Easy vegan quiche recipe. Yes, it IS possible to make an eggless, dairy-free quiche AND it tastes delicious! Read on to find out how!
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I love to serve this alongside my creamy vegan pasta or with my sweet potato warm salad.
Quiche was a dish that I've eaten for as long as I can remember. My Nan used to bake it, and my mum too, and it was for special occasions only. On Boxing Day, we'd have quiche. On birthdays or family get-togethers we'd have quiche. And because it was so sparingly shared with us, it was honestly the most delicious thing I'd ever tasted.
It was always the most popular dish on the buffet table, and therefore, you had to act quickly, and with your stomach, to ensure that you got a large enough slice (or two if you were really skilled), and then you could scurry away with it in the corner, smugly watching the other losers having to eat cheese and pineapple on sticks instead, because they were too slow, or too absorbed in boring stuff like talking about football.
What is Quiche?
Most of you will know Quiche as an eggy baked flan, enriched with cream, often cheesy, sometimes with bacon, but always lots of eggs. A sort of savoury set custard, but denser, and in a shortcrust pastry case. As you might guess from the name, it is of French origin; however, the British were making similar baked tarts in the middle ages too. According to Wikipedia, the word Quiche may come from the German for Cake or flan, Kuchen, but that is merely conjecture. It is always romantic to think that these words originated somewhere, but we don't know where from. Was it from a novel, or a place, or maybe it was just a nickname.
How do you make a Vegan Quiche?
I often wondered to myself, how do you make a quiche vegan? So, to make a I often wondered to myself, how do you make a quiche vegan? So, to make a vegan quiche, you firstly need to remove the egg and cream elements. Egg typically offers a firm structure that binds everything together as it cooks. Vegan Quiche with egg replacer? You can buy egg replacers or use flaxseed egg, but for something where the egg is the main textural element, you need a comparable element with more bulk, and here is where silken tofu plays the role of egg to perfection. A tofu quiche is truly amazing!
If you want a firmer textured quiche, rather than slightly creamy, you can use firm tofu or even extra firm tofu if you'd prefer. I added a couple of additional ingredients that add both an eggy taste, and a cheesier flavour. The thing that can be tricky when replacing eggs, is to ensure that you add a lot of flavor to your dish. Furthermore, the tofu means that this dairy-free quiche is also high protein!
The Pastry Case
If you are able to, use a prebaked savoury shortcrust pastry crust. I could only find sweet pastry crusts in my local store, so I bought some premade pastry and blind baked the crust first. To bind bake, roll out your pastry so that it is a couple of inches diameter wider than your quiche dish and line your dish with it. A little overhang is fine, the pastry will shrink during cooking. Prick all over the bottom of the pastry with a fork (this stops the pastry from puffing up during baking) and bake for 10 minutes at 180c.
It is important to blind bake your pastry before adding the filling because the filling is quite wet, and might inhibit the cooking of the base properly. No one wants a soggy bottom!
Ingredients
- Dijon mustard gives a little bit of colour and flavour
- Asafoetida adds an eggy flavour (you can also use black salt or kala namak)
- Nutritional Yeast adds a cheesy flavor, and again, adds colour
- Vegan Blue Cheese, but use whatever vegan cheese you prefer, but do make sure it has a fairly strong flavour
- 6" Vegan Pie Crust (or baked pie shell). I sometimes use a bought pastry for this if I'm pushed for time, but feel free to make your own.
- Silken Tofu, to replace the egg element. Other egg replacers, such as a flax egg, won't work in this dish.
- Sea salt and black pepper
- Asparagus
- Onion
- Fresh Thyme
Method
So, much like traditional quiche, to make my quick and easy vegan quiche, this is really simple to put together, although the procedure is somewhat different. The vegetable element is sauteed, the tofu element is blended and then this is all mixed up together in a bowl. And of course, the texture is different to a raw quiche mix, it is thicker, and you will be able to spoon it in your prepared pastry case, rather than pour it in.
- Sauté asparagus and onion over medium heat. Add the thyme. Place in a large mixing bowl.
- In a blender or food processor, blend up the drained tofu, nooch, mustard and seasonings.
- Add to the mixing bowl along with the grated cheese and mix until thoroughly combined.
- Pour this tofu mixture into your pastry case and bake for 50 minutes or until golden brown and firm to the touch.
Modifications
Whilst tofu is one of the main ingredients, adding fresh vegetables to the quiche filling adds further flavor and texture.
- Replace the asparagus with any veggies of your choice: peas, green beans, cherry tomatoes, red bell pepper, sauteed mushroom, broccoli, cauliflower, baby spinach, mixed herbs
- Add some diced vegan ham or vegan bacon, omit the cheese and you have a vegan Quiche Lorraine
- Make a Spanish style quiche using cubed potato sauteed with onion and red pepper
- Sara has a delicious Mushroom, Asparagus and Tomato Frittata recipe over at Cooking with Fudge!
Once you have the basic recipe perfected, you can personalize it as much as you like! I hope you enjoy trying my eggless quiche recipe!
