Homemade quiche Lorraine: a crisp pastry, never soggy
A golden shortcrust that crunches, a wobbly bacon-and-egg filling, and that's it: the true quiche Lorraine is a simple dish. The only challenge is the tart base staying soft. With the right heat from the base and a blind bake, it turns crisp every time.
- 6 people, 30 min preparation
- Batter baked blind 15 min
- 30 to 35 min at 180 °C, bottom heat and fan
- Good hot, warm or cold
Appliance and settingOven 200 °C then 180 °C, bottom heat and fan
Ingredients
A simple recipe, one pitfall
Quiche lorraine comes from Lorraine, right next door to us, and its original recipe is wonderfully simple: shortcrust pastry, smoked lardons and a mixture of eggs and cream. No onions, no cheese. The classic pitfall is the soggy base. Two habits are enough to avoid it: baking the pastry blind and heating from below thanks to bottom heat.
The steps
- Make the pastry. In a mixing bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the cold butter, cubed, and rub it between your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs. Add the egg yolk and water, bring together into a ball without overworking. Flatten into a disc, cover with cling film and leave to rest for 30 minutes in the fridge.
- Line the tin. Roll the pastry out to 3 mm thick and lay it in the buttered tin. Press it well into the corners and trim off the excess. Prick the base with a fork and put the tin back in the fridge for 10 minutes: the pastry will shrink less.
- Bake blind. Preheat the oven to 200 °C conventional. Cover the pastry with baking paper and fill it with dried beans or baking beans. Bake for 15 minutes on shelf 1 (the lowest). Remove the paper and beans, then return it for 5 minutes to dry out the base.
- Brown the lardons. In a dry frying pan on heat level 6, fry them for 5 to 6 minutes. Drain them on kitchen paper: excess fat would make the pastry soggy.
- Make the filling. In a bowl, whisk the eggs, cream and milk together, just enough to combine. Add pepper and a little grated nutmeg. Do not add salt.
- Fill and bake. Lower the oven to 180 °C, on bottom heat and fan if your oven offers it. Spread the lardons over the baked base, pour in the filling and bake on shelf 1 for 30 to 35 minutes.
- Check it is cooked. The quiche is ready when it is nicely golden and the centre still wobbles slightly when you shake the tin. Let it rest for 10 minutes before turning it out: it finishes setting as it cools a little.
Appliance settings
| Step | Appliance and mode | Setting | Duration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Blind baking | Oven, conventional heat | 200 °C, shelf on level 1 | 15 + 5 min |
| Lardons | Induction hob | Setting 6 | 5 to 6 min |
| Baking the quiche (ideal) | Oven, bottom heat + fan (pizza or tart mode) | 180 °C, shelf level 1 | 30 to 35 min |
| Baking the quiche (without this mode) | Oven, conventional heat | 190 °C, shelf level 1 | 35 to 40 min |
| Reheating a slice | Oven, fan-assisted | 160 °C | 10 to 12 min |
The “bottom heat + fan” setting is called pizza mode, pie function or fan-assisted bottom heat depending on the brand: it's the same principle, strong heat from below and air circulated by the fan.
Variations
- With cheese : add 80 g of grated Gruyère or Emmental on top of the lardons.
- Leek and salmon : replace the lardons with 2 white leek parts softened in a frying pan and 150 g of smoked salmon cut into strips.
- Goat's cheese and spinach : 200 g of well-drained spinach and a log of goat's cheese cut into rounds, for a vegetarian version.
- Mini quiches : in a muffin tin, using pastry discs. Allow 18 to 20 minutes' baking at 180 °C.
Storage
Quiche keeps well 3 days in the fridge, covered. Avoid the microwave, which makes the pastry soggy: reheat it in the oven, 10 to 12 minutes at 160 °C fan. It freezes well cooked, in slices, for 2 months. Reheat them without thawing, 20 minutes at 170 °C.
For a really crisp base, brush the blind-baked pastry with a little beaten egg white and return it to the oven for 2 minutes. This thin coating stops the filling from soaking into the pastry. It's the same principle as for the tarte Tatin : a pastry that's well cooked on the bottom is half the battle.
Which appliance?
A successful quiche depends above all on an oven that heats well from below : bottom heat is your best friend.
An oven with conventional heating and bottom heat
For savoury and sweet tarts, choose an oven that offers natural convection and bottom heat. Examples: Smeg SFP61TB3FR (Linea, pyrolytic, 10 functions, up to 280 °C), Beko BCBIM17604KSBMPS (pyrolytic, 3D pulsed heat, Wi-Fi), Whirlpool OMR55RR0B (natural convection, pizza mode, pyrolytic and hydrolysis cleaning).
From €629.99 to €759.99
Precise induction
Smeg SIB2641D: four zones, Bridge zone and nine power levels.
599,99 €
An induction and pyrolytic range cooker
Smeg C6IPBLT2, gloss black: four-zone induction hob with Bridge and 70-litre pyrolytic oven.
1 499,99 €
Public prices noted on 15 October 2026: the product page is definitive, and Nimesclub members often get a reduced price.
Ovens, hobs and cookers in store
SMEG SFP61TB3FR built-in oven€759.00
Built-in oven BEKO BCBIM17604KSBMPS€629.00
Built-in oven WHIRLPOOL OMR55RR0B€749.00
Cooker SMEG C6IPBLT2€1,499.00
Hob SMEG SIB2641D€599.00Bottom heat, natural convection, fan oven: which setting for which recipe? Everything is explained in our guide to oven functions. Is the oven hot? Move on to a cottage pie for the next day.
Frequently asked questions
Why is my quiche base soggy?
The pastry hasn't cooked enough on the bottom before receiving the liquid filling. Blind-bake it for 15 minutes, use a metal tin rather than glass or ceramic, and bake on the lowest shelf with bottom heat.
Is cheese added to a quiche Lorraine?
The traditional Lorraine recipe doesn't contain any: just lardons, eggs and cream. Nothing stops you from adding 80 g of grated Gruyère, but it then becomes a cheese and lardon quiche.
Can you use ready-made pastry?
Yes, a shop-bought all-butter shortcrust works very well. Blind-bake it in the same way: that's the step that matters most.
The right oven makes all the difference
Steam ovens, pyrolytic ovens, induction hobs: come and see them at our Temploux store, or ask our expert salesperson for advice.
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