A creamy and savory quiche that's lovely for a winter or spring meal. Carrot Quiche features a filling of roasted vegetables, spices, and cheddar cheese.
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I love exploring the bounty of fresh, colorful, homegrown and homemade offerings at farmer's markets, like baked treats, sauces, jams, rustic breads, and of course, veggies.
While recently browsing an indoor market I found one farmer with tons of seasonal veggies on display, including a huge variety of carrots. Bunches of white, yellow, and purple carrots were dazzling, as well as garnet-colored Dragon carrots.
Despite the lure of those dazzling rainbow carrots, I was drawn to a big bag (three or four pounds) of regular orange carrots: medium-sized, twisty, and gleaming despite a few bits of soil still clinging to the surface. They just looked so cheerful and delicious!
To be honest, I don't normally look at raw carrots and think "delicious!" Carrots cooked into other things tend to be more my preference—with raw carrots, my reaction is something closer to, "Well, someone has to eat these. Do we have any dip?"
Despite this, I grabbed a big bag of these cheerful carrots and brought them home.
I thought about making them into soup or bringing them to a friend's house to snack on... yes, with a big bowl of dip. Instead, I gave my happy carrots a roast, then blended them into this Carrot Quiche with Cheddar and Roasted Onion.
This is just one of many ways to prepare winter root veggies!
What is a quiche?
A quiche is a type of savory pie or tart, with a custard-like filling made with ingredients like eggs, cheese, veggies, meat, and cream. It's a French dish—one of the most familiar types is a Quiche Lorraine with bacon and Gruyère cheese.
Quiches, large and bite-sized, are one of the most popular breakfast and brunch dishes ever, with endless meat, cheese, and vegetable combinations.
Why you'll love this recipe
Reader Review
"So delicious! Will definitely make again!"
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
The texture of this roasted carrot, cheddar and onion quiche filling is creamy, and smooth, with a balance of savory flavors with the sweetness of the carrots. And I love the sweetness that comes from roasting the veggies beforehand. It's like a savory version of a classic carrot pie.
The quiche is made with my Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust, a shell that's just as tasty as the filling—flaky and buttery. This dough is easy to make in advance and hold in the fridge or the freezer until you're ready to make your quiche.
Though the recipe for carrot quiche contains dairy and eggs, it has no meat products—that makes it a vegetarian carrot and onion quiche.
Make a Carrot Quiche for lunch or brunch, or even as a light dinner. It's also perfect to make for spring holidays: Easter, Mother's Day, or International Cute Bunnies Appreciation Day. Okay, I made up that last one.
But hey, you can't talk about carrots without thinking about fluffy bunnies. Just ask Bugs Bunny... or the WereRabbit!
🔪 How to make Carrot Quiche with Cheddar and Roasted Onions
Ingredients:
- Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust: This is my favorite pastry crust recipe, and it's delicious with this roasted carrot quiche
- Carrots: Use fresh carrots, locally grown if possible for the best flavor
- Onion: Yellow onions are fine here; you can also use shallots or sweet onions if you'd like
- Oil: Use canola or olive oil to roast the veggies
- Salt and Pepper: To season the filling
- Thyme: The flavor of this fried or fresh herb works so well with the cheddar and carrots
- Milk: This part of the filling base
- Half-and-Half: Also for the creamy filling
- Cheddar Cheese: Use mild or sharp, whichever you like best
Step 1: Prepare the shell
Roll out the half portion of Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust dough into a circle, and fit the circle into a tart pan with a removable bottom. Press the dough into place all around the sides and over the bottom, then crimp the edge. Fill the shell with pie weights and par-bake it.
Step 2: Prepare the veggies
Slice the carrots and onions into chunks, then coat them with oil and seasonings. Spread them on a baking sheet, then roast them in the oven until they're tender.
Step 3: Make the carrot filling
Blend the cooled, roasted veggies with milk, eggs, cream, and shredded cheddar cheese.
Step 4: Fill the quiche
Pour the carrot filling into the shell. Sprinkle more cheddar cheese over the top.
Step 5: Bake, then serve
Bake the quiche for a little over a half-hour, until the filling is set. Let it cool for a short time, then slice and serve, garnished with fresh sprigs of thyme.
FAQs
Yes! Especially in this recipe, because the roasted vegetables are blended into the smooth filling. Another reason to cook the vegetables first is because they release water during cooking, which could leave your quiche filling watery and underbaked.
If the carrots and very large and have been sitting in the produce section awhile, the skin is likely to be tough and dirty—so, yes, it's a good idea to peel them. However, if the carrots are small, young, and well-scrubbed, you can get away without peeling them.
I do recommend it, just as this recipe directs. It helps ensure that the crust is baked through, which can be challenging when a liquid filling is poured into a raw crust. Like Mary Berry says, no one wants a soggy bottom!
Quiche is delicious alongside a light salad or a bowl of soup for an easy, casual meal.
Food & Wine suggests serving champagne or sparkling white wine, Riesling, or Beaujolais with quiche.
Tips:
- This quiche uses my Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust, a half-portion. Or, you can use your own homemade or store-bought pie crust dough: use an amount equivalent to a single crust.
- For a great crust that's easy to handle and bakes up flaky, keep the dough cold until you roll it out, and then refrigerate the pie shell before adding the filling.
