This delicious Three-Cheese Zucchini Quiche, made lighter without heavy cream, is perfect for end-of-summer zucchini for breakfast, brunch or lunch.
Zucchini Quiche
Trying to adapt quiche to make it healthier is challenging because you can’t skimp on the pie crust (which is the best part, in my humble opinion. Aside from the buttery crust, quiche is also typically made with a good amount of heavy cream and cheese. I tested this Three-Cheese Zucchini Quiche a couple of times, and I think you’ll love how it turned out! I have many more healthy quiche recipes on my blog. Some others you might like with crust are my Spinach Ricotta Quiche, Chicken Quiche, or for crustless quiche recipes try Crustless Ham and Cheese Quiche or Broccoli Cheddar Quiche.
This healthy zucchini quiche recipe is lightened it up using part-skim cheeses and swaps out heavy cream for skim milk. It highlights delicious summer zucchini and basil, the ricotta creates a fluffy, creamy inside, and the cheese blend adds saltiness that is so flavorful, and even great the next day for lunch.
How To Make Zucchini Quiche:
Parbake your crust. If you want to make this faster you can use a frozen pie crust instead. Cut the zucchini into rounds and saute until tender. Add it to the crust then combine egg, milk, basil, salt and cheeses and pour that over the zucchini finishing it with Parmesan. Bake 350F until the eggs set, 50 to 55 minutes.
What are the best cheeses to use in quiche?
For this three-cheese quiche, I used part-skim ricotta, part-skim shredded mozzarella, and freshly grated parmesan cheese.
Do you sauté veggies before adding them to quiche?
Yes, sautéing the zucchini and onion before adding them to the quiche releases the water so the crust doesn’t get soggy.
Should you par bake the crust for a quiche?
Par baking the crust means you partially bake it before adding the egg filling. This process will ensure the zucchini quiche crust is crispy. Prick the crust with a fork and bake it for 15 to 18 minutes at 350° Fahrenheit.
Can you freeze zucchini quiche?
This can be refrigerated for up to 4 days, or frozen up to 3 months. To freeze quiche I like to wrap slices of quiche individually in plastic or foil and freeze. Then when I need a quick breakfast or lunch, I can pull out a slice. You can either thaw the quiche in the fridge and then microwave or microwave it for a little longer straight from frozen.
Variations:
- Zucchini: Swap zucchini for yellow squash.
- Onions: Sub white or yellow onion for red onion.
- Cheese: Use shredded cheddar instead of mozzarella or asiago or Pecorino Romano in place of parmesan.
- Herbs: Substitute basil for fresh rosemary or thyme.
More Zucchini Recipes You’ll Love:
- Caramelized Onion, Red Pepper, and Zucchini Frittata
- Zucchini Casserole
- Turkey Meatloaf with Zucchini
- Giant Zucchini Parmesan
- Crustless Zucchini Pie
Zucchini Quiche
Equipment
- Deep Pie Dish 9-inch
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch refrigerated pie dough
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- ¼ cup diced red onion
- 1 large garlic clove, minced
- 2 medium zucchini, about 7 ounces each, cut into 1/8-inch thin slices
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 6 large eggs
- ½ cup skim milk
- ½ cup part-skim ricotta cheese
- ½ cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
- ¼ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons chopped basil, plus more for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350F. Remove the pie dough and allow to sit at room temperature while you prep your ingredients.
- Roll the dough out on a well-floured work surface until it’s approximately 12- inches in diameter.
- Transfer it to a 9-inch deep pie dish. Using your fingers, press it firmly into the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Trim off any excess, leaving about 1/2-inch overhanging. Then fold/crimp the overhanging dough.
- Prick the bottom of the pie crust with the tines of a fork. Place crust on a small sheet pan (this makes is much easier to transfer to the oven once it’s filled).
- Transfer the pie crust to your pre-heated oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes, until par-baked. Then remove.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat.
- Add the onion and garlic and sauté 30 seconds. Add the zucchini, ½ teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste and toss to evenly combine.
- Cook for 7-8 minutes, stirring every couple minutes, until the zucchini has softened and flavors combined. With a slotted spoon, transfer three-quarters of the zucchini to par-baked crust.
- In a medium bowl, add the eggs, milk, ricotta, mozzarella, 2 tablespoons Parmesan, basil and ½ teaspoon salt and pepper, to taste. Using a fork, mix to combine until uniform.
- Pour egg mixture into the crust over the zucchini. Top with remaining zucchini and 2 tablespoons Parmesan.
- Cover the crust with aluminum foil so it doesn’t burn and place in oven quiche in oven.
- Bake 350F 50 minutes to 1 hour, or until set and top is browned.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Top with basil, slice into 6 pieces and serve.
