This Cheese and Broccoli Quiche with Onions and a homemade Quiche Pastry is a delicious vegetarian dish that is perfect for every meal of the day. Enjoy it for breakfast, brunch and lunch or serve it for dinner, this veggie quiche will be loved by the whole family!
Why we love this recipe
I don't often cook with Broccoli, but when I do, I go all in... Wrap it with a delicious flakey butter pastry crust and surround it with delicious cheddar cheese - broccoli has never tasted better!
For me, this recipe is the best broccoli quiche ever. The quiche filling is so quick and easy to make - it will be ready to be baked with the pastry in less than 10 minutes!
Quiches are my favourite recipes to meal-prep too, and I love how versatile they are. There are so many fillings possibilities like Spinach and Feta, Mushroom and Leek or Cheese and Tomato. They can basically be served for every single meal of the day, can be made ahead and even frozen!
Make your own pastry or use a store-bought one for an even quicker meal, this broccoli pie recipe will make an absolutely delicious meatless meal or side dish the whole family will love.
Ingredients
Both the Quiche Pasty and the Cheddar and Broccoli Quiche Filling are made with a few ingredients only and can be easily customised to suit your taste - or throw in some extra ingredients you might need to use!
Tart Pastry
The Quiche Pastry recipe used here is my usual Savoury Shortcrust Pastry I basically use for every single one of my savoury tarts, galettes or quiches. It only requires 4 basic ingredients and is super quick to make.
You will only need 4 ingredients (scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):
- Flour: Plain / All-Purpose, sifted
- Salt: a simple Table Salt or Fine Salt
- Butter: unsalted, very cold and cut into small cubes
- Water: very cold
Yup, that's it! You could also add any spices or dried herbs you want as well - I personally love to add Cumin (either ground or seeds), Garlic Powder or Dried Herbs like Oregano to my pastries.
Broccoli and Cheese Filling
The filling of this quiche is just as easy and is made with 5 ingredients and your choice of seasoning or spices. The Cream and Eggs are the base of every quiche, to which I added Broccoli, Cheddar and some slices of Brown Onion.
To make the Quiche Filling, you will need (scroll down to recipe card for all quantities):
- Cream: Heavy / Thickened
- Eggs: at room temperature
- Broccoli: I used fresh Broccoli (see FAQ section below if using frozen broccoli)
- Cheddar Cheese: finely grated
- Brown Onion
- Seasoning: Salt, Pepper and Garlic Powder - but you can also add any spice you like.
Want more vegetarian quiche inspiration? Check out my favourite 18 Vegetarian Quiches!
How to make Broccoli Quiche from Scratch
If you are making the pastry from scratch, you will want to start there. Prepare the pastry and let it rest in the fridge before blind baking it.
Once the base of the quiche is ready, you will then start preparing the quiche filling by chopping the veggies and mixing the quiche 'appareil' (mix of eggs and cream).
Savoury Shortcrust Pastry
Making your own pastry can be a bit intimidating if you have never tried to make one at home but do not worry - it is actually much easier than you think! I always make my pastry in the food processor, which make the whole process super quick, easy and clean too.
- Place the Flour and Salt in the bowl of your food processor and pulse for a couple of seconds to mix. - photo 1
- Add the cold Butter cut into small cubes and blend until it resembles thick sand. You should see very small crumbs, but no thick pieces of butter anymore. - photo 2 & 3
- Pour in the cold Water a little bit at the time while blending. Stop as soon as the dough starts to come together. - photo 4 & 5
- Tip over a large sheet of baking paper and assemble into a ball with your hands. Slightly flatten the ball with your fingers then cover with a second sheet of baking paper. - photo 6
- Roll the pastry into a large circle using a rolling pin. Place the tart pan over the rolled pastry to make sure you have enough pastry to fill it.
- Place over a flat tray and put in the fridge for 1 hour (can be made up to 2 days in advance as well) to rest.
- Take the pastry out of the fridge and leave for 5 to 10 minutes to get back to room temperature, then place in a Quiche Pan with removable bottom (*). Use your fingers to patch up the pastry if needed and remove any excess pastry with a small pairing knife. Prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork then place back in the fridge for another hour.
- Preheat your oven on 180'C/350'F. Place the quiche pastry in the freezer while the oven is pre-heating.
- Cover the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and baking beads (or dried beans, rice,...) and blind bake in the preheated over for 10 minutes. Remove the baking beads and baking paper and place back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes. The bottom of the pastry should feel dry to the touch.
For all step-by-step instructions, troubleshooting and tips, read my full Savoury Shortcrust Pastry Recipe here.
Note: if using a store-bought pastry, you still want to blind-bake the pastry before baking it with the filling.
(*) I used a 11 inch / 28 cm Quiche Pan with Removable Bottom
Cheese and Broccoli Filling
While the pastry is blind baking, prepare the quiche filling:
- Chop the Broccoli Head into small pieces, thinly slice the Brown Onion and grate the Cheddar Cheese. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Eggs and Cream. Add the Salt, Pepper (and spices if you want) and Grated Cheese. Whisk until combined.
- When the pastry has finished blind baking, place the chopped Broccoli and sliced Onions on the bottom of the pastry. Cover with the Egg/Cream liquid. Optionally, top with a little bit more grated cheese for colour.
- Bake for an another 35 to 45 minutes, or until the filling has set (it shouldn't move or jiggle when you shake the tart pan) and is golden brown.
