Quiche Crust / Shortcrust pastry for pies

A classic quiche crust and pie crust are made using homemade shortcrust pastry. It’s straightforward to make, especially if you have a food processor, and far superior to store bought in both flavour and texture!

I’ve also included directions for using store bought pastry sheets because the steps are the same for the baking part.

Quiche crust recipe

This is my recipe for quiche crust which I’m publishing separately so it’s handy to reference for the quiche recipes I’ve shared and the many more I will inevitably share over the years!

Use this recipe if:

• you want to make a homemade quiche crust from scratch; or

• you have store bought shortcrust pastry – frozen or refrigerated. The steps to press the pastry into the tin and baking are the same.

If you have a store bought prepared pie shell, simply cook it per the packet directions.

Quiche crust is shortcrust pastry 

Quiche crusts are made with shortcrust pastry. The name “shortcrust” refers to the baking term “short” which means pastries that are flaky and crumble when you cut into them. They should be tender enough such that you can cut into it with little effort, and while it should be flaky, it should not disintegrate into crumbs.

And a quiche crust should hold together so a slice of quiche doesn’t fall to pieces when cutting and serving.

Even if you’re new to making quiche crust from scratch, I think you’ll find it quite straight forward the way I’ve broken it down plus the recipe video below!

Using a food processor, the quiche crust dough takes less than 5 minutes to make and it works 100% perfectly!

How to make quiche crust or pie crust

• Blitz – place flour, butter and salt in a food processor and blitz until fine crumbs form

• Add ice water while the motor is running. Why ice water? Because it stops the butter from melting. Teeny tiny bits of butter in pastry = flaky pastry!

• Once a ball forms, take it out, pat into a disc, wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour+ (up to 2 to 3 days). Reason: This makes the butter in the dough firm up again = flaky pastry

• Roll out pastry to 3 mm / 1/8″ thick

• Press into quiche tin or pie dish

• Fill with pie weights and bake – Use baking beads, dry beans or rice. Anything that will weight down the pastry to stop it from puffing up and shrinking while it bakes. This is called Blind Baking.

• Remove beads carefully – Nobody wants hot beads bouncing all over the kitchen!

• Bake again just for 10 to 15 minutes until the base is light golden – this will really ensure your quiche crust base stays nice and crisp once filled.

Quiche Filling

Once baked, fill the quiche crust with your filling of choice – or use one of my existing Quiche recipes:

• Quiche Lorraine

• Salmon Quiche

• Italian Sausage Quiche

If you want to make your own filling, use this as a guide:

• Standard quiche tin (about 23cm / 9″ diameter, 2.5 – 3cm / 1 – 1.25″ deep) – use the cream, eggs, salt and cheese in the Quiche Lorraine recipe;

• Deeper quiche tart tin (about 23cm / 9″ diameter, 3.5 – 4 cm / 1.5 – 1.7″ deep) – use the cream, eggs, salt and cheese the Salmon Quiche recipe

Enjoy! – Nagi x

Watch how to make it

Hungry for more? Subscribe to my newsletter and follow along on Facebook, Pinterest and Instagram for all of the latest updates.

Quiche Crust / Shortcrust Pastry for Pies

Author: Nagi | RecipeTin Eats

Prep: 15 mins

Cook: 35 mins

Total: 50 mins

Baking, Mains

French

5 from 13 votes

Servings8 - 12

Tap or hover to scale

Print

Recipe video above. This is a recipe for quiche and pie crusts, both of which are made using shortcrust pastry. This is a great, EASY classic quiche crust. Quiche crusts are just made with shortcrust pastry. Made using a food processor, very slightly adapted from this recipe by Emeril Lagasse.

Inactive chill time: 1 hour.

This is the recipe I've been using for years and years, and it has never failed me! Makes pastry for 1 x 23cm / 9" pie dish or tart tin (serves 8 - 12 people).

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 1/4 cups (185g / 5.6 oz) plain white flour (all purpose flour)
• ▢ 1/2 tsp salt
• ▢ 100g / 7 tbsp unsalted butter, cold, cut into 1cm/ 1/3" cubes
• ▢ 3 tbsp ice cold water (+ more as required)

Instructions

• Place flour, salt and butter in a food processor. 
  
