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I've just finished making Ham Quiche Cups with a ham crust! It's a version of mini quiches that's as easy, low-carb, ketogenic friendly and gluten-free as Crustless Quiche, but easy to hold in your hand. No fork necessary for these little muffins!
They're perfect for breakfast on-the-go, yet elegant enough to serve as an appetizer at a party.
The genius in this recipe is the not so traditional "crust."
Traditional quiche cooks up light and fluffy inside a slice of lean ham! The recipe below is for a cheesy egg mixture. The filling from Tomato Bacon Quiche and Crustless Asparagus Quiche would work too.
I ran across this idea on Pinterest, of course, and immediately thought it would be an easy, lower-calorie way to enjoy a quiche recipe! Crisp Ham and Egg Cups over at the Comfort of Cooking was the source for my inspiration.
Did the quiche recipe work? Most definitely!
Tips for Making Ham Quiche Cups
I completely lucked out when I purchased a package of deli ham for this little cooking adventure because the slices fit perfectly in a standard muffin tin.
Should I not have been so lucky, my plan was to pull out a paper muffin liner and cut a circle of ham just a little bigger in size. By the way, it is perfectly okay for some ham to stick up over the edges.
Spray the muffin tin with cooking spray before you put in the ham slices.
The filling could be any quiche recipe, but I used my ham and cheese quiche recipe minus the diced ham (the complete recipe is at the end of this post.)
Whisk the eggs and other ingredients together in a bowl and spoon about egg mixture into each ham slice. Use a fork to evenly distribute the cheese, if necessary.
Ideally, don't pour egg on the outside of the ham crust. This happened on a few so they were not quite as pretty as the rest...although you can knock the egg off the outside of the ham quiche cups once they have cooled and nobody will be the wiser. 🙂
Bake the ham and egg quiche cups in the oven, uncovered, for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. If the top begins to brown too much for your liking, then tent some aluminum foil over the top.
As much as I love the elegance of a beautiful quiche, these little breakfast quiche cups were delightful to gaze upon and easy to pick up and enjoy as you're running out the door.
If you make this recipe please rate it and tag @DinnerMom or #DinnerMom on social media. We love to see and SHARE what you are cooking up.
📋 Recipe
Ham Quiche Cups
Ingredients
- 5 eggs
- 1 cup skim milk any type
- 1 ½ cup Swiss cheese shredded
- ¼ cup green onion chopped
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon pepper
- 2.25 ounces ham or 18 thin slices of ham (pre-packaged deli ham)
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
- Whisk eggs in a bowl.
- Add remaining ingredients, except for ham, and stir to combine.
- Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray.
- Fit one slice of ham in each chamber.
- Spoon about 3 Tablespoons of egg mixture into each chamber so that it is ¾ full.
- Use a fork to distribute cheese, if necessary.
- Bake for about 25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean. The top will begin to brown. If it browns too quickly, then tent a piece of aluminum foil over the top.
- Remove from oven and cool for about 10 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Jason
Big hit this afternoon made with hot Genoa, bologna, ham and summer sausage. Kids loved it.
Marjory Pilley
Yay! I’m so happy you enjoyed them. Sounds delicious!
Suzanne Deem
Wehave made this recipe several times and it's always a hit.
Marjory Pilley
Thanks for your comment. I'm so glad you enjoy it!
Kristin Nikkanen
Amazing recipe!!
Thank you xo
Aleta M Fisher
These turned out great! Left out the milk and used 4 eggs for 6 muffins. My husband loved them! I will definitely make these again
Marjory
I'm so glad you enjoyed them!
Kathy
Thanks for sharing! If I were, I would add a little coffee, so it wouldn't taste oily, Just my personal flavor.
Staci
Hi. Could I use heavy cream instead of milk?
Marjory
Absolutely! It will make it even creamier!
Misty
Hi!,
I absolutely loved these, however mine ended up soggy and watery at the bottom. I followed the recipe, did I do something wrong? Thanks!
Marjory
Hi! So many things can impact the outcome, including differences in ovens! Next time try baking a few minutes longer!
Marisa Pope
What kind of cheese did you use? Your nutrition facts say 1 carb, so I wanted to get as close to that as possible.
Also is a "serving" one cup?
Marjory
Hi! I used full-fat Swiss cheese. The ingredients were divided between 18 muffin tin cups. Enjoy!
Shannon Brown
Can I use whole milk and cheddar cheese instead of the skim and swiss.
Marjory
Absoultely!
Shannon Brown
Thank you, sounds so good. Can't wait to try this today for my picky kids lol
Laura
Hi Marjory,
Thank you so much for this awesome recipe. I just finished making a batch and they are perfect. Serving them to my overnight guests on Boxing Day.
Happy holidays to you!
