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I’m sure we have all gone through the trouble of cooking a really nice dish only to get full before you’ve even eaten half of it. Sometimes it isn’t an issue, but when you have spent ages making something exciting, you want to keep it and eat the rest of it another day. Thankfully, if you have a slice or two of your homemade quiche lying around, you can safely store it so that it is still fresh when you want to come back and finish it.
Table of Contents
- What Is Quiche?
- How To Store Quiche
- How To Know When Quiche Is Spoiled
- Storing Quiches, A Summary
- FAQs On Quiche
What Is Quiche?
Quiche is a French pastry that is considered a tart. The pastry crust around the outside is not too thick but is pretty hard so that it forms a nice base for the rest of the tart to sit on. The tart is filled with savory custard, cheese, meat, seafood, or vegetables depending on what overall theme or flavor the quiche is going to be. The most popular type of quiche is known as quiche lorraine and includes bacon in it.
While looking at the ingredients, nothing is too out of the ordinary except for the pairing. However, quiche is delicious and this definitely works. The savory custard is the main suspect for why you have to take care when storing this dish, as custard is primarily made from eggs. Seafood would be another good reason to store this properly but not all quiche has seafood in it. If there is seafood in your quiche then make sure not to eat it if it has been left out too long as this could result in food poisoning. Quiche is a common party food as it can be cut into little slices, quiche can also pair very well with a plethora of other dishes.
How To Store Quiche
As mentioned, the savory custard in quiche is made from eggs which is why the dish has a somewhat short shelf life. Leftover quiche can be stored to extend this shelf-life but unfortunately, not by much. If you were to leave your quiche on the counter after eating what you want of it, it will be fine but only for a few hours. Out in the open like that for too long will cause it to go off and start breeding bacteria.
Storing Leftover Quiche In The Fridge
If you want to save your quiche for a quick snack later in the week, you will be happy to know that you can place it in the fridge and have it stored for 3-5 days without going bad. To do this, you will want to gently wrap your quiche in plastic wrap or place it inside of an airtight container. This will help prevent it from being exposed to fresh air every time you open the fridge. If you are going to store a freshly baked quiche, you will want to wait until it has cooled to room temperature before doing this if not, the warm temperature in the fridge creates the perfect breeding ground for bacteria.
Quiche can be enjoyed hot or cold, so when you want to eat it you can either take it out from the fridge and immediately start eating, or you can reheat quiche by wrapping it in aluminum foil and baking it for 5-10 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Storing Cooked Quiche In The Freezer
If you really love the quiche that you have made but do not want to eat it in the next few days, then your only other option will be to freeze it. This will increase the shelf life from a few days to 3 months. It is really easy to freeze quiche, the only hassle is preventing freezer burn and also having to thaw the quiche before you eat it.
To properly store quiche in the freezer, you will want to wrap it tightly in plastic wrap. This will minimize the amount of oxygen around the quiche, stopping freezer burn from ruining it. On top of this, you can also choose to place it in an airtight container, this will protect it more but it is recommended that it is still wrapped. Before freezing, let your quiche sit on the side until it is at room temperature. After this, you can place it in the freezer and come back to it whenever you want to eat it.
How To Thaw Quiche
The main downside of freezing your food is that if you suddenly get the urge to eat quiche, you have to wait for it to thaw before you can eat it. This does not take too long but can still be an annoyance sometimes. It’s a small price to pay for being able to freeze quiche and store it for longer.
To thaw quiche properly, you will want to let it sit in the fridge overnight. It is not advised to thaw it to room temperature as that could start breeding bacteria if left unattended for too long. A frozen quiche is best thawed in the fridge overnight as it is gradual and will leave the quiche still fresh and tasty.
Once thawed you could eat the quiche immediately as a lot of people eat cold quiche. Alternatively, if you want your quiche warm, you can preheat your oven to 350 degrees F and cook your quiche wrapped in aluminum foil for 5-10 minutes.
How To Know When Quiche Is Spoiled
As said, leaving quiche on the side will cause it to spoil at room temperature fairly quickly, so it is best to store it somewhere else. Yet, how do you know if the quiche is already spoiled or not? Food safety is something worth taking very seriously so check your quiche before eating it as you should with a lot of dairy products. If anything smells off or like it should not be there, then you have spoiled quiche and should discard it. The most obvious scent will be rotten eggs as they are the most likely ingredient to spoil first.
Storing Quiches, A Summary
If you allow your quiche to rest on the side at room temperature, you have a two-hour window before it starts to breed bacteria and be spoiled. The best method of storage if you plan to eat it in the next few days is to place it in the fridge in an airtight container, for immediate consumption whenever you want. The other alternative is to freeze your quiche to store it for 3 months, which is a drastic improvement in shelf life.
FAQs On Quiche
Can I eat a week-old quiche?
Personally, if it has been a week it is pretty risky to eat it. If it was stored in the fridge then it may be fine, as long as it does not smell pungent. If the quiche was stored in the freezer then it is fine. If the quiche has been sitting at room temperature for a week then absolutely do not eat it.
How do you keep leftover quiche?
The best way to store leftover quiche is either in the fridge, if you plan to eat it in the next few days, or in the freezer if you want to eat it in the next 3 months.
