We love this recipe for our Hash Brown Crust Bacon and Cheddar Quiche! The hash brown is actually really easy to make and gets crispy around the edge, just the way great hash browns should be. It’s a really great texture to add to the light and fluffy quiche. This quiche recipe has all your favorite breakfast items in one dish, and makes it a super good option when you’re having people over.
How to make Our Quiche Recipe
Process
- Squeeze as much liquid from the thawed hash browns as possible and place into a large mixing bowl. Add cheddar, salt and pepper and stir together. This is important to make sure the crust will crisp up.
- Lightly grease a 9” spring form pan with cooking spray and evenly press the hash browns mixture into the bottom and sides of the pan, making sure you don’t have any holes within the crust. This is very important to prevent any leakage from happening when you pour the filling into the crust.
- Place the pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425˚F.
- Place frozen crust into the oven and par-bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and slightly cool. This will also help to set the crust so it’s crisp at the end.
- In a skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and lightly caramelize for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and cream. Whisk together until light and fluffy.
- Add remaining ingredients, including caramelized onions and stir together until evenly combined. Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour filling mixture into the par-baked crust and place into the oven.
- Lower oven temperature to 375˚F and bake the quiche for 25 to 30 minutes or until the eggs have just set.
- Remove quiche from oven and run a paring knife around the perimeter of the springform pan. This will help to loosen the crust from the pan without tearing.
- Loosen springform pan from sides of quiche and place quiche back into the oven for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. The extra time will help the crust get crisp on the sides.
Hash Brown Crust
Quiche Filling
FAQs
Can this quiche be made and frozen ahead of time?
Absolutely! To freeze quiche, bake as instructed then cool completely. Place in freezer uncovered until fully frozen. Tightly wrap with foil or plastic wrap. When ready to serve preheat oven to 425˚F.Place quiche onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until warmed through and crust is crisp. Remove from oven, slice and serve.
What about freezing individual wedges?
Yes! Just cool the quiche completely, cut into wedges and follow the same process from above, except once the wedges are frozen wrap each piece individually in foil or plastic wrap before storing in the freezer.
How long will the quiche keep in the freezer?
We recommend freezing for up to 3 months for optimal freshness.
Tips and Tricks for Success
- The most important thing about this recipe is to make sure you’ve filled in every single little gap throughout the hash brown crust. This is to make sure there’s no leakage that occurs when the filling is poured into the par-baked crust.
- I like to use the bottom and sides of a glass or measuring cup to press the crust down into the bottom and sides of the pan, which will help to give you an even crust.
Variations
- The cheddar can be swapped out for almost any cheese of your choice, like crumbled goat cheese, shredded fontina, crumbled feta, or shredded Swiss.
- This recipe can be made vegetarian friendly by swapping the bacon out for sauteed spinach (just make sure to squeeze as much liquid from the spinach before adding it to the filling mixture).
- You can also add diced and par-cooked potatoes or sweet potatoes to double down on the spuds and bulk this quiche up even more.
We also have this version with asparagus instead of bacon for a little variety. We used this spring form pan. Although it costs a little more than the average spring form pan, it’s a great quality and allows the quiche to release from it easily every time!
More Delicious Breakfast Recipes You Will Love
Hash Brown Crust Bacon and Cheddar Quiche
Our Hash Brown Crust Bacon and Cheddar Quiche is a fun twist on a traditional quiche. It has a crispy hash brown crust! This is a crowd pleaser, and easy on you too because you can make it ahead!
Servings:
EQUIPMENT
- spring form pan
INGREDIENTS
hash brown crust
- 20 ounces frozen hash browns thawed
- ½ cup white cheddar shredded
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon cracked black pepper
filling
- 2 tbs unsalted butter
- ½ onion thinly sliced
- 6 large eggs lightly beaten
- ½ cup heavy cream or whole milk
- 4 rashers bacon crispy cooked and crumbled (a rasher is a slice of bacon)
- 1 cup white cheddar cheese shredded
- 1 tbs chives thinly sliced, plus more for garnish
- salt and pepper to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Squeeze as much liquid from the thawed hash browns as possible and place into a large mixing bowl. Add cheddar, salt and pepper and stir together.
- Lightly grease a 9” spring form pan with cooking spray and evenly press the hash browns mixture into the bottom and sides of the pan, making sure you don't have any holes within the crust (this is important to prevent any leakage)
- Place the pan in the freezer and freeze for at least 1 hour.
