Home RecipesAppetizers Cheese and Onion Quiche (Caramelized Onion)

Cheese and Onion Quiche (Caramelized Onion)

by Lorena

I love quiche! It’s one of those meals I enjoy immensely. This cheese and onion quiche with caramelized onion is excellent because it’s creamy and packs a lot of flavour. It’s actually mine and my husband’s favourite quiche flavour and I’m stuck making this flavour over and over. We enjoy it too much!

There are many quiches in the world. I love a good quality quiche and there are a few components that can’t fail. For example, for me, it’s basic to have a golden and crispy quiche crust. I don’t like it when I encounter an underbaked crust where you can’t tell where the filling ends and the crust begins. Another thing I don’t like is when a quiche is dry or has so much egg it’s more like a frittata. Finally, there’s flavour. Quiche has the potential to have flavours from the cheese, cream, and bits of sweet and savoury. The best part about this cheese and onion quiche made with caramelized onions is that it checks all the boxes for the best quiche.

Cheese and onion quiche made with caramelized onions, with a slice cut off

The quiche crust

For the quiche crust, we use a dough called brisée. It’s made by mixing flour with cold butter cut into cubes. To break up the butter, you pinch it along with the flour, coating the flour with fat. This makes the crust really flaky, breaking apart in the best way when you eat it. Then, the water and egg are added to form the dough. After rolling out and blind baking the crust, it’s baked on its own to make it golden and crispy. Blind baking the crust first ensures that it doesn’t shrink in the baking process. If you want to know more about this dough, check out my quiche crust recipe. Also, it’s useful to have a good pan with a removable bottom so that you can present this cheese and onion quiche on your favourite plate.


Quiche Crust (Brisée)
This quiche crust (brisée) is perfectly crispy and flaky. Ideal for any filling of your choice.
Check out this recipe
quiche crust-7

How to make cheese and onion quiche with caramelized onion

Every cheese and onion quiche starts with the cooking of the onion. Here I caramelize the onion which adds a delicious sweet taste to the quiche. It takes a bit of patience, sautéeing for 20-30 minutes for a nice caramelization. Make the caramelized onions over medium-low heat with olive oil and stirring every couple of minutes. First, we want the onion to start becoming golden, without getting toasty. That’s when the natural sugar content in the onion begins to caramelize, without adding any extra sugar. Then I do add a bit of sugar to finish but it’s optional. I like that it accentuates a bit more the caramelized flavour. If you like caramelized onion, you should check out my French Onion Soup.

French Onion Soup
This is probably one of my favourite soups. With lots of caramelized onions, it's both sweet and savoury. Perfect for a cold afternoon!
Check out this recipe
french onion soup

Filling for the cheese and onion quiche

Apart from the caramelized onion, this quiche has other classic ingredients. It has milk, cream, egg and cheese. I want to stop for a second on the cheese subject. I’m a great fan of the mix of Gruyère and Parmesan cheeses. I feel that the mix of flavours is perfect and I love to use it. Having said this, you can replace the cheeses with others you like or use just one of them. The result is always great! Just make sure it’s a melting cheese and that it doesn’t release too much liquid when heated.


Cheese and Onion Quiche (with Caramelized Onion)

Eating quiche is always pleasant. With its soft and creamy interior, it's the best. This cheese and onion quiche with caramelized onion takes it to a whole other level with the sweetness from the onion.
5 from 3 votes
Print Pin Rate
Course: Brunch, Main, Side Dish, Starter, Tea Time
Cuisine: French
Keyword: caramelized onion, cheese, onion, quiche, quiche crust
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time: 2 hours
Servings: 8 portions, 25cm/10in diameter pan
Author: Lorena Salinas from Cravings Journal

Ingredients

For the dough

  • 200 g all purpose flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 100 g unsalted butter cold and cut in cubes
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tbsp water

For the caramelized onions

  • 400 g white or red onion or a mix
  • 2 tbsp olive oil
  • 8 sprigs fresh thyme leaves only, about 1 tbsp, or oregano
  • pinch salt
  • 1 tsp sugar optional

Quiche filling

  • 1 egg
  • 1 egg yolk
  • 175 ml whipping cream
  • 125 ml milk
  • 50 g freshly grated Gruyère
  • 50 g freshly grated parmesan cheese I used Grana Padano
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

For the dough

  • If you want to make the dough by hand, mix the flour salt and butter in a bowl. Pinch the butter with your fingers until no large bits of butter remain. The mix should look like wet sand. To make it in the food processor, add the flour, salt and butter and mix until you reach a sandy texture.
  • Add the liquids and mix y hand or process again until you get a smooth dough. Rest for 30min in the fridge, covered.
  • Roll it out to 2mm thick on a flour-dusted surface and put it inside your pan. Lift the edges and push down to make sure they reach the corners for a nice angle. Freeze the pan with the dough as it is for 15 minutes. After that time, use a knife to cut the dough to the edge of the pan.
  • Wrinkle a piece of baking paper, stretch it out again and place it onto the dough. Fill it with baking beans (ceramic or actual beans) to the top and press down gently on them to make sure they go into the corners. Bake at 180°C/350℉ for 20-30min or until the edges are golden.
  • Take out the baking beans carefully using the paper and place the crust back in the oven to make it evenly golden (about 5-10min more). Let cool down to room temperature before pouring the filling inside.

For the caramelized onions

  • Cut the onion into thin slices; if they are thick they take longer and the caramelization tends to not go all the way through. You can use a mandolin if it's easier for you 🙂
  • Put the onions in a pan on low heat with the olive oil, thyme and a tiny pinch of salt. Let it cook slowly. First, it will go soft and transparent; that means it's cooked. From here on, it will start to caramelize from the sugar that's naturally in it.
  • If you see that it's starting to get unevenly golden or that there's lots of sugar stuck on the pan and could burn, add a bit of water and move the onions around to retrieve the sugar stuck on the pan. They will continue to cook once all the water has evaporated. Continue this process until the onions reach a light brown colour.
  • Add the teaspoon of sugar and a bit of water to evenly coat the onions and then let it evaporate completely. Reserve.

For the filling

  • Mix all the ingredients together with the onions and pour the mix into the cooled-down dough.
  • Pop the quiche back in the oven at 140°C/280°F (colder than before so the dough doesn't get more golden and the filling remains moist) for about 35-45min or until golden on top.
  • Let cool down to almost room temperature before cutting so it coagulates and doesn't fall apart.
Tried this recipe?Mention @CravingsJournal or tag #RecipeCJ!
Closeup of a cheese and onion quiche made with caramelized onions, with a slice cut off

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