By:Nagi
106 Comments
A classic quiche lorraine with a hash brown crust!I bet your local brunch bistro doesn’t have this on their menu…..so how about having brunch at home this weekend? You can stay in your PJ’s and coffee refills are free. AND this Hash Brown Crust Quiche has about 1/3 less calories than traditional quiche – unintentionally!
This is a mash up of two of my favourite brunch dishes – hash brown and quiche!
“This tastes like a cross between a hash brown, quiche and potato dauphinoise gratin. Match made in heaven.”
It took me 5 attempts until I was happy with this so I’ve been fanning out my attempts to friends and family.I think my sister described it best. She said it’s like a “cross between a quiche, hash brown and potato dauphinoise gratin”. The edges are brown and crispy like a hash brown and the filling is a traditional Quiche Lorraine filling with bacon, onion, cheese and egg.The base is also made of hash browns so when you pour the filling in, the potato and egg mixture meld together and turns gratin-like when it bakes.
“It’s incredible….this actually has about 1/3 less calories than the traditional Quiche Lorraine!”
It smells and tastes rich and indulgent. But guess what? This actually hasless calories than the traditional Quiche Lorraine because the hash brown crust has less thanhalf the calories of shortcrust pastry! It’s incredible isn’t it?? It’s because shortcrust pastry is made with flour and butter which has a lot more calories than potato.The hash brown crust is made with 600g/1.2lb of potatoes + 2tbsp of butterwhichis 620 calories, whereasa traditional shortcrust pastry has2,100 calories. So a traditional quiche lorraine has around 500 calories per serving whereas this Hash Brown Crust Quiche Lorraine has only310 calories.
This keeps really well in the fridge and freezer, like a normal quiche. I highly recommend reheating it in the oven so you can make the edges crispy again!
Have I convinced you to stay in for brunch this weekend?? – Nagi
The Quiche Extended Family
Quiche Lorraine – the French mother, with the buttery flaky crust
Salmon Quiche– the gourmet Aunt, loaded with smoked salmon
Italian Sausage Quiche – the cheeky Italian uncle
Frittata with Bacon– the father, made the traditional way (stove then oven)
Baked Vegetable Frittata – theuncle, made the easy way (pour and bake!)
Frittata Egg Muffins–the healthy sister
CRUSTLESS Quiche – the low carb cousin, custardy, golden and fabulous (plus super speedy!)
Spanish Tortilla (Omelette)–the Spanish potato-loving aunt
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Hash Brown Crust Quiche Lorraine
Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats
Prep: 25 minutes mins
Cook: 1 hour hr 15 minutes mins
Total: 1 hour hr 40 minutes mins
Breakfast, Brunch, Lunch, Quiche
4.95 from 17 votes
Servings8
Tap or hover to scale
A mash up of two of my favourite brunch dishes - hash brown and quiche! This can be made using frozen shredded hash browns or you can shred your own (directions provided for both).
Ingredients
Hash Brown Crust
- 1.2 lb / 600g starchy potatoes (Note 1) OR 4 cups (not packed) frozen shredded hash browns, thawed
- 2 tbsp unsalted butter , melted
- 1 tsp salt
- Butter , for greasing
- Oil spray (or olive oil)
Egg Mixture
- 2 egg yolks
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup milk (preferably full cream, but low fat will also work)
- 3/4 cup cream
- Pinch of freshly grated nutmeg (optional)
- 1/2 tsp salt
- Black pepper
Filling
- 1/2 tbsp butter
- 6 oz / 180g bacon , cut into large dice (about 1cm x 0.5cm / 2/3" x 1/5")
- 1 small onion , diced (or half a large onion)
- 1 garlic clove , minced
- 3/4 cup grated cheese (tasty, cheddar or gruyere)
Instructions
Preheat oven to 425F/220C with the oven shelf in the top 1/3 of the oven.
Grease a 9"/ 23cm pie dish (Note 2)
Hash Brown Crust
If shredding potatoes yourself, peel and grate the potatoes. Place the shredded potatoes into a colander and rinse for 10 seconds, using your hands to move the grated potatoes around, until the water runs clear.
Take a handful of the rinsed grated potatoes OR the thawed frozen shredded hash browns and squeeze the excess water out, then place into a large bowl. Repeat with remaining potato. You should have about 4 cups of shredded potato.
