Mini Quiches with Hash Brown Crust

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Mini Quiches with Hash Brown Crust are crispy hash brown crusts filled with a lightened up quiche filling with options for vegetarian or meat!

I owe the idea for these little Mini Quiches with Hash Brown Crust to my mother-in-law.  We went to her house last weekend for a family brunch and she made a pie-sized quiche with a hash brown crust.

I loved the idea and got right on it, because these are just the perfect things to serve for Easter brunch. 🙂

While my mother-in-law did one large quiche, I went mini for a couple of reasons.  Mainly, some people like quiche loaded with veggies, some like them completely veggie-free and loaded with ham or bacon, and some prefer a  combination of both.

These Mini Quiches with Hash Brown Crust gives you the means to customize them and make everybody happy. 🙂

I used a combination of asparagus and mushrooms since I had some already cooked up in the fridge, along with some leftover cubed ham.

Bacon, sausage, scallions, jalapeños or whatever you have on hand would be great additions to these mini quiches as well.

The other reasons why I decided to make mini quiches is because we all know that bite-sized food is much more fun, and the hash brown crusts actually resemble bird’s nests.

If that doesn’t scream Easter, I don’t know what does. 🙂

Most quiches are notorious for being extremely unhealthy, but not these.  I’ve told you that I don’t like super rich food most of the time, so instead of adding a lot of heavy cream to the eggs, I used just a bit of skim milk.

The egg yolks add plenty of richness and the cheese sprinkled over the top to makes them perfect.

I got zero complaints.

Crustless quiches are a great way to keep the calories down in quiche as well, but the hash browns here make these more substantial, and who can resist a golden brown, crispy hash brown crust?  Not this girl.  And like I said…they resemble bird’s nests, and it is Easter time. 😉

You can use frozen hash browns for this, just be sure to thaw them and squeeze out the liquid or they won’t get crisp.  The same goes for freshly grated russet potatoes — place them in a towel and get as much liquid out of them as you can.

Toss them in oil, and press them into the bottoms and up the sides of your generously greased muffin cups or ramekins, and bake till crispy.

Place your filling(s) into the bottom of each muffin cup and pour the egg mixture over the top.  Top with the cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes until puffy and set, and your quiches are done.

Once they’ve cooled about 10-15 minutes, run a knife around the edges and work them out.  They come out surprisingly easy, but I did lose a couple of patches of hash browns here or there in a few muffin cups.  If you don’t want to worry about getting them out, ramekins are a great idea.

These mini quiches are the kind of food that’s special for holiday brunches, but perfect for every day as well.  They’re nice and portable for breakfast on the go, and when you want breakfast for dinner, these are your guys.  These will be in the regular rotation here…we could eat them every day of the week. 🙂

More Easter brunch ideas!

Blueberry Morning Glory Baked Oatmeal

Coconut Greek Yogurt Waffles

Egg & Bacon Breakfast Cups

Raspberry Coconut Baked French Toast

Mini Quiches with Hash Brown Crust

Yield: 12 mini quiche

Total Time:1 hour

Prep Time:20 minutes

Cook Time:40 minutes

Mini Quiches with Hash Brown Crust are crispy hash brown crusts filled with a lightened up quiche filling with options for vegetarian or meat! {GF}

Print Recipe

Ingredients:

For the hash brown crust:

• 2 russet potatoes, peeled and grated (2 cups), or use thawed frozen hash browns*
• 2-3 tablespoons canola oil
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ¼ teaspoon black pepper

Filling options:

• Sauteed mushrooms, leeks, onion, bell peppers, or jalapeños
• Steamed broccoli, chopped fine
• Fresh spinach, chopped or frozen, thawed and wrung out
• Sauteed or roasted asparagus, chopped small
• Crumbled bacon or sausage cooked according to package instructions
• Ham, cut into small dice

For the quiches:

• 6 large eggs
• ½ cup low fat milk*
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 1 cup of your favorite grated cheese
• Scallions, for garnish (Optional)

Directions:

Prepare the crust:

1. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Generously grease (12) standard muffin tins with cooking spray and set aside.
2. Place the grated potato or thawed hash browns in a bread towel and wrap tightly. Wring out as much liquid as possible as the potatoes won’t crisp if there’s too much moisture.
3. Place the potatoes in a medium bowl and toss with the olive oil, salt, and pepper until evenly coated.
4. Place about 2 tablespoons of the potato mixture in each muffin tin and press it into the bottom and up the sides.
5. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 20-30 minutes or until crisp and golden brown. Remove from the oven.

Prepare the fillings:

1. While the crusts bake, prep the filling(s).
2. Whatever vegetables you decide to use, make sure to chop them fairly small. Saute or roast your veggies, or use whatever leftover veggies you have cooked up in the fridge. I used roasted asparagus, sautéed mushrooms, and diced ham that I had in the fridge.
3. To roast asparagus: Preheat the oven to 375. Remove the tough bottom stems and toss in 1 tablespoon of olive oil and salt and pepper to taste on a large rimmed baking sheet. Roast for 6-8 minutes until the asparagus is crisp tender. You can also chop them into small pieces and sauté them with the mushrooms!
4. To saute mushrooms: Remove the stems on the mushrooms and chop them in fairly small chunks. Heat a sauté pan with 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and add the mushrooms and salt and pepper to taste. Cook for 8-10 minutes or until the liquid has evaporated and the mushrooms are browned.
5. Place about 1½ tablespoons of filling into the bottom of each muffin cup.

Prepare the egg mixture:

1. Lower the oven temperature to 350 degrees.
2. Place the eggs, milk, salt and pepper, to taste in a medium bowl and whisk to combine.
3. Divide the mixture equally in the muffin cups and sprinkle some cheese over the top. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 10-15 minutes or until the quiches are puffed and set. It’s ok if the centers are just a tiny bit wiggly.
4. Cool on a wire rack for 10-15 minute until cool enough to handle. Run a knife around the edges and gently work the quiches out.
5. Serve immediately with the scallions if using and enjoy!

Recipe Notes:

• Ramekins may also be used for the quiches if you don’t want to mess with removing them from the pan, just make sure they’re the same size for even cooking.
• *Be sure and use russet potatoes here as they’re the starchiest potato and will get nice and crispy for you.
• *Low fat milk may be substituted with whatever you have on hand — whole milk, dairy free, or half and half to make more indulgent.

Recipe source:  Flavor the Moments

// All images and text ©Flavor the Moments.

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