The first time I had a quiche lorraine was in France as a high school exchange student.  I remember that the crust was light and flaky and the filling had a good balance of cheese and egg.  I recently made a keto-friendly quiche, experimenting with cauliflower rice as the crust and added ham, spinach and mushrooms into the filling. My family loved it and it was quickly devoured.  So, here are some tips.

Tips for making no-carb quiche.

Cauliflower crust.

I use fresh cauliflower rice to make the crust. You can easily make your own cauliflower rice or buy it from the grocery store.  Cauliflower rice should not be frozen as it contains a lot of moisture. The cauliflower rice needs to be dry  This is done by sauteeing the cauliflower rice in a skillet until all the moisture has evaporated. If you have to use frozen cauliflower rice, sauteeing to remove the moisture will take longer. When sauteeing the cauliflower rice, the moisture in the form of steam will be released. When the cauliflower dries out, there will be less steam coming from the skillet.  Cook it initially over high heat and then lower the temperature, stirring occasionally until most of the moisture has evaporated.

Line a pie / tart pan with parchment paper before pressing the cauliflower crust mixture into the pan.

The crust needs to be pre-baked in a very hot oven 400° F (220° C) for 15-20 minutes.

No carb quiche filling.

To make this filling light and healthy, kefir is used instead of cream and milk.  The sourness of the kefir complements the saltiness of the cheese well.  The sky's the limit for quiche add-ins.  Add the meat and vegetable ingredients to the dry crust before adding the egg mixture.

Meat in quiche.

The traditional French quiche lorraine is usually made with ham.  I usually find some tasty meat like bacon or ham or even prosciutto.  When purchasing ham from the deli, ask the deli server to cut the ham into 1/4-1/2 " (~1 cm) slices.  This renders a nice diced piece when cut into squares!

Vegetables in quiche.

The vegetables in the quiche should not release juices which may cause the egg not to thicken. Pre-cook the vegetables, especially mushrooms, zucchini and spinach before adding it to the quiche crust.  This will result in a firmer egg-cheese filling.

No carb quiche egg mixture.

Mix the egg, kefir, cheese together with the spices and pour that over the quiche.  

Cheese.

Use good quality, strong flavored cheese such as grated parmesan cheese (preferably not the powered stuff!) for the crust and sharp cheddar and gruyere cheese for the filling. Mix cheese into the egg, kefir mixture.  If you have time, it is better to buy blocks of parmesan, cheddar and gruyere cheese.  Grate the blocks of cheese when grating your cauliflower rice.  Many packaged grated cheese use cellulose as an anti-caking agent.  By grating the cheese yourself, you eliminate the anti caking agents that have been added to the packaged cheeses!

Spread the egg, cheese and kefir mixture over the quiche before baking.  Bake the no carb quiche in a 350° F (180° C) oven for 25-30 minutes until the egg mixture no longer jiggles when gently shaking the pan!

If you've tried this recipe, let me know what you think in the comment section.