I have never been a big egg person. For years, I would only eat my eggs fried, so I could dunk my pancakes or toast into the yolks. I have never liked them scrambled and I only eat omelets when someone else makes them for me. I know – weird.
The first time I ever had a poached egg was as an adult, and while they are great on a piece of toast or an English muffin, I never make them for myself. With all that said, I really enjoy having quiche for breakfast.
It started when my mom made me a low carb spinach quiche three years ago. I have probably eaten that quiche 300 days a year since then. I still love it, but it’s time to try new flavor combinations. (I feel so disloyal, saying that!)
I concocted this low carb bacon and cheese quiche recipe from left over ingredients I had in the fridge. It was surprisingly good. The texture was buttery with a slightly sweet flavor from the onions and fennel, and the salty-smoky goodness from the bacon and apple smoked Gouda cheese, kicked it up to a new level. The savory low carb gluten-free crust is flavored with thyme, which lends an earthy flavor to the caramelized onions and fennel.
If you would like to make this bacon and cheese quiche lower in carbs, make it crustless – but don’t forget to add some thyme to the custard because it tastes great! And, while I generally think of quiche as a breakfast food, this recipe is perfectly suited for a low carb lunch or dinner with the simple addition of a salad.
This Bacon and Cheese Quiche is 5 net carbs per serving.
[Disclosure: This recipe contains affiliate links.]
Bacon and Cheese Quiche With Fennel and Leek (Low Carb)
Ingredients
Crust
- 1 1/3 cup almond flour
- 1/4 cup golden flax meal
- 1/4 cup whey protein powder (I like Isopure zero carb)
- 4 tablespoons heavy cream (or more if needed)
- 1 large egg yolk
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
Filling
- 6 slices bacon
- 3 ounces fennel bulb about 1/2 a medium bulb
- 3 ounces leeks about 1 smallish leek
- 2 ounces onion
- 1 tablespoon bacon drippings
- 2 tablespoons chardonnay
- 2 tablespoons water
Custard
- 5 large eggs
- 1 large egg white
- 6 ounces Gouda cheese
- 3/4 cup heavy cream
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon lemon pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350. Spray a large, glass tart plate with baking spray. Mine was 10 inches.
- Cook the bacon and save 1 tablespoon of the drippings. Slice the vegetables and caramelize in the bacon drippings. This will take some time as it needs to cook on low. Add the Chardonnay and keep adding water to the vegetables so that they stay moist and get nice and soft.
- Crust:Mix the dry ingredients for the crust together in a small bowl. Mix the wet ingredients for the crust in a separate smaller bowl. Pour the wet into the dry ingredients and mix together. It will be wet and doughy. Pull little pieces off of the dough and put into the bottom of the glass tart plate until evenly distributed on the bottom. Oil your fingers and press the dough into the bottom and up the sides of the plate. It will take a while so take your time. Dock the dough and bake until golden brown. Cool.
- Mix all of the ingredients together for the custard, mix with the sauteed vegetables and cheese, and pour into the tart crust. Bake until the quiche is just cooked through in the middle. Put under the broiler if you want it more browned on top.
Hi Kim, can you please tell me what adding the gluten free out flour to the crust does? Is it taste, texture or both? I am in Australia and I cant get GF oat flour in my town (and I am coeliac so am wary of all oat products anyway). I think I would just replace it with more almond flour -but almonds are not absorbent like oats, so maybe replace the oats with a 1/4 cup made up of 1/2 almond meal and 1/2 ground flax? I know it sounds so OCD to ask, but this type of baking is so weird and I really do appreciate all the years of trials and efforts that folk like you share. Thank you.
Hello “Pugs”. This is a recipe I did two years ago when I was first blogging and wasn’t considering what ingredients people could or could not get. I was just posting what I made at home. I will update the recipe and photos when I get time.
So, yes, add a little more almond flour or make the quiche crustless. We often enjoy crustless quiches or even muffin quiches at my house. The oat flour does help with texture – giving it a more pastry feel. I totally understand that this is a new way of eating and a little weird. Since you are a coeliac, stay away from any recipe that uses oat fiber, on my site or sub with coconut flour. While oats can be certified gluten free, the oat fiber (the ground tough papery husks that surround the groat) are all processed together and not certified gluten, free. If you haven’t found Ditch The Carbs, yet, Libby is from New Zealand and uses ingredients that one can get over there. There is also an Australian blogger Karina from Cafe Delites that has some low carb recipes on her site and drop dead food photography. I wish you well. -Kim
Just beginning the low carb high fat lifestyle and this recipe looks like a great breakfast. Other than when I used to make my own almond milk, I’ve never found one that didn’t contain objectionable ingredients. Since we are not dairy-free around here, would I use heavy cream instead, in the same amount?
Also, would more water suffice as a substitute for the chardonnay?
I really love your site. I’m having trouble getting to bed much before 3 am for the last three nights reading all the amazing recipes!
Hi, Laurie. Yes, use heavy cream in the same amount. I have other quiche recipes that contain dairy and any of the quiches with a crust can be made crustless, too. Just type “quiche” into the search box and you will see about 5 recipe options come up in the results. You don’t have to add the wine, but it does add nice flavor. My bottle of wine lasts in my fridge for many months because I only use it for cooking. I also have bottles of brandy, dry vermouth and dry sherry that I have had for well over a year. The alcohol (sugar) burns off during cooking leaving a nice added flavor to recipes. Thank you for your kind comments. I hope my site is not the cause of any more late nights! Have a wonderful day! -Kim