Looking for the best vegan quiche? This foolproof recipe is creamy, delicious packed with vegetables, easy to make, and perfect for meal prep or brunch.
Every year, the little seaside village Pebble Point held its Festival of Tables, where everyone brought something beautiful and delicious to share. This year, a field mousse named Bram decided he wanted to make something everyone would remember.
With a woven basket on his back, Bram set off on his morning rounds. His first stop was a deep, mossy burrow, where the old mole grew the sweetest onions beneath the earth. With his bushy hands, he carefully brushed the soil from a handful of fresh bulbs. "This one should do it..." he muttered under his breath.
Next, Bram wandered through the wildflower meadows until he found Clover the caterpillar slowly crawling over rows of sun-ripened tomatoes. No one beats a caterpillars experience when it comes to picking tomatoes. With an expert sniff, she picked out the ripest, juiciest ones for his basket.
Down by the sparkling shore, Cedric the crab was busy with tidying a neat stack of empty scallop shells left behind by the tide. After inspecting each for smoothness and shine, he laid two into the sand in front of Bram. "Take these," Cedric said. "I think they should work!"
Before returning home, Bram visited Hazel Rabbit, whose garden was famous for its variety of leafy greens. She gathered a handful of fresh spinach for his basket. Bram thanked her and tucked it carefully beside the onions and tomatoes.
There was just one final stop. At the cosy little hamster bakery, the baker measured out fine flour and invited Bram to use the village oven. Together they mixed the onions, tomatoes, spinach and creamy filling before carefully spooning it into the scallop shells. Soon, the little quiches had baked and were ready for the festival
When the festival began, the tiny quiches disappeared almost as quickly as they arrived. Bram hardly noticed. He was sitting beneath the fairy lights with his friends, laughing over stories of the day's adventures while the sea breeze drifted through the square and the sun started to set.
Main ingredients for Vegan Quiche?
- Onions
- Spinach
- Tofu
- Tomatoes
- Flour
- Vegan Butter
- Cashews
What is the best egg substitute for vegan quiche?
For this vegan quiche, a mixture of chickpea flour, tofu, starch, and kala namak make a perfect substitute for eggs. The filling contains a few more spices and ingredients, but they all help the quiche set properly and create a texture that, once it’s fully baked and cooled, is almost a perfect replica of a traditional egg-based quiche. While the quiche bakes, some of the liquid in the tofu and starch mixture evaporates. When it cools, the filling continues to set until it reaches just the right consistency. It’s firm enough to slice and serve and once you take a bite, it sort of falls apart in your mouth.
How do you keep this quiche from being watery?
There were many valiant attempts in my kitchen to recreate a traditional quiche without eggs, with varying degrees of success. By far the most common issue wasn’t the taste, but the consistency. The filling was either liquid, no matter how long I baked it or let it cool, or too dry.
The biggest game changer was ditching silken tofu. For the longest time, I was convinced it was the perfect ingredient for vegan quiche, but switching to firm tofu and blending it with soy milk, starches, and chickpea flour made the difference. It still took plenty of trial and error to get the balance just right, but I’m pretty confident this recipe nails it. Also let the quiche cool and set for as long as you can before slicing into it. That extra resting time will help the filling firm up.
Can I make vegan quiche ahead of time?
Yes, and I would actually recommend making this quiche ahead of time every time. That’s not to say you can’t eat it straight from the oven. But in my opinion it’s pretty much the perfect food to eat later. A few hours later, the next day, or packed up for lunch at work or school, in my opinion it just gets better. Not only does the consistency improve as it sits, but I also think the flavour does too.
Another thing I love is that you can easily eat it without cutlery. If you want to enjoy it at its best, bake it and let it sit for at least a couple of hours before slicing into it. And if you’ve got leftovers, pop them in the fridge and enjoy them cold the next day. I honestly think that’s even better, especially on a hot day when you already know you don’t want to turn the oven on.