- Preheat oven to 425˚F.
- Place frozen crust until the oven and par-bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven and slightly cool.
- In a skillet melt butter over medium heat. Add onions and lightly caramelize for 10 to 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- In a large mixing bowl, combine eggs and cream. Whisk together until light and fluffy. Add remaining ingredients, including caramelized onions and stir together until mixed up. Season with salt and pepper.
- Pour filling mixture into the par-baked crust and place into the oven.
- Lower oven temperature to 375˚F and bake the quiche for 25 to 30 minutes or until the eggs have just set.
- Remove quiche from oven and run a paring knife around the perimeter of the springform pan. Loosen springform pan from sides of quiche and place quiche back into the oven for an additional 10 to 15 minutes. (this will help the crust get crisp on the sides)
- Remove quiche form oven and cool for 10 minutes.
- Slice quiches into wedges, top with sliced chives and serve.
NOTES
To Make and Freeze Ahead: Bake as instructed then cool completely. Place in freezer uncovered until fully frozen. Tightly wrap with foil or plastic wrap. When ready to serve preheat oven to 425˚F.Place quiche onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until warmed through and crust is crisp. Remove from oven, slice and serve.
Freezing Individual Wedges: Just cool the quiche completely, cut into wedges and follow the same process from above, except once the wedges are frozen wrap each piece individually in foil or plastic wrap before storing in the freezer.
Tips and Tricks For Success:
- We recommend freezing for up to 3 months for optimal freshness.
- The most important thing about this recipe is to make sure you’ve filled in every single little gap throughout the hash brown crust. This is to make sure there’s no leakage that occurs when the filling is poured into the par-baked crust.
- I like to use the bottom and sides of a glass or measuring cup to press the crust down into the bottom and sides of the pan, which will help to give you an even crust.
Serving: 1serving Calories: 272kcal Carbohydrates: 2g Protein: 12g Fat: 24g Saturated Fat: 13g Cholesterol: 216mg Sodium: 416mg Potassium: 122mg Fiber: 1g Sugar: 1g Vitamin A: 766IU Vitamin C: 1mg Calcium: 188mg Iron: 1mg
CUISINE: American
KEYWORD: hash brown, quiche
COURSE: Breakfast, brunch
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Excellent outcome and so flavourful! I used pancetta instead of bacon, but I believe there are many variations that would work. The crust was yummy and aesthetically pleasing. This was a perfect brunch main that can be made ahead of time.
This recipe is meant for American users only. In Europe there is no such thing as frozen hash browns.
You can shred your own potatoes for this recipe, which many of our readers have!
DE-FRIGGING-LICOUS ! BEST QUICHE I HAVE EVER MADE!
The quiche taste awesome! Crowd favorite. I have made it 3 times and the pan was so hard to clean even after spraying the pan generously. What am I doing wrong?
Very nice but second time I made it the potato crust was very grey once it was par baked. Used freshly grated potato and worked quickly with it before freezing. Any ideas how to avoid this next time?
If you let the shredded potatoes soak in some cool water with a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice it will help with the greying!
Were you able to take the quiche off of the springform base to put n a serving plate or do you recommend leaving on the base?
Once the quiche cools a little you should have no problem transferring it to a serving plate, but it can definitely be left on the base as well
Looking forward to trying this next weekend. Can this be made a day before and reheated without freezing and still be crispy? If so, any recommendations for reheated cooking times?
The first two times I made this was without a springform pan and it turned out great in a 9-inch cake pan but I’ll be using a springform pan for future ones. Reconstituted freeze-dried hash browns were used and they worked perfectly well.
The second one was filled with leftovers from a cheese fondue dinner – roasted Brussels sprouts, hot Italian sausage and oven fried potatoes. It was delicious!
Can you make this in a 9″ deep dish pie plate?
Very delicious but I had an issue where my eggs soaked into the crust. Still tasted great. Just not very quiche like…Did I not pre-bake the crust long enough before adding my fillings? Any tips on knowing if I cooked it long enough?
I have made this several times. It’s always a hit!
Well, embarrassed and retracting onion comment, it’s right there! But, this is a fabulous recipe and takes quiche to a new level. This is impressive! Sorry about previous comment!
