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How To Make Vegan Quiche

This vegan quiche recipe is super easy to make and easy to customize with your choice of fillings. When I first went vegan, I tried lots of vegan quiche recipes that really let me down. But once I tried Burmese tofu, a soy-free traditional food from Burma, I knew I had the perfect eggless filling for vegan quiche. Thankfully, you don’t have to go anywhere special for your Burmese tofu. The ingredients are in your local grocery store!

Video tutorial for Vegan Quiche | Chickpea “Egg” with Whole Wheat Crust

Why you’ll love this Vegan Quiche

This vegan quiche is super delicious with it’s flaky pie crust and creamy “eggy” filling. Plus, it’s actually simple to make. You’ll also love it because it’s:

  • made with regular, wholesome grocery store ingredients
  • very affordable with the egg-replacer being chickpea flour
  • endlessly customizable; just add your choice of cooked vegetables, vegan sausage or other ‘meats’ and vegan cheese
  • even better the next day as leftovers!

How to make the Best Vegan Quiche

Yes, I did say the Best Vegan Quiche recipe! It’s the best out of the recipes I’ve tried over the years but also so many people have told me over the years that this vegan quiche recipe is the actual best that they’ve tried too! I would never say “best” without a second opinion (or third, forth, etc). 

For the best results, make this vegan quiche the day before you’ll be serving it. Of course you can eat it right away after baking, but if you can wait and chill it in the fridge, it will set up more completely and the flavours will mingle together and taste even better. 

The Vegan Quiche Crust

Start this recipe by making the vegan pie dough.

Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl or food processor. Then, add chilled vegan butter or shortening and process until the pieces of butter/shortening are about the size of a pea. Use a pastry cutter or two knives held together if you’re doing this manually.

Afterwards, add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until you are able to form a dough ball. It’s going to look quite crumbly but should hold together if you squeeze a handful. Avoid adding more than just enough water. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. Then you can making the fillings: mix-ins and the vegan egg filling.

Vegan Quiche Mix-ins

For the basic quiche recipe, I included mushrooms and red peppers sauteed with shallots and garlic. You can really use whatever vegetables you like, including leftovers from last night’s dinner! Just make sure that you cook out excess water to prevent sogginess when the assembled quiche is baked.

What is the Vegan “Egg” Quiche Filling?

The eggy filling in this quiche is made from chickpea flour, water and salt; AKA Burmese Tofu, Shan Tofu, or Chickpea Tofu. It’s cooked and firms up similarly to polenta but the texture is silkier. And because chickpeas already have a slightly chicken-y essence, you can make it taste more like a genuine egg quiche by adding a few flavouring ingredients.

But because the Burmese Tofu filling firms up very quickly once it’s cooked, you’ll want to prepare your pie crust first as well as have your cooked mix-in’s ready to go. Roll out the chilled dough and place it in your pie tin before adding your cooked and cooled mix-ins, covering it and placing in back in the fridge, ready to grab quickly. Then preheat your oven to 425°F.

Making Burmese Tofu (Chickpea Tofu)

In a mixing bowl, whisk the chickpea flour, turmeric and water until no lumps remain. Then in a large pot, heat two cups of water over high heat and add a bouillon cube (or use strong vegetable broth instead of water). It’s really important that the water/broth comes to a rolling boil, otherwise the chickpea flour won’t cook properly.

Then, give your chickpea mixture a quick mix, then pour it into the boiling water slowly while stirring. Afterwards, turn the heat down to low, and keep whisking for about 5 minutes.

The chickpea mixture will get very thick so put some elbow grease into it! It’s important to cook this through because chickpea flour is bitter if you don’t cook it all the way and it’s disgusting. But if you cook it all the way, it’s delicious. If you’re not sure if it’s cooked through or not, just take a little on a spoon, let it cool, then taste. If it’s bitter, cook and stir for longer. If it’s not bitter, then you’re good.

Now you can grab your pie crust out of the fridge and pour in the chickpea mixture as quick as you can. It’ll be really thick and might fight you on the way out. Just smooth it out the best you can. To make this a little prettier, add sliced cherry tomatoes on top. Then bake in your preheated oven for 25 to 30 minutes until the crust is nicely browned. Don’t worry if the middle of the quiche still seems a little jiggly; it will firm up after it cools.

The final touch for extra EGGy flavour

The not-so-secret ingredient to make anything taste like eggs is Black Salt! Also known as kala namak, this sulfurous salt can be sprinkled on top of your vegan quiche to bring out an eggy flavour. These days, you can find it online but I like to visit my local Indian grocery store because they have the best price. Usually, I can get a large 1/2 lb bag for only a few dollars.

If you’ve tried some of the commercial vegan egg products, they often include Black Salt and they are super strong smelling before cooking. But afterwards, the scent is mellowed out. The strong aroma is deactivated when you heat it. So by adding the Black Salt after the quiche is baked, you can control the amount of egg aroma or leave it out altogether if that’s your preference. This is your vegan quiche and there are no rules!

Printable recipe for Vegan Quiche

Yield: 6 to 8 slices

Vegan Quiche (soy-free)

Vegan Quiche (soy-free)

This vegan quiche is the real deal! The crust is made with wholesome whole wheat flour; crispy and flaky. The "egg" filling holds firm and slices nicely while still being creamy and delicious. And sauteed vegetables amp up the flavour, textures and nutrition of this breakfast pie.

