If you like jalapeño poppers and quiche, you will LOVE this Bacon Jalapeño Popper Quiche! It combines the amazing flavor of the beloved bacon-wrapped spicy party snack with a buttery crust and eggy custard. As a bonus, it freezes beautifully so you can satisfy your craving for bacon-loaded, spicy jalapeño-stuffed quiche any day of the week.
One of my favorite things about quiche is its versatility. If you have a good dough and custard base, you can make nearly any flavor quiche with a few simple additions.
Thinking outside of the traditional quiche box, the flavor profile for this quiche includes some of my favorites: cheese, pickled jalapeños, and bacon. I modified the baking technique and borrowed some great tips from Bouchon Bakery's quiche recipes making this the ultimate jalapeño popper quiche!
How to make it
Start out by making the crust. Make enough dough for a double-crust pie, or in this case a large quiche assembled in a springform pan. As a result we have beautiful tall slices with an incredibly golden crust.
After chilling the dough, roll it out and line a 9-inch springform pan. I use a technique from Bouchon Bakery to fold the excess dough over the outside of the springform pan. This will help keep the crust from drooping and sinking.
This can still occur even when weighing your crust with beans during the pre-baking stage. It is easy enough to break off the excess dough before slicing and serving.
After folding the edges over the rim and chilling the dough, line the dough with parchment paper and fill it with pie weights or dry beans. Par-bake the quiche shell for 30 minutes with the weights, and then another 30 minutes without. Cool the baked crust completely before filling it.
Fill the crust with grated cheddar cheese, pickled jalapeños, cooked bacon, and cubes of cream cheese.
The custard is a combination of lots of eggs, heavy cream, whole milk, cornstarch, and spices. It yields a decadent and creamy finished product. Top the filled crust with the custard and bake until the custard sets. It will puff up and soufflé, but will sink back down as it cools.
Use your fingers or a knife to break away the excess crust from the top edge. Carefully release the side of the springform pan, and lift away. Use a large metal spatula to release the quiche from the bottom of the springform pan, and gently slide the quiche onto a large cutting board.
Please scroll to the bottom of the post for the full recipe (in a printable recipe card) including ingredient amounts and detailed instructions.
Expert tips
I recommend making this jalapeño popper quiche at least a day ahead of time. Chill it completely, and then slice and reheat the slices. This technique hails from Bouchon Bakery, and not only yields picture perfect slices, but also makes the quiche easy to prepare in advance.
You can actually chill the jalapeño popper quiche for up to 3 days before slicing and reheating it to serve. Heat the quiche slices on a baking sheet for about 15 minutes at 375 degrees F. The texture is excellent even after reheating.
I think it even helps the bottom of the crust to crisp up a bit more. I love this technique for quiche, since quiche is usually a tedious process. Now it's easy to make homemade quiche for guests and easily reheat it "to order" once your brunch crew arrives.
To make this jalapeño popper quiche even further in advance, you may chill, slice, and freeze the slices. Wrap each slice of quiche in plastic wrap and then transfer to a freezer bag. Press out the air and seal. You can freeze quiche for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating as instructed above.
Other recipes you may like
- Buffalo Chicken Quiche
- Green Bean Quiche
- Zwiebelkuchen (German Onion Pie)
- Baked Cinnamon Apple French Toast
- Eggs Shanghai (Chinese Eggs Benedict)
- Chilaquiles Rojos (Red Chilaquiles)
- Fish Hash
Tried this recipe? Please leave a star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating in the recipe card below and/or a review in the comments section further down the page. You can also follow me on social media on Facebook, Instagram, and Pinterest!
Bacon Jalapeño Popper Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 full recipe Magpie Dough for Flaky Piecrust chilled overnight (recipe follows)
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 ½ cups (355 ml) whole milk
- 2 cups (473 ml) heavy cream
- 10 large eggs
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated garlic (I used garlic powder)
- 1 ½ teaspoons granulated onion (I used onion powder)
- ¼ teaspoon red pepper flakes
- ¾ teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 ½ cups (170 grams) grated sharp cheddar cheese
- ½ cup drained pickled jalapeño slices
- 5 slices bacon cooked, drained, and coarsely chopped
- 4 ounces (113 grams) cream cheese, cut into ½-inch cubes
Instructions
- Lightly flour a smooth work surface and a rolling pin.
- Take a chilled disk of dough out of the fridge. Give it a couple of firm squeezes, then unwrap it and set it on the floured work surface.
- Set the pin crosswise on the dough and press down firmly, making a nice deep channel across the full width of the disk. Turn the disk 180 degrees and repeat, making a second indentation, forming a plus sign.
- Use your rolling pin to press down each of the wedges, turning the dough 45 degrees each time. This will give you the beginnings of a thick circle.
- Now, rolling from the center outward and rotating the dough a quarter turn to maintain a circular shape, roll the dough out to a 13-inch circle with an even thickness of ¼ inch.
- Set your 9-inch springform pan alongside the 15-inch dough circle. Carefully fold the circle in half, transfer it to the pan, and unfold. Gently shift the dough around to settle it into the pan, then lightly press the dough further into place so that it is flush against the sides and bottom of the pan, including the outer edge. Trim any dough that extends more than an inch over the sides of the mold and reserve the scraps. Fold the excess dough over against the outside of the pan. (Preparing the quiche shell this way will prevent it from shrinking down the sides as it bakes. The excess dough will be removed after the quiche is baked.) Carefully check for any cracks or holes in the dough, and patch with the reserved dough as necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator or freezer until quite firm.
- While the shell chills, preheat the oven to 375°F with a rack in the center. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil, and cut an additional piece of parchment or aluminum foil into a 16-by-16-inch square.
