Lazy Summer Veggie Quiche with Goat Cheese & Zucchini

This Lazy Summer Veggie Quiche is the perfect make-ahead meal for hot days. Fresh zucchini, juicy cherry tomatoes, and creamy goat cheese make it a quick, satisfying dish. Enjoy it warm or cold. It’s a crowd-pleaser, either way!

Last week, I read one of those “mistakes to avoid when making quiche” articles. What started out as mild curiosity quickly turned to defiance.

Always parbake the crust? Avoid all watery veggies, even pre roasted?! Bust out a calculator to determine the right egg-to-dairy-to-whatever ratio?

I was outraged. A little offended. And determined to prove them wrong.

So I broke all the rules: no parbaking, no preheated baking sheet, raw zucchini and tomatoes, no measuring eggs in relation to anything else — and yes, I even added water to my filling.

So do we really need to follow the rules?

Accidentally winning at lunch didn’t end my lazy quiche quest. I was still determined to break the most annoying rules: the parbake, and the pre-roasted-veg commandment.

So I compromised and preheated my baking sheet (minimal effort!), skipped the pie weights, and reduced the water a bit. I cut back on the watery veggies just a little (because what is the point of summer quiche if you can’t use summer produce?).

And you know what? It worked like a charm. Baking on a preheated sheet, on the bottom rack gave me a golden, shattering crust. The filling was delicious and perfectly set, zucchini, tomatoes and all. It was a full win. That lazy quiche disappeared so fast, I was lucky enough to get any cold leftovers at all. Spoiler: it was still fantastic straight from the fridge.

From now on, there’s only one quiche rule in my kitchen: Always bake on a preheated baking sheet on the lowest rack. The rest will fall into place.

Why You’ll Love This Summer Veggie Quiche Recipe

Just in case I couldn’t convince you with my little saga of defiance, here are a few more reasons to love this recipe:

Perfect Summer Meal-Prep Since this quiche is still delicious cold, it’s a great make-ahead meal.

Easy Schedule for Home Bakers If you bake your own sourdough at home, you’ll be heating the oven in summer anyway. This quiche can go in after your loaf of bread (either in the early morning or late at night) and cool off in time for lunch.

Use A Fair Amount of Summer Produce If you’re lucky enough to have a garden, this is the place to make your hard earned harvest shine.

Tools You May Need

32 cm/12-inch Ceramic Tart Pan or 23 cm/9-inch Ceramic Pie Dish (deep dish). If you’re using a glass pan instead, it may require a few extra minutes of baking time.

Box grater for grating cheese

Rolling pin for rolling out pie dough

Ingredients and Substitutions

Pie Crust If you want to use my easy, all butter, sourdough pie crust, make sure you have one quantity ready to go. I love using fresh milled kamut flour (or even store-bought whole grain) for quiche crusts — it gets extra crispy and flavorful! But any pie crust you love (homemade or storebought) should be fine.

Goat Cheese I used a herbed, cream cheese style, soft goat cheese but plain works equally well.

Grated Cheese Choose something aromatic: Swiss gruyère, French comté or sharp cheddar all work nicely.

Shallots Shallots are onion’s milder cousin. Red onions are on the mellow side as well, so they’re a good sub.

Tomatoes Stick to cherry or any smaller vine tomatoes, to keep moisture in check.

Herbs Fresh basil, parsley, thyme or oregano are all lovely — whatever you got growing in your garden (or you know.. the window box). If you don’t have fresh on hand, use half as much dried herbs instead.

How to Make a Lazy Summer Veggie Quiche

01

Preheat Oven and Roll Out Crust:

Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F). Preheat a baking sheet on the lowest oven rack.

Roll out your pie crust and transfer it to the pan. Tuck the lined pan into the fridge while preparing your veggies and filling. (See my Easiest Sourdough Pie Crust for tips on rolling and handling.)

02

Prepare Veggies and Filling:

Chop zucchini into small cubes, halve cherry tomatoes, mince shallot, and grate the cheese. Set all ingredients aside.
Finely chop fresh herbs, if using. In a large bowl or measuring jug, whisk together goat cheese, water, eggs, salt, pepper and herbs.

03

Assemble Quiche:

Get the chilled pan from the fridge. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese across the bottom. Equally spread the chopped zucchini across the cheese, followed by the chopped tomatoes. Whisk the filling again and carefully pour into the crust. Sprinkle the chopped shallot across the top, followed by the rest of the grated cheese.

04

Bake and Cool:

Carefully transfer the pan onto the preheated baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is browned and deeply golden, and the filling is set in the middle.

Transfer to a cooling rack and let cool for 30 minutes before serving.

How to Serve and Store

The best way to serve this quiche is with a fresh, crunchy green salad, lightly dressed with lemon, honey, and Dijon. Pair it with cider, beer, or white wine, and share with good company.

Lukewarm or room temperature quiche is also a great addition to any brunch or buffet spread. It travels well in a lunch box.

You can reheat leftover quiche, or as a whole, covered with foil, at 175°C (350°F) for 25-35 minutes (or until heated through).

Once cool, you can store leftovers in the fridge for up to 3-4 days. Personally, I’m no fan of freezing and defrosting quiche, but if you enjoy it, absolutely, go for it!

If you make this lazy summer veggie quiche…

I’d love to hear how it turned out!

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