Add melted butter and salt and mix to combine.
Pour the shredded potato into the pie dish. Use a large dessert spoon to spread the hash browns over the base and side of the pie dish.
Use your hands or a spatula to pat down the base of the hash brown crust so it is fairly firmly packed.
Spray the hash brown crust with oil spray (I used olive oil spray).
Bake the crust for 30 minutes.
Prepare Filling & Egg Mixture
While the crust is baking, melt 1/2 tbsp butter in a fry pan over medium high heat.
Add onion, garlic and bacon into the fry pan. Saute until the onion is translucent and the bacon is just starting to brown (but not crisp).
Remove from the stove and set aside to cool slightly.
Place Egg Mixture ingredients in a bowl and whisk to combine.
Fill Quiche
When the crust is light golden brown on the surface of the base and golden brown on the walls of the crust (around 30 minutes), remove from the oven.
Scatter the bacon onion mixture across the base, then the cheese.
Then pour the Egg Mixture in.
Baking the Quiche
Return the quiche to the oven and turn the oven down to 180C/350F.
Bake for 25 minutes, or until the Filling is set. Test this either by inserting a skewer into the centre (it should come out clean) or by touching the centre gently (it should spring back).
Let it rest for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes:
1. You need to use starchy potatoes for hash browns as they breakdown when cooked, becoming nice and fluffy on the inside and golden and crunchy on the outside. The best to use are Russet (common in the US), dutch creams, King Edwards or red delight. However, great all rounders like golden delight, coliban, red rascal and Sebago (popular in Australia) still works great.
I use Sebago which are the brushed potatoes you can get from any supermarket in Australia (ie. the ones with dirt on them). If you are based in the US, a great all rounder to use is Russet which I understand is one of the most widely used potatoes in the US.
2. You must use a pie dish that doesn't have a removable base otherwise you run a (high) risk of the filling leaking out and dripping to the floor of the oven while it bakes. Yes, I'm speaking from experience here. I tried both a springform cake tin and a quiche pan with a removable base. 2 of the 3 attempts, the filling leaked out (once onto the floor of the oven, the other onto the tray I put the pan on).
3. This quiche reheats really well in the oven and lasts for 3 days in the refrigerator. I have not tried to freeze it yet but I am confident that it will work fine. Make sure to reheat it in the oven so the crust crisps up again.
4.Nutrition assumes 8 servings. In my household, it serves 6 (sometimes 4!).
Nutrition Information:
Serving: 174gCalories: 311cal (16%)Carbohydrates: 15.6g (5%)Protein: 15.6g (31%)Fat: 20.7g (32%)Saturated Fat: 9.5g (59%)Cholesterol: 146mg (49%)Sodium: 1093mg (48%)Potassium: 503mg (14%)Fiber: 2g (8%)Sugar: 3.2g (4%)Vitamin A: 400IU (8%)Vitamin C: 22.3mg (27%)Calcium: 140mg (14%)Iron: 1.1mg (6%)
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Hi, I'm Nagi!
I believe you can make great food with everyday ingredients even if you’re short on time and cost conscious. You just need to cook clever and get creative!
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106 Comments
Ellen saysAre we supposed to drain the bacon/onion mixture?
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- Christine says
Nagi, do you use a deep dish or standard pie plate in this recipe?
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- Nancy says
Hello,
I am your fan! I think I will try this recipe. I wonder if I could make and bake the hash brown crust one day in advance and store it in the refrigerator overnight? What do you think, Nagi? Thank you!
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- Jane says
I doubled the recipe and made one that was veggie only. I squeezed the potatoes in a nut milk bag to get the moisture out. Heated the cast iron skillets in the oven for 10 minutes before adding the potato mixture. Was super happy with the results. Saved to recipe box. It’s a keeper! Thank you Nagi!Reply
- Grace says
Made it vegetarian by using one small zucchini and half a capsicum, both diced, and sautéed with the onions instead of bacon. Used a 24cm skillet as suggested in another comment as I didn’t have a pie dish. Both the hash brown and the filling needed 5 min extra each to get to the right colour / consistency. But turned out perfect! One thing though – it definitely doesn’t serve 8! Being so tasty you’d be lucky if you could serve 4, as we went back for seconds and thirds! Thank you Nagi, you nailed this oneReply
- Catherine says
Hi, I haven’t made this yet and I’m just wondering why the filling uses 2 egg yolks as well as 2 eggs? I’d normally be going for 4 eggs and a 1 cup of milk. Will that kind of ratio also work or do you need the extra fat in the cream, and therefore fewer whole eggs but additional yolks?