Prep Time 30 minutes
Bake Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour

Ingredients

Whole Wheat Crust

  • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose whole wheat flour (190g)
  • 1/2 cup vegan butter or shortening (1 stick, 115g)
  • 1 teaspoon sugar
  • 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
  • 2 - 4 tablespoons l ice water

Vegetable Filling

  • 1 cup mushrooms, diced (80g)
  • 1/4 cup red bell pepper, diced (35g)
  • 1 tablespoon shallots, minced (9g)
  • 1 clove garlic, minced

Chickpea Filling

  • 1 cup chickpea flour (chana/besan/garbanzo/etc) (120g)
  • 1 cup room temperature water (235ml)
  • 2 cups water or broth (470ml)
  • 1 cube vegetable bouillon (if using water)*
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground turmeric

Optional

  • sliced tomatoes
  • basil chiffonade
  • sliced scallions
  • black salt (kala namak)

Instructions

  1. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a large mixing bowl or food processor. Add chilled vegan butter or shortening and process until the pieces of butter/shortening are about the size of a pea. Use a pastry cutter or two knives held together if you're doing this manually.
  2. Add ice water, a tablespoon at a time, until you are able to form a dough ball. It's going to look quite crumbly but should hold together if you squeeze a handful. Avoid adding more than just enough water. Wrap the dough ball in plastic wrap and let rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  3. While the dough is chilling, sauté the vegetables over medium - high heat with a little water (water sauté method) or oil and sea salt until they quite soft and a bit caramelized; about 10 minutes. Take the pan off the heat and let cool.
  4. After the dough has rested, flatten it on a generously floured work surface. Roll the dough into a disc shape a bit larger than your pie pan. When it's the right size, lightly roll it on to your rolling pin and transfer to the pie pan. Press it into the pan gently and flute the edges. If the dough rips in places, take some excess from the edges and use it to patch up any holes.
  5. When the sautéed vegetables have cooled to room temperature, place them in the pie crust. Cover with plastic wrap and chill in the fridge while you make the rest of the filling.
  6. Preheat your oven to 425°F or 220°C.
  7. Mix the chickpea flour, turmeric and water until no lumps remain; set aside. Heat two cups of water over high heat and add a bouillon cube (or use strong vegetable broth instead of water). When the water/broth comes to a rolling boil, give your chickpea mixture a quick mix, then pour it into the boiling water slowly while stirring.
  8. Turn the heat down to low, and keep whisking for about 5 minutes. This will get a little tough to do after a minute as it thickens. We want to really cook this through because chickpea flour is bitter if you don't cook it all the way and it's disgusting. But if you cook it all the way, it's pretty delicious. If you're not sure if it's cooked through or not, just take a little on a spoon, let it cool, then taste. If it's bitter, cook and stir for longer. If it's not bitter, then you're good.
  9. Now you can grab your pie crust out of the fridge and pour in the chickpea mixture. It'll be really thick and might fight you on the way out. Just smooth it out the best you can. To make this a little prettier, add sliced cherry tomatoes to go on top but that is completely optional.
  10. Then into the preheated oven it goes for 25 to 30 minutes. The crust should be nicely browned but not too brown and the middle will be a little jiggly.
  11. To make this more eggy tasting, you can sprinkle on a little black salt. It's often sold in Indian grocery store as kala namak and has a sulfury eggy aroma. But be careful, a little goes a long way. Decorate basil chiffonade and sliced scallion 'cause that looks nice and adds a little freshness.
  12. This pie is best served after it's cool down. In fact, I find it best if I chill it in the refrigerator so it sets completely, then serve cold or heat it up in the microwave to serve it hot. It's up to you though. There are no rules.

Notes

  • I use bouillon cubes in place of broth. 1 cube makes 2 cups of broth. Use your preferred paste, powder, or cubes of vegan bouillon concentrate. Alternatively, use 2 cups of vegetable broth and do not add additional concentrate.
  • Chickpea flour is also sold as garbanzo bean flour. You can also use chickpea flours labelled as chana or besan flour.

Nutrition Information:

Yield:

8

Serving Size:

1/8 of the pie

Amount Per Serving: Calories: 266Total Fat: 15gSaturated Fat: 8gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 5gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 437mgCarbohydrates: 28gFiber: 5gSugar: 4gProtein: 7g

Nutritional Information automatically calculated by a plugin and may not be correct.

Did you make this recipe?

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Showing 5 comments
  • Jan
    Reply

    What happens to the vegetables that were sauted? I don’t see any other instructions other than to cook them and set aside, the picture doesn’t seem to show them either, only the tomato topping.

    • Mary
      Reply

      Thanks for the question, Jan. I’ve made the printable recipe more clear based on your feedback. You add them to the pie crust before it goes into the fridge (end of step 4). – Mary

      • Jan
        Reply

        Thank you sooo much! I can’t wait to try this!

  • Michelle Caporali
    Reply

    Can the black salt be added to the chickpea concoction as it is being cooked? I’d prefer to have the eggy flavor throughout rather than sprinkling it on top — the way I sprinkle, it would probably clump in one area and not have any in another. Thanks so much for this recipe!

    • Mary
      Reply

      Hi Michelle,
      I don’t recommend it because the flavour of black salt decreases significantly when you heat it. Transferring your black salt to an old spice shaker bottle may help. Good luck!
      -Mary

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