This gluten free Ham and Cheese Quiche is perfect for brunch but is hearty enough for dinner. Full of ham, bacon and cheese, it’s a protein packed meal full of smoky flavor – a sure crowd pleaser.
This is a sponsored post written by me on behalf of Hormel Foods for National Family Meals Month. All opinions are 100% mine. Thank you for supporting brands that support What The Fork Food Blog ♥
First, I want to start off by saying be sure to watch the recipe video for this ham and cheese quiche in the post below (right before the recipe)! You can also watch it on Facebook where it can easily be shared.
Eating meals as a family has always been a big part of my life. When I was growing up, my family had dinner together at the table almost every night.
There were a few nights here and there where someone had a meeting or we had school activities during dinner hours as teenagers. But for the most part, we ate when everyone was home for dinner. So some nights we ate at 5:00 and other nights at 7.
Now as an adult, I apply those same values I had growing up to my family. We eat meals together every night.
Not only do we eat dinner together, but we also eat breakfast and lunch as a family when we’re home. For us, it’s such an important time to gather together.
“Family meals eaten at home have been proven to benefit the health and wellness of children and adolescents, to fight obesity, substance abuse and to make families stronger – creating a positive impact on our communities and our nation as a whole”.
You can read more about National Family Meals Month here.
One family meal that we had growing up was quiche, which was the inspiration for this ham and cheese quiche. We often had it for Christmas and Easter brunch, so it was one of those special dishes that really spoke ‘family’ to me.
This easy ham and cheese quiche recipe is a spin on our family’s bacon and swiss quiche. Although that one is still my favorite, it’s always nice to switch it up every once in a while so you don’t get bored.
If you’re not in love with quiche like I am, you have probably been eating one that doesn’t have the right egg:milk ratio. The French perfected it long ago with their one part egg to two parts milk ratio.
In other words, half a cup of milk is used for every egg. 3 eggs, 1 1/2 cups milk is the perfect mixture to get you that silky smooth custard that’s crazy good.
Many recipes that I’ve seen on Pinterest just call for way too many eggs that will leave you disappointed. Try it this way and you’ll never go back to rubbery/overly eggy quiche!
In this particular gluten free ham and cheese quiche recipe, I used Hormel Cure 81 ham steak. It’s already cooked so it’s a quick option for weeknight meals and it’s perfect for dicing up into the quiche.
Cure 81 hams are the best hand-picked hams that are perfect for any night. Of course, if you have leftover ham in your fridge from Christmas, Easter, or Sunday dinner, you can use that too! Just make sure it doesn’t have a sweet glaze on it or it will throw off the flavor of this quiche.
This easy ham and cheese quiche is really for the meat lovers since it’s so full of ham and bacon. It’s hearty enough to serve for dinner or it would be a great addition to your brunch menu.
If you’re looking for ideas for what to serve with this, try it with my gluten free cinnamon coffee cake or blueberry sweet rolls for a sweet brunch option.
You can even have it with a simple strawberry kale salad or gluten free banana oat muffins. So many great options to have with quiche!
No matter what time of day you eat it, sit down with your family and enjoy!
Watch the video below to see how easy it is to make! You can also watch the video on Facebook where it can easily be shared.
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Ham and Cheese Quiche
This gluten free Ham and Cheese Quiche is perfect for brunch but is hearty enough for dinner. Full of ham, bacon and cheese, it’s a protein packed meal full of smoky flavor – a sure crowd pleaser.
Ingredients
- 1 9-inch gluten free pie crust, par baked* (or regular pie crust)
- 1 cup Cure 81 ham, diced (or leftover ham)
- 4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
- 1 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1 Tablespoon gluten free flour (or regular if not making gluten free)
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups milk
- 1/8 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
- Add the diced ham and bacon to the par-baked pie crust, spreading evenly across the bottom.
- In a small bowl, toss together the cheese and flour so the cheese is coated and sprinkle over the meat in the pie crust.
- In a large measuring cup, whisk together the eggs, milk and pepper. Pour over the meat/cheese and bake at 350 degrees for 35-50 minutes. When done, the middle will still be slightly jiggly, which is ok. It will set up as it sits. Let the quiche sit for 15-20 minutes before slicing and serving.
