Crustless Ham and Swiss Quiche

You say… “crustless”? I say… “yeah, crustless”! Why? Because I think about you, a lot in fact. I thought why to subject you to making the crust, when in the end the filling takes the center stage… so much so that you won’t even miss the crust! Take my word, this Ham and Swiss Quiche without crust is your friend. Not just breakfast time friend, nor just brunch time friend, he is your anytime friend! He is that good of a friend!

I love how this dish is so light, soft, and fluffy, plus it’s absolutely delicious! The best part? It’s crust-less, saving time, effort, and even some calories. I can literally whip it up with whatever I have in the fridge, as long as I have eggs and cream or milk, so it’s super pantry friendly and fits my mood.

It’s perfect for meal prep too. I can make it the night before for a quick weekday breakfast, and it freezes well for up to a month! It’s also low carb, keto friendly, and gluten free, so it’s just packed with good vibes. Perfect for a family brunch centerpiece or an easy go-to meal!

What is a quiche?

A quiche is a savory pie, usually with a pastry crust, filled with combination of eggs and milk or cream. Vegetables, cheese, meats, and even sometimes seafood can be added in a variety of combinations.

Though it’s considered French, using eggs and cream in pastry was practiced in English and Italian cuisines for centuries. There are many variants of quiche and you can really get creative with filling options. The best known is quiche Lorraine, which includes everyone’s favorite breakfast thing, bacon.

Some quiche lovers will skip this post entirely as soon as they see “crustless”… Well, you can make the same thing in your favorite crust. But you just may fall in love with this crustless quiche, when you see how equally delicious and silky soft this turns out. You might even forget all about the crust!

Ingredients Needed

• Ham – This is a good one to use any leftover holiday ham in your freezer. That’s what I did here. If not, you can always grab some nice ham in your deli.
• Cheese – I am using swiss for this one. You can use whatever you prefer or have handy.
• Zucchini – Sliced please. Some people grate this, I feel sliced looks prettier and tastes better.
• Cream – I used heavy whipping cream. So important for a creamy luscious quiche.
• Milk – I am going middle of the road by using half milk and half cream, to keep the calories a little lower. You can make this entirely with just cream (or use half and half).
• Eggs – It ain’t quiche without eggs.
• Thyme – We’re using dried this time, as I am in between plants and miss them badly. But if you happen to have fresh, use that rather than dried.
• Salt and pepper – To taste.

Ham and Swiss Quiche Recipe

Preparation is very quick, so start by preheating the oven to 375°F.

I love to layer my quiche, so when you cut into it you get prettier slices. If you are feeling lazy and want to shave off 2-3 minutes, you can just mix all the ingredient in the bowl, pour into your baking dish and bake. It’s that simple. But when you want it to look good for that special Sunday brunch, you can take these few extra little steps.

Chop the ham into bite size pieces. We are giving it a little color by quickly sautéing it with a little butter over medium heat. It adds some depth of flavor, but in a hurry you can just throw plain ham pieces in your quiche. It’s ham after all, so good just like that.

Next, in the same pan with a little more butter, sauté sliced zucchini with a little sprinkling of salt and pepper and thyme till it softens a tad bit, but not too mushy (it will cook more in the quiche).

Grate Swiss cheese (unless you bought pre-shredded).

Whisk together eggs, milk, cream, thyme, salt and pepper. Now all that’s needed is to layer this in your casserole or pie dish.

Grease the dish with oil and put the layer of ham. Follow with most of the cheese, as I will add a little towards the end on top. Next goes the layer of zucchini slices. Arrange them clockwise in concentric circle. So nice and pretty! Then pour over your egg mixture and top it with the remaining cheese.

Now put this beauty in the oven to bake for 35-40 minutes, or until a toothpick or knife inserted into the center comes out clean. You want a light brown color on top and the center should be set and not jiggly. If the top begins to brown before the center is fully cooked, you can cover the quiche with tin foil while it finishes cooking.

Get ready for a beautiful sight and aroma when this comes out of the oven. Some fresh citrus or berries, some extra good cheese, or prosciutto and olive platter and some toast is all you need to make a great Sunday brunch. Ahmm… may be get some bubblies too!!

