Loaded with veggies, and free from grains and dairy, this crustless quiche is really delicious. Try it for breakfast, lunch or dinner!
I’m currently following the Whole30 diet. Part of me thinks I must be insane, and the rest is thinking this is the best decision I’ve made for a while. It’s a 30 day commitment to healthy eating, but has a lot of rules – no grains, no dairy, no legumes, no alcohol… At least I can still have a cup of (black) tea in the morning!
A healthy balanced diet
We usually eat a pretty good diet anyway – lots of fresh fruit and vegetables, plenty of whole grains, that sort of thing. We definitely get our 5-a-day in this household! We get a good range of proteins and healthy fats, and of course there’s room for the occasional treat! I usually make a dessert for Shabbat, and that lasts us for a few days into the week.
However, recently I’ve been binging on chocolate and junky snacks more than usual. It’s easy to get into bad habits! After a weekend away with far too many desserts and glasses of wine, I felt bloaty and sluggish, and I looked awful. It was time for decisive action!
Going The Whole 30…
So, Whole30 it is. Although the diet does come with a lot of restrictions, pretty much all the fruits and veggies are still OK. Beans, pulses and lots of other plant proteins are off the menu though. I’m eating a lot of avocados, and a lot of eggs.
The really tricky part has been making dinners that fit the Whole30 diet, but are also acceptable to DH and my daughter Kipper. They aren’t doing the eating plan with me and have no interest in giving up bread or pasta, even temporarily!
As a compromise, I’ve been trying to make one compatible dish, which I can eat with extra veg (Courgetti – yum! Salad – hooray!) and they can have with pasta or rice or whatever else they choose. This crustless quiche was just such a dish.
Fresh vegetables
I used plenty of veggies and mixed up the eggs with a splash of Whole30 compliant almond milk. If you’re not avoiding dairy, you can just use regular milk. I had thought that if I was eating dairy products, I would have sprinkled some cheese over this, but in fact it was thoroughly delicious without.
Ingredients in crustless quiche
To make this crustless quiche you will need:
- Onion – makes everything delicious!
- Red pepper (bell pepper)
- Courgette (zucchini)
- Eggs – of course!
- Plant-based milk – I used almond milk, although I usually use oat. You can also use ‘real’ milk if you prefer.
- Olive oil – to grease the dish and prevent sticking.
- Oregano and smoked paprika – a favourite combination but you can use whatever herbs and spices you enjoy.
- Salt and pepper
And that’s it!
Crustless quiche? Egg-cellent!
I actually used 4 whole eggs + 4 yolks to make this quiche, as I had some yolks leftover from something else that needed using up. This kind of recipe is great for sneaking in extra yolks/whites left from other recipes, but if you don’t have any (which is most of the time) just use 6 whole eggs.
Crustless Quiche for Breakfast
It strikes me that this crustless quiche would be great for breakfast, although it would probably involve pre-setting the oven on a timer, which always makes me a bit stressed. Unless you don’t mind waiting for an hour or so for breakfast, after you get up. Personally, I’m usually ravenous as soon as I get out of bed.
However, if you had leftovers (we didn’t) then you could certainly have a slice cold for breakfast. Or gently rewarm in the oven (or not so gently in the microwave).
We ate this entire crustless quiche between the three of us, but DH and I both had huge portions. I’d say it makes 3-4 more usual sized servings.
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📖 Recipe
Easy vegetable crustless quiche (dairy free)
Ingredients
- 2 medium onions
- 2-3 tablespoon olive oil + extra to grease the dish, or use coconut oil for greasing
- 1 red pepper
- 2 courgettes (zucchini)
- 2 teaspoon dried oregano
- ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- pinch salt
- 6 large eggs
- 50 ml almond or other non-dairy milk, or use cows milk if not dairy-free
Instructions
- Peel the onions and slice into crescents. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over a medium heat and saute the onions for 5 minutes until softened and starting to brown slightly.
- Meanwhile, slice the pepper, discarding the stem, seeds and membranes. Cut the courgettes into 4-5mm slices.
- Add the red pepper and courgette to the pan with the oregano, paprika and black pepper, and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, for another 5-10 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F). Thoroughly grease a quiche dish with olive or coconut oil.
- Transfer the cooked onion mixture to the greased dish. Whisk the eggs and milk together and pour over the vegetables.
- Bake at 180°C (350°F) for 45-50 minutes, until set, slightly risen, and beginning to brown.
- Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
More Whole30 recipes
Other Whole30 compatible recipes include
If you aren’t doing the Whole30 you might also enjoy this cheese and onion quiche with fennel seeds, or these cheese and onion omelette muffin bites.
I’m entering this lovely crustless veggie quiche into a number of food blog challenges. They are:
Vegetable Palette, on the theme of glorious reds – thanks to those lovely red peppers – hosted by A2K – A Seasonal Veg Table. Extra Veg, hosted & organised by Michelle at Utterly Scrummy and co-organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours. And finally, Credit Crunch Munch, hosted by Camilla at Fab Food 4 All and co-organised by Helen at Fuss Free Flavours.
Joss
My mom makes the best quiche ever though I can no longer eat many of the ingredients she uses. I was looking for a swap and this is great! I found this recipe on a snow day and didn’t have all the veggies on hand, so I used some bell peppers, chopped up some Canadian bacon, and added some vegan cheese. It came out great. Excited to try different combinations, definitely want to add spinach. Thank you!
Helen
Thanks Joss – I’m so glad to hear that you enjoyed this! Food restrictions can be difficult but it sounds like you’re figuring out how to make the food you love that also works for your dietary requirements 🙂
All the best, Helen.
Diane Hoekstra
Yes I just started eating vegan and was having trouble finding excellent recipes. cruised the internet looking for recipes and always was a quiche lover but also quit eating flours and grains plus cheese. Saw this recipe just last week Wednesday and made it for my supper and IT WAS WONDERFUL. Excellent taste could not tell it from it’s brother. Some ways a lot better, lower fat, white flour and cheese free plus a lot lower in calories used Almond milk allergic to dairy. Plus also made it fat free did not use the oils and still was SUPERB.
Helen
Thanks Diane, that’s so great to hear. Glad you enjoyed it so much!
Kathy Heyne
Thank you so much for this recipe. I cook for a dialysis patient who lives his cheese slices on his sandwiches too much to give them up for conventional dairy laden quiches, and zucchini and red capsicum are two low potassium veggies ideal for individuals with kidney failure. I can’t wait to try it out 🙂
Helen
Thanks Kathy – so happy to hear this!
Jennifer
I made this with onion, mushroom and milk. I baked it at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 45 minutes and it burnt. My fault for not checking it, but being my first time ever making a quiche, I didn’t think that your timing listed in the recipe would be so far off.
Helen
Hi Jennifer. I’m sorry to hear that your quiche was burned. I’ve made this many times and never had this problem, but another commenter found that hers was still undercooked after 45 minutes! It’s hard to give a time that works for everyone because all our ovens are slightly different, so timings will always be a guide. It might be as well to check your oven temperature and see if it is running high? It’s easy to do using a spoonful of sugar! There are instructions here: https://www.allrecipes.com/article/how-to-test-your-oven-temperature-with-sugar/
Thanks and all the best, Helen.
Looksgood
You didn’t state if the nutrition label is for wholething or how many servings. And can you just use the egg whites or gotta use whole eggs? We don’t eat oil, butter, cream or cheese. Might opt fat free plain yogurt for high protein thou and can you add meat like chicken breast or salmon? Will it hold it’s form as a pie or fall apart? How many egg whites would be needed to keep it firm together if it would need more? Would like to make a 2nd a spinach artichoke w/bell peppers would be awesome as a side.
Helen
Hi there. As it says on the nutrition label, the information is per serving. The recipe makes 4 servings.
You can use just egg whites but the flavour will be quite different. You will need to use twice as many whites than if you were using whole eggs.
There is no butter, cream or cheese in the recipe. It uses a little oil to saute the vegetables and grease the baking dish but you can do this using whatever you would normally use, if oil is not ok for you.
I’ve never added meat or fish to the recipe, so I can’t vouch for how that would turn out.
If you make the recipe as written, the quiche holds together and can be sliced and served as in the photos.
You can use whatever vegetables you like, but if you use spinach, be sure to squeeze out as much water as possible or this will affect the texture of the quiche.
I hope all this helps! All the best, Helen.
Karthik
Hey ! Is there an alternative way to cook this instead of the oven ? Can I like fry it in a pan ? It looks really yummy ! But don’t have an oven though ;(
Helen
Hi Karthik. I’m not sure it would work on the stovetop as it’s quick thick so I would expect the bottom to get over-done before the top is cooked. Sorry 🙁
Lorie
What can I use in place if zucchini.
