No cheese? No cream or milk? Believe it, because it works: welcome to the dairy-free (and gluten-free) quiche.
This is the perfect quiche to bring to a group event where there may be people with special dietary needs. My friend Sarah (a fabulous cook, by the way) brought this to our women’s ministry brunch a number of months ago, and it’s really delicious. While there’s no cheese, the bacon adds the richness that could have been lost when the cheese got the boot. Plus, as my husband said after eating two generous slices of this, it doesn’t give you the feeling of “I never want to eat again” that a really rich quiche can produce after one hefty serving. Know that feeling? Not the best sensation. In fact, after 3 slices of this quiche for dinner, I was feeling great, light on my feet, and my stomach was a happy place.
The flavor of the coconut milk is definitely present, and while I loved it, my husband was a little wigged out by it. So if you’re one to be wigged out by coconut milk, this may not be the dish for you. But if you’re lactose intolerant, this is such a great alternative to traditional quiche–and I’ll be making it again even though I’m all about the lactose and the gluten. Because it’s tasty, man.
Adapted from this recipe, let’s make it this morning, eh? Eh.
Ingredients
(Serves 4)
5 eggs
1-15 oz can coconut milk
5 pieces of bacon
1 onion, diced
1/2 bunch of kale or spinach
1/4 cup white wine
salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 350ºF.
Warm the eggs and coconut milk until they reach room temperature (you can sit them in a warm water bath for 15 minutes to accomplish this).
Dice the bacon and fry it in a large skillet over medium high heat.
While the bacon fries, dice the onion . . .
. . . and chop up the kale or spinach.
Today, it’s kale all the way.
When the bacon is close to being crispy, drain most of the bacon fat out of the skillet . . .
. . . and add the onion.
Fry for 8 minutes over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until the onion is starting to brown.
Add the kale or spinach . . .
. . . and sauté for about 2 minutes, or until wilted.
Add the wine, and continue to cook until the liquid evaporates (another 3-4 minutes).
Sooooo good.
Let the bacon and veggies cool down for about 15 minutes (you can spread them out on a plate to speed up this step).
I may have taken a few bites of this and promised myself that I would soon make a bacon/onion/kale sauté that I could simply eat piled over white rice. I recommend that you do the same.
Beat the eggs and coconut milk in a large bowl . . .
(bowl pictured not large enough = transfer to a different bowl)
. . . adding salt and pepper (about ¼ tsp of salt).
Whisk the bacon and veggies into the eggs until they are well suspended in the egg mixture. Grease an 8×8 glass dish or a pie pan with coconut oil or cooking spray, and pour in the egg mixture.
Bake for 35-45 minutes, or until the center has solidified.
Remove the quiche from the oven and let it sit for about 15 minutes so that the eggs set.
Dig in!
Oh my word. How I love this quiche. How I love the kale within . . .
. . . and the bacon within.
It’s a winner!
Click here for printer-friendly version: Dairy-Free Bacon and Kale Crustless Quiche
View Comments (25)
How happy am I that I currently have leftover coconut milk in the fridge? Very. Very. Very.
Coconut milk, eh? That does sound a little weird. But still, if it has bacon in it...
That's another thing I can't get around here is kale. I live in a strange place I tell ya! I could use spinach though, we do apparently grow that or at least have it shipped in ;)
sounds delighful! but i think some of those onions would have to go... no way would ben eat all of them :)
It does sound really good! There is a coconut milk beverage out there that is much less obvious when you cook with it, but it's not as creamy so it probably wouldn't work for this. I'm sure the creaminess is essential to the texture!
Ok, when my eyes first blazed through the title, my mind wasn't really following along. I saw Dairy Free Bacon and thought it was some new fangeled kind of bacon on the market. Silly me.
Haha! Oh Wendi--that was my mistake! I should have called it "Dairy-Free Crustless Quiche with Bacon and Kale." Whoops. =)
Looks great!!
Do you think I can just use skim milk instead of the coconut milk? Or maybe 2% milk? I'm on weight watchers and with skim milk it's only 6 points plus a serving, which is awesome!! With 2% milk it only jumps to 7 points plus.
Do you think the 1/4 of the pie is plenty for a meal? Maybe paired with some fresh fruit?
Looks so good! I can't wait to try it!
Hey Giselle! I don't know if regular milk would work. Coconut milk is super creamy, and I imagine holds things together differently. But who knows? If you experiment, let me know the results! And yes, I think 1/4 of a pie is plenty for 1 serving, if paired with fruit.
It does look really creamy.. are you sure it wasn't cream of coconut instead of coconut milk??
I'm sure!! I discovered the difference many years ago and realized to my chagrin that they're not interchangeable. =) This was definitely coconut milk, just not the "lite" version. Also, the liquid and cream tend to separate in the can, and if I'd given it a good shake it might not have looked like such a pile of cream in that one picture.
Jenna, I'll just think of this as "tropical quiche" so I won't get wigged out by the coconut milk. Actually, ANY excuse to use coconut milk is fine by me -- I just never imagined QUICHE would be one of them! Thanks, to you & your friend, Sarah!
You always have at least one picture that gets me smiling. this time it's that coconut milk in mid-whisk. Nice snap my friend! This quiche does look lovely. I love the heartiness of the bacon combined with the healthy kale. Delicious!
I've never thought to try coconut milk before - what a great idea! Even though I don't have to avoid dairy, this is definitely something I'd love to try!