Learn how to make a stunning deep dish quiche with Swiss chard. This tall quiche is baked in a 9-inch springform pan for a clean presentation and easy unmoulding. It’s an excellent addition to brunch or a light dinner when Swiss chard is in season.
Baking doesn’t always have to be sweet. Savoury pies are crowd-pleasers, and a homemade quiche loaded with cheese and greens is always welcome.
Ingredients
You don’t need fancy ingredients to make quiche, but the recipe has several components: an all-butter crust, a creamy savoury custard, and the vegetables and cheese that fill and flavour it.
- For the crust:
- Bleached all-purpose flour
- Optional sugar to enhance flavour and browning
- Salt (adjust if using table salt instead of kosher)
- Cold unsalted butter (salted can work—adjust salt)
- Cold water or ice water to keep the butter cold
- For the vegetables:
- Olive oil and a little butter for sautéing
- Fresh garlic
- Lots of Swiss chard (it wilts dramatically)
- For the custard:
- Large eggs
- Whipping cream
- Milk
- Salt, pepper and optional spices like crushed red pepper flakes
See the recipe card below for exact quantities.
Substitutions and Variations
This deep dish quiche is very adaptable. A few ideas:
- Pie dough: Use store-bought all-butter dough if you prefer. You’ll need about 500 g (roughly 1 lb) to line a 9-inch springform with deep sides.
- Cheese: Swap Jarlsberg for your favourite melting cheese or try crumbled feta or goat cheese for a tangy twist—substitute gram for gram.
- Greens: Replace Swiss chard with fresh spinach (cook off excess water) or thawed, well-drained frozen spinach. Other shredded vegetables like Brussels sprouts, finely chopped broccoli or cauliflower also work.
- Custard liquid: Replace the cream + milk with an equal total volume of half-and-half or coffee cream to reach a similar fat percentage.
- Meaty additions: Add cooked chorizo, crumbled Italian sausage, ham or bacon for a heartier quiche.
Don’t overfill the crust with add-ins—leave room for the custard. Extra custard can be baked in buttered ramekins.
Instructions
The recipe has four main parts: making the all-butter pie crust, blind-baking the crust, sautéing the greens and preparing the custard, then assembling and baking the quiche. For best slicing results refrigerate overnight; you can serve slices cold or gently reheat.
All-butter pie crust (stand mixer)
Using a stand mixer makes the dough straightforward, but you can also use a food processor or make it by hand.
Mix flour and salt in the mixer, add cubed cold butter and mix until you have a coarse crumble with thin butter sheets. Add cold water and mix on low until a shaggy dough forms. Turn the dough out onto plastic wrap, shape into a flat disk and chill for at least 30 minutes to an hour before rolling.
Roll the chilled dough on a floured surface to about 16 inches in diameter so it will properly line a 9-inch springform without stretching. If it becomes soft, chill it on a parchment-lined sheet pan until firm.
Fit the dough into the springform pan, trimming excess. Chill the lined pan in the freezer for 20–30 minutes before blind-baking.
Blind-baking the crust
Blind-bake the crust to ensure a fully cooked, crisp bottom. Line the dough with parchment and fill with pie weights, dry beans, or use an 8-inch cake pan to weigh it down. Place the springform on a sheet pan and bake at 375°F (190°C) until set—about 40 minutes with weights—then remove weights and parchment and bake until lightly golden, another 10–20 minutes.
Tip: Keep the dough cold while working; refrigerate or freeze briefly if it softens. A cool crust is easier to shape and holds its form when baked.
Preparing the quiche filling
Cook the vegetables first to evaporate excess water. If you don’t, the custard can become watery or curdled.
Finely chop garlic and roughly chop the Swiss chard into 1-inch pieces. In a large skillet, melt butter with olive oil over medium heat, add garlic and sauté briefly, then add the chard in batches, seasoning with salt and pepper as it wilts. Sprinkle crushed red pepper flakes if you like a little heat. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.
