This Southwestern Quiche with Hot Honey is a sponsored post by Challenge, but the text and opinions are all mine. Thank you for supporting brands that make Kylee’s Kitchen possible!
Quiche: An Underutilized and Underappreciated Breakfast Food
Quiche may very well be the most underrated breakfast food. I don’t understand why more people don’t get jazzed about quiche. The rich, custardy filling encased in a flaky pie crust is exactly what my dreams are made of. If I was a politician, I’d run on a platform of more quiche for America.
One of the things I love about quiche is that it can be as complex or as simple as you want it to be. The first quiche I fell in love with was quiche lorraine. It consists of bacon, onion, gruyere cheese, eggs, and heavy cream. It sounds simple enough, but the flavor combination is nothing short of heavenly.
Why You’ll Love this Spicy Bacon Cheddar Southwestern Quiche
Using the classic quiche lorraine as my muse, I wanted to create a quiche recipe with both savory and sweet elements. My answer was to make a southwestern quiche with sweet corn kernels and jalapeños in the filling finished with hot honey drizzled on top.
How did I balance Sweet and Spicy Flavors?
The majority of the Southwestern quiche has savory flavors: bacon, sharp cheddar, egg custard and onion. The sweet and spicy notes are more subtle. The hot honey is an accent flavor, not overpowering but a nice touch at the end. Meanwhile, the corn adds a mild sweetness. The majority of the heat of this dish will come from the jalapeños. You can vary how spicy you want your dish based on A) the amount of jalapeños and B) if you include the seeds (spicier with seeds).
Special Ingredients for the Best Southwestern Quiche
Homemade Pie Crust
I added a little cornmeal to my pie crust recipe to bring out the corn flavor, but it’s just as easy to leave it out if you don’t have cornmeal on hand.
I usually don’t buy premade pie dough, but if you don’t have the time, it’s completely reasonable to use one if needed. You just will lose the flakiness inherent to a good homemade crust as well as the extra corn flavors I added in this recipe. If you’re trying to impress a crowd and want to prepare in advance, the pie crust can always be made ahead of time.
A Quick Homemade Hot Honey Drizzle
The hot honey really takes this quiche from tasty to incredible. You can certainly buy hot honey, but it’s awfully expensive considering how easy it is to make. All you need is honey, hot sauce, vinegar, and red pepper flakes.
How to Keep Your Quiche Crust From Getting Soggy
A soggy crust really can ruin an otherwise perfect quiche. I always bake my crust without the filling first. That is called parbaking. Without doing this, your pie dough may not bake al the way through by the time the custard finishes baking. Parbake a crust by lining it with parchment paper and filling it with pie weights. Make sure you have enough pie weights to fill the entirety of the crust so the sides of the dough don’t sink when you parbake it. If you don’t have actual pie weights, dry beans also work well.
Quiche after Breakfast? How about a Sweet and Spicy Brunch!
Even though quiche is considered a “breakfast food,” don’t let that stop you from eating quiche for lunch and dinner as well! In fact, this would be a perfect sweet and spicy brunch recipe to really impress your guests.
Meal Prep, Saving Leftovers and Reheating
Meal Prep Tips for the Southwestern Quiche with Hot Honey
- Make the Pie Dough in Advance – Well-covered homemade pie dough can last 3 days in the refrigerator or 3 months in the freezer. You can always make a large batch of dough ahead of time, divide it, and save it for multiple quiches or for other uses.
- Par-bake the quiche – This is my favorite way to bake a quiche in advance. First bake the crust as described in the instructions. Whisk the custard ingredients together. Then cover both of the components separately and tightly. Place both in the fridge and bake the rest of the quiche before guests arrive.
- Complete the quiche bake in advance – Let the quiche cool out of the oven then cover it tightly and place in the refrigerator. The quiche will keep for up to three days.
Saving Your Leftovers: Refrigerator or Freezer?
If you read online – technically you can freeze a quiche for up to 3 months. However, I would not recommend it. This quiche will taste so delicious after you make it, freezing will lose a lot of the texture and just isn’t worth it. Instead, leave it in the fridge for up to 3 days after baking it.
Reheating Your Leftovers
If you’re reheating a pre-made quiche, just put it in a warm oven and let it heat fully. Of course, in a pinch microwaving the leftovers will do the trick, but it always tastes better warmed in the oven.
I made this recipe on Fox59! If you’re interested in more southwestern style breakfast or brunch foods try my Chorizo and Jalapeño Corn Fritters or Breakfast Taco Casserole recipes.
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Southwestern Quiche with Hot Honey
Savory Southwestern quiche featuring bacon, spicy jalapeños, sharp cheddar and homemade hot honey drizzle. Ideally, make it scratch (provided here), but if you’re in a pinch use store bought dough and hot honey.
- Total Time1 hour 30 minutes
- Yield8 servings 1x
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- 1 3/8 cups (180 g) all-purpose flour
- 1/4 cup (40 g) cornmeal (if you don’t have cornmeal, use an additional 40 g flour)
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 1 1/3 stick (154 g) Challenge unsalted butter
- 4.5 tbsp (66 g) cold water
For the custard
- 4 oz bacon, medium dice
- 3 oz sweet onion, medium dice
- 8 oz corn kernels (fresh or frozen)
- 1 jalapeño, small dice
- 4 large eggs
- 6 fluid ounces heavy cream
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup (4 oz) sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
For the hot honey
- 1/2 cup honey
- 1 tbsp hot sauce
- 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
For the pie crust
- Mix flour, cornmeal, salt, and butter until pieces of butter are very small.
- Add water to flour mixture 1 tablespoon at a time and mix just until dough comes together.
- Shape dough into disk, and wrap in plastic wrap. Place in refrigerator for at least 1 hour before baking.
- Preheat oven to 385 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Roll out dough to 12-inch circle and transfer to 9-inch pie pan. Trim and crimp edges.
- Line pie shell with parchment paper and pie weights.
- Bake until edges turn pale gold in color, about 10 minutes.
- Remove from oven and remove paper and weights. Bake an additional 5 minutes, or until bottom of crust turns light gold in color.
For the custard
- Decrease oven temperature to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Cook bacon over medium heat in skillet. Use slotted spoon to transfer bacon to paper-towel-lined plate. Leave fat in skillet.
- Saute onion, corn, and jalapeno in bacon fat until onion is translucent and corn is tender, about 5 minutes.
- In bowl, combine and whisk eggs, heavy cream, salt, and pepper.
- Place grated cheese, bacon pieces, onion, corn, and jalapeño in pie shell. Pour egg mixture over everything.
- Bake until quiche is just set, about 35 to 45 minutes.
For the hot honey
- Add all ingredients to small saucepan on stove over medium heat.
- Allow mixture to come to a boil. Once it reaches a boil, allow it to continue boiling for 3 minutes, stirring frequently.
- Remove from heat and carefully pour mixture into mason jar.
- Allow to cool completely before topping with lid.
Notes
Make sure you have enough pie weights to fill the entirety of the crust so the sides of the dough don’t sink when you parbake it. If you don’t have actual pie weights, dry beans also work well.
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Category: Breakfast
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American, French
Nutrition
- Calories: 500
- Fat: 38 g
- Carbohydrates: 37 g
- Protein: 13 g
