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Quiche has been around for centuries. It dates back to medieval 12th-century Germany, according to FoodReference.com, taking its origin from a then German-occupied area of France known as the kingdom of Lothringen. This region name was later renamed by the French to Lorraine. The word “quiche” itself comes from the German ‘kuchen’, meaning cake, when quiche consisted of a much smaller list of ingredients, including a pie crust, eggs, cream and smoked bacon.

Today, however, quiche takes on a wide variety of ingredients that people seem to have a love or “eggy” dislike for as a simple or more colorful entree offered as a breakfast or brunch option. Either way you look at it, this recipe for a low-carb quiche meets several key components of a ketogenic diet, with its mix of high fat content (78%; and we should ideally be eating more fat from good rather than bad sources), moderate protein (18%), and varied carbs (4%) from its low-carb crust and a mix of vegetables and other ingredients.

Just a word of caution for those who are lactose intolerant. In many of my ketogenic low-carb recipes, I tend to limit or substitute the dairy content from typical keto recipes. (I have a mild lactose intolerance myself.) Here you will find a blend of both dairy and non-dairy ingredients of which you may choose to use my listed non-dairy options entirely. While lactose intolerance–the body’s lack of the digestive enzyme to break down milk sugar–isn’t in itself impacting the immune system, any bloating or diarrhea from dairy products may be a sign of leaky gut syndrome, which is inflammatory. So, if you know this is how your body reacts to any amount of dairy, it may be wise to consider making this completely dairy or lactose-free.

**Additionally, I have put an asterisk next to items that may cause for a small number of people an intolerance or allergy to nightshades (tomatoes, bell peppers, red spices made from peppers, potatoes, eggplant, etc.), eggs in themselves, or nuts. If you have an autoimmune disease, you run a higher risk of having an allergy to these foods, including also dairy, which are generally be healthy to much of the population but create an autoimmune response in others.**

Lastly, if you get a chance to make this low-carb quiche recipe, I’d love to hear how it went with a comment or rating below! As always, I appreciate the support and feedback!

Low-Carb Quiche

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Recipe by J. Irish, Ketolicious Eats Course: Breakfast, BrunchCuisine: German / French / AmericanDifficulty: Moderately Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Crust baking time

minutes

Quiche baking time

minutes

Share breakfast or brunch making with the family in this colorful low-carb quiche that makes leftovers a snap. Just pop each slice or leftovers back into the oven (covered) with added cheese or your favorite hot sauce, and you have another satiating meal!

Macros per slice using standard ingredients (first ingredient listed, not including optional ingredients): 695 calories | Protein 31.2g | Net Carbs 6.9g | Fat 60.4g

Ingredients

Quiche Crust (Covers up to half the rim of a 12″ cast iron skillet)
1-1/4 cup 1-1/4 almond flour*
1 cup 1 coconut flour
8 tablespoons 8 cold pasture-raised butter or (lactose-free) ghee; or any combination of butter, ghee, non-hydrogenated and sustainably-sourced vegetable (palm) shortening, or coconut oil, cut into chunks
4 tablespoons 4 cold water
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 Himalayan pink salt
Sauté Items
1 tablespoon 1 pasture-raised butter, lactose-free ghee, or avocado oil
¾ to 1 cup ¾ to 1 shallots (about 2 shallots), cut into long slices
Custard Mixture
8 8 pasture-raised eggs*
1-1/2 cup 1-1/2 raw gruyere cheese from Switzerland–I buy mine from Trader Joe’s (Try the “Italian Blend” by Follow Your Heart Cheese, if you’re looking to go completely dairy free. However, I cannot guarantee the ingredients will be as clean or as low in carbs as a simple raw cheese, preferably from pasture-raised cows.)
1-1/2 to 2 cups 1-1/2 to 2 dry, prewashed arugula or spinach
1 cup 1 pasture-raised heavy cream (Green Valley lactose-free cream cheese in a tub has been used as a partial substitute if you don’t have enough HWC or want to sub with a lactose-free ingredient).
2/3 cup 2/3 full-fat organic coconut milk (from a can, not a carton)
1/3 cup 1/3 cherry tomatoes* or 1 Roma tomato*, cut to 1/4″ slices
8 slices 8 Trader Joe’s Uncured Black Forest Ham (nitrate and nitrate free from crate-free pork)
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 Himalayan pink salt
1/2 teaspoon 1/2 ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 nutmeg*
1/4 teaspoon 1/4 cayenne pepper*
Optional Ingredients
3/4 cup 3/4 mushrooms, cut to 1/8″ slices
1/2 1/2 red bell pepper*, diced
Your favorite clean hot sauce* (our new household favorite is a mix of sweet and spicy “Habanero Condiment” by Yellowbird Sauce

Directions

Crust
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a food processor, add the flours and salt, and process on the chop setting. Then add the cold water, cold chunks of butter, ghee, or non-hydrogenated shortening, and very briefly process on the same setting until there are lima bean sized chunks. (Keeping the crust mixture cold will make pressing the crust into the skillet easier.)
Optional: Cut a piece of parchment to fit the bottom of the cast iron skillet. I find this helps with cleanup of the skillet a little easier, but it isn’t absolutely necessary.
Now, press the crust mixture into your skillet. This will go up the skillet about 1” so you will not see it when you add your egg mixture and other ingredients.
Then, with a fork, poke holes in the crust, spaced at roughly every 2 inches.
Bake for about 15 minutes or until the crust looks dry to the touch. Then remove from the oven to cool (about 20 minutes) before adding the remaining quiche ingredients.
Quiche
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
In a medium-sized skillet, add the butter or ghee, and melt on medium-low heat. Then add the cut shallots and sauté on medium until soft and semi-translucent. Watch them carefully so that they do not burn.
In a medium mixing bowl, beat together with a whisk the the eggs, heavy cream (or dairy-free substitute), salt, nutmeg, and cayenne pepper.
Spread half the shallots across the bottom of the pie crust, then evenly add the cheese layer, followed by the arugula or spinach layer. Next, add an optional layer of 4 slices of Black Forrest ham centered over the top, or other ingredients such as sliced mushrooms. Then add the custard mixture over the top. Lastly, layer any other ingredients that’ll add color and texture to you finished quiche, such as the 4 additional and optional slices of uncured Black Forrest Ham, followed by the remaining shallots, tomato slices, and/or bell peppers. (Personally, I do not typically eat uncured, nitrate/nitrite-free ham or even bacon that often, as it is still considered processed meat.)
Bake for roughly 50 minutes. The edges will be more browned, compared to the center, which should come out clean when poked with a toothpick. (Note: The center tends to rise at the end of the baking period and will fall when cooled.) Then, allow to cool for about 10 minutes before cutting into 8 slices for serving. Next, top with garnishes and/or your favorite hot sauce, and enjoy!

Notes

Time-saving tip: Make the crust one day in advance of baking the quiche. It’ll save you about 25 to 35 minutes.
Whenever possible, I recommend using clean organic ingredients.