Quiche Lorraine
Buttery shortcrust filled with lardons, egg-cream custard, and a hint of nutmeg.
Ingredients
- 250 g All-purpose flour
- 150 g Butter
- 5 Egg
- 200 g Bacon
- 200 ml Heavy cream
- 200 ml Milk
- 1 tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Black pepper
- ¼ tsp Nutmeg (optional)
- 60 g Gruyere cheese (optional)
Method
- Before you turn on any heat, get everything ready: cube the cold butter. Separate 1 egg yolk for the pastry. Dice the bacon. Grate the Gruyère if using.
- Pâte brisée (a butter shortcrust): rub butter into flour with a pinch of salt until coarse. Add the yolk and just enough ice water to bring it together into a disc. Wrap. Chill 30 minutes.
- Roll the pastry to a 3 mm round on a floured surface. Line the baking dish, pressing into the sides. Trim excess. Chill 15 minutes.
- Blind bake: line pastry with parchment and dried beans. Bake at 200°C (400°F) 18 minutes. Remove parchment + beans. Bake 6 minutes more until pale gold.
- Meanwhile, render the bacon in the skillet over medium 5 minutes until just crisp. Lift onto paper to drain.
- Whisk the remaining eggs with cream, milk, the salt, pepper, and nutmeg.
- Scatter bacon (and Gruyère if using) in the warm shell. Pour the custard over slowly to the rim.
- Reduce oven to 160°C (325°F). Bake 30 minutes until just set with a slight wobble in the centre.
- Rest 10 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Tap “Start cooking” for live timers that flag what to get ahead on while something simmers.
About Quiche Lorraine
Quiche Lorraine is the original and most famous of French quiches, named for the Lorraine region in the country's northeast where it began as a rustic tart of egg and cream in a bread-dough base. Over time it settled into the form recognized today: a buttery shortcrust holding a smooth custard studded with bacon lardons, often with a little Gruyère, and seasoned with nutmeg and pepper. Everything about it is deliberate and unhurried — this is a two-hour project, most of that spent chilling and blind-baking pastry, because a proper quiche stands or falls on its crust.
The eating is pure richness restrained by savor: a crisp, short pâte brisée against a silky, barely-set custard, salty smoked bacon running through it, and warm nutmeg rounding the whole thing out. The care in the method pays off directly — chilling the dough keeps the butter cold so the crust bakes up flaky, and blind-baking it with weights before the custard goes in is what prevents the dreaded soggy bottom. It's a dish that suits a leisurely brunch, a light lunch with salad, or a picnic, and it's just as good warm from the oven as it is at room temperature the next day.
Quiche Lorraine: frequently asked questions
What's the difference between quiche Lorraine and quiche?
"Quiche" is the general term for a savory open-faced tart made of a pastry crust filled with a custard of eggs and cream (the base is called the "migaine"), which can hold almost any combination of vegetables, cheese, or meat. Quiche Lorraine is the specific, original version from the Lorraine region of France, and in its classic form it contains only eggs, cream, and lardons (smoked bacon) with no cheese—though Gruyère is now commonly added. In short, all quiches Lorraine are quiches, but a quiche only earns the "Lorraine" name when built on that eggs-cream-bacon custard.
How many calories are in Quiche Lorraine?
A serving has about 660 calories — 16g protein, 36g carbs, 51.2g fat, 0.1g fiber. Figures are estimated from the ingredient amounts and will shift with your portions and brands.
Is Quiche Lorraine gluten-free?
As written, no — it contains All-purpose flour. You'd need a certified gluten-free swap for that ingredient to make it gluten-free.
Is Quiche Lorraine dairy-free?
Not as written — it uses Butter, Heavy cream, Milk and other dairy. Swapping those for a plant-based alternative makes it dairy-free.
How long does Quiche Lorraine take to make?
About 120 minutes start to finish, but only around 31 of those are hands-on — the rest is largely unattended cooking time you can step away from. In the Homecooked app the timers and parallel steps are sequenced for you so the hands-on part feels even shorter.
Do I need every ingredient to make Quiche Lorraine?
The core ingredients are essential, but you can leave out nutmeg, gruyere cheese — they're optional and mainly there for extra flavor or finish.
How many servings does Quiche Lorraine make?
This recipe makes 6 servings. In the app you can scale it up or down and the ingredient amounts adjust automatically.