These mini vegan quiches are perfect as a snack, lunch, picnic, parties, or for a dinner party starter. They are especially delicious chilled straight from the fridge. The flavour and texture of these little quiches are similar to regular quiches and are filled with meat-free bacon, sweet red peppers, and onions, and dairy-free cheezy flavours. They are easily prepared as gluten-free as they are crust-less quiches. Instead of a crust the filling is baked using a ground almond and spinach leaf base.
Fresh spinach leaves are used to prepare a flour-less crust which holds the cheesy filling. These egg-free mini quiches are perfect for vegan appetizers, party spreads, buffets, and pot-lucks, as once chilled they are ideal finger food. Or pop a few on a bed of crisp lettuce leaves and enjoy as a vegan starter.
Ingredients
Filling:
- olive oil or a little vegetable stock/broth
- red bell pepper
- vegan bacon (or smoked tofu)
- onion
- garlic
- cornflour (cornstarch)
- firm silken tofu
- nutritional yeast flakes
- plant-based milk
- garlic powder
- onion powder
- powdered mustard (or replace with white miso paste)
- white pepper & salt
Base:
- vegan margarine or butter (or replace with almond butter)
- ground almonds (almond meal)
- Spinach leaves
Garnish:
- dairy-free cheese or nutritional yeast flakes
- Optional: red pepper flakes or your choice of dried herbs/spices
How to prepare
These individual vegan quiches are deliciously creamy on the inside, and packed with the savoury flavours of meat-free bacon and the sweet flavours of red bell pepper and onion. There is no need to prepare a flour crust as these quiches have a simple base of fresh spinach leaves and ground almonds [almond meal] making them perfect for gluten-free diets.
Step 1: Cook the red pepper, onion, garlic and vegan bacon for 5 minutes. Set aside to cool.
Step 2: Add the cornflour [corn starch], silken tofu, plant-based milk, nutritional yeast flakes, garlic and onion powders, mustard powder [or white miso paste], white pepper and salt, to a food processor.
Step 3: Blend until smooth.
Step 4: Grease the muffin cups with a good amount of vegan margarine.
Step 5: Sprinkle the ground almonds [almond meal] to cover the muffin cups.
Step 6: Line the muffin cups with a good layer of spinach leaves.
Step 7: Divide the cooked filling between each cup.
Step 8: Pour the blended mixture each muffin cup.
Step 9: Sprinkle over grated vegan cheese or nutritional yeast flakes.
Step 10: Optional: Finish with a sprinkle of red pepper flakes or your favourite herbs/spices.
Step 11: Bake for 25-30 minutes.
Recipe notes & FAQ's
Storage
Mini quiches can be stored refrigerated for up to 3-4 days. Or freeze for 2-3 months. These quiches are nice chilled or can be reheated in a warm oven or for a few minutes in an air-fryer.
Yes, these mini quiches are easily prepared as gluten-free as no pastry crust is required. Instead the quiches have a ground almond and fresh spinach leaf base that forms a wee basket so that the quiches can be picked up by hand.
Although do ensure that the vegan bacon is fine for a gluten-free diet.
We used This isn't bacon plant based rashers which according to their website do not contain gluten, but can not be safely labelled as gluten-free as they are prepared in a factory where gluten ingredients are also handled.
You can omit the vegan bacon or you can replace it with diced vegan sausage or burger or vegan pieces. Alternatively smoked tofu would be a good replacement. If the vegan bacon is omitted and not replaced then perhaps add a teaspoon of smoked paprika, or a teaspoon of liquid smoke to the quiche base for a smoky flavour.
The vegan bacon could also be replaced with cooked diced carrots or chopped carrot hotdogs, cooked frozen peas or sweetcorn, cooked chopped broccoli [small pieces], etc.
More vegan picnic & lunch recipes
These recipes are perfect for picnics and parties as they can be served chilled but are also very nice for everyday lunches & dinners, starters, or snacks. Another egg-free quiche is our Vegan Old School DInners Cheese Flan which is very tasty chilled but also makes a tasty dinner along with potato chips and peas. Another family favourite is this British Homity Pie is a vintage classic which is especially nice for a hearty picnic lunch. We also love this Old-Fashioned Lentil Pie served chilled for lunch along with some pickled onions and beetroot or a dollop of chutney. And for another lentil pie or flan recipe which is made with a wholemeal crust, and is very tasty enjoyed chilled, we love this Pumpkin and Lentil Pie. Instead of the pumpkin you can use sweet potato, butternut squash or even carrots.
