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This crustless quiche with spinach is a savory, protein-packed meal that comes together simply, perfect for meal prep for brunch! It’s baked with cottage cheese, greens, and roasted red peppers and loaded with satisfying flavor.
Here’s one of my favorite hearty breakfast ideas that works for meal prep or a fancy brunch: crustless quiche! It’s deliciously savory and hearty, packed with protein to keep you full all morning, and it’s so easy to whip up!
There’s no need to bother with a quiche crust: just whisk together the filling and pop it in the oven. Even my spinach-fearing kids love it! I’ve served it at holiday brunches like Christmas and Easter, and my entire family loves it (my sister is a particular fan!).
5 Star Reader Review
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ “My husband and I are striving to become more health-conscious, minimizing our meat/sodium intake. This vegetarian option was amazing! The flavors blended perfectly. We love pizza and it’s been difficult for us to give it up, but I think this dish might be our pizza substitute…it was truly delicious.” -Rhonda
What Is a Crustless Quiche?
A crustless quiche is a savory egg custard that’s baked without the traditional pastry shell. Without the crust, a crustless quiche is similar to an Italian frittata. The difference? Quiche traditionally has more dairy than a frittata.
Because there’s no crust to fuss with, it’s much easier to make, and it slices cleanly into wedges just like the real thing.
Ingredients You’ll Need
The great thing about this recipe is that it convinces even the spinach-averse (like our son!). But you can customize it to have whatever vegetables you choose. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Frozen spinach, thawed: Frozen spinach has already been blanched so it has reduced greatly in volume versus fresh spinach. It also has a chewy, desirable texture: it’s hard to describe, but trust me!
- Eggs: These form the custard base and give the quiche its structure.
- Cottage cheese: The surprise ingredient! It blends seamlessly into the filling and creates a savory texture. (You can also try it in scrambled eggs with cottage cheese to see what I mean!)
- Parmesan cheese: Adds a sharp, salty depth.
- Roasted red peppers: Jarred peppers add a pop of color.
- Oregano, garlic powder, salt, and pepper: A simple seasoning blend makes delicious savory flavor.
How to Make Crustless Spinach Quiche
The process to make a crustless quiche is so simple and requires just one bowl:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F and grease a 9-inch round pie dish.
- Thaw and squeeze the spinach. Place it in a colander and warm it under water (though if you’re using a brand that’s frozen solid into blocks, you may need to use a microwave). Then squeeze out as much water as possible! This prevents a watery crustless quiche. The spinach should feel like dry crumbles when you are done.
- Whisk the eggs in a large bowl, then stir in the oregano, salt, garlic powder, cottage cheese, Parmesan, spinach, and roasted red pepper.
- Pour the mixture into the prepared dish. Top with a bit of extra roasted red pepper.
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until set in the center and golden around the edges.
- Rest for at least 15 minutes before slicing, which helps it set up.
Variations & Mix-In Ideas
You can turn this crustless quiche recipe into hundreds of different flavor variations based on your preferences! If you’d like, you can add other flavors to this one like a handful of chopped ham or crumbled bacon. Or, you can drop the spinach and use other cooked vegetables.
Add ½ cup additional mix-ins to the recipe below, or remove the spinach entirely and substitute about 1 to 1 ½ cups mix-ins. Here are some ideas (make sure they are finely chopped):
- Sauteed broccoli
- Ham or cooked bacon
- Caramelized onions
- Roasted peppers and onions
- Sautéed peppers
- Sauteed mushrooms
- Feta cheese, smoked mozzarella, gouda or goat cheese
As a note, you’ll want the veggies on the done side when you sauté them, so they don’t release too much moisture while baking. They should be finely chopped for good distribution.
Mini Crustless Quiche (Muffin Tin Version)
Last thing on this crustless quiche with spinach: want to make personal sized versions? You can! Make up mini crustless spinach quiche using a muffin tin! Here’s what to do:
- Spray a standard-sized muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Follow the recipe below, but pour the egg mixture equally into 12 muffin cups.
- Top with additional red pepper.
- Bake 22 to 24 minutes, until set in the center and golden around the edges. Allow to cool, then run a butter knife around the edges and remove from the muffin tin .
Serving Suggestions
This crustless spinach quiche is hearty enough to serve at brunch, but you could also serve it as a light dinner. It saves well, so it’s great as a make-ahead breakfast to eat throughout the week. Here are some of my favorite ways to serve it:
- Alongside a simple green salad or sliced fresh fruit
- With a piece of toasted sourdough or crusty bread
- Next to sweet potato hash browns or crispy fried potatoes
- With some of my favorite brunch drinks
- As part of a bigger brunch spread alongside breakfast tacos and strawberry smoothies
See my what to serve with quiche for more ideas!
Storage & Reheating
This quiche stores very well. Store slices airtight refrigerated for up to 5 days. You can eat it cold, at room temperature, or reheated. For reheating, a few minutes in a toaster oven or regular oven at 300°F works well.
Dietary Notes
This crustless spinach quiche recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free.
Crustless Quiche with Spinach
This crustless quiche with spinach is a savory, protein-packed meal that comes together simply, perfect for meal prep for brunch! It’s baked with cottage cheese, greens, and roasted red peppers and loaded with satisfying flavor.
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: Brunch
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Brunch
- Diet: Vegetarian
Ingredients
- 10 ounces frozen spinach*
- 6 large eggs
- ½ teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- ¼ cup grated Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped roasted red pepper (from a jar), plus more for topping
- Fresh ground black pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375°F. Grease a 9” round pie dish.
- Place the spinach in a colander and let warm water run over it until it is thawed, about 1 minute (some brands take a bit more effort to defrost: you can also use a microwave if necessary). Then use your hands to squeeze out as much excess liquid as you can.