Can I make this quiche gluten-free?
Yes, absolutely! It’s actually pretty easy to make this vegan quiche gluten-free. The filling itself doesn’t contain any gluten, so the only thing you’d need to adapt is the crust. Since the pastry is just made from flour, vegan butter, water, and salt, it’s easy enough to swap the regular flour for a gluten-free alternative. A standard gluten-free flour blend from the supermarket usually works well, and you could also experiment with oat flour.
Another easy option is to buy a ready-made gluten-free quiche or tart crust, which you can just slap into the pan and fill with the mixture. The crust may end up a little more crumbly than one made with wheat flour, but it will definitely work, and the flavour of the quiche won’t really change.
What vegetables are best in vegan quiche?
Oh, you can go pretty wild here. The only thing I’d be careful with is using raw vegetables that have a high water content. Adding raw zucchini, peppers, or tomatoes directly into the filling (as opposed to on top) can throw off the liquid balance and make it too soft. Some of my favourite vegetables to add are roasted onions, leeks, mushrooms, aubergine, spinach, garlic, and roasted peppers. They all work really well and add loads of flavour without watering down the filling.
Now, that might not be a vegetable, but if you’ve got a favourite vegan cheese, don’t be afraid to throw that in there as well. This recipe is really versatile when it comes to the vegetables, cheeses, and spices you use. Just keep an eye on the overall liquid balance.
How to Make an Easy and Delicious Vegan Quiche
Ingredients
Dough
- 250g /1 cup Flour
- 100g /½ cup Vegan Butter
- 1 tsp Salt
- 5 tbsp Cold Water
Filling
- 4 medium Onions
- Spinach
- Salt, Pepper
- 1 tsp Thyme
Mixture
- 400g /1 block Tofu
- 2 tbsp Nutritional Yeast Flakes
- 2 tbsp Corn Starch
- 3 tbsp Chickpea Flour
- 2 tbsp Olive Oil
- ½ Lemon juiced
- 50g Cashews
- 240ml /1 cup Plant Milk unsweetened
- 1½ tsp Salt
- ½ tsp Tumeric
- Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Kala Namak optional
Instructions
- Prepare the dough by first adding the vegan butter into the flour and salt until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water and knead for about a minute, just until everything comes together. Try not to overwork it. Let it chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
- Slice the onions.
- Melt a little vegan butter in a large frying pan and cook the onions over medium heat for at least 10 minutes, until they're nicely browned and caramelised.
- While the onions are cooking, roll or press the dough into a quiche or cake pan. Prick the base all over with a fork and prebake it at 180°C (350°F) for 10 minutes.
- While the crust is prebaking, add the spinach, thyme, salt, and pepper to the onions. Cook for another few minutes until the spinach has wilted and everything is soft and fragrant.
- Don't forget to take the quiche crust out of the oven. Add the tofu, soy milk, water, lemon juice, nutritional yeast, cashews, chickpea flour, starch, turmeric, salt, and kala namak (if using) to a blender. Blend until completely smooth. If the mixture seems too thick, add a splash more water.
- Stir the onion and spinach mixture into the blended filling, then pour everything into the prebaked quiche crust. Spread it out evenly and arrange the tomato slices on top.
- Bake for 30 minutes at 180°C (350°F). Once baked, let the quiche cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing and serving. The longer it rests, the better the texture will be. Enjoy!
Did you make this Vegan Quiche?
Please let me know how this recipe turned out for you, I’m super curious! You can leave a comment below or tag @lordsoftheplants on Instagram and hashtag it #lordsoftheplants for me to see! I absolutely love seeing your creations and interpretations of my recipes!
Can’t get enough of Easy Vegan Baking Recipes?
I’ve got you! You will love this incredibly tasty Vegan Bagels. Or in case you want to go the sweet route you can try this Apple Cinnamon Focaccia next. Both are absolutely incredible!
