Breakfast Quiche with Goat Cheese

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My decadent, make-ahead Breakfast Quiche with Goat Cheese is an amazing, flavorful, quick, and easy quiche recipe featuring roasted tomatoes. It’s made even easier by using a time-saving frozen pie crust.

Besides eggs and heavy cream, the quiche filling contains tangy goat cheese, parmesan cheese, succulent roasted tomatoes, salty bacon, aromatic basil pesto, and fragrant fresh rosemary. It’s an explosion of flavors in every bite.

A whole breakfast quiche garnished with roasted tomatoes and sprigs of rosemary.

At one time, quiche was an entrée most often served at restaurants catering to “ladies who lunch.” There was even a bestselling book titled Real Men Don’t Eat Quiche. But, thankfully, these days, they are popular with everyone, and for a good reason!

Quiches, which are really just egg pies, are also a great way to use leftovers; you can add almost any vegetable, meat, or cheese to the filling, and the tasty combination possibilities are endless.

My Spinach and Bacon Quiche with Tomatoes, Crustless Ham and Cheese , and Canadian Bacon and Brie Crustless Quiche are great examples.

Quiche Lorraine is the most famous, including onion, bacon, and gruyere cheese. It is the earliest quiche on record, and although it is thought to be a French dish, it originated in Germany.

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Why you will love this recipe:
Ingredients – what you need and substitutions:
How to make a breakfast quiche:
Ideas for quiche filling and recipe variations:
Best cheese for quiche:
What to serve with breakfast quiche:
Storing, freezing and make ahead tips:
Recipe FAQs:
Expert tips and tricks:
More breakfast or brunch recipes:
📋 Recipe:

Why you will love this recipe:

This quiche recipe made with a frozen pie crust cuts the preparation time in half, and then it’s just a matter of adding the ingredients and filling and then baking it.
There are probably not too many entrees as versatile as a basic quiche recipe, which can be served for breakfast, brunch, lunch, or dinner.
Because it’s so easy and you can prepare everything ahead, this breakfast quiche is also a perfect entrée for a special occasion, Mother’s Day, Easter, Christmas brunch, or when you have company.

Ingredients – what you need and substitutions:

Ingredients for a quiche including eggs, cream, and a pie crust.

Frozen 9-inch deep dish pie shell – I like the Publix store brand of deep dish pie shells, but feel free to use your favorite. You can also make this a crustless quiche by not using a pie crust and adding the filling directly to a well greased pie plate.
Eggs and heavy cream – form the base of most basic quiche recipes. Eggs provide structure and flavor while the cream adds richness and creaminess. You can substitute half-and-half for the heavy cream.
Cherry tomatoes – roasted cherry tomatoes, goat cheese and bacon are the star ingredients in this decadent breakfast quiche. You can substitute grape tomatoes.
Bacon – everything is better with bacon and this homemade quiche is no exception.
Goat cheese, and parmesan cheese – although you can substitute other types of cheese, goat cheese with its unique and distinctive taste and rich creamy consistency sets it apart from other cheeses in this recipe. Parmesan cheese brings a distinct savory flavor and contributes to the overall taste.
Olive oil, kosher salt, ground black pepper and a pinch of nutmeg – enhance the overall taste and helps to balance the flavors of the other ingredients. The nutmeg complements the creamy texture of the eggs and cheese.
Prepared basil pesto and fresh rosemary – Together, basil pesto and fresh rosemary bring a delightful herbaceous dimension to the dish, enhancing its overall taste and making it a truly flavorful culinary experience.

(A complete list of ingredients and measurements is listed in the recipe below.)

How to make a breakfast quiche:

Follow the directions on the frozen pie crust package for blind baking, or line the crust with parchment paper or foil, fill it with pie weights or dried beans, and bake it for 10-12 minutes at 400 °F. Set aside to cool.

a frozen pie shell pricked with a fork and ready to blind bake in the oven.

Reduce the oven temperature to 350 °F.
Add the cherry tomatoes to a bowl and toss with the olive oil and a quarter teaspoon of kosher salt.
Spread the tomatoes onto a parchment or aluminum foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and roast in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the tomatoes are puffy and lightly browned.

A baking sheet covered with parchment paper topped with cherry tomatoes.

When the tomatoes are done, place them in a strainer and gently press down on them to release any excess juice. Set them aside to cool.

Roasted cherry tomatoes in a colander, draining any excess liquid.

Place the pie crust on a rimmed baking sheet. Add the pesto to the bottom of the pie crust and spread it out evenly. An offset spatula works well for this.

An offset spatula spreads pesto on the bottom of a pie crust.

Top the pesto with goat cheese, crumbled bacon, roasted tomatoes, parmesan cheese, and rosemary, and spread everything evenly.

Crumbled goat cheese, bacon, and roasted cherry tomatoes in a baked pie crust, topped with parmesan cheese.

