This Paleo broccoli quiche is easy to make and perfect as a make ahead breakfast or to bring to brunch! It’s loaded with caramelized onions, savory sautéed broccoli and crisp bacon, plus has a secret “cheesy” ingredient while remaining dairy free!
Woohoo! It’s my first official recipe using my now-favorite-ever pie crust. Surprise! It’s a quiche, not a pie (don’t worry, I have a sweet creamy coconut custard pie coming this weekend!) and the filling is super easy to make, kid friendly (believe it or not!) It also happens to be one of our favorite combos around here – broccoli and bacon.
I had a feeling that you guys might think about a broccoli quiche and start dreaming of cheddar cheese (or was that just me?!) If you’re with me there, I want you to know that you’re covered, even if you’re not doing any dairy at all, because of the flavor power of nutritional yeast!
I get questions about nutritional yeast all the time, since I include it in combination with coconut milk and eggs in many of my breakfast casserole and quiche recipes. Nutritional yeast is deactivated yeast used as a seasoning. It’s full of b vitamins, totally gluten free and grain free, and happens to have a cheesy flavor that works really well in sauces, with eggs, and even on potatoes. While I wouldn’t exactly sprinkle it on my food and call it a day (although some people do) I think it’s perfect when it’s “hidden” in a recipe, for that little extra boost of flavor.
That said, if you happen to be okay using a bit of lactose free dairy, a bit of shredded cheddar would be delicious in this quiche. Just in case you were wondering…
Now that we’ve cleared that up, a bit more about the recipe. You’ll see below that I give you the option of using my paleo pie crust, OR my Whole30 friendly sweet potato crust. Both are delicious, however it was VERY exciting for me to eat this completely legit-tasting quiche with the grain free/dairy free crust. I highly recommend you try it this way – it’s just perfect! No worries – I have about 100 sweet potato recipes waiting for you on the site (at least!) for another day 🙂
What more is there to say, other than are you guys getting as hungry as I am right now? Actually, I’ve been in a permanent state of hunger since I finally started running again after a 4 week break. Seriously, it’s easy to forget what a running appetite feels like when it’s gone, but it’s come back, and that means all of a sudden we have less food in our house. If I weren’t a food blogger and didn’t have perpetual “day after Thanksgiving syndrome going on in my fridge, I might start to worry. Not joking at all!
But anyway, I hope you’re already frying your bacon, and, yes, you do need to include ALL of that bacon in the recipe. No room for nibbling! Now let’s make this broccoli quiche 🙂
Paleo Broccoli Quiche with Bacon
Paleo Broccoli Quiche with Bacon
Ingredients
- 1 Paleo Pie Crust recipe baked for 7 minutes (until just set) OR Sweet Potato Crust(for Whole30)*
- 5 slices bacon nitrate free, cooked and crumbled, OR cooked ham, if preferred
- 3 Tbsp cooking fat of choice bacon fat, coconut oil, ghee, etc, divided
- 3-4 cups fresh broccoli florets chopped into small bite-size pieces (2 small-ish bunches)
- 1 small onion sliced thin
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- Sea salt to sprinkle on onions and broccoli
- 1/2 tsp sea salt for the egg mixture
- 6 large eggs
- 1/3 cup canned organic coconut milk full fat is ideal, though you can get away with the light version
- 2-3 tbsp nutritional yeast***
- 1/2 tsp mustard
Instructions
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RECIPE NOTE: PREP TIME does not include the time needed to prepare your selected crust.
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Preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Cook your bacon until crisp and set aside to drain.
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In a separate skillet, heat 2 Tbsp bacon fat or cooking fat of choice over low heat, add the sliced onions and stir to coat. Sprinkle with salt, and continue to cook over medium-low/low heat for 15 minutes, stirring to avoid burning, until a deep golden color**
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Meanwhile, heat the remaining Tbsp of cooking fat in a separate skillet over med heat (I used the skillet where the bacon was cooked) and add the broccoli. Toss to coat and cook for about a minute, add the garlic and continue to stir and cook until the broccoli is bright green and slightly softened and garlic is soft, then remove from heat.
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Drain excess fat from caramelized onions and add them to the broccoli and garlic.
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In a large mixing bowl, whisk or blend together the eggs, coconut milk, nutritional yeast, salt and mustard
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Fill the partially baked crust with the broccoli mixture plus the cooked and crumbled bacon, then pour the egg mixture over the top, careful not to let it overflow.
