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This crustless quiche with spinach is an easy recipe that’s perfect for brunch! The savory flavor will impress everyone.
Looking for a savory brunch recipe to impress? Try a crustless quiche! This concept is our favorite for entertaining: it’s deliciously savory and hearty, with lots of protein to keep bellies full all morning. Even better: it’s so easy to whip up! No need to bother with a quiche crust: just whisk together the filling and pop it in the oven. This crustless spinach quiche is a bit of a miracle: even our spinach-fearing 4 year old loves it! Here’s how to make a crustless quiche recipe and how to customize the filling for your family.
Elements in 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. Here’s what you’ll need for the base recipe of this crustless spinach quiche. 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:
- Eggs
- Oregano, garlic powder, salt and pepper
- Frozen spinach
- Cottage cheese: often a quiche recipe uses whole milk, but cottage cheese makes magic here! It brings a bold, savory flavor and velvety texture
- Parmesan cheese
- Jarred roasted red peppers
Some notes on the spinach
This recipe is so simple: all you have to do is mix up the ingredients and bake it up for 25 minutes until puffed and golden! How does it all work? Here are a few notes on some of the ingredients and how they make the magic:
- Use frozen spinach, not fresh. Why? 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 us! Think spinach artichoke dip.
- Thaw the spinach under warm water. Simply place it in a colander and warm it under water! However, we’ve noticed that some spinach brands are frozen solid into blocks: you may need to use a microwave to thaw in that case.
- Important: squeeze out as much water as possible! This prevents a watery crustless quiche. Use your hands to squeeze it out while the spinach is in the colander. The spinach should feel like dry crumbles when you are done.
Variations on mix-ins
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.
Make mini-sized crustless spinach quiche
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 .
More brunch recipes
Brunch is where it’s at! There’s nothing more fun and festive than brunching with family and friends. We originally created this crustless spinach quiche for Christmas breakfast, but we now eat it anytime of the year! Here are a few more tasty brunch ideas:
- 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
This crustless spinach quiche recipe is…
Vegetarian and gluten-free.
Crustless Quiche with Spinach
- Prep Time: 15 minutes
- Cook Time: 30 minutes
- Total Time: 45 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
Description
This crustless quiche with spinach is an easy recipe that’s perfect for brunch! The savory flavor will impress everyone.
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.
- Category: Brunch
- Method: Baked
- Cuisine: Brunch
- Diet: Vegetarian
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.
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!