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Growing up, my family enjoyed a lot of crustless recipes, like pumpkin pie and quiche.
This is probably because my mom didn’t like the effort involved in making a crust. (I get my kitchen laziness from her– if it’s not quick and easy, I’m not doing it!) Why make a crust for pumpkin pie after making an entire Thanksgiving dinner? All of the flavor is in the filling, anyway.
The same logic can be applied to this quiche. All of the delicious flavor I love is packed in this protein-rich filling, and the crust just seems like unnecessary effort that could be better used doing other things… like sleeping in, if you’re lucky, or playing outside with your son who wakes up WAY too early on the weekends.
Rather than using flour or heavy cream, this recipe gets its “bulk” from cooked spaghetti squash, which also provides a wide variety of vitamins and minerals, including vitamin A, B-6, niacin, folate and manganese. I like to bake a couple of spaghetti squash over the weekend, so that they’re ready to go for any recipe I’d like to prepare quickly during the week, and I highly recommend you do the same so that this process is as easy as possible. (For ideas to use up the other half of your spaghetti squash, see more recipes here.)
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Gluten-Free Crustless Quiche
Serves 4-6
Ingredients:
2 cups cooked spaghetti squash (about 1/2 of a 3.5 lb squash)
1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter
1 onion, chopped
1 cup baby kale, chopped
4 eggs, beaten
2 ounces raw cheddar, shredded (about 1/2 cup) and divided
1 teaspoon sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
coconut oil or butter for greasing the dish
Directions:
If you have not already done so, bake the spaghetti squash using these directions. Allow it to cool to room temperature, and save one half of the squash for another use.
If the oven isn’t already hot, preheat it to 350F and generously grease a 9-inch pie dish (I use this one) with coconut oil or butter. In the meantime, melt the coconut oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until tender, about 8 minutes. Add in the chopped kale, and sauté until it’s bright green and tender, about 3 to 5 more minutes.
Transfer the sautéed veggies to a medium mixing bowl, and add in 4 eggs, 2 cups of cooled spaghetti squash strands, 1 ounce of shredded cheese, and season with salt and black pepper. Stir well and pour the mixture into the greased pie dish. Top with the remaining ounce of shredded cheese and bake at 350F until the top is golden, about 35 to 40 minutes. (The center will rise with baking, but will later deflate when you remove it from the oven.)
Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to one week.
Ingredients
- 2 cups cooked spaghetti squash (about 1/2 of a 3.5 lb squash)
- 1 teaspoon coconut oil or butter
- 1 onion , chopped
- 1 cup baby kale , chopped
- 4 eggs , beaten
- 2 ounces raw cheddar , shredded (about 1/2 cup) and divided
- 1 teaspoon sea salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- coconut oil or butter for greasing the dish
Instructions
- If you have not already done so, bake the spaghetti squash using these directions. Allow it to cool to room temperature, and save one half of the squash for another recipe.
- If the oven isn't already hot, preheat it to 350F and generously grease a 9-inch pie dish (I use this one) with coconut oil or butter. In the meantime, melt the coconut oil or butter in a skillet over medium heat and sauté the onion until tender, about 8 minutes. Add in the chopped kale, and sauté until bright green and tender, about 3 to 5 more minutes.
- Transfer the sautéed veggies to a medium mixing bowl, and add in 4 eggs, 2 cups of cooled spaghetti squash strands, 1 ounce of shredded cheese, and season with salt and black pepper. Stir well and pour the mixture into the greased pie dish. Top with the remaining ounce of shredded cheese and bake at 350F until the top is golden, about 35 to 40 minutes. (The center will rise with baking, but will later deflate when you remove it from the oven.)
- Allow to cool for 10 minutes and serve warm. Leftovers can be stored in a tightly sealed container in the fridge for up to one week.
Nutrition
Per Serving: Calories: 109, Fat: 6g, Carbohydrates: 5g, Protein: 6g
Notes:
This recipe can be easily adapted to use any veggies you have on hand. If you need to substitute the spaghetti squash, zucchini or yellow squash can be used, but be sure to squeeze out the excess moisture before mixing it with the eggs to avoid a watery result.
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Reader Feedback: Do you have any other crustless favorites?
Do you think butternut squash would work?