This Caramelized Onion Quiche with Goat Cheese and Thyme is a flavorful prep-ahead brunch recipe! Baked into a homemade pie dough, this delicious vegetarian quiche is filled with sweet onions, creamy goat cheese, fresh thyme, half and half, and eggs.
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Key Ingredients
- Pie dough: homemade pie dough is easier to make that you might think! It results in a flaky, buttery crust. You can opt for storebought pie dough, if you prefer!
- Onions: I use two sliced medium yellow onions. I prefer the taste of yellow onions but white or red onions will also work!
- Goat cheese: I purchase a log of plain goat cheese and freshly crumble the cheese by hand.
- Thyme: The freshly chopped thyme adds so much flavor! If fresh thyme isn’t available, you can substitute dried time and cut it by ⅓ the amount.
- Eggs: I always opt for pasture-raised eggs.
- Half and half: I love the creaminess that half and half gives this quiche without being overly rich. If you’d like you can substitute whole milk or heavy cream.
Steps for making quiche
1. Make the pie dough by crumbling together the flour, salt, and butter together. Stir in the water, adding more as needed. Form the dough together in a disc and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
2. Shape the pie dough by rolling it out into about ⅛ thick. Place the dough into the pie dish and shape the edges as desired. Poke the dough with a fork all over. Chill the dough until cold.
3. Prepare the dough to be blind-baked by laying a piece of parchment and pie weights or beans on top of the dough.
4. Bake the pie dough for 20-25 minutes, or until just beginning to turn lightly golden brown. Remove the pie weights and bake for 5-10 more minutes, or until the base is dried and lightly golden.
5. Cook the sliced onions in butter and salt until deeply caramelized.
6. Stir in the fresh thyme to the caramelized onions.
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7. Add the onions to the cooked pie crust. Top the onions with crumbled goat cheese.
8. Make the custard filling by whisking together the eggs, half a half, salt, and pepper. Pour it over the onions and goat cheese and bake.
9. Bake until set and slightly puffed, about 30-35 minutes. Rest the quiche for several minutes before slicing and serving.
Substitutions
- This caramelized onion quiche makes for a great vegetarian dish and I find it to be plenty satisfying and hearty without meat. If you’d like to add meat to this quiche, add chopped, cooked bacon or diced ham on top of the caramelized onions (similar to a Quiche Lorraine).
- I love the richness that the half and half gives without being overly decadent. If you prefer, you can use whole milk or heavy cream.
Tips for working with pie dough
- You want your pie dough to be cold when working with it and before it goes into the oven. Cold butter creates steam in the oven, which will make the dough flaky and delicious. If your dough is getting warm while you are working with it, pop it in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes.
- Your pie dough will collapse when it is blind-baked if it is not cold enough when it goes in the oven. Don’t skip popping it in the freezer right before baking!
- If the edges of your crust are browning too quickly, you can loosely wrap the edges in foil.
- The humidity of where you live will affect how much water you need in your pie dough. Start with ¼ cup and slowly add more as needed. I typically end up adding 2-3 more tablespoons.
Reheating and make ahead tips
- The pie dough can be made the night before and kept wrapped in the fridge overnight. In the morning, you can roll out the dough and proceed with the rest of the steps.
- This onion quiche can be made completely in advance up to 3 days ahead of time and kept tightly covered in the refrigerator (personally, I’d make it 1 day in advance if serving to company). Bring the quiche to room temperature and reheat the quiche at 350 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until warmed through. Note that you may need to cover it with aluminum foil when reheating to prevent the edges from browning too quickly.
Serving suggestions
- This quiche is beautiful with a little fresh thyme sprinkled on top. Finely chopped chives would also be a beautiful garnish!
- Quiche is delicious any time of day, but is particularly great to serve for breakfast, brunch, or lunch. During breakfast time, I like serving it with a simple side of fruit or berries. During lunch, a simple side salad, such as my kale salad, would pair great.
More prep-ahead brunch recipes you’ll love
📖 Recipe
Caramelized Onion Quiche with Goat Cheese
This Caramelized Onion Quiche is made with goat cheese, thyme, and sweet onions in a homemade pie crust-- a delicious vegetarian quiche for brunch!
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Servings: 8 people
Ingredients
Pie dough (or use storebought)
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour spooned and leveled
- 1 teaspoon Kosher salt
- 6 tablespoon unsalted butter cold and cubed
- ¼ cup cold water plus more as needed
Quiche
- 2 tablespoon unsalted butter
- 2 medium yellow onions sliced
- Kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
- 4 oz goat cheese crumbled
- 4 eggs
- 1 ¼ cups half and half
- Freshly ground black pepper
Instructions
- Make the pie dough (skip this step if using storebought). In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour and salt. Add the cold butter and use your hands to crumble the butter into the flour, picking up new handfuls of flour each time. When the butter is mostly pea sized pieces (a few larger pieces are okay), add in ¼ cup of cold water. Use a spatula to stir together. Add a tablespoon more of water at a time until the dough is very flaky but comes together when pressed together. Dump the dough onto a cutting board and form into a 1 inch thick disc. Cover tightly with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375 °F. On a lightly floured surface, roll out your pie dough until about ⅛ inch thick. Carefully transfer the dough to a 9 inch pie pan, making sure it is gently pressed into the corners. Fold the edges of the pie dough over (trim excess as needed) and use your fingers to shape the crust as desired (note: if the dough is too warm to shape, put it in the freezer for a few minutes). Pierce the base of the dough with a fork all over. Place the dough in the freezer for 5 minutes, or until cold again.
- Lay a sheet of parchment paper on top of the dough and fill it with pie weights or dried beans. Bake the dough for 20-25 minutes, or until the crust is just beginning to turn lightly golden and the crust is set on the edges. Remove the parchment and pie weights and return the crust back to the oven. Bake for 5-10 more minutes, or until the bottom is dry and slightly golden brown.
- Meanwhile, caramelize the onions. Heat a large skillet on medium heat. Add the butter and cook until melted. Add in the onions, ½ teaspoon of salt, and cook, stirring occasionally, until deeply caramelized (about 25 minutes). As the onions cook you will need to stir them more frequently and reduce the heat to medium-low to prevent burning. During the last minute or so of cooking, stir in the fresh thyme.
- To the pie crust, add the caramelized onions evenly to the bottom. Evenly crumble the goat cheese on top. In a medium bowl, whisk together the the eggs, half and half, 1 teaspoon Kosher salt, and ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked pepper until the eggs and half and half are well combined. Pour the egg mixture over the onions and goat cheese.
- Bake the quiche for 30-35 minutes, or until the filling has puffed up slightly and is mostly set (it will continue to set as it rests). Allow the quiche to cool for at least 10 minutes before slicing and serving.
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Tried this recipe?Please consider leaving a review! It means the world to me!
Jim Burns says
This is the best quiche I have ever tasted! It is so savory and yummy!
Caitlin Charlton says
Thank you so much! I'm thrilled you loved it!
Kelsey says
Great for a crowd!
Caitlin Charlton says
Thank you so much! I agree, so fun to serve at a party! So glad you liked them! 🙂