• Pulse 10 times or until it looks like breadcrumbs.
  
• With the motor running on low, pour 2.5 tbsp of water into the tube feeder.
  
• Turn up to high and blitz for 30 seconds or until it turns into a ball of dough. Initially it will look like breadcrumbs, then it will turn into a ball of soft dough - some random escaped bits is fine. If it doesn't look like its coming together at 20 seconds, add another 1/2 tbsp of water. Don't blitz longer than 30 seconds at most.
  
• Form a disc, wrap in cling wrap. If there are escaped crumble bits, that's fine - just press them in. Refrigerate for 1 - 3 hours.
  
• Preheat oven to 200C/390F (standard) or 180C/350F (fan forced)
• Sprinkle work surface with flour, unwrap dough and place on the flour. Sprinkle top with flour, then roll out into a 27cm/11" round.
  
• Gently roll the pastry so it wraps around the rolling pin.
  
• Unroll it over the quiche pan or pie dish - 23cm / 9".
  
• Press the pastry into the edges of the quiche pan, patching up edges if required (if pastry doesn't quite reach top of rim).
  
• Roll the rolling pin across the top to cut off the excess pastry.
• Optional extra "safe measure" refrigeration - 15 minutes. See (Note 2).
• Place a large piece of parchment paper over the pastry, then fill with baking beads or lots of rice or dried beans to weigh it down. (Note 3)
  
• Bake for 20 minutes, then remove from oven.
  
•  Turn oven DOWN to 180C/350F (or 160C/320F fan).
• Use excess paper to CAREFULLY remove hot beads, then return to oven for 10 minutes or until base is light golden.
  
• Remove from oven and fill with chosen Quiche Filling. Quiche Lorraine, Salmon Quiche, Italian Sausage or your other filling of choice. 
  
  
• The pastry will not be 100% cooked, it finishes cooking with the filling. It's cooked enough so the crust will not go soggy.

Recipe Notes:

1. Optional extra refrigeration - The key characteristic of shortcrust pastry is that it's flaky and tender. In order to achieve this, the dough needs to have little bits of cold butter in it when it goes in the oven. If the butter is melted, then the pastry won't be as flaky (but still very tasty!).

So if it's warm where you are, and it takes you longer than 5 - 7 minutes to roll out the dough, press into tin and get it into the fridge, refrigerate the dough for 15 minutes or so before baking.

2. If using store bought frozen shortcrust pastry, you will need 2 sheets (standard Australian square sheets). Thaw then line the 2 sheets together so they are overlapping slightly and press down firmly to seal. Then press into the pan and start from step 10. 

3. Weights stops base from puffing up and helps reduce pastry shrinkage

4. Different measures in different countries - The measures in this recipe work with both US and metric (rest of world!) measures.

5. General - this recipe does not have egg in it (some recipes do), which makes it crisper, more flaky and more buttery, yet soft enough to cut through with a fork with barely any effort. Egg is a binder and it makes the dough tougher.

6. FILLING: If you want to make your own filling, use this as a guide:

• Standard quiche tin (about 23cm / 9" diameter, 2.5 - 3cm / 1 - 1.25" deep) - use the cream, eggs, salt and cheese in the Quiche Lorraine recipe, then your add ins of choice
• Deeper quiche tart tin (about 23cm / 9" diameter, 3.5 - 4 cm / 1.5 - 1.7" deep) - use the cream, eggs, salt and cheese the Salmon Quiche recipe.

Nutrition Information:

Calories: 173cal (9%)Carbohydrates: 17g (6%)Protein: 2g (4%)Fat: 10g (15%)Saturated Fat: 6g (38%)Cholesterol: 26mg (9%)Sodium: 235mg (10%)Potassium: 24mg (1%)Vitamin A: 310IU (6%)Calcium: 6mg (1%)Iron: 1.1mg (6%)

Keywords: How to cook frozen shortcrust pastry, Quiche Crust, Shortcrust pastry

Did you make this recipe?I love hearing how you went with my recipes! Tag me on Instagram at @RecipeTinEats.

Life of Dozer

Racing for a toy!