Whisk the eggs with cream and milk in a large bowl until smooth and uniform—no streaks of egg white. Season generously with salt and pepper. The salt helps create a silkier custard by affecting the egg proteins.
Assembling and baking the quiche
Layer the cooked Swiss chard and shredded cheese in the blind-baked crust, starting with greens on the bottom, then cheese. Repeat layers until the crust is nearly full. Pour the custard over the layers, using a chopstick or knife to gently move greens so the custard flows down and fills gaps. Leave a couple millimetres of headspace to avoid spilling.
Bake the filled quiche on a sheet pan at 325°F (160–165°C) for about 1.5 hours, or until the top is golden and the custard is set. A low, slow bake helps keep the filling creamy without curdling.
Quiche baking tip
Use an instant-read thermometer to check doneness: the center should read about 74–85°C (165–185°F). If the crust edges brown too quickly, tent with foil.
Serving and storage
Serve slices with a lightly dressed green salad to cut through the richness. After cooling, unmould the quiche and store it covered in the refrigerator. It holds well overnight and slices more cleanly when chilled. Reheat slices gently in the microwave or oven, or serve cold.
Quiche baking FAQs
Yes. Fresh vegetables contain a lot of water and should be cooked first to remove moisture and to soften them; the quiche custard won’t fully cook raw vegetables to tenderness.
Blind-bake the crust until it’s fully set and beginning to brown before adding the filling. This prevents a gummy bottom.
Whisk just enough to combine eggs, cream and milk into a smooth custard—don’t overbeat. The goal is to break up egg whites and create an even texture, not to incorporate air.
📖 Recipe
Deep Dish Quiche With Swiss Chard And Cheese
Ingredients
All butter pie crust for quiche
- 250 g bleached all-purpose flour
- 5 mL fine kosher salt (or half the amount if using table salt)
- 173 g unsalted butter, very cold, cut into cubes
- 80 mL cold water
Quiche filling
- 675 g Swiss chard, washed and dried
- 2 garlic cloves, peeled and chopped
- 15 mL extra-virgin olive oil
- 15 g unsalted butter
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
- 2.5 mL crushed hot pepper flakes (optional)
- 8 large eggs
- 250 mL whipping cream (35% fat)
- 190 mL whole milk (3.25% fat)
- 120 g shredded Jarlsberg cheese (or substitute)
Instructions
All butter pie crust
- In a mixer fitted with the paddle, combine flour and salt. Add cold butter and mix to form a coarse crumble.
- Add cold water and mix on low until a shaggy dough forms. Shape into a disk, wrap and chill until firm (about 1 hour).
- Roll dough to a 16-inch diameter on a floured surface. Fit into a 9-inch springform pan, trim and chill the pan for 30 minutes in the freezer. Preheat oven to 375°F (190°C).
- Line the dough with parchment and weight it with pie weights or an 8-inch cake pan. Place on a sheet pan and blind-bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove weights and parchment and bake until light golden (another ~15 minutes). Cool on a rack and lower the oven to 325°F (165°C).
Quiche filling and assembly
- Roughly chop the Swiss chard into ~1-inch pieces. Finely chop garlic.
- In a large skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat. Add garlic and sauté briefly.
- Add chard in batches, seasoning with salt and pepper as it wilts. Finish with crushed red pepper flakes if desired. Remove from heat.
- Whisk eggs, cream and milk in a large bowl until smooth. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Layer cooked chard and shredded cheese in the blind-baked crust, alternating until almost full.
- Pour custard over the filling, using a chopstick to nudge greens so the custard flows below them. Leave a small gap to avoid overflow.
- Bake at 325°F (165°C) on a sheet pan for about 1.5 hours until golden and set. Cool slightly before slicing.
Notes
- This recipe uses fine kosher salt; if using table salt, use about half the amount to avoid over-salting.
Nutrition (per serving, approximate)
- Calories: 552 kcal
- Carbohydrates: 30 g
- Protein: 16 g
- Fat: 42 g
If you try this deep dish quiche, please leave a star rating and a comment to let me know how it went — I love hearing from you!