Note: if the pastry seems to get a very dark colour before the quiche filling is baked, cover with aluminium foil and continue baking until done.
Recipe FAQs
I personally used Fresh Broccoli, but you can absolutely use some frozen Broccoli instead. Simply make sure they are completely thawed and drained before adding them to the filling to avoid adding any water.
Cheddar Cheese works really well with quiches, but you could substitute it for any hard cheese of your liking. As long as it can be grated, it will work. I would only avoid using a cheese with a mild taste as broccoli is not the most flavourful veggie.
Alternatively, you could also go for a softer cheese like Goats Cheese or even Feta Cheese cut into small cubes. Or even pick 2 or 3 different cheeses instead of 1 (let's be honest, the more cheese the best!)
It is completely up to you - and depends on how you like your veggies. I personally like them to be still crunchy so I did not pre-cooked the Broccoli and Onions, but if you like them to be more soft, you can absolutely pre-cook them.
Simply place them in a non-stick pan with a little bit of olive oil and cook for about 5 minutes until softer.
Storing & Freezing
Storing the Broccoli Quiche
If not served straight away (or if you have leftovers), this dish should be kept in the fridge. Leave it to cool down first, then cover with wrap or foil and store in the fridge for up to 3 days (although better eaten straight away!).
The leftovers can be re-heated in the microwave, but preferably in the oven covered with foil to keep the pastry flakey.
If you are making this quiche in advance to be served at a later date, I recommend under-baking the quiche the first time and finishing the baking in the oven, covered with aluminium foil, just before serving.
Can I freeze this quiche?
Quiches do freeze really well! You can freeze it whole, or freeze individual slices if preferred. And they can also be frozen unbaked as well!
To freeze the whole quiche, leave it to cool down completely first, then cover with a layer of plastic wrap and a layer of aluminium foil. Place over a flat tray and put in the freezer for a few hours, or until completely frozen. You can then remove the tray.
Individual slices can be frozen with wrap/foil or in freezing bags.
When ready to be re-heated, place in the pre-heated oven straight away without thawing.
More Quiche and Savoury Tarts Recipes:
- Simple Quiche from The Home Cook's Kitchen
- Beetroot and Goats Cheese Tart
- Feta and Asparagus Quiche
- Smoked Salmon Quiche with Leeks
- Leek and Gruyere Tart
- Spinach and Mushroom Quiche
- Roasted Pumpkin Tart
- Mushroom & Goat's Cheese Tart
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Cheddar Broccoli Quiche
Ingredients
Quiche Pastry
- 180 gr (1 cup + 3 tablesp.) Plain / All Purpose Flour
- 1/4 tsp Table Salt
- 90 gr (6 tablesp.) Unsalted Butter, cold
- 60 ml (1/4 cup) Water, cold
Cheddar and Broccoli Quiche Filling
- 1 Broccoli Head
- 1/2 Medium Brown Onion
- 50 gr (1 cup) Cheddar Cheese, grated
- 4 Eggs
- 350 ml ( 1 1/3 cup) Heavy / Thickened Cream
- 1 tsp Table Salt
- 1/2 tsp Pepper
- 1 tsp Garlic Powder - optional
Instructions
Quiche Pastry
- If using frozen store-bought pastry, jump to instruction #5
- Mix together the Flour and Salt in the bowl of your food processor. Add the cold Butter cut into small cubes and blend until it resembles thick sand (1)
- Pour in the cold Water a little bit at the time while blending. Stop as soon as the dough starts to come together. Tip over a large sheet of baking paper and assemble into a ball with your hands. Slightly flatten the ball with your fingers then cover with a second sheet of baking paper and roll into a large circle with a rolling pin (2)
- Place over a flat tray and put in the fridge to rest for one hour (3), then take out of the fridge before filling the pan to get back to room temperature - about 5 minutes.
- Fill the 11inch/28cm Quiche Pan with the pastry. Remove any excess pastry with a small pairing knife and prick the bottom of the pastry with a fork. Place back in the fridge to rest for another hour.
- Preheating the oven 180'C/350'F and place the pastry in the freezer while it is preheating.
- Cover the pastry with a sheet of baking paper and baking beads (or dried beans, rice,...) and blind bake for 10 minutes. Remove the baking beads and baking paper and place back in the oven for another 15 to 20 minutes (4).
Cheddar and Broccoli Quiche Filling
- Wash and cut the Broccoli head into small pieces, thinly slice the Brown Onion and grate the Cheddar Cheese. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the Eggs and Cream. Add the Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder (or your choice of spices) and grated Cheddar. Whisk together until combined.
- Place the sliced Broccoli and Onion on the bottom of the blind-baked pastry and pour the Egg/Cream liquid over (5).
- Bake for 35 to 45 minutes, or until the filling is golden and set (6) (7). Leave to cool for 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
- You should see very small crumbs, but no thick pieces of butter anymore.
- Place your quiche pan over the rolled pastry to make sure you have enough pastry to fill it. If not, keep rolling it until you reach the desired size.
- The pastry can be made up to 2 days in advance as well.
- The bottom of the pastry should feel dry to the touch.
- Optionally, add a little bit more grated cheese over the quiche filling for colour.
- The filling is set if it does not jiggle or move when you move the pan.
- If the pastry seems to turn very brown but the filling is not baked yet, cover with aluminium foil and keep baking until done.
