Can You Freeze Quiche? – The Complete Guide
If you are looking for a way to keep quiche fresh for longer, your first thought would be to freeze it.
Freezing foods is the best way to preserve their shelf-life, but not all foods freeze the same. If you had to have a look into which foods should not be frozen, you would see eggs on this list.
This is because cooked egg whites tend to turn rubbery when they are frozen, and egg-thickened foods can weep once thawed. Quiche is made up predominantly of eggs, so you may wonder how well it holds up in the freezer.
Can you freeze quiche? Yes, you can freeze quiche for 1-3 months. The crust and filling can be frozen together or separately, and quiche can be frozen either before or after it has been cooked. All types of quiche can be frozen, but the process will vary slightly by type.
So you can freeze quiche to preserve it for longer, and quiche is commonly sold frozen in stores as well.
Quiche, even though it is a savory custard in a pie crust, does tend to hold up well when frozen, but there are a few things to consider when freezing quiche, such as whether you should freeze it unbaked or cooked.
Knowing if you can freeze homemade quiche, crustless quiche, cooked quiche, and even quiche with cream can help you savor any leftover quiche, and ensure that none goes to waste!
Can You Freeze Homemade Quiche?
Many people choose to make quiche ahead of time and freeze it, saving it for a quick lunch or dinner during the week.
Preparing a homemade quiche without cooking it and placing it in the freezer is possibly the best way to ensure the quiche keeps its great quality.
When you freeze quiche, you are freezing both the crust and the filling, two types of food that require different preparation and different storage when freezing.
So it really is best to prepare both the filling and the crust, and you can then decide to freeze the filling and the crust together or to freeze them separately.
Freezing The Crust And Filling Separately
If you are wanting the crust to be crispier and flakier once it has been frozen and thawed, you should freeze the crust and the filling separately. It makes sense to do this, as it prevents the crust from becoming soggy from the filling.
Make the filling – First, you will need to make the filling for the quiche. This will include your eggs and other ingredients, whatever the recipe calls for.
Pour into a plastic bag – Once the filling has been made, do not cook it. Pour the filling into a freezer-safe plastic bag (like these from Amazon), leaving some room near the top.
Remove as much air from the freezer bag as possible before sealing it. Label the freezer bag with the name of the contents and the date of freezing.
Prepare the pastry – It is recommended to roll out and prepare the crust a few days before cooking the quiche, but you can get it ready ahead of time and freeze it if you are looking for long term storage. Roll out the pastry and place it into a suitable tin.
Place into a freezer bag – Once you have rolled the pastry out and put it into the intended pie tin, place both the tin and the pastry into a freezer bag and squeeze out as much air and moisture as possible.
Seal the plastic freezer bag and label it with the name of the contents and the date of freezing.
Freeze – Place the plastic freezer bag with the filling, and the plastic freezer bag with the crust into the freezer and ensure they are kept at a constant temperature of 0 degrees Fahrenheit until you are ready to assemble the quiche and cook it.
An uncooked quiche frozen in this manner can be kept in the freezer for up to three months. Just be aware that the longer you freeze the crust, the less likely it will be crispy and flakey.
When it is time to use the crust and filling, leave the bag of filling and the crust in the fridge to thaw, with the filling taking longer to thaw than the crust.
Pour the filling into the crust and then bake it for the intended period of time. Simple!
Freezing The Crust And Filling Together
If you do not want to go through the hassle of freezing the unbaked crust and filling separately, you can freeze them together.
This saves you some space in the freezer and allows you to thaw the quiche as a whole when it comes time to be eaten. Just take note that the crust will not be very flakey or crispy if frozen with the filling.
Assemble the quiche – Make up the filling and the crust as you usually would, following a recipe. Pour the filling into the crust, but do not bake it.
Prepare for freezing – Once the filling and crust are made up, place the quiche on a baking sheet. Make sure the baking sheet is lined with parchment paper, this just helps with cleaning up if any of the filling spills.
Freeze until firm – Place the baking sheet with the quiche into the freezer, and leave it to rest in a flat position.
Wait for the quiche to freeze until it is firm, which will take several hours. Make sure that the filling has frozen solid, as if it is soft or sticky, it could stick to the plastic wrap you will be wrapping it in.
Wrap it up – Once the quiche has frozen solid, remove it from the freezer and wrap it tightly in plastic wrap.
Push down the edges of the plastic wrap so that it creates an airtight seal. After wrapping the quiche in plastic wrap, you can then cover it with aluminum foil.
The aluminum foil protects the quiche from freezer burn, and the plastic wrap stops the foil from sticking to the quiche when frozen.
Alternatively, if you do not have plastic wrap or aluminum foil, you could place the whole quiche into a large freezer bag. Remove as much air as possible from the bag before sealing it tight, and label the bag.
Unbaked quiche which is assembled can be kept in the freezer for up to one month without losing too much quality. It will still be fine to eat after this, but the quality won’t be at its best.
When it comes time to eat the quiche, you can bake it from frozen, allowing for an additional 10 to 20 minutes of baking time to accommodate for defrosting. This saves you leaving the quiche in the fridge to thaw overnight.
Can You Freeze Cooked Quiche?
You might find yourself with enough filling and crust to make another quiche, or if you are wanting to bake a quiche to keep in the freezer for a later date, you can freeze cooked quiche.
You will just cook the quiche as normal, but instead of eating it, you will be getting it ready to be kept in the freezer.
