The Steps You Shouldn't Skip When Adding Meat To Quiche

Whether you're looking to up your Sunday brunch game, or need to use up leftover veggies, a quiche covers all the bases. The elegant custard-based dish baked in a savory crust can be made with almost any ingredients as long as you have eggs, but they're extra satisfying when you add some breakfast meat like bacon, sausage, and ham. Don't just dump raw meat into your quiche crust, however. We recently talked to Mary Nguyen, chef and founder at Olive & Finch Collective in Denver, Colorado, about making meaty quiches, and she said that you shouldn't skip the step of cooking meats before adding them to the mix to control the consistency and cut down on the fat.

"Definitely pre-cook meats like sausage and bacon," said Nguyen. "Just like with veggies, you want to render out the fat and avoid adding extra grease to the quiche. She added that pre-cooking meats will help blend the flavors and seasonings together. The only meat you don't need to cook ahead, she said, is ham since it's already cooked, so you can add it directly without worrying about the texture or extra fat.

If you take the time to cook meat for quiche beforehand, don't then make the mistake of dumping all the cooked fat into the filling with the meat. You also don't want a quiche with puddles of fat on top, which is why Chef Mary Nguyen says it's important to drain any cooked meats before using them in a quiche recipe.

"If you leave too much oil, it can make the quiche greasy and affect the texture," said Nguyen. Despite its reputation for adding flavor, this isn't a time to use leftover bacon grease if you're using an ingredient like bacon in a quiche Lorraine, for example. "You'll still get plenty of flavor from the meat itself without needing the extra fat. Keeping the quiche light and balanced is the key."

But that doesn't mean you have to toss out that precious bacon fat. While it's not great in the egg mixture, leftover bacon grease is perfect for making a super flavorful pie crust, which will build even more savory, meaty flavor into every bite.