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:
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you want to make a homemade quiche crust from scratch; or
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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
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Blitz – place flour, butter and salt in a food processor and blitz until fine crumbs form
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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!
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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
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Roll out pastry to 3 mm / 1/8″ thick
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Press into quiche tin or pie dish
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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.
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Remove beads carefully – Nobody wants hot beads bouncing all over the kitchen!
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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:
If you want to make your own filling, use this as a guide:
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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;
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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
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Quiche Crust / Shortcrust Pastry for Pies
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:
- 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:
Life of Dozer
Racing for a toy!
Hello…will this pie crust fit a 9×2” deep fluted pan? If not, could you please tell me changes I would make. Thank you!
Excellent recipe, Nagi’s recipe never fails ♥️
Did it exactly as the recipe says… Came out light and buttery.. Hmmm will save it one
Confused about the weight of flour in this recipe. 185g is about 6.5 oz., not 5.6.
For reference, I’d love to know how much a cup of flour weighs (in oz or grams) generally in your recipes when weights aren’t listed. Thanks!
This came together easily and beautifully in my food processor. I chilled overnight so I could bake the quiche for Valentine’s breakfast. The pastry was perfect! Light, flaky, crisp! Not overly buttery, which is good since the quiche filling so rich. I blind baked the first time as instructed (I don’t have pie weights, and I don’t like wasting beans, so I used a bag of decorative river pebbles, ha! They worked like a charm). Then when removing the paper, I brushed with a little egg wash before baking the second time, to really seal the pastry (saw it on GBBO). Don’t know if it was necessary, but no soggy bottom! Saving this as a go to short crust pastry recipe!
Hi Nagi. Should I grease the tray before adding the dough?
Hi Althea, no need to grease 🙂 N x
Can i substitute olive oil for the butter. If so, how much. Thanks!
I absolutely love LOVE love your recipes…..
Nagi, I am excited to try this. I have it in the oven now. Filled it with broccoli and gruyere My question: can you use this crust for sweet goods? Like a pie, etc?
Hi Sam, use this one instead 🙂 https://www.recipetineats.com/pie-crust-recipe/ N x
How do you freeze the quiche Cooked or uncooked?
I freeze it cooked Nina! N x
Lovely pastry Nagi, used it for meat pies. Next time would like to use 50/50 butter/lard instead of all butter. Do you see any issue there? Thanks!
Thank you so much! I made my first Quiche and people were amazed at the crust! Easy, and great every time!!
Hi Nagi! I’m wondering if this can be made in a stand mixer since I don’t have a food processor? Thank you and I’m excited to pair this with your Aussie Meat Pie recipe tomorrow.
Hi Tamara, not really as you want the blades to cut the butter into the flour (not beat it) as this is what yields a crumbly, short pastry. You can always do it by hand! N x
I made this in the stand mixer and it was perfect. Used the whisk attachment to make the fine breadcrumbs part, mixed in the cold water with a spoon to get it to come together and then dough attachment for the final part until it forms a ball.
How do you blind bake mini-quiche? Is it necessary?
Hi Alyce, you do it the same way as a full size quiche (just in smaller form) – and yes it’s necessary to cook the base first otherwise it will become soggy 🙂 N x
Hi. Ive joined some time ago but never received my free ckbks. Maybe I did something wrong.
Hi Pat, sorry they got lost along the way – send me an e-mail and I’ll reply with the e-cookbooks. N x
Hi Nagi Made this recently and it was amazing. One question. After the initial blind bake with the baking beads, my pastry developed a large air bubble. I pushed it down several times during the second part of the blind bake but wondered why it happened. Do you think increasing the time of first blind bake might help?
Hi Nagi, if you want to freeze a batch of pie cases can you blind bake and freeze or do you need to cook them fully before freezing?
Hi Emma, I imagine you can do that! You can then simply thaw and use as needed. N x
This recipe looks really similar to pate brisse (French readers, please excuse the lack of accents!), which is two parts flour for one part butter, plus the cold water and salt 🙂
I understand the main reason for cooling the dough is to let the gluten stabilise. If you try to roll it straight from the food processor, it keeps shrinking back, but not after refrigerating which I know because I usually roll it straight away, and cool it in the quiche tin because I’m short of time.
Also, I find Australian flour is super thirsty compared with flour from my home country (the main difference being flour here has 10 g protein / 100 g and over there it’s only 3 or 4 g).
Sorry, got excited with the data!!
The truth is, I love your recipes and I know they’ll never fail me, which is why I kicked myself earlier today, for not using your recipe I know, and trying someone else’s just because it made two cake layers… Sweet
or savoury, you *always* deliver!!
hi nagi, you are my go to recipe chef, luv the site. a question re making pastry in a food processor, can i use the metal blade?
Yep – I do all the time Melanie! N x
can the cooked pie crust be frozen until it is needed later?
Hi Nagi, have always been keen to try making this especially now that Coles & WoOlies have been out of stock for a few weeks now.
Could I use this same recipe to make pie bases in muffin tins (looking to make your delicious party pies)? If so, will I still need to blind bake?
Thank you!
Hi Helen, great idea and yes you’d need to blind bake – enjoy! N x