- Line the shell with parchment, gently smoothing and pleating the paper as needed to fit into place up close against the bottom and sides of the crust. Fill to the rim with beans. Set the pan on the parchment-lined baking sheet, slide the sheet into the oven, and bake the quiche shell 30 minutes.
- Carefully remove the parchment and weights. Check the dough for any new cracks or holes and patch with the thin pieces of the reserved dough if necessary. Return the shell to the oven for another 30 minutes, or until the bottom is golden. Remove from the oven and allow the shell to cool completely on the baking sheet. Once again, check the dough for any cracks or holes, and patch if necessary before filling with the quiche batter.
- To make the custard filling, put the cornstarch in a large mixing bowl and whisk in the milk and heavy cream until the cornstarch is dissolved and incorporated. Whisk in the eggs, granulated garlic and onion, red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper, mixing until well combined. Set aside.
- To assemble the quiche, set the springform pan on the prepared baking sheet (it might already be on there from when it cooled). Scatter the grated cheese evenly across the bottom of the shell, followed by the jalapeños, bacon, and cream cheese. Slowly pour the custard over top.
- Carefully transfer the baking sheet to the oven and bake the quiche 75 to 90 minutes (mine baked about 1 hour 45 minutes), or until the custard is firm around the edges but the center still jiggles loosely (you can confirm for certain with an instant-read thermometer, which will register 160 degrees F when the custard is done), rotating halfway through the baking time.
- Remove the quiche from the oven and let cool to room temperature on a rack. Refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 day, or up to 3 days.
- Once the quiche is thoroughly chilled, use your fingers or a knife to break away the excess crust from the top edge. Carefully release the side of the springform pan, and lift away. Use a large metal spatula to release the quiche from the bottom of the springform pan, and gently slide the quiche onto a large cutting board.
- To serve: Preheat the oven to 375°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- Using a serrated knife and supporting the sides of the crust, carefully cut through the edge of the crust in a sawing motion. Switch to a long slicing knife and cut through the custard and bottom crust. Repeat, cutting the quiche into 8 or 10 pieces. Place the pieces on the baking sheet and reheat for 15 minutes, or until hot throughout.
- Slices of quiche can also be wrapped in plastic wrap and then frozen in a freezer bag to be reheated at a later time.
Notes
- For the best results, make easy homemade pickled jalapeños for the filling!
- To make this jalapeño popper quiche even further in advance, you may chill, slice, and freeze the slices. Wrap each slice of quiche in plastic wrap and then transfer to a freezer bag. Press out the air and seal. You can freeze quiche for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating as instructed above.
- This recipe uses kosher salt (aka cooking salt, kitchen salt, coarse salt outside of the US), preferably Diamond Crystal brand. If you are using table salt, definitely scale down the salt as that is a saltier type of salt! The type of salt will make a big difference in how salty your food tastes, so keep that in mind.
- Adapted from Magpie, some method of prep from Bouchon Bakery.
Nutrition
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
The Best Dough for Flaky Piecrust
Ingredients
- 2 ½ cups (312 grams) all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons (28 grams) granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon (6 grams) salt
- ¾ cup (170 grams) cold unsalted butter cut into ¼-inch cubes and frozen
- ¼ cup (60 grams) vegetable shortening preferably in baking stick form, frozen, cut into ¼-inch pieces, and put back in the freezer
- ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (130 grams) ice-cold water
Instructions
- Combine the flour, sugar, and salt in the bowl of a food processor and pulse 3 times to blend. Scatter the frozen butter cubes over the flour mixture. Pulse the machine 5 to 7 times, holding each pulse for a 5 full seconds, to cut all of the butter into pea-size pieces.
- Scatter the pieces of frozen shortening over the flour-and-butter mixture. Pulse the machine 4 more 1-second pulses to blend the shortening with the flour. The mixture will resemble coarse cornmeal, but will be a bit more floury and riddled with pale butter bits (no pure-white shortening should be visible).
- Turn the mixture out into a large mixing bowl, and make a small well in the center. If you find a few butter clumps that are closer to marble size than pea size (about ¼ inch in diameter), carefully pick them out and give them a quick smoosh with your fingers. Pour the cold water into the well.
- Use a curved bowl scraper to lightly scoop the flour mixture up and over the water, covering the water to help get the absorption started. Continue mixing by scraping the flour up from the sides and bottom of the bowl into the center, rotating the bowl as you mix, and occasionally pausing to clean off the scraper with your finger or the side of the bowl, until the mixture begins to gather into clumps but is still very crumbly. (If you are working in very dry conditions and the ingredients remain very floury and refuse to clump together at this stage, add another tablespoon of ice-cold water.)
- Lightly gather the clumps with your fingers and use your palm to fold over and press the dough a few times (don’t knead! —just give the dough a few quick squishes), until it just begins to come together into a single large mass.
- For single- and double-crust pies, mini pies, potpies, or hand pies: Divide the dough into 2 equal portions, gently shape each portion into a flat disk 1 ½ to 2 inches thick, and wrap each tightly with plastic wrap. For quiche, leave the dough in one piece, flatten it into a single large disk 1 ½ to 2 inches thick, and wrap tightly with plastic wrap.
- Refrigerate the dough for at least 8 hours or up to 3 days before rolling. (The dough may discolor slightly. No worries. This is merely oxidization and will not affect the flavor or appearance of your finished piecrust.)
Notes
- The wrapped, chilled dough can be put in a freezer bag and frozen for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the refrigerator before rolling.
- Adapted from Magpie
*All nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered estimates. Actual nutritional content will vary with brands used, measuring methods, portion sizes and more.*
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