I hope you find this savory carrot pie recipe to be a tasty way to highlight the flavor of fresh, flavorful, cheerful carrots!
The recipe for this Cheddar Quiche with Roasted Carrots and Onion is below. Here are more savory pie and quiche recipes to try:
💬 Have you made this quiche? Leave a comment below.
📖 Recipe
Carrot Quiche with Cheddar and Roasted Onions
Ingredients
- ½ Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust Recipe, chilled (This is enough pie crust dough for a single-shell pie or tart.)
- 1¼ pounds fresh carrots
- 1 medium yellow onion, about 7-8 ounces, peeled, ends removed
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1½ teaspoon salt, divided
- ¼ teaspoon pepper
- 1 cup milk
- 4 large eggs
- 1 cup half and half
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme plus extra to garnish
- 1 cup grated sharp Cheddar cheese
- Fresh thyme sprigs to garnish
Instructions
Get the crust ready:
- Preheat the oven to 375°F, and have pie weights or dried beans ready.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the half-portion of Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust into a 13-inch circle.
- Fit the dough circle into a 10-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. Gently press the dough into place all around the pan and against the sides. Fold the edge under itself and crimp it firmly all the way around.
- Press a pice of foil over the surface and edges of the dough. Pour pie weights or dried beans into the foil—there should be enough to fill up the crust.
- Bake the crust for 20 minutes. Then remove the foil and beans; prick the dough all over with the tines of a fork. Put the crust back in the oven and bake it for another five minutes.
- Move the pan to a cooling rack.
Roast the carrots and onions:
- Preheat the oven to 400° F. Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Peel the carrots and cut off the tops and ends. Cut the carrots into 1½-inch chunks. Place them in a medium bowl.
- Cut the onions in half, then cut each half into three or four chunks. Place these in the bowl as well. Add to the bowl the oil, ½ teaspoon of the salt, and the pepper.
- Stir to coat the vegetables with the oil and seasonings, then spread the veggies on the prepared sheet into an even layer.
- Place the pan in the oven and roast the veggies 35 to 40 minutes, until the carrots are soft. Remove the pan from the oven.
- Increase the oven temperature to 425° F. Move the middle oven rack down one spot so that it's closer to the bottom of the oven.
Prepare the filling:
- Allow the roasted carrots and onions to cool a little, and then transfer them to the bowl of a food processor, along with the 1 cup of milk.
- Blend these until they are thoroughly combined and smooth. Add in the eggs, half and half, the remaining teaspoon of salt, and the thyme. Run the food processor until the mixture is smooth.
- Stir in half of the Cheddar cheese.
Fill and bake the quiche:
- Set the pre-baked quiche shell on a large baking sheet—this will catch any spills. Pour the carrot filling into the shell, filling it ¾ of the way full. (If there's any extra filling, you can either discard it or pour it into a mini muffin pan to bake mini quiches.)
- Sprinkle the remaining Cheddar cheese evenly over the top. Place the baking sheet with the quiche carefully into the oven on the lowered rack.
- Bake the quiche for 15 minutes.
- Reduce the temperature to 325° F. Bake the quiche for another 20 minutes. (If the crust edges are looking very brown, cover them with foil to protect them. The quiche is done when a knife inserted into the center comes out clean. You can also check the temperature at the center with a digital thermometer—it should be between 165° and 185° F.
- Place the quiche on a cooling rack and allow it to cool for at least 15 minutes; then, carefully remove the sides of the pan and use a large spatula to slide the quiche off of the pan bottom and onto a cutting board or serving plate.
- Slice and serve the quiche warm or at room temperature. Garnish the slices with fresh sprigs of thyme.
- Store leftover quiche wrapped in the fridge for up to five days.
Notes
- This quiche uses my Best-Loved Flaky Pie Crust recipe, a half-portion. Or, you can use your own homemade or store-bought pie crust dough - use an amount equivalent to a single crust.
- If you don't have a 10-inch tart pan, you can use a deep dish pie plate (9-inch by 2-inch) instead. There's a lot of filling, so don't use any smaller dish.
- Fill the crust only ¾ of the way full with filling. If there is any extra filling left over, you can pour it into a mini muffin man and bake to make little mini quiches.
Lexi
So delicious! I used 500ml thickened cream (for my Aussie friends) instead of the milk and half and half (250 ml cream for the milk portion and 250ml cream for the half and half portion) - it worked great! Will definitely make again!
Nancy Mock
Hi Lexi, thank you for sharing this top about using thickened cream. (U.S. readers: this has about the same amount of milkfat as heavy cream.) I'm so happy that you liked my recipe! Thank you, thank you!
Lexi
So delicious
Jen
I had a ton of fresh carrots looking for something new to try and found this. To say this recipe is amazing is an understatement!! It is so easy to make! I’ll definitely be making this for my next get together with friends! Thank you for sharing this awesome recipe!
Nancy Mock
Hi Jen! I'm so happy to hear that you liked my carrot tart, what wonderful feedback! Thank you for giving the recipe a try, and I hope your friends will like it, too. I agree, it's nice to find new ways to use up a bunch of fresh carrots. Thank you for sharing this with me!
Sandra P. Cohen
Surprisingly easy and delicious- especially the crust. Will be my go to pie crust from now on.
Nancy Mock
Thank you Sandra, I'm so happy you enjoyed it! I love this crust too, so buttery good. 🙂