Cheers,
Laura
Marjory
I'm so glad you enjoyed them! Happy holidays to you!!!
Lisa
Love recipe! Made it as shared and was wonderful. Then changed it up: 1) in ham cup, add sprinkle of the green chopped onions in middle. 2) next, divide he cheese into equal portions and place one portion on top of onions. 3) take ladle and spoon egg mixture on top of onions and cheese, 4) bake as usual. I do that as if you ladle mixture of eggs cheese and onion from big bowl you will get uneven amount of ingredients in each ham bowl. Also this ne way I can put one type of cheese in half of cups and another type in remaining cups. In addition, I do add herbs de provenance and scallions some days. Great recipe!!
Marjory
Thanks for the tips! I love the way you customize the cups!
Mandi
Can I freeze the already cooked quiche or do the eggs have to be frozen seperate from the ham?
Marjory
Hi! You can freeze the already cooked quiche!
Alicia
I was just wondering what the serving size would be for breakfast. Thanks!!!
Marjory
It depends on your diet. I usually have 2!
sue
Just tried this as a "dry run" for Easter brunch I'll be hosting. Fantastic idea! My son has celiacs, and so I appreciate that this is also gluten free. Now I'm going crazy thinking of all the combos you could make with this (swiss, cheddar, gruyere, etc....and what about putting some hash browns or a tator tot in the bottom?! I tried some diced tomatoes, and thinking that some spinach/garlic could add variety). Thank you so very much for the great idea!
Marjory
All great ideas! Thanks for sharing!
Taylor
Do you know how you would adjust the cooking temp or time for high altitude?? I just recently moved to 6,500 feet and am struggling to figure out cooking/baking!!
Marjory
Hi! I'm really not familiar with high altitude challenges. However, I would recommend looking at Mountain Mama Cooks for some guidance. Here is a page on High Altitude
Nancy
Do you have nutritional info about these? They're delicious but I'm trying to keep track.
Marjory
I'm so glad that you like them. We suggest that you use My Fitness Pal or Calorie Counter to calculate nutrition information.
Christine
I put the recipe into myfitness pal (I used Sargento Four Cheese Mexican Blend) and assumed 2 ham cups was a serving.
1 serving is 173 calories, 3 carbs, 11 fat, 17 protein, 1 sugar
Marjory
Thanks for sharing the nutritional info.
jd wolfe
this is a favorite of my grown sons! thanks for sharing!
jd in st louis
Marjory
I'm so glad he likes it! It's a favorite at our house too!
Lindsey
We are doing our Thanksgiving brunch at work can I make these completely and put in the fridge over night and just heat up the next morning?
Marjory
Absolutely!
Sarah H
I made these yesterday and they are AMAZING. I didn't have any thyme, so I put in a little chili powder instead. I heated up two in the microwave for breakfast, and they were very moist and tasty. Thank you for sharing!
Marjory
Thanks so much for sharing your experience! Made my day!
Wendy
It is impossible to see this recipe on my phone with all the ads 🙁
Marjory
Hi! I'm so sorry that you experienced trouble with the site! Checking it out now. I do rely on advertising to pay for the cost of running the blog, but I don't want it to interfere with readers accessing the posts. Thanks so much for your feedback.
Heather ONeill
Just hit "Jump to Recipe"
young baker
i did this it was awesome!! and i ran out of eggs half way through but i ade it work lol!!
Marjory
Fantastic! Thanks so much for sharing your experience!
Kristina @ Love & Zest
SERIOUSLY GENIUS!! I never thought of using ham as a cup! Have you frozen these and recooked them morning of? I love mini quiches for quick grab and go bfast and these would be a real treat and more protein too! LOVE IT!!
Cookingly Yours
excellent, I'm going to try this loghter version.
Cath flynn
Hiya, I love your recipes. I was just wondering about the freezing bit of this recipe. So you freeze the mix, then you freeze the cups separately. If you want to then eat one, do you defrost one cup and defrost a bit of the mix or do you defrost all the cups to go with the whole bag of frozen mix? Not quite sure how to go about that, and would love to know so I can pre freeze breakfasts for my four yr old x
Marjory
Hi! Thanks so much for reading and your kind comments. Freeze the egg mixture (not the ham) in a ziplock bag and then defrost it when you are ready to cook all the mini quiches. Once you have cooked a batch in the ham shells you can wrap up and freeze the cooked quiche in plastic wrap and then just microwave the individual quiche when you are ready to eat it. It sounds more confusing than it is...I usually completely make up and cook one batch right away and freeze the cooked leftovers. But, while I have everything out, I make up several ziplock bags of egg mixture. 🙂
Lori @ Foxes Love Lemons
I love this recipe! I'm going to pass it along to a friend who is looking for freezer meals for the school year.
Marjory
Thanks Lori! I've got quite few stashed away myself!