Recipe Notes
- * Directions for my par-baked crust can be found here in the Coconut Cream Pie recipe directions.
- Baking times can vary greatly depending on your oven. I just got a new oven with a convection option and it took 40 minutes and I probably could have taken it out 5 minutes sooner. In my old oven, it took a full 55 minutes.
- I usually add a salt to my eggs when cooking but I purposely left salt out of this recipe. I find that using the salty ham and salty bacon is enough to season the whole quiche. Feel free to add a pinch of salt if you prefer.
- If you love this ham and cheese quiche, be sure to try my Bacon and Swiss Quiche - that one is my all-time favorite!
Your quiche looks wonderful Sharon! My kids love quiche, so I’ll be trying this out for a back to school dinner and then they can have the leftovers in the morning! We’re a big leftover family! 🙂 We try to eat dinner together as much as possible. I forsee it actually getting easier this year, because I will have two in high school, only doing high school sports. It’s the sports schedule (and my oldest being in private school) that wreaked havoc on the family dinner. My oldest is off to college in another week!!
I remember how crazy our schedule was when I was in high school between sports for me and my brother, activities for my younger sister and my dad’s work meetings. We used to eat together as often as possible so some nights it was 4:45 and other nights it was 7:00. That’s great your schedule should be getting a little easier 🙂
Oh I want this to happen in my kitchen very soon.
it would be nice to include directions for a par-baked crust, instead of providing useless links. so thanks for that.
There actually are directions for the par-baked crust that the link directs you to in the Notes section of the recipe. I really hope that you are not as unpleasant in real life as you are online. Thanks for taking the time to comment. Have a glorious day ☀️
Omg. Why are people so rude? You handled that well! 🙂
Love this recipe, Sharon! We are big quiche eaters. Would love for you to link this with us at http://www.akreativewhim.com/100-happy-days-18. Also- do you have a post with Izea tips? I can’t get the hang of it!
Thanks Kate! And as far as Izea goes, I don’t have a post with tips. I actually haven’t worked with them in a few months, unfortunately. My contact there left the company.
What is the herb you have sprinkled on top, I don’t see it in the ingredient list. Thank you
It’s just a bit of fresh Italian parsley – it’s not necessary, just for garnish to make the quiche look a little prettier 😉
But you can serve it with parsley if you’d like!
Thank you!
you’re welcome!
Do you have any tips for turning this base into a crust-less muffin tin version? I made this quiche pie for my Easter brunch and it was a huge hit, but I’m looking for something crust-less so that I can eat it on a more regular basis. Thanks!
Hi Jessica – so glad it was as big of a hit with your family as it is with mine! So, I’ve never made this crustless but you could try baking it right in your pie plate without the crust – just be sure to spray the pie plate really well with non-stick spray. The baking time might also be a little bit shorter.
If you want to go the crustless, mini quiche route, I would bake it in muffin tins (that have been sprayed with non-stick spray) and start checking them around 20 minutes for doneness. I haven’t baked them like that but if that’s how I would try it. Hope that helps!
And now I want to make mini quiches but I just started Whole 30 yesterday 🙁
If you go crustless, cook bain marie. Works every time
Hi I just wanted to thank you for this recipe! I made it yesterday with turkey bacon instead of ham and added spinach. It was so good, we ate it for lunch and dinner….and I was asked to make it again today! Thank you for sharing ❤️
Thanks for the feedback Nina! The addition of spinach sounds delicious!
Hi. This looks great! Can it be frozen? I would love to do some Christmas cooking ahead of time!
Hi Susanne, I haven’t frozen it (or any quiche) but you can always check out these tips on freezing quiche from WikiHow:
And on Food52, readers suggested baking the quiche first, defrosting it, and then reheating in the oven.
Thank you SO MUCH for this recipe– I made it for my Daughter-in-law To Be’s bridal shower, it was absolutely delicious. I have made it three times since; it’s a go-to recipe now. Simply the best. (And I just decided to make for Christmas breakfast, too!) It reheats well too– I actually baked it the day before the shower and reheated that day.
