This quiche is packed with all the good stuff: fresh asparagus, chopped ham, and melty gruyere cheese. It’s made with store-bought pie crust to make it even easier!
Ham and scalloped potatoes have been on our family’s Easter menu since…forever. I love a good fire glazed ham, but this Easter, I’m serving brunch instead.
This Asparagus, Ham, and Gruyere Quiche hits all the right flavor notes—tender fresh asparagus, chopped deli ham, and nutty gruyere cheese.
The three are suspended in the perfect ratio of eggs and half & half to create a light and fluffy custard.
And of course there’s the crust. It’s nothing extraordinary (in fact, it’s store-bought), but it does the trick just perfectly.
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Quiche ingredients
- The base of the quiche is a store-bought pie crust. I used Pillsbury. Of course, you can make your own if you’d like!
- A mixture of eggs and half & half create a creamy custard.
- Asparagus, ham, and gruyere cheese are the stars of this quiche. See below for substitution ideas!
- Salt and black pepper season the quiche to perfection.
How to make a crust for a quiche
For this quiche, I wanted to save time, and refrigerated pie crusts are so easy.
You’ll need one refrigerated crust (there are typically two per box). Save the other crust for another quiche. You can either double this recipe or you can freeze it for later use.
In order for the crust to be golden brown and cooked underneath, you need to par-bake the crust. That just means that you’re giving it a head start in the oven. I baked the crust for 10 minutes at 425°F to par-bake it.
How to prevent crust from falling
There’s a tricky thing about pie crust. It easily shrinks and slides down the edges of a pie dish.
The key is to make sure that the crust is sitting on the lip of the pie plate. If your pie plate is too big or too deep, it won’t do that.
Mine is a 9-inch pie dish
from Pyrex.
I folded the edge of the crust in toward the center and let it sit on the edge of pie plate. This helps hold it in place while baking.
There are two more secrets to ensure a successful par-bake of the crust:
- Poke the crust all over with a fork (this eliminates bubbles from forming).
- Line the crust with aluminum foil, then put pie weights or dried beans in the crust before baking. Fill the crust up to the top to ensure that the edges of the crust don’t slip down! This is a great tutorial if you’re a visual learner, or just want to learn more.
Step-by-step instructions
Once the crust has cooked, it’s time to add fillings!
First, sauté the asparagus in a little bit of butter.
Then, grate the gruyere and chop the ham. You can either use deli ham or finely chopped leftover ham (like from my 3-Ingredient Brown Sugar Glazed Ham).
When layering it into the crust, start with the gruyere, then top it with the ham and asparagus. The layer of gruyere prevents the crust from getting soggy.
Next, whisk together the eggs, half & half, salt and pepper. Pour them over the fillings in the crust, and place the dish in the oven for 40 minutes.
Give the quiche a little jostle when you’re checking it in the oven. Once it no longer jiggles in the middle, it’s ready.
Filling substitutions
This recipe is super adaptable. I chose asparagus, ham, and gruyere, but you could choose any veggie, meat, and cheese that you like!
- Vegetables: broccoli, red pepper, mushrooms, zucchini, yellow squash, spinach
- Meat: chopped turkey or chicken, ground sausage, a mixture of ground sausage and bacon
- Cheese: cheddar, monterey jack, swiss, goat cheese
Swap any of the above for the asparagus, ham, and gruyere, and you’ll have a delicious quiche.
Serving suggestions
Asparagus, Ham, and Gruyere Quiche serves 6–8 guests. For lunch, it’s delicious with a side salad and a hunk of French baguette.
For brunch, I love serving a combination of sweet and savory dishes. Since this quiche lands in the savory camp, Cherry Coffee Cake or Overnight French Toast Casserole are both great pairings.
A German Pancake with Apples is another good one!
Have you tried this recipe? Please leave a ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ rating and/or comment below!
📖 Recipe
Asparagus, Ham, and Gruyere Quiche
Ingredients
- 1 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crust
- 1 tablespoon butter
- 1 cup asparagus, cut into 1 inch pieces (about 12 thin spears)
- 1 cup shredded gruyere
- 1 cup diced deli ham (about 4 oz)
- 5 eggs
- 1½ cups half & half (or use a mixture of 1 part cream to 1 part milk)
- 1½ teaspoons sea salt
- Black pepper to taste
- For garnish: fresh chopped parsley
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. Unroll the pie crust and gently place it into a 9-inch pie pan. Roll the edges in slightly to create an edge, making sure part of the crust in sitting on the lip of the pie pan (this ensures that the sides of the crust won’t collapse while baking).
- Poke the crust all over with a fork. Place a piece of aluminum foil on the bottom of the crust and place pie weights (or dried beans) on top.
- Bake the crust for 10 minutes, or until the edges are very light brown. Remove the foil and pie weights/beans. Set aside to cool.
- Reduce oven to 350°F. Place the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat. Add the asparagus and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft (about 6–8 minutes).
- In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, half & half, sea salt, and black pepper.
- Sprinkle the cheese on the partially cooked crust, then top with the chopped ham and cooked asparagus. Pour the egg mixture over the top.
- Bake in a 350°F oven for 40–50 minutes, or until the center no longer jiggles when jostled lightly. Let cool for 10 minutes before cutting into slices to serve. Garnish with chopped parsley, if desired.
Connie Courtney says
This recipe came out delicious. I really liked your method of layering the cheese, filling, and then egg mixture. It made a difference! I used grated some white cheddar I had on hand and added some baby spinach for additional color and nutrition.
The quiche baked up fluffy and beautiful. I cooked it for an hour.
Thank you.,
Kate Shungu says
Sounds delicious—thanks for sharing your take on the recipe!
Michael Riddle says
Delicious recipe, we had it for lunch today. It took quite a bit longer to cook than 40 minutes but that seems to happen with all quiche recipes I try. Will definitely make it again!
Kate Shungu says
So glad you enjoyed it—thank you!
Karoline says
We REALLY, really enjoyed this quiche! I put this together on Thursday and it was gone Friday night. It’s Sunday afternoon and I am making another. The recipe is very easy to follow. It did take well over an hour to bake which is still well worth the time.
Kate Shungu says
I’m so glad that you enjoyed it, Karoline!
Dan Osborn says
Looks good—trying this next week.