I’ve made this x2 and always been very pleased, but, it appears that there might be a deleted item in the ingredients…onion? I would guess you’re certainly not asking readers to caramelize the chives?? I used 1/2 C of caramelized onion and added to egg mixture. The other thing I did was after squeezing as much water out of shredded potatoes, once they are pushed into the pan, I then took double layer of paper towel and pressed to extract even more of the water, which produces a very nice crispy crust, and never had any leaks.
Worth the effort! I substituted refrigerated hash browns for frozen (and didn’t have to worry about excess water) pepperjack cheese for the white cheddar, added some thin sliced red bell pepper with the sliced yellow onion, also used green onions instead of chives (because that’s what I had). Topped it with sliced avocado after it cooled down. Delicious!
Awesome recipe! I made it for breakfast and everyone loved it!
Can you make the crust and freeze overnight and than finish it the next a.m.
absolutely!
Have you ever made this dairy free? Is yes, what did you use?
I have used Nut Pod creamer in my quiches and it’s worked out great!
Hello,
Can I use freshly grated potatoes in this recipe? I am looking forward to making this dish.
Freshly grated potatoes will be just fine. Just make sure to squeeze as much water from them as possible before assembling the crust :)
Sounds delish. Need to offer a gluten-free option for AirBnB guests. Could be just the ticket!
Question: what do you mean by ”score the perimeter” (of the baked quiche)?
Oh great question! I actually just meant to run a butter knife or small offset spatula around the perimeter to loosen it from the pan. I’ll update the instructions, so it’s a bit more clear!
Made this with things I keep on hand so I didn’t follow the recipe exactly, but it tasted really good. I made this in my cast iron skillet with rehydrated hash browns, fontina cheese, real bacon bits, freeze dried chives, and added some garlic powder and onion powder to the hash browns mixture. I skipped the freezer and went straight to the oven. Cooked the hash browns mixture for the 15 minutes indicated in the recipe but only took 30 minutes to cook the egg mixture in my cast iron. My husband said you can make this every weekend, and it was made with things I always have on hand. Costco sells a large bag of the real bacon bits that are a great shortcut.
Hi , I just made your recipe and the quiche came out great. I am freezing it for company in 2 weeks.
My question to you is, can I use a cast iron pan to reheat the quiche once taken off the base ohttps://www.spoonforkbacon.com/bacon-cheddar-and-chive-quiche-with-a-hash-brown-crust/#commentsf the spring form pan. I would heat the pan with oil in the oven , then when hot I would put the quiche in for 20 min to heat and hopefully get a crispy bottom crust. What do you think?
Great! Follows the recipe instructions and it came out perfectly.
EPIC failure!! I followed the directions perfectly. The egg filler needs to be doubled. I packed the pan with the potato mixture, making sure that there were no open spaces, then set it in the freezer for an hour. When I poured the egg mixture into the pan, almost all of the liquid leaked out and made an enormous mess. I ended up tossing everything into a frying pan to finish it. What a waste of time.
Hi Tracy, it sounds like your crust still had some holes. The filling would not leak out if there were no holes. Maybe your hash browns were not properly thawed? Or too wet? It’s hard to say because we were not there. The filling is the correct amount. It’s to leave an edge at the top of hash brown crust so it gets delicious and crispy – you can see this in the images in the post. Sorry this didn’t work for you.
Leaking everywhere – and I used extra completely thawed and dry hash browns and made sure there were NO holes. Guess we’ll see how it ends up :(
If it leaked everywhere, unfortunately it means there were still holes in the crust
Tracy – Did you blind bake the potato crust or add egg mixture into the raw crust?
Tracy – Did you par-bake the crust before pouring the egg mixture in?
Hi. How do you reheat individual slices?
Hi.
I study your recept for the Hash brown quiche, but I do not understand what the main ingredience for the shell is. Is it from bread or is it potato?
Greetings from an ignorant norwegian who like to try new dishes.
Hi! It’s made from frozen, shredded potatoes. If you can’t find shredded, frozen potatoes, you can shred them yourself. Just make sure to squeeze as much water from the shredded potatoes possible!
Wondering if I could speed up waiting for frozen hash browns to thaw? Perhaps par-cook hash browns in a pan? Just wanting to get the crust done and in the freezer, but waiting for hash browns to thaw…