Try my other delicious vegan recipes
📋 Recipe
Asparagus and Blue Cheese Vegan Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 6" dia Shortcrust Pastry Case pre-baked
- 280 g Silken Tofu drained and dried on kitchen roll
- 1 bunch Asparagus about 12 stalks, rinsed, chopped into small rings
- 1 Onion small, finely diced
- ½ Teaspoon Thyme chopped
- 2 tablespoon Parsley chopped
- 1 Teaspoon Olive Oil
- 2 tablespoon Nutritional Yeast
- ¼ Teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
- ¼ Teaspoon Asafoetida
- 1 Teaspoon Dijon Mustard
- Salt and Pepper
- 50 g Blue Cheese vegan, grated (or vegan cheese of your choice)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 180c.
- In a pan, gently heat olive oil.
- Saute the onion and chopped asparagus until softened, About 10 mins.
- Add the fresh Thyme, chopped Parsley and season.
- Add to a large bowl to cool whilst you prep the other ingredients.
- In a blender, whizz up the drained and dried tofu, the Nutritional Yeast, Mustard, Cayenne Pepper, Asafoetida and some more seasoning.
- Add this to the bowl.
- Finally, add the grated cheese and mix all the ingredients together until thoroughly combined.
- Pour this into your pastry case, and bake for about 50 minutes or until browned on the top.
- Leave to cool completely before cutting and serving.
Kirby Jeanne says
Wow! I’ve been looking for a good vegan quiche recipe. I can’t wait to try this!
Nive says
Ok this looks SO good. I'm gonna try this and report back hopefully soon!
Jahma says
Trying this! Your recipe looks perfect!
Jenny says
What a feat! Vegan quiche, that sounds awesome!
Angie says
Awesome recipe!
Deb says
Using silken tofu as egg replacer is genius, will try this soon!
Elena says
I used to love quiche before I went vegan! I have a feeling this recipe is going to become one of my favorites!
Laura says
Very tasty!
Kristina says
This was great. You'd never know it was vegan (which I am trying to sneak to my family!)
Emily Flint says
I love a good quiche!
Andréa Janssen says
The asparagus and blue cheese were such a delicious flavor combo. Never would have thought of that but it turned out to be so great!
Jill says
I was initially curious about the vegan quiche. But the silken tofu is the absolute perfect substitute for egg here. and flavor combo of asparagus with the vegan blue cheese is so good!
Sunrita says
Such a unique recipe. Who would have thought it adding asafoetida to quiche. Will give this a try.
Faith Still says
I am not vegan and never imagined you could make a vegan quiche. How inventive you are with ingredients to come up with this creative dish. Looks absolutely delicious!
Natalie says
Lovely dinner idea. Looks absolutely delicious. I can't wait to make this for my family. I bet my boys won't even notice it's vegan. 🙂
Karen says
Wow, I haven't had quiche in years. Thanks for the recipe Freya, I can't wait to try it!
Stephanie says
Until I read this post, I had never even heard of Asafoetida. I'm seriously fascinated. The creative substitutions that vegans have found astound me on a daily basis! I love quiche, so I was definitely intrigued by this post. Great ideas for a yummy dish!
Minh Wales says
Blenders come in different styles. You can choose a small counter top blender, a large stand mixer, or even a hand-held version. The style of your blender will depend on the type of food you will be blending. Powdered drinks and food like sauces or purees will require a different style blender than that used for mixing smoothies or ice cream.
Olga says
Can you believe I have not cooked a vegan quiche for months? This recipe looks awesome! Thanks
Sharon says
This super tasty vegan quiche is a great brunch menu item for when you have vegan guests over.
mikayla says
We regularly have meatless meals during the week and this was a hit. Perfect dish for taking to a family brunch as well.
Enriqueta E Lemoine says
I came here because of the "vegan quiche" title. The first thing it came to my mind was: how do you make a vegan quiche, meaning no eggs, and you so gracefully answer my question. I think I will return to this blog soon.
Tristin says
This was sooo good, it was hard to believe it was vegan. Making again next weekend for brunch!!
Amy Liu Dong says
Love this kind of dish that focuses on the Vegan side. Looks really delicious and is a healthy dish for everyone. Thanks for sharing this recipe with us, will definitely make this at home.
Tammy says
Oh my my! I love the idea of using silken tofu..this looks absolutely gorgeous and delicious! I wish I could reach in for a slice. I'll have to try this asap!
Lauren Michael Harris says
This recipe is amazing and very inventive! I never would have thought I could enjoy a vegan quiche like this!
Sandhya Ramakrishnan says
My husband cannot stand the smell of the eggs in the regular quiche and I baked this for brunch and he was so happy. I found the perfect recipe for vegan quiche and it is a keeper!
Ramona says
This looks super delicious and I love the ingredients and combinations that you added into this recipe! I can't wait to try this out, thank you for sharing this!
Colleen says
This vegan quiche looks amazing! I can't wait to make it for my vegan friend. Thank you!
Sue says
I never realized how delicious blue cheese tastes in a quiche. And it's vegan - how perfect is that!