Crustless pan quiche

Time to start the blog off right! Er I mean start the day off right, with a breakfast recipe!

Beep… Beep… Beep… ugh! That alarm is going to get thrown across the room some day. We all have to start the day at some point, but when you get up, you’re hungry, thirsty and if you’re like me, you can barely keep your eyes open. You can forget trying to make breakfast while you impatiently wait for the coffee to finish so you can be a human being again. So why not make something ahead of time so you can throw it in the microwave while that liquid magic brews and while you wait, maybe you can close your eyes for just a few… more… seconds…

Hey! Wake up! Good, now that you’re back with me, let’s talk about this make-ahead breakfast. I like to call this crustless pan quiche. The best part? There are tons of ways you can make this but I’ll just give you a few different options for add-ins. The main problem I found when looking at other recipe blogs was that the ingredients that were suggested always seemed a bit too bland for me (if you stick around you’re probably going to hear me say that A LOT). Unfortunately it seems that people can be afraid to tell other people what spices to add to their food. But you know what? I didn’t make you add those red pepper flakes. You did that all by yourself so if you don’t like it? Not my fault. Glad we got that out of the way. Moving on.

With that in mind, know that not everything I include in this recipe is a must. And that can be said for a ton of other recipes out there. When cooking, ingredients (especially spices) can really be adjusted to taste and I’m going to suggest that in almost every recipe I post. For this particular recipe the only things that you need to include every time you make it are eggs and milk (and cheese, but maybe that’s just my personal obsession). Other than that, have fun! Change things up. Maybe you want to go all veggie, maybe your inner carnivore is craving some protein, that’s great! This is the dish for you!

The first thing you’re going to need to do is figure out what you want to put in it. I really like the version shown here. It’s got maple breakfast sausage, red bell pepper, and fresh chopped spinach as the main add-ins and a few spices, because just plain eggs are kinda icky. If you add those the previously mentioned “must have” ingredients, guess what? You’ve done it. That’s it. Dump it in a pan and throw it in the oven. See why I like it so much? Yeah. Easy.

But let’s get a little more specific so you aren’t like, “Yeah, that sounds great, but how much of what am I putting in this thing?” I know, I know it’s like the one reason people look up recipes. So here it is.

You’re gonna need a 13×9” pan, 12 eggs, ¾ of a cup shredded cheddar cheese, one red bell pepper, a cup of chopped spinach, and about 12 ounces of maple breakfast sausage (uncooked weight). For spices I kept it pretty simple just garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. I’ll give some variations in a little bit. This was just my favorite version so far. Heat the oven to 375 F, and let it cook till it’s not jiggly in the middle anymore and the edges are browning. About … minutes depending on your oven and how many add-ins you put in. Let it cool for a few minutes and slice it up. I cut mine into 15 pieces and heat up two for breakfast but feel free to do more or less depending on your desired portions.

Some variations to try:

Use bacon instead of sausage! Be aware this is going to make this dish take a little longer since the bacon is going to take longer than the sausage to cook.
Add in some broccoli! I like to get the frozen steam bags so I can pop it in the microwave while I’m prepping other things.
Try using different cheeses! Parmesan, sharp cheddar, pepper jack, etc. Let me know what you use and how it turns out!
Some spices to try: Italian seasoning (trust me, if you’ve never put this in eggs before, you have GOT to give it a try), red pepper flakes, oregano, and parsley just to name a few. If you try something else and it’s fantastic, let me know! I’m always looking for ways to change up this recipe!

Since these are supposed to be a make-ahead breakfast I’m sure you’d like to know how long they keep. I’ve kept mine in the fridge for four days but I wouldn’t push it much more than that. I’ve read that they can also be frozen and kept for longer but I’ve never tried that. If you do and it works out let me know!

Now the main purpose of this blog is to give honest time estimates so you can accurately plan cooking and baking into your schedule. So for this recipe I’m gonna say with all the vegetable cutting and pre-cooking of the sausage for this SPECIFIC variation of this recipe: it’s gonna take a normal person about 35-40 minutes to prep. If you’re a pro and can do it faster, that’s great! For me, and I think a lot of people, it takes a little longer than most recipes state.

Recipe

Main ingredients:

12 eggs
¾ cup milk (any percent, whole, 1%, skim, do what you want)
¾ cup shredded cheddar cheese (or not, it might just be me)

Add-ins:

1 Red bell pepper, diced
1 cup chopped, fresh spinach
~ 10 oz. Maple breakfast sausage (I used one small package but honestly add however much or little you want.)
¼ tsp. garlic powder
¼ tsp. onion powder
Salt
Pepper

Instructions:

No, I’m not going to tell you to turn the oven on first. If you’re like me you’ll end up wasting either fuel or electricity because there’s no way you’re going to throw this together in 10 minutes like every other recipe says you will. So first things first, get out a pan to cook the sausage, probably on medium heat. Now I’m not great at multitasking but sausage is pretty okay on its own with stirring every now and then so you should be able to dice up the pepper while that’s cooking on the stove. So grab a cutting board and get going.

Next get a decent sized bowl and crack those eggs. Try not to get any shells in it. (I know I’m in no mood in the morning to bite into eggs and hear a crunch. It would honestly ruin my day.)

Don’t forget about the sausage! It might be done by now. If it is, turn it off and let it cool; if it’s not, keep it going but don’t burn it! While that’s cooling, grab the spinach and chop it up. Now would also be a good time to turn the oven on to 375 F.

Next, the cheese. I like to use block cheese because it melts better so if you use that too, get out the grater and shred that up. If you use pre-shredded, that’s great too! It will save you some time!

Add the milk, cheese, bell pepper and spices to the bowl and mix it all up. If the sausage is cool enough that it isn’t going to turn your quiche into a scramble, go ahead and add it to the bowl too.

Next grab a 13 x 9” pan and grease it. I like to use a spray but again use whatever works for you. Pour the mixture from the bowl to the pan and put in the (hopefully hot by now) oven. Bake until the middle is set and the edges are browning. Let cool completely before refrigerating. Store in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 4 days.