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Bake in 400 degree oven for about 25-30 minutes until center is set. You may need to use a foil tent to avoid over-browning the crust halfway through.
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Allow to sit at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving. Enjoy! Store leftovers covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.
Recipe Notes
*If you opt for a sweet potato crust, follow the instructions in the linked recipe for pre-roasting the crust prior to adding the filling.
**This might take longer if you keep the heat very low. The lower and longer the onions cook, the better they truly caramelize.
***Nutritional yeast is a seasoning that's Paleo & Whole30 friendly, has a "cheesy" flavor and adds flavor plus a nutritional boost to many recipes!
Nutrition
Want more Paleo quiches and delicious egg recipes? Try one of these!
Spinach Mushroom Onion Quiche with Sweet Potato Crust
Chorizo Sausage Sweet Potato Frittata with Caramelized Onions
Tell Me!
Do you sneak extra bacon when you cook it like I do? Is is even possible to NOT do this?!
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Patricia @Sweet and Strong says
April 5, 2017 at 9:48 amConfession, I don’t think I’ve ever cooked bacon and broccoli! I need to get on that asap!
Emily says
April 5, 2017 at 10:21 amSometimes I do sneak extra bacon while cooking; you just can’t beat the saltiness! And a quiche sounds really satisfying for a breakfast.
Cheryl says
April 5, 2017 at 4:36 pmHoly MOLY this looks so good. I’m obsessed with quiche anyway, and this takes it over the top. Whooaaaaa
Sandra says
April 5, 2017 at 6:55 pmJust made three of these ( family of 8 – with a mom who likes leftovers). Not sure if it passes the test of all the children, but so far so good. Made your sweet potato and apple hash to go with it. Crust was a bit crumbly, but just pressed into pan with hands and flavor is wonderful. Used frozen broccoli that I let thaw and just chopped into small bites. We use turkey bacon, but bacon makes anything delicious:)
Denise Timmerye says
April 10, 2017 at 3:32 amHi there. I made your broccoli and bacon pie today….it was delicous! And yes, I did steal some crispy bacon as I was cutting it up. Haha. The pie crust is really easy too, and I’m sure I will adapt it to many other dishes. My lunches this week are sorted!
Thanks again…yum!
Michele says
April 11, 2017 at 6:10 amSo happy you liked it! And yes, so perfect to adapt to other recipes 🙂
Elizabeth says
November 1, 2017 at 10:40 pmCan I leave out the nutritional yeast? I do not have any on hand.
Michele says
November 3, 2017 at 10:57 amYup that’s fine
Desiree says
November 28, 2017 at 1:26 amDespite using unblanched almond flour, it was still very good ! I cheated and added Parmesan
Michele says
November 28, 2017 at 2:35 pmNice! I’m sure the cheese was delicious!
Abbey says
November 29, 2017 at 2:47 pmWould it be okay to make this without any crust at all?
Michele says
December 3, 2017 at 11:11 amYup that would work!
Danielle Dykstra says
March 13, 2018 at 2:35 pmDoes the Quiche have a strong coconut flavor from using the milk? I really don’t care for coconut. What could I use as a substitute?
Michele says
March 13, 2018 at 3:05 pmI never notice any coconut flavor, the other flavors cover it up.
Marifrances Cooney says
March 19, 2018 at 7:29 pmI made this tonight, substituting ham for the bacon. It was great, but the crust was excellent. Thank you!
Michele says
March 23, 2018 at 7:58 pmSo thrilled you enjoyed it!
Heather says
March 28, 2018 at 11:42 amLiterally the best quiche I’ve ever eaten!!!!! And the pastry was just like my usual non-paleo one I make, you’d never know the difference. Absolutely delish, thank you so much for posting this.
Lindsay says
September 17, 2018 at 1:13 amCan I make this without crust?
Selena says
November 9, 2018 at 8:04 pmCan I use almond milk instead of coconut milk?
Michele says
November 12, 2018 at 5:55 pmI’m not entirely sure how that would affect the texture but it will probably be okay.
Bee says
December 31, 2018 at 8:03 pmExcellent. I didn’t find it to be definitively “cheesy” with the nutritional yeast but more subtle. I added small diced red pepper to the onion mix. Also I didn’t have coconut milk on hand so I subbed heavy cream. Easy, yummy and filling!
Brittany says
May 5, 2019 at 7:05 pmThis was amazing! I actually made it crustless and also for a group of non paleo people and they all raved about it (and we’re none the wiser)