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- Sarah says
Did this work for you? I don’t have cream on hand but have 2% milk.
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- Maria says
Looks like a great recipe (as always)
If you wanted a breakfast get-together and pre-prepare this – what could be done in advance?Reply
- Brendally hiso says
What if I used sweet potatoes instead?
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- Nagi says
Hi Brendally, you won’t get that crisp shell, the sugar content in the sweet potatoes stops it from going crispy. N x
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- Lana says
Where can I buy shredded hash browns, I’ve looked at woolies and coles and can’t seem to see any.. alternatively I could just crumble thawed hash, but I wanted shredded so I can use it for other things as well.
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- Carol J says
Hi Lana. You could prepare your own from Sebago potatoes. To freeze potatoes for hash browns, shred or coarsely grate potatoes; placing them in a bowl of cold water until all potatoes are shredded to stop them turning brown. Drain, then blanch in boiling water about 3 minutes. Drain, rinse in cold water, drain again and pat dry. Spread them out onto flat trays lined with baking paper or a non-stick liner and freeze for a few hours. Break the frozen shredded, blanched potatoes up and store in the freezer in an air tight container or zip lock bags.
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- BeckBeck says
could I just use 4 whole eggs? My husband got 12 cartons of frozen eggs from the food bank and I’m trying to use them up.
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- Sally Caccia-Birch says
Hi Nagi,
I did everything as written and it’s has been in the oven (after cooking the crust for 30 mins) for well over an hour and it’s still runny-no-where near setting. Any ideas what went wrong?Reply
- Nagi says
Hi Sally, sounds like your oven thermostat is broken – that doesn’t sound right at all!!! N x
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- Jeanne says
Can you increase this recipe to make in a 9x 13 pan for a crowd. This was delicious
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- Nagi says
Hi Jeanne, you sure can!! N x
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- Renee says
I’m so excited to make this! And by some miracle, i have everything at home already except the cream (currently in lockdown so can’t shop). Do you think i could swap it out for more milk? Do i need to make other adjustments if i do that like extra egg or butter?
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- Nagi says
Hi Renee, cream is what gives it that rich custardy texture. If you don’t have it you can use 1/2 cup of extra milk in it’s place.
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- Carol says
I have made a few changes in this, but the recipe is great. I always get compliments.Reply
- Dawn Mathieson says
Made this today for lunch as my daughter was visiting. We both agree it was scrumptious!! Only thing different I added was baby spinach,so thank you Nagi – awesome, clever recipe.
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- Nagi says
Sounds great Dawn!!
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- Dawn Mathieson says
Oops, sorry forgot to rate it beforeReply
- Matthew says
Hubby was feeling like Bacon and Egg Pie, but without the pastry and your site was my first port of call. Made the crust as per your instructions but lined rectangular ramekins, reserving some of the potato mix. Cracked in a couple of eggs, added bacon, sauteed mushroom, cherry toms and topped with grated cheese and remaining potato mix. Et viola: individual Hash Brown Bacon and Egg Pies. A resounding success 🙂Reply
- Nagi says
Nailed it Matthew 🙌
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- Do you have a gluten-free artisan bread recipe says
Do you have a gluten-free artisan bread recipe?
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- Evan says
I want to make a quiche, with store brand shaped hash browns as a base layer, then throw in the bacon and egg mixture, to top the quiche with a layer of cheese. I think that this might make some good eat’s if it turns out
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- Marie says
Delicious, made it today,all gone. Next time will make a bigger one or 2.
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- Nagi says
Awesome Marie!
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- Syafira says
Hi Nagi, do you think it will work in the 8”x3” round cake pan? I don’t have a pie dish 😭 I’ve got a 9×3 pyrex dish and 6-muffin tin. Which pan works best?
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- Raquel says
Do you think I could substitute the potatoes for sweet potatoes instead?
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