Add the eggs and cream to a bowl and whisk until well combined. Add the remainder of the salt and nutmeg. Mix again and carefully pour over the filling ingredients.

Egg and heavy cream filling in a pie crust ready to bake in the oven.

Place the baking sheet with the quiche in the oven and bake it until it is set and firm to the touch, about 45-55 minutes. The quiche is fully cooked when the internal temperature reaches 160 °F as measured with an instant-read meat thermometer. Start checking it about five minutes before it should be done.
When it’s done, remove it from the oven and let it sit for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.

A slice of quiche topped with roasted tomatoes and fresh rosemary.

Ideas for quiche filling and recipe variations:

Experiment with flavors: Feel free to get creative and experiment with different ingredient combinations and flavors. Quiches are versatile, and you can use a variety of vegetables, meats, cheeses, herbs, and spices to customize the taste to your liking.

To change this recipe up, feel free to substitute one to two cups of vegetables and meats. Chopped fresh spinach, caramelized onions, cooked asparagus, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, leeks, zucchini, asparagus, or broccoli can be used instead of the roasted cherry tomatoes.

Cooked sausage, Canadian bacon, or ham can be substituted for the bacon.

Best cheese for quiche:

The best cheese for quiche is any kind you like! For this recipe, I prefer to use goat cheese. However, Asiago, Swiss, gruyere, gouda, Parmesan, feta, fontina, and even cheddar cheese can be used instead. I would steer clear of stronger flavored gorgonzola or blue cheese.

The general rule of thumb is to add one to two cups of shredded cheese to a nine-inch quiche.

What to serve with breakfast quiche:

When I serve this quiche for breakfast or brunch, especially if I am feeding a crowd I usually serve it with my cheese grits casserole, breakfast fruit salad or ambrosia, fried potatoes and onions, or potato fritters, and sausage bread or hoe cakes.

For lunch or dinner, I usually add a nice green salad, such as my spinach salad, cucumber and tomato salad, or broccoli salad. And then, I round things out with a slice of my buttermilk cornbread, or Texas toast garlic bread.

Storing, freezing and make ahead tips:

A freshly baked quiche can be stored covered in the refrigerator for up to three days or frozen for up to three months. If frozen, allow it to thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating it.

To reheat it, preheat the oven to 350°F and let the quiche come to room temperature. Place it on a wire rack and heat for 10-15 minutes and loosely cover it with foil to prevent the crust from burning.

For the best results, make this breakfast quiche up to 24 hours ahead and reheat it before serving. You can also blind-bake the pie crust, roast the cherry tomatoes, cook the bacon ahead of time, and assemble and bake when you are ready to serve it.

Recipe FAQs:

What makes a quiche soggy?

To keep your quiche from being soggy, be sure to drain and press out any excess moisture from any watery vegetables such as tomatoes, artichoke hearts or zucchini.

What’s the difference between a quiche and a frittata?

Although the ingredients are similar, a quiche usually has a crust and is baked entirely in the oven. A frittata such as my Broccoli and Mushroom Frittata doesn’t have a crust and is started on the stove and then finished in the oven.

How to make quiche without a crust?

Take special care in greasing the pie plate well and add the veggies, meat and cheese to the pie plate, then add one extra egg to the quiche filling. Pour the filling evenly over the ingredients and bake as directed.

Do you have to cook the vegetables first before adding them to a quiche?

In most cases, except for fresh spinach, vegetables and meats need to be pre-cooked or sautéed before adding them to the quiche. This helps remove excess moisture and ensures they are evenly cooked in the final dish.

At what temperature is quiche done?

A quiche is fully cooked when its internal temperature reaches 160°F as measured by an instant-read meat thermometer. This temperature ensures that the eggs in the quiche are fully set and safe to eat.

Expert tips and tricks:

To help ensure that your quiche turns out perfectly, here are some tips and tricks to keep in mind:

Be sure to blind-bake the crust before adding the filling. This helps prevent a soggy crust. To do this, follow the directions on the frozen pie crust package, or line the crust with parchment paper or foil, fill it with pie weights or dried beans, and bake it for 10-12 minutes at 400 °F before adding the filling.
Layer ingredients evenly: Distribute the fillings evenly throughout the quiche. This ensures that every slice contains a balanced combination of flavors and ingredients.
Allow for resting time: Once the pie is baked, let it rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving. This allows the quiche filling to set and makes it easier to cut clean slices.
Keep an eye on baking time and temperature: Every oven is different, so monitor the quiche closely while it bakes. It should be lightly golden on top and set in the center. If you use an instant-read meat thermometer, start checking the internal temperature about five minutes before the recipe says it should be done.
When baking a quiche, always place the pie plate on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any overflows and to make it easier to put it in and remove it from the oven.