the filling. This makes sure that you get a crisp pastry base.
• Preheat the oven to 200 C / 400 F / 180 FAN / Gas 6. Place a baking tray in the oven while it heats up. Take a square of baking parchment 30cm/12inch square and fold into quarters, then fold again through the middle. Hold the fold to the middle of the tin and trim off the outside edge of the paper. You will be left with a circle that lines the  pastry to protect it from getting burnt. Scrunch the paper up into a ball to make it easier to shape the paper to cover the pastry.
• Add some ceramic baking beans to the paper. This will stop the pastry from rising up and the paper from moving. If you don't have ceramic beans then use any dried beans or rice and keep them separate for this purpose.

• Remove the baking tray from the oven and place the tin on it. This helps to get the heat straight to the base of the pastry. Bake for 15 minutes. Carefully peel back the paper. If the pastry is set then remove the paper and beans and return to the oven for 5 more minutes.
• Remove the pastry from the oven and reduce the heat down to 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4, ready to cook the filling.

How to make the Quiche Lorraine filling

• Heat a frying pan over medium heat and add the bacon for a few minutes until cooked through. Drain on kitchen paper.
• Grate the cheese and slice the spring onions.
• In a large bowl whisk the eggs and milk together and season with salt and pepper.
• Scatter the bacon and cheese over the pastry base and top with the onions.
• Pour over the egg mixture and sprinkle the parsley over the top.
• Bake for about 30 minutes until well risen and golden.

Leave the French quiche lorraine to cool in the tin before turning out.

🥗 Side Dishes

Serve with a salad. You may like to try these ideas.

• Tomato and Onion Salad
• Fennel and Pear Salad with Blue Cheese
• Raw Mushroom Salad
• Edamame, Broccoli, Feta and Asparagus Salad
• Celeriac and Carrot Remoulade
• Tarragon Potato Salad
• Pomegranate and Pistachio Couscous Salad
• Pear and Rocket Salad
• Cucumber Salad
• Courgette Salad

🥙 Substitutions

• Gruyère cheese - use Cheddar or Emmental or another firm cheese.
• Lardons - chop up some smoked bacon of your choice into small pieces or use some ready cooked chopped ham.
• Spring onions - soften a chopped shallot in a teaspoon of oil for a few minutes.
• Lard - replace with the same amount of butter.

📖 Variations

Besides quiche Lorraine, there are lots of classic quiche variations.

• Salmon and broccoli quiche - this uses poached or smoked salmon, broken into pieces with chopped broccoli.
• Chicken - cooked shredded chicken with canned sweetcorn.
• Vegetarian- try chopped peppers, broccoli, green beans, spinach or mushrooms with cheese or leeks and thyme. Lightly cook the vegetables first. Cheese and tomato also works well.
• Seafood - prawns or shrimps, crab or smoked fish also work well.
• Crustless - if you want to cut the carbohydrates make a crustless quiche. Just bake the mixture in a greased deep dish.
• Creamy - for an extra creamy dish, replace half of the milk with single cream or half and half.

🍣 Storage

• Refrigerator - cool, cover and refrigerate for up to 3 days.
• Freezer - cut into portions and wrap well. Freeze for up to 3 months and defrost overnight in the refrigerator.
• Reheat - on a tray in a preheated oven at 180 C / 350 F / 160 FAN / Gas 4 intil heated through.

🍱 Prepare in Advance

• Make the quiche and cool, wrap and freeze for up to 3 months.
• Cook the pastry the day before if you prefer and store in an airtight tin.

🤔FAQs

More pastry dishes

• Salmon and Asparagus Puff Pastry Parcels
• Chicken and Leek Pie
• Tarte Flambee
• Cranberry and Turkey Pie
• Steak and Kidney Pie
• Venison Sausage Plait
• Onion Tarte Tatin
• Turkey Pithivier
• Mushroom Tartlets

📋 Recipe

🍲 Food Safety

• Do not use the same utensils on cooked food, that previously touched raw meat.
• Wash hands after touching raw meat.
• Don't leave food sitting out at room temperature for extended periods.
• Never leave cooking food unattended.
• Use oils with high smoking point to avoid harmful compounds.
• Always have good ventilation when using gas.

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