Thanks Lori! We’re having quiche Christmas morning too – though my bacon and swiss one is my Christmas morning go-to 🙂
Just letting you know, Sharon – I cooked this recipe but used roll-out regular pie crust from our local grocery chain (baked partway ahead of time) since we’re not worried about gluten-free, and it got rave reviews – my wife and my brother-in-law, who lives with us, both said it was “a keeper” recipe they wanted to have again – I thought I’d have breakfast for a few days, but less than 24 hours later it’s all gone ???? Thanks!
Hi Sharon,
Thanks for sharing the recipe! I made it for dinner tonight using leftover ham we made over this weekend. What milk did you use? I used 2% milk and it came out a little watery.
Thanks again!
I usually use 1% milk because that’s what my husband drinks 🙂
Can you use almond milk? I cant have regular milk or soy milk…..
Hi Ashley, I haven’t tried this with almond milk but you might want to try a milk that has a very neutral flavor. Almond cheese probably work here thought.
Hi-
This looks so yummy……. what kind of non-dairy milk would you recommend?
Hi Kathleen, I haven’t made this with non-dairy milk or cheese but if you do try it, make sure it’s an unsweetened milk that has some fat in it and won’t have a strong flavor.
Quiche is one of my all time favorite foods. This one sounds fantastic!
thanks!
I’ve been testing quiche recipes this last month for an upcoming brunch with my co workers. This is the absolute WINNER. My husband absolutely loved this quiche. I put green onion on the top thinking that’s what you had (before I read all the reviews). That really added another layer of flavor. The only other thing I changed was I used 3/4 cup 1% milk and 3/4 cup half and half. We were almost out of milk and I had 1/2 and 1/2 from a different recipe. I printed this recipe and know I will use it for other occasions as well. Thank you so much!!!!
Thanks Debby! And using half and half probably made it pretty incredible, I’ll have to try that next time I make it!
For the gluten free grain free crowd out there, I’ve been making quiche crusts with shredded The hash brown crust is delish! Might taste good with this recipe too 🙂
I checked the link you provided for the par baked pie crust and didn’t see anything except in the directions you say to bake the pie crust for 8 min, remove foil and bake for another 8 min. Is that what you mean? Isn’t that baking it for a filling that does not have to be cooked? I’m confused.
Yes you’re correct, those are the directions for par-baking.
Hi, so I made this with a premade, frozen pie crust and the egg mixture spilled out everywhere while cooking. Was I supposed to use a deep dish pie crust so everything fit better? Going to try it again this morning.
Hi Danielle,
If you used a pre-made frozen pie crust, it was probably a bit smaller than a regular 9 inch pan. If you go the frozen route, you should probably get a deep dish crust.
I think I just messed the quiche up. Is it 1.5 cups of milk and 1.5 cups of shredded cheese or 1 half cup of each?
1 1/2 cups of milk and 1 1/2 cups of cheese
So thrilled with this recipe Thanks for sharing
You’re welcome, glad you liked it!
We love love love this! This was our first ever quiche and won’t be trying any other recipe! I am going to try it crustless though! Also have you ever pre made the mixture the night before and then baked it the next morning? We love it both ways fresh and reheated but my kids prefer fresh…. but I don’t want to lose an hour of sleep in the mornings lol
Sometimes I prep this the night before and keep everything separate. Pie crust ready to roll out the next morning, I mix the wet ingredients and just keep them in a Pyrex measuring cup and cover it and then put the bacon/cheese/flour in a baggie and keep it in the fridge. Then I just assemble and bake the next morning.
Just wanted to confirm only 3 eggs. Just doesn’t seem like that would be enough! Do I adjust baking time if I am using a pre cooked crust? Or is that what par-baked means?
Hi Lisa, YES, only 3 eggs! A 1 egg to 1/2 cup milk ratio makes the ultimate smooth, creamy egg custard. Most quiche recipes call for too many eggs, making the quiche super eggy and almost rubbery/tough. Par-baked is a slightly cooked crust so the bottom of the crust doesn’t get soggy. If your crust is “pre-cooked” it’s already baked so you can just follow the directions as written 🙂
Thank you so much for the info! Very helpful! 😊
How much ham? Your recipe says one whole ham.
Hi Robin, it’s 1 Cup of diced ham (it’s the 2nd ingredient listed in the recipe card). Enjoy!