Bake the quiche – When you bake your quiche, place it on a baking sheet. When it is done baking and it has cooled down, place it into the freezer on the baking sheet. The filling, even though it is cooked, will still be slightly soft, so it will need to freeze hard to not stick to the plastic wrap.
Wrap the quiche – It is best to wrap the quiche in two protective layers, to properly keep it safe from damage in the freezer. First, wrap the quiche up in plastic wrap, sealing it as tight as possible. Then wrap the quiche in a layer of aluminum foil.
This helps prevent excessive exposure to the air, which reduces the loss of quality. You can also place the quiche in a large freezer bag for further protection, or to easily label the quiche with the name and the date of freezing for easy identification.
The baked pie can be kept in the freezer for up to three months, without it losing too much of its quality.
Once you are ready to eat the quiche, remove it from the freezer and place it directly in a preheated oven. Leave it to bake for 20 to 25 minutes until heated thoroughly. There is no need to thaw the quiche beforehand, which saves you time!
Can You Freeze Crustless Quiche?
When freezing quiche, either baked or unbaked, you freeze the crust and the filling. However, if you are making a crustless quiche, you might not know how to keep the quiche together in the freezer.
But crustless quiche actually freezes really well, and the benefit of freezing crustless quiche is that there is no risk of a crust breaking in the freezer. You are also able to freeze the quiche for longer, as crusts cannot be frozen for as long as the filling.
To freeze a crustless quiche, follow these steps:
- Make the quiche the night before freezing it, and leave it in the fridge to set further.
- When the quiche has been left in the fridge overnight, wrap it tightly in plastic wrap, and then in a layer of aluminum foil. Use a permanent marker to write the contents and the date of freezing on the top of the aluminum foil wrapping.
- The crustless quiche can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months, still retaining its texture, taste, and quality.
- When you are ready to eat the crustless quiche, preheat the oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and remove the quiche from the freezer and place it straight into the oven after removing the wrapping. This saves you from having to thaw the quiche in the fridge overnight.
Not only is crustless quiche healthier than a normal quiche, but freezing quiche without the crust means there is less chance of the crust breaking, and the quiche being ruined in the freezer.
Can You Freeze Quiche With Cream In It?
Adding cream to a quiche that needs to be frozen is not ideal, but many quiche recipes call for cream, and you can get away with freezing quiche with cream.
It would be better, in this case, to cook the quiche beforehand, as if the cream is left uncooked, there is a chance that it can separate while frozen, and it can be quite difficult to get the ingredients to reincorporate before baking again.
Baking the quiche before freezing helps to prevent this to an extent.
Quiches, if made right, have the right balance of cream to egg to prevent it from weeping and separating when frozen and then thawed.
5 Tips For Freezing Quiche
Tip #1: Allow cooked quiche to cool completely before placing it into the freezer. This allows you to be able to wrap the quiche in plastic wrap without condensation forming, which could cause ice crystals and a decrease in quality.
It also prevents the warm quiche from heating up the inside of the freezer, which could put the other frozen food items at risk.
You can freeze the quiche in a tin if you would prefer it to be protected better this way.
Tip #2: Cooked quiches can be reheated from frozen, you just need to allow for additional cooking time to make provision for defrosting the quiche.
Tip #3: If you are not going to eat a whole quiche, you can slice a cooked quiche up and freeze individual slices. You can slice the quiche up and place the slices onto a baking sheet. Place this into a freezer and then wait for them to freeze solid.
Once frozen solid, wrap the individual slices in plastic wrap and then aluminum foil, and place these into a large freezer bag. This way you can remove one slice at a time to defrost without having to defrost a whole quiche and have most of it go to waste.
Tip #4: You can also make some mini quiches, the same way you would freeze baked quiches, just on a smaller scale. These are great for kids and for parties.
Tip #5: Be aware that if your quiche contains lots of vegetables, there is a chance the vegetables will be watery once reheated. For this, it is better to freeze the filling uncooked so the veggies will still be fairly firm and not too soggy.
Related Questions
We hope this guide to freezing quiche has been helpful. Just to be even more helpful, we’ve included this related questions section, so none of your quiche questions go unanswered.
Can You Microwave Frozen Quiche?
You can microwave frozen quiche, although the results are better when using an oven.
Remove the quiche from the freezer and remove it from the tin if it is one and place it on a microwave-safe plate. It should take around 15 to 20 minutes for the quiche to reach the right serving temperature.
How Do You Thaw Quiche Quickly?
To quickly thaw quiche, you can place it into the microwave onto the defrost function. Try not to leave it in for too long, and make sure to remove the quiche before it becomes hot.
Once it has thawed slightly, remove the quiche from the microwave and place it back into its tin, and then place it into a preheated oven which is at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
However, if the quiche is cooked when frozen, it is better to just place the frozen quiche in the oven and keep it in for a little longer to make up for the time it takes to defrost.
Freezing Quiche Successfully
It is possible to freeze quiche, whether you want to freeze it unbaked, baked, crustless, or with the filling and crust separated.
With some care and planning, you can freeze a quiche or quiche slices, to keep in the freezer to enjoy at a later stage for an easy dinner or lunch meal.
Just remember to give your quiche enough protection in the freezer using plastic wrap, aluminum foil, or a plastic freezer bag to ensure that it keeps its best quality and tastes great when the time comes to enjoy it!
Thanks for the article on freezing quiche, I normally make a quiche we eat half on the day of making and then eat the other half cold the next day for lunch which is not ideal , after reading your article I now have the confidence to freeze the left over half for a tasty meal in a week or so . So thank you for giving me the confidence, tomorrow when I am making a quiche for our evening meal 😉