Quiche is one of the greatest make-ahead breakfasts imaginable. Meant to be served at room temperature—or even slightly chilled—you not only can make quiche ahead, you have to! This makes it the ultimate stress-free dish for celebratory mornings like Mother's Day or holiday brunches.

The Secret to Silky Custard

At its heart, quiche is a custard pie. Custard is a delicate emulsion of milk or cream and eggs that must be cooked to a specific thickened consistency. Without enough cream, you have a frittata; with too much heat, you have scrambled eggs. The goal is a silky, exquisite texture that only precise temperature monitoring can guarantee.

Critical Doneness Temperature: The custard in a quiche is perfectly set between 165°F and 185°F (74°C and 85°C). Using a Thermapen® ONE allows you to pull the quiche before the eggs curdle, ensuring a luscious mouthfeel every time.'

Blind Baking: The Key to a Crisp Crust

One major difference between a stellar quiche and a mediocre one is the crust. To avoid a "soggy bottom," you must blind-bake. This process involves pre-cooking the crust without the filling to set the dough and create a moisture barrier. We bake with pie weights at 375°F (191°C) until the edges brown, then finish without weights to ensure the center is fully cooked.

By cooking to temp rather than time, you eliminate the guesswork and deliver a quiche with a texture your tomorrow-self will be truly grateful for.

Ingredients

For the crust

1½ tsp kosher salt
1 tsp sugar
2 C all-purpose flour, plus more for surface
5 Tbsp chilled unsalted butter
3 Tbsp chilled lard or shortening

For the filling

8 oz thick-cut smoked bacon, cut into ½-inch pieces
3 large shallots, thinly sliced
3 Tbsp unsalted butter
2 sprigs thyme
1 bay leaf
3½ C half-and-half
8 large eggs (best if left to come to room temperature)
2 tsp kosher salt
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
Pinch of freshly ground nutmeg
2 oz Gruyère, finely grated

Directions

Prepare and blind-bake the crust

Combine the 2 C flour, the salt, and the sugar in the bowl of a food processor. Whiz together. Cut the chilled butter and lard into small chunks and add to the flour mixture. Pulse the processor until the mixture looks like coarse meal.

Drizzle 6–7 Tbsp ice water into the processor while it’s running. Pulse until the dough is crumbly and holds together when squeezed.

Knead the dough a few times on your work surface. Press it into a disk, wrap it in plastic wrap, and chill it in the refrigerator for an hour.

Preheat your oven to 375°F (191°C).

Roll out the dough to a 14″ round, place it in a deep 9″ pie dish, tuck it into place, fix any tears, and crimp the edges.

Line the crust with parchment paper, fill it with pie weights (dried beans or rice also work great!) and bake about 25–30 minutes, until the edges are just starting to brown.

Remove the pie weights and parchment, then continue baking until the center starts to brown, about 15 more minutes.

Let the crust cool.

Make the filling

While the crust is chilling or baking, work on the filling.

Place the sliced shallot, the bacon, bay leaf, thyme sprigs, and butter in a pan. Cook over medium-high heat until the butter is bubbling. Turn the heat down to low and cook everything slowly until the shallots are soft and the bacon is browned somewhat.

Let the mixture cool somewhat, remove the thyme sprig and bay leaf, then strain the fat out. (I recommend saving that seasoned butter/fat for other uses!) Set the bacon/shallot mixture aside.

Heat the half-and-half in a saucepan until it just starts to bubble. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

Heat the oven to 325°F (163°C).

Put the eggs in a blender and blitz until frothy. Add the salt, cayenne, nutmeg and half-and-half, and blend until smooth.

Put the pie pan with the crust on a rimmed baking sheet (in case any filling spills over). Put all the cheese in the bottom of the pie crust, spreading it evenly. Spread out the bacon/shallot mixture on top of the cheese.

Place the pan on the oven middle oven rack, and pour in the egg mixture. (Pouring it in while the pan is on the oven rack helps prevent spills on the way to the oven.)

Bake. Start checking the temperature in the center of the quiche with your Thermapen at about 55 minutes. It may take as long as 75 minutes to get up to 165–185°F (74–85°C). The center will still seem somewhat jiggly.

Remove the quiche from the oven and allow to cool to room temperature on a wire rack on the counter. Refrigerate, or serve once cooled. (If serving tomorrow morning, take it out of the fridge an hour or so before serving so it can come up to room temperature.)