Helen
Hi Lorie, you can substitute pretty much whatever vegetables you like – mushrooms, aubergine (eggplant), small broccoli or cauliflower florets – whatever you fancy. Try to keep the volume of veggies about the same though. I hope you enjoy it!
Liz holt
Cooked at 180 as recipe stated and the egg is no way cooked ? Was that an error ??
Helen
Hi Liz. It’s 180C which is 350F. Could that be the source of the problem?
Jordan
Hi, could I eat this over a few days?
Helen
Hi Jordan. I think it’s best eaten fresh but would probably be fine in the fridge for a day or two. I hope you enjoy it!
Sarah M
This looks delicious! The kids love quiche so will have to give this recipe a try! Thanks
Fuss Free Helen
I love the idea of crustless quiches – more filling less crust seems ideal to me! A belated thank you for linking up to #creditcrunchmunch & #extraveg
Helen
Thanks Helen, and thanks for hosting.
fabfood4all
This looks so delicious – I’ve never made a crustless quiche and really should!. Thanks for entering #CreditCrunchMunch:-)
Helen
Thanks Camilla. It was delicious and very easy!
Thanks for hosting! H x.
Jenny
Really nice recipe and easy to throw together, thanks. I made it with courgette, mushrooms and peas as I don’t like peppers and will defo try it with different veggies too in the future.
Helen
Thanks Jenny! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. Your veggie combination sounds delish!
Elizabeth
This sounds delicious! Love that it’s crustless too. Yum!
Helen
Thanks Elizabeth. No crust does make it much easier to put together 🙂
shaheen
Crustless Quiche – yum, Thank you so much for sharing with #VegetablePalette.
Helen
Thanks Shaheen. It was yummy indeed!
Thanks for hosting #VegetablePalette. H x.
karen278
I think you must be very committed! I follow the 5:2 diet as you know, as well as WW too, but I would find the no dairy for 30 days very hard, and as I am of a cerain age, I need milk and cheese for my bones! But well done you Helen, and also, what a FAB looking quiche too, I am a BIG fan of crust-less quiches, and this one looks amazing! Karen
Helen
Thanks Karen. No dairy is the hardest part, to be honest – I love milky tea, and yogurt, and cheese… But it’s not as tough as I thought. My Mum is dairy-intolerant and there are lots of other ways to get calcium in your diet – sesame seeds and tahini are packed with it, and she also buys orange juice with added calcium. Not that I’m trying to sell this diet to you! Thanks again, H x.
Dominic Franks (@belleaukitchen)
I love this!… I used to eat a lot of crustless quiches when I was on the Atkins diet but they still had cheese in them. I couldn’t live without the cheese i’m afraid. Lovely colourful quiche! Thanks so much for linking to Simply Eggcellent x
Helen
Thanks Dom! I really expected that the absence of cheese would be noticed, but honestly, it was delicious without it. Thanks for hosting Simply Eggcellent 🙂
efwalt
Oooooh another Whole30 convert! A lot of the blogs I read at the minute are doing this. I am getting tempted…It probably wouldn’t be as hard as I think it would as we don’t really have pasta, rice etc and I steer clear of dairy as much as I can due to a mild intolerance to lactose…hmmmm I think I might have just talked myself in to it. Maybe I’ll start with this crustless quiche 😉
Helen
Good luck if you decide to do it! I haven’t found it too bad so far – I think if you usually cook from scratch and eat a lot of fresh food anyway then it’s ok. I just hope it brings the promised rewards!
Nayna Kanabar (@SIMPLYF00D)
I love the idea of crustless so much healthier and full of veggies.
Helen
Thanks Nayna. I really didn’t miss the crust! (Or the cheese!)
Ceri @Natural Kitchen Adventures
Love a good crustless quiche. I used to make them in mini moulds in batches i advance and then you definitely can enjoy them for breakfast without having to wait for an hour! Best of luck with your whole 30. Its quite the achievement!
Helen
Thanks Ceri. Yes I’ve done mini ones before but not sure I fancy them cold. I guess I will have to try it and see…
HedgeComber
Yum, it looks perfectly perfect Helen! I learnt so so much about myself, food and the so called hunger that I used to feed constantly by doing the Whole30 that I am truly one of their biggest fans. Enjoy the clean up and I can’t wait to see what other tasty dishes you come up with 🙂
Janie x
Helen
Thanks Janie, and thanks for the encouragement! I’m hoping to have loads more energy by the end. Fingers crossed!
recipesfromapantry
Diet or not I want to dig right in. Looks good.
Helen
Thanks! I’ll be making it again, even after my Whole30 ends 🙂