Variations

1. Play with whatever veggies you find that day. Mushrooms, bell peppers, spinach, yellow squash, or broccoli, just to name a few.
2. You can swap ham for bacon or sausage. You just need to brown them before adding to the recipe. For seafood lovers, how about some smoked salmon. Sounds great, doesn’t it?
3. Different cheeses would give different flavors. Try Gruyere, cheddar (the sharper the better), mozzarella, even feta or goat cheese.
4. Feel like crust? Sure, you can bake this same filling in a fully baked pie crust of your choosing. The baking time would be same.
5. Try different herbs instead of thyme like oregano, basil or chives… fresh is excellent.
6. Bake them in individual small cazuelas or ramekins instead of pie dish. Looks great.

Is a quiche different than a frittata?

The difference between a quiche and frittata is the presence or absence of a crust, egg to dairy ratio and cooking method.

Frittata is mostly like an omlette with just eggs with very little or no dairy, along with add-ins like veggies and meats with herbs. It is mostly cooked on the stove top in a skillet first, and then fisnished off in the oven. A quiche, on other hand, is entirely baked in a crust and has milk and or cream, which makes it much creamier and silkier.

So is this a quiche or a frittata? It’s crustless like a frittata, but has that lovely soft texture of a quiche!

Can I make this ahead of time?

Yes, you can. Just assemble the quiche in your pie dish the night before, wrap it with cling wrap, and refrigerate to bake it next morning. Make sure the pie dish is oven friendly and safe to go from cold to hot. Or you can bring it to room temperature before baking.

Once made it’s very forgiving. You can refrigerate up to three days by covering it with foil or cling wrap. To reheat it, simply microwave.

This is great meal prep breakfast option. You can freeze this quiche beautifully up to a month. To take care of a quick morning breakfast, once the quiche is completely cooled, cut the quiche into slices and individually wrap them in plastic wrap. When ready to eat, just microwave from frozen on high at 30 second intervals until heated through. If you have frozen the entire quiche whole, you can reheat covered with foil (so it wont burn) in the oven at 350°F for 15-20 minutes.

See, I told you. I think about you guys a lot. So many ideas and tricks to make your life easy and flavorful!! Keep on reading GypsyPlate and subscribe. We will be here churning out great recipes one after another. While you’re here, check out my list of the Best Mediterranean Recipes. Have this crustless ham and Swiss quiche and have a great day!!

Crustless Ham and Swiss Quiche, on my Gypsy Plate… enjoy!

Try these other great breakfast options from GypsyPlate!
Sunday Morning Shakshuka
Stunning Scrambled Eggs on English Muffins
Bahamian Boiled Fish
Mushroom, Spinach and Egg Breakfast Skillet
Grillades and Grits
Denver Omelette
Welsh Rarebit

Crustless Ham and Swiss Quiche

Yield: 6 servings

Prep Time: 10 minutes

Cook Time: 35 minutes

Total Time: 45 minutes

Quiche - that fluffy, delicious and elegant staple of French cuisine. So versatile in filling variations, today we are going with ham, Swiss and zucchini. Oh, and we are also going crustless!

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Ingredients

• 5 Eggs
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1 cup chopped ham
• 8 oz shredded Swiss cheese
• 1 cup sautéed zucchini (2 cups before cooking)
• 1 tsp thyme
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 1-2 Tbsp butter

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F.
2. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in skillet over medium heat, add ham and and sauté until lightly browned (optional). Remove and set aside.
3. Melt 1 Tbsp butter in skillet and add diced zucchini. Cook until slightly softened.
4. Mix eggs, cream, milk, thyme, salt and pepper in a bowl.
5. In lightly greases 8-9 inch, layer ham, most of the cheese and zucchini. Pour in egg mixture and top with remaining cheese.
6. Bake in preheated oven 35-40 minutes, until knife of toothpick inserted in center comes out clean.

Nutrition Information

Yield 6 Serving Size 1
Amount Per Serving Calories 361Total Fat 30gSaturated Fat 16gTrans Fat 1gUnsaturated Fat 11gCholesterol 239mgSodium 657mgCarbohydrates 4gFiber 0gSugar 1gProtein 19g

Nutrition information calculated by Nutritionix.

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Welcome to GypsyPlate! I'm Alpana, former wordwide tour manager and professional caterer, now full time blogger. I love exploring cuisines from around the world, and my recipes have been featured on sites such as MSN, Parade, Brit + Co, CNET and AOL. You can explore my entire collection of sortable recipes in my Recipe Index or learn more about me here.