Quiche with Bacon aka: Lardons  Your New Brunch Bestie

Let’s talk quiche. This is the dish that struts into the kitchen, confident and classy, but still totally down-to-earth. Whether you’re treating yourself to a lazy weekend brunch, whipping up a quick lunch, or pretending to be fancy for dinner, quiche has your back. And today, we’re making one of my absolute favorites: quiche with lardons—a.k.a. the lovechild of creamy custard, smoky bacon, and a golden, buttery crust.

So, why is quiche so darn delicious? It’s all about that balance. You’ve got the rich, velvety custard on the inside, crispy, savory lardons on top, and then there’s that flaky crust holding it all together like a cozy blanket. Plus, quiche is basically a blank canvas for all your fridge leftovers. Got some cheese, a few herbs, or random veggies hanging out? Toss ‘em in. Quiche says, “Sure, I’ll take whatever you’ve got!” It’s that low-maintenance friend who’s always fun to hang out with.

And here’s the best part: quiche is ridiculously easy to make. Seriously.

You whisk some eggs and cream, throw in your fillings, pour it into a crust (store-bought is totally fine—or splurge and make your own), and pop it in the oven. That’s it. No need to be a master chef or break out the fancy tools. In less than an hour, you’ve got yourself a dish that looks gourmet but feels like a warm hug on a plate.

Bonus: quiche loves to make your life easier. You can make it ahead, reheat it, and it’s still just as tasty. So whether you’re trying to impress your brunch squad or just want something yummy to for a well-rounded pre-workout meal, this quiche with lardons is about to be your new bestie. Let’s get cracking!

You may be wondering… “What the heck is a Lardon??”

Trust me, I thought the same exact thing when I was at a French bakery ordering a quiche with lardons. Then I tried it. I just had to find out what it was. 

A “lardon” is typically a quarter-inch thick cube of bacon, cut from slab bacon. It is very fatty and sometimes will come with the skin layer intact. Lardons are used in French cuisine for larding. Larding is a process where the fat is literally threaded by a needle through another cut of meat. This is done to add marbling to another cut of meat and also to keep it moist while cooking. Because the fat is responsible for the flavor found in the meat, larding can add additional flavor. 

Ok, now you know what lardons are. I order mine from a local farm, so I’m certain they are fresh, and I know exactly what the pigs are fed. (I aim to avoid pigs that are fed any type of soy.) Check out (VICTORIAN FARMS) if you live in Northern California near Sonoma County. They deliver and have incredible customer service. Not to mention, the quality of meat you get is amazing. Nothing beats locally pasture-raised livestock over conventionally-raised animals. 

Now let us move on to how to use lardons in this fantastic quiche.

The lardons I get come in cubes that are about an inch wide and almost two inches thick. I trim off the skin layer and some of the fat layer at the top. I don’t particularly like the amount of fat that renders when cooking them so it helps to eliminate some of it to start out. Slice it into quarter-inch by half-inch pieces. This will make them bitesize. 

Throw those babies in the frying pan and crisp them up. I like to cook until the fat almost starts to caramelize a bit. Once they are nice and crispy it is a good idea to drain and rinse them. Rinsing them helps reduce the amount of fat since you will continue to cook them once they are incorporated into the quiche. Set aside. 

The crust is the other main character of this quiche.

I found an awesome recipe for gluten-free quiche crust that I used to guide me in creating my own crust based on what I had in my pantry. What I loved the most about this crust was the savory flavor from the herbs and spices that were added. Usually, quiche crust is plain, buttery, and flaky. This particular crust I created had some next-level flavor that gave this quiche an amazing fall-like attitude. 

Super fine almond flour, gluten-free flour, salt, onion powder, garlic powder, thyme, eggs, and unsalted butter. The unsalted butter is important here. I decided not to use slated initially because of the lardons. I wasn’t sure how salty they were going to make the filling. But the salt added to the crust was more than enough. I’d tread lightly if you want to use salted butter. Opt out of either the added salt or the salted butter. 

There will be enough dough for two 9-inch pies. Press the dough into the pie dishes using your fingers. You do not need to precook the crust. It will cook with the entire quiche.

Now is the time to make the filling.

This is literally the easiest part of the whole quiche. For two 9-inch pies, I used 10 large eggs. Add half a block of softened cream cheese. I used a block of cheddar cheese and shredded it myself. I find this to be much fresher than using pre-shredded cheese. That way you don’t have the added anti-caking agents, and to be honest, the cheese just tastes so much better. 

Rough chop 3-4 green onions. I wanted to use whatever I had left in my produce drawer from the week and I came across some baby bella mushrooms. I cubed them to give them more substance. My husband thought they were sausage! They added some good savory flavor alongside the lardons and helped fill the pies. Just throw everything into the egg mixture and combine. Once everything is fully combined, split the filling among the two pies.

Make sure the filling just comes up to the top of the crust. Be careful not to fill them to full or they might expand over the edge and make a mess in your oven. I cooked one of them in my multi-setting countertop oven and the other in my conventional oven. The first quiche I did at 350 on bake for about 25 minutes. The center was still giggly. I continued cooking on the pizza setting at about 330 degrees for 6 more minutes and that firmed everything up nicely. The second one in the conventional oven was set at 350 degrees for about 25-30 minutes. 

The trick is to make sure the center of the quiche is cooked. Use a knife or toothpick to pierce through to the bottom of the filling, and if it comes out clean, you are all set to dig in! That is after it cools for about 5-10 minutes.