***please note: for US measurements click the 'US customary button' within the recipe and the measurements will switch to tablespoons, cups, and ounces.***
📖 Recipe
Mini Vegan Quiches
Equipment
- 12 cup muffin pan
- Food processor or blender
- small skillet/fry pan
- cooking spatula
Ingredients
For the crust less base:
- 3 tablespoon vegan margarine [or almond butter]
- 60 gram ground almonds [almond meal]
- 50 gram baby leaf spinach [or ordinary spinach but do chop the pieces to baby spinach size]
Cooked quiche filling:
- 1 tablespoon olive oil [or your usual oil, or replace with ½ cup vegetable stock or broth]
- 65 gram vegan bacon diced [a few vegan bacon rashers or use smoked tofu]
- 70 gram red bell pepper [1 small or ½ large pepper] diced
- 70 gram onion [about 1 small or ½ medium] diced
- 1 clove garlic [fine diced or 1 teaspoon garlic paste, use more to taste]
Blended quiche filling:
- 225 gram firm silken tofu
- 200 mililitres plant-based milk [such as soya, oat, or almond milk or your preferred milk]
- 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 3 tablespoons cornflour [or corn starch]
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 pinch white pepper [or black pepper]
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon mustard powder [or 1 teaspoon of white miso paste, can be found in many UK supermarkets such as Asda]
Garnish:
- 20 grams vegan cheese [grated, can use more as preferred or replace with nutritional yeast flakes - to taste]
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes [optional] [or paprika/chilli flakes or your choice of spices/herbs, or a fine diced spring onion]
Instructions
Prepare the cooked filling:
- Heat the oil, or vegetable stock/broth if using instead, in the skillet or fry pan. Over a medium heat cook the diced pepper, vegan bacon, onion and garlic for 5 minutes, stir frequently. Set aside to cool.70 gram red bell pepper, 1 tablespoon olive oil, 70 gram onion, 65 gram vegan bacon, 1 clove garlic
Prepare the blended quiche filling:
- Add the silken tofu, milk, nutritional yeast flakes, garlic and onion powders, mustard powder, cornflour [corn starch], salt and white pepper, to a food processor or blender.225 gram firm silken tofu, 200 mililitres plant-based milk, 4 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes, 3 tablespoons cornflour, ¾ teaspoon salt, 1 pinch white pepper, 1 teaspoon onion powder, 1 teaspoon garlic powder, ¼ teaspoon mustard powder
- Blend until smooth. You may need to stop and open up the processor to scrape down the insides if any ingredients have splashed up the sides.
Preheat the oven to 170 Fan / 190C / 374 Fahrenheit / Gas 5.
- Use the vegan margarine to generously grease the muffin tray cups. It may look a lot but it helps the ground almonds to stick to the spinach so use more margarine if required.3 tablespoon vegan margarine
- Place a heaped teaspoon of ground almonds into each muffin cup and lift the muffin tray up to disperse the almonds around the sides. Turn the tray around to change the angle and use your fingers to carefully pat the almonds around the sides. Use more ground almonds if required.60 gram ground almonds
- Line each muffin cup with a layer of spinach leaves, overlapping the leaves if necessary. ***[see the 'how to prepare' section of this recipe post above for photos of how to prepare each of these stages]***50 gram baby leaf spinach
Assemble and bake:
- Divide the cooked vegan bacon mixture between each of the muffin cups.
- Divide the blended quiche filling between each of the muffin cups, it will work out about a ¼ cup for each muffin cup. A silicone spatula is a really helpful here as it can scrape all the blended mixture out of the food processor, so that none is wasted.[before using the quiche base give it another whizz just to ensure its all fully combined if its been sitting waiting]
- Sprinkle the grated vegan cheese over each muffin cup and sprinkle a little red pepper flakes to finish.Use more cheese if liked.20 grams vegan cheese, 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes [optional]
- Bake on the middle shelf for 25-30 minutes, until the quiches are set and firm [but still soft inside], and tinged golden.
- Leave to cool a little in the muffin tray before carefully removing. A cake palette knife is good as its bendy and can get under the bases easily.The quiches will firm up more as they cool. [Don't worry if some of the ground almonds come away from the bases. These pieces can be used as a tasty salad sprinkle if serving the quiches with a salad, or store in the refrigerator and use as a soup or stew topping]
- Enjoy warm or chilled. These mini quiches are ideal as part of a buffet and can be made a few days in advance.
Notes
- Mini Quiches can be stored within the refrigerator for 3-4 days. Or freeze for 2-3 months.
- Enjoy chilled straight from the refrigerator or reheat in a warm oven or for a few minutes in the air fryer.
- The vegan bacon used was This Isn't Bacon Plant Based Rashers which comes in packs of 120grams. Half the pack was used for the recipe. However any type of vegan bacon is fine. Or replace with smoked tofu or just omit the vegan bacon.
- The type of silken tofu used was Mori Nu Silken Tofu Firm. Silken tofu is shelf stable and can usually be found in the World Foods section of the supermarket.
- Don't use firm tofu that is found in the refrigerated section as it won't blend smoothly enough.
- The vegan cheese used was Violife cheddar flavour.
- Nutritional yeast flakes can be found in most UK supermarkets, a tub will do for many recipes.
- Some of the ground almonds may fall off as they are removed from the muffin cups whist warm, the quiches will firm up more as they cool in the pans.
- Do grease the muffin cups really well as this will ensure the almonds stick to the sides forming a thin base layer.
- The flaky bits of almonds that fall off can be saved and used as a salad sprinkle if serving the quiches with salad. Or store the almond pieces in a small tub in the refrigerator/freezer and use them over the next few days as a nice garnish for stews and soups.
- Any ground nut or seed can be used to replace the ground almond.
Nutrition
Comments
We would love to know how you got on with our mini vegan quiches recipe. All feedback and comments are very much appreciated. Thanks! Jacq x
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