Not always healthy, quiche could be a diet downfall! Prepared with heavy cream and cheeses and baked in a piecrust, there can be excessive calories and fat. With the University of Illinois Extension Nutrition and Wellness Program, it is easy to adapt quiche to a healthy and delicious dish to share with family and friends!
Primarily made of eggs, quiche is a one-dish meal made of protein, calcium, essential vitamins, and minerals. Quiche can be a healthy dish when prepared with a few ingredient swaps. Susan Glassman, Nutrition & Wellness Educator with University of Illinois Extension suggests, "cut calories and fat in quiche by choosing low-fat cheese and replacing heavy cream with fat-free evaporated milk." Adding extra vegetables to quiche is an additional suggestion; enjoy the flavors of the season. The dietary guidelines recommend eating more vegetables! For adults, try to eat between two and three cups of vegetables a day; a serving is one cup of raw or cooked or 2 cups of raw leafy greens. Vegetables are naturally low in fat and calories. A cholesterol-free food, vegetables offer many nutrients, including potassium, dietary fiber, folate, vitamin A, and vitamin C. Glassman emphasized, "adding extra vegetables to recipes, like quiche, helps to reduce the risk for heart disease, certain types of cancers, obesity, and type 2 diabetes." Along with more vegetables, try fresh chopped herbs and spices for flavor, like fresh dill and cracked black pepper, instead of salt. Glassman suggests, "decreasing salt provides health benefits like a reduced risk for heart disease. Salt remains a leading risk factor for high blood pressure, which can cause heart disease, heart attack, and stroke according to the American Heart Association." For an even lighter dish, go crustless! Serve quiche with a crisp green salad or sliced cucumbers and fresh fruit for dessert.
Can you freeze quiche? Glassman discussed how to freeze quiche to preserve leftovers. "To freeze, wrap in heavy-duty aluminum foil and slide it into a freezer bag. Seal, label and freeze up to two months. Bake or microwave until heated through, the quiche is cooked to safe temperature when a food thermometer reads 165 degrees."
Enjoy quiche anytime! Be creative; the combinations are endless. The Crustless Spinach Quiche from University of Illinois Extension Recipes for Diabetes website is a delicious addition to a recipe box. Capture the taste of summer by adding fresh slices of garden tomatoes and chopped basil for a savory new twist on a delicious dish.
Enjoy a healthy and delicious meal, try making quiche tonight!
Recipes for Diabetes, Crustless Spinach Quiche
Serves 8
Ingredients
5 large eggs, beaten
6 ounces low-fat (1%) cottage cheese
4 ounces feta cheese
½ cup shredded Swiss cheese
2 tablespoons margarine
½ teaspoon nutmeg
1 box (10-ounce) frozen spinach, thawed and drained
Cooking spray
Directions
- Preheat oven to 350º.
- Spray a quiche or 10-inch pie pan with cooking spray.
- In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except spinach.
- Stir in spinach. Pour into a pie pan.
- Bake for 35-45 minutes until slightly browned on top.
Nutrition Facts per serving, serves 8; calories 146, total fat 10g, cholesterol 149mg, sodium 382mg, carbohydrate 3g, dietary fiber 1g, protein 11g
Total time: 50 minutes. Prep time: 10 minutes
This and other recipes available at http://urbanext.illinois.edu/diabetesrecipes
FAQs
Is quiche healthy? Quiche is bad news when it comes to a healthy diet. It's usually made with cheese and cream in the filling as well as butter in the pastry case, so it's often high in saturated fat and calories. Ingredients like bacon will add salt and more saturated fat.
Can quiche be a main meal? ›
As previously stated, quiche can be served as a main dish or as a side dish and it's often served with a variety of accompaniments. For a healthy dinner, some popular options include a simple green salad, roasted or steamed vegetables, or a salad with mixed greens.
Can diabetics eat quiche? ›
With salty bacon, creamy white cheddar cheese, and the mild onion flavor of the scallions, this recipe is a delicious low carb breakfast or light lunch option. It's good any time of day. This works well for someone with diabetes or someone on a low carb diet or keto diet.
Is quiche good for high blood pressure? ›
Eggs also contain B vitamins for energy and iron, which is important for blood flow. Adding vegetables to your quiche increases your vitamin A and C intake, important for healthy immunity; and potassium intake, which plays a role in healthy blood pressure levels.
Is quiche a good lunch? ›
There's no right or wrong answer to this question, as quiches are great served hot or cold. Cold, they can make a fantastic light lunch on the go, are a popular dish at any buffet table and perfect for picnics.
Is quiche a breakfast or dinner food? ›
With a savory, custardy filling — often speckled with all types of cheeses, veggies, and meats — and a buttery-rich crust, quiche is downright showstopping. It's the dreamiest dish to dig into for a special family breakfast, a weekend brunch, or simple lunch or dinner.
Are too many eggs bad for diabetics? ›
People with type 2 diabetes can absolutely enjoy eggs. Recent research1,2,3 confirms that eggs can be eaten as part of a healthy diet without negatively impacting diabetes or heart health, and can even help to stabilize blood sugar levels.
Is quiche full of carbs? ›
Quiche, with meat (1 piece - 1/8 of 9" pie) contains 16g total carbs, 15.3g net carbs, 22.4g fat, 14g protein, and 325 calories.
Can diabetics eat scrambled eggs and bacon? ›
Prepare your eggs in ways that avoid cheese, butter, and bacon as much as possible. Instead, pair them with vegetables and greens. Eggs are high in protein and nutrients, and very low in carbs, making them a great addition to your diet to help control your diabetes and get on with your life.
Why is quiche so good? ›
And it's absolutely delicious. The recipe calls for both crème fraîche and heavy cream, which results in an extra luxurious custard when baked. To counteract the richness, a robust cheese like Cheddar, Gruyère, or feta helps to give quiche more depth of flavor, says digital food editor Dawn Perry.
“In general, eating eggs doesn't impact either systolic or diastolic blood pressures. The egg controversy is more about increased cholesterol and its indirect association with risk of cancer and heart disease,” says Prashanth Peddi, M.D., a primary care physician at Memorial Hermann in Houston, TX.
Is quiche a processed food? ›
This survey analysed the nutrition composition of a range of processed foods, including pizza, garlic bread, breakfast cereals, quiche, fat spreads, a range of fish and meat products (retail and takeaway), chips (retail and takeaway), savoury snacks, confectionery and ice cream.
Why are quiches so good? ›
It's the butterfat in the cream and milk that is responsible for a good quiche's disarmingly rich texture. In other words: Quiche isn't frittata with crust; it's savory custard with crust. (This is why it needs a crust—without it, the custard would fall apart and look gross when you tried to serve it.)
How many calories are in one piece of quiche? ›
According to an estimate, an average slice of cheese quiche contains around 300-400 calories. These calories are not fixed, as they can fluctuate with different ingredients.