- In a large bowl, whisk the eggs. Then stir in the oregano, salt, garlic powder, cottage cheese, grated Parmesan cheese, spinach, and roasted red pepper. Add a few grinds of fresh ground black pepper if you like.
- Pour the egg mixture into the prepared pie dish. Sprinkle the top with a few tablespoons of additional chopped roasted red pepper.
- Bake the quiche for 25 to 30 minutes, until set in the center and golden around the edges. Allow to rest for at least 15 minutes before serving. (Storage info: This saves well! Store refrigerated for up to 5 days: you can eat it cold, room temp, or re-warm it. Try it in a sandwich!)
Notes
*Note: To customize the mix-ins in this recipe, substitute about 1 to 1 ½ cups mix-ins for the spinach. Try finely chopped sauteed broccoli, ham or bacon, caramelized onions, roasted peppers and onions or sautéed peppers, sauteed mushrooms, and so forth. You’ll want the veggies on the done side when you saute them, so they don’t release too much moisture while baking.
More Brunch Recipes To Try
- Make this Easy Frittata Recipe
- Try a Hearty Hashbrown Breakfast Casserole for a crowd, or elegant Simple Baked Eggs
- Mix up Banana Baked Oatmeal
- Try Cottage Cheese Pancakes or more Easy Healthy Pancakes Recipes
Can you please put the sodium content in your recipes? I’m on a low sodium diet and need to know how much salt is in a recipe.
Thank you.
Joanne
We know many people watch their sodium intake closely, so to be extra careful, we don’t include sodium in our recipe information. This is because ingredients like canned garbanzos and soy sauce can vary in their sodium content, and we wouldn’t want to give you inaccurate info!
If you want, you can still get an estimated sodium breakdown! Just pop the recipe into this handy website: https://whisk.com/recipe-nutrition-calculator/
This way you can check with your own ingredients. Thank you for reading!
I do not eggs.
Is there any replacement for eggs?
Not for this one, sorry!
I’m dairy allergic. Almond milk is a good sub but what do I use to replace the cheese? Cashew butter?
Violife makes a wonderful vegan feta which would work great as a sub for dairy.
I have made this multiple times, as written and as muffins, and it’s always so delicious! Wanting to make a larger doubled batch for a family gathering… think I could use a 13×9? Or should I just use 2 pie pans to be safe? Thanks for your great content!
It should work either way!
I made this today and very much enjoyed. I like recipes that encorporates items I already have on hand. My hunny even went back for seconds.
How much shredded cheese and should I add additional liquid like 1/2
We haven’t tried this recipe with shredded cheese so we can’t comment! However, you could try this recipe without the crust! https://www.acouplecooks.com/spinach-quiche-recipe/
Is there a good substitute for cottage cheese? Hubby wants to eat healthier but does not like cottage cheese. Thanks in advance for any suggestions!
You could use another shredded or crumbled cheese.
Cottage cheese used in a recipe is very different than eating it straight! Blend it first if you are worried about the curds. I make egg and other dishes with cottage cheese all the time and not one person would ever be able to tell.
That said, you could try substituting ricotta for the cottage cheese.
Easy and delicious! I added sauteed onions. Every recipe of yours that I try is always a hit!
So glad you enjoyed!
My husband and I are striving to become more health-conscious, minimizing our meat/sodium intake. This vegetarian option was amazing! The flavors blended perfectly. We added a little Cholula which gave the quiche even more flavor, yet it was delicious even without it. We love pizza and it’s been difficult for us to give it up, but I think this dish might be our pizza substitute…it was truly delicious. Thanks for sharing this recipe. We will be checking more of those you have posted.
thank you, looking great. :-)
Sounds delicious. Can I make it with egg whites instead of full eggs to reduce cholesterol?
I’m not sure how that would turn out.
Oh man, this recipe rocks! So deliciously salty and creamy with the Parmesan and cottage cheese. I used chopped fresh spinach instead of frozen and it is a new family favorite- kids included! Thank you so much for this.
I used fresh baby, spinach as well. I put it in the skillet, While I was charring some Green onion w/fresh garlic. Yes, it was delicious ricotta cheese and corn and just yummy. Yummy yummy.
I made the mini quiche version. I replaced the roasted red peppers with sun-dried tomatoes. Was delicious!
Love this! Making for third time now. Because it’s for my four year old too, we leave out red peppers and throw everything in the blender to turn it all green! And we have added crust once, precooking that for ten minutes, but it’s fine without too! Thanks for sharing the easy recipe and the ideas to mix it up.
I have enjoyed every recipe on your site that I have made. You two have wonderful tips too. I really appreciate you ! I had a friend purchase your cookbook for me, while she was getting herself a copy. She is a food scientist and works for a well known food company. She introduced me to your site too.
Thanks
So glad you have enjoyed. Thanks for the comment!
I am a recent newbie to making quiche however I luv adding shredded carrots, zucchini & parsnips. Always use fresh vegs & serve w/ either marinara sauce or medium-hot salsa (especially the pineapple ones!)
& pls use only ground white pepper on these delicate flavors.
Sounds delicious! Any instructions on freezing the leftovers?
You can likely freeze leftovers — though we haven’t tested it! Store in a freezer safe container for a month or two. We’d probably let it thaw in the refrigerator to defrost. Let us know how it goes!
Do you think it would work well to mix ingredients together the night before and just pour it in the pie plate to bake in the morning?
We did this for Christmas morning. It worked great! But I did have to bake it 38 minutes.
This was delicious and so easy to make. It was perfect for a weeknight dinner. I will definitely be making this again.
Can I make the on an air fryer? If so, what special instructions must I need to know?
We don’t have any experience with an air fryer, sorry!