Mushroom and Spinach Mini Quiche
These mini quiches are one of my favorite breakfasts to make….and eat. They have all of the best breakfast foods combined in one delicious little muffin. Baking in a muffin pan instead of a casserole dish makes them portable and easy to store in the refrigerator to eat over the course of a few days. For my “cooking for one’ers”, reheat them two at a time for a quick breakfast. If you are cooking for more than yourself they work great for brunch or serving a crowd.
I love using hash browns as the base instead of a pie-like crust traditionally used in quiche. In the filling I combine eggs, various cheeses and sautéed veggies. The recipe itself is very forgiving if you want to make substitutions. In this version I use spinach and mushrooms as the filler, but you can use other types of vegetables or meat. Add in sautéed zucchini, squash, broccoli or asparagus. Use sausage or chorizo if you would rather have meat than the veggies.
Mushroom and Spinach Mini Quiche Recipe
Makes 12 mini quiches.
Ingredients
- 2 cups frozen or refrigerated shredded hash browns
- 2 Tbsp olive oil, plus more for drizzling
- 1/2 tsp salt (divided 1/4 tsp and 1/4 tsp)
- 1/2 tsp black pepper (divided 1/4 tsp and 1/4 tsp)
- 1 cup baby portabella mushrooms (about 6-7 mushrooms), chopped
- 1/2 cup sweet, yellow onion (about 1/2 of a medium-sized onion), diced
- 5-ounces frozen spinach (about 1/2 of a box), thawed and drained
- 5 eggs
- 1/2 cup sour cream
- 3/4 cup cottage cheese
- 1/3 cup milk (2% or skim)
- 1 Tbsp hot sauce
- 1/2 tsp dried thyme (3/4 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves)
- 1 cup cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
Directions
Prepare the Hash Brown Base
- Preheat the oven to 400.
- Defrost 2 cups of frozen hash browns in the microwave for about 30 seconds until you can break up the clumps with a fork.
- Stir the hash browns with 2 Tbsp olive oil, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper.
- Spray the inside of a 12-muffin pan with cooking spray. (Or rub with olive oil.)
- Fill muffin cups 1/3 of the way with hash browns. (The hash browns will shrink down as they cook.)
- Bake the hash browns for 25-30 minutes.
Prepare the Filling
- Wash 6-7 baby portabella mushrooms and chop them into about 1 cup of bite-sized pieces.
- Peel and dice a sweet, yellow onion into a 1/2 cup.
- Defrost 5 ounces of frozen spinach (1/2 of a box) in the microwave for 1 minute. Squeeze out the excess liquid with your hand.
- If your cheese is not pre-shredded/grated, use a hand grater or food processor to shred the cheddar cheese into 1 cup and the parmesan cheese into 1/4 cup.
- Heat a drizzle of oil olive in a small skillet. Add the mushrooms, a pinch of salt and black pepper and sauté for 3-4 minutes. Remove the mushrooms and set aside.
- Return the skillet to the heat and add the diced onion. Cook for 3-4 minutes until the onion softens. Turn off the heat.
- In a large bowl, whisk together 5 eggs.
- To the bowl, add 1/2 cup of sour cream, 3/4 cup cottage cheese, and 1/3 cup of milk. Stir until combined.
- Add 1 Tbsp hot sauce, 1/2 tsp dried thyme, spinach, the mushrooms, onions, cheddar cheese, parmesan cheese, 1/4 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper. Stir to combine (you don’t have to whisk it, just stir it together).
- After the potatoes have cooked, fill the muffin cups to the top with the egg mixture.
- Use a paper towel to wipe off any excess egg mixture that may have spilled on the pan so it doesn’t burn while cooking. Add the muffin pan to the oven, and bake for 30-35 minutes until the quiches brown on top.
- Serve immediately or refrigerator and reheat later.
I like to make the quiches directly in the muffin tins without using a paper muffin cup. However, be warned that it does take a bit of patience to get them out of the muffin tins without destroying them. My tip – after the quiches have cooled, run a knife around the edge of the quiche to pull it away from the edge. Use a spoon to loosen it from the bottom of the muffin cup before scooping it out. Be gentle. If you are lacking in patience and decide to not be gentle, they still taste the same….they just doesn’t look as nice.
I’ve made this recipe many times with varying proportions of sour cream, cottage cheese, and milk. I find this ratio works well, but if you make this recipe often you may want to find what ratio you like best. You may also increase to 6 eggs and decrease some of the cottage cheese if you prefer your quiche a little more “eggy”.
Call me high maintenance, but I do not like the pre-shredded bags of cheese from the grocery store. The flavors are bland and lack luster. I’m also weirded out by the fact that it takes a LONG time for the cheese to get moldy in the refrigerator. I prefer to buy a block of cheese and grate mine own. I think it tastes a lot better and is worth the extra effort. You can substitute whatever cheese you like best.
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