Crustless Quiche with Spinach

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. Your spinach package may indicate to microwave it for 10 minutes: that’s not necessary here! Simply place it in a colander and warm it under water.
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.