Chicken and Mushroom Mini Quiches | Mini Quiche Recipe

Mini quiches are the perfect party snack, be it as finger food, for brunch or for hi tea. These chicken and mushroom mini quiches are made with sliced chicken, mushrooms and capsicum in a shortcrust pastry or pie dough crust and look as terrific as they taste!

My new favourite type of get together is inviting friends for brunch. Brunch parties have a casual laidback feeling about them. Everyone gets together during the day, and they still have the rest of the afternoon and evening to relax or catch up on chores. Brunch also lends itself to a variety of menu items – one can go traditional with parathas and aloo ki tarkari, or continental with French Toast and finger food such as these chicken and mushroom mini quiches.

How to make chicken and mushroom mini quiches:

There are 3 components to making mini quiches, which are as follows:

1. The pastry – I have used store bought shortcrust pastry (known as pie dough in the US) for convenience, but you can make your own
2.  The filling – chicken and mushroom in this case, with options for substitution given below
3.  The egg mixture 

Playing around with the filling:

One of the things that I love about these mini quiches is how customisable they are. You can make all mini quiches with the same filling, or you can do a variety of quiches using the same basic base. I made these mini quiches for a brunch gathering once, where one of the guests was vegetarian so I made a chicken and mushroom quiche and a vegetarian version with mushroom, capsicum / bell peppers and asparagus.

• Vegetarian – Use your favourite vegetables to make a vegetarian version of this quiche. I have skipped the chicken, and added asparagus to make a mushroom, capsicum / bell peppers and asparagus version.
• Feta & Spinach – saute spinach with some garlic and then add some creamy feta cube to make a middle eastern inspired spinach quiche.
• Pesto – add a dollop of pesto for an added burst of flavour and colour to the quiches.
• Mediterranean – play around with Mediterranean flavours such as olives, sun dried tomato, capsicum and feta. Just make sure to use seedless olives!
• Chicken Tikka – give the quiches a Desi touch by using chicken marinated in chicken tikka spices.

FAQs and Tips to make mini quiches:

• What sort of pan do I use? Non stick mini tart pans with removable bottoms are best for this recipe. The ones I have used are 10 x 2 cm (4 x ¾ inch). In case removable bottom tins aren’t available, you can use a ceramic mini pie dish or tart dish, just grease it properly so it’s easy to remove the pastry. Let the pastry cool for a few minutes, and then carefully remove it.
• Can I make the chicken and mushroom mini quiches in a larger pan? Yes, you can! I have made these in a large quiche pan, but in that the pastry needs to be blind baked. I personally prefer mini quiches because of how cute they look, and due to the pastry to filling ratio – mini quiches are also less eggy compared to the large quiche.
• Do the mini quiches need to be blind baked? They don’t. Blind baking is a process by which empty pastry shells are baked to give the pastry a head start and ensures that the pastry is not raw or soggy. This step is essential if baking a larger quiche, but can but can be skipped for the mini quiches. To prevent the shortcrust pastry / pie dough from being soggy, I keep the pastry in the freezer to chill. I take it out at the last minute, add the fillings, and quickly put it in a pre-heated oven.
• How much should I fill the tart pan? Eggs rise up in the oven as they bake, so don’t overfill the egg custard otherwise there’s going to be a messy spill. Fill the quiche about 80% of the way, and that should be enough.
• The shortcrust pastry is too soft to work with – what do I do? Shortcrust pastry (or pie dough) tends to get soft, sticky and difficult to work the warmer it gets. Follow the thawing guidelines at the back of the shortcrust pastry (pie dough) packet, making sure to not let it get too warm. If the pastry does get soft, stick in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes to get cold again. This is also why it’s super important to make sure the pastry dough is chilled when putting it in the oven. As soon as the pastry dough is fitted into the quiche tins, place the prepared tins in the freezer for at least 15 minutes. Prepare the egg custard and fillings, and quickly fill the quiche tins and pop them in the oven.
• Can I make the quiches ahead of time? Yes, it is possible. The filings can be made in advance 1 – 2 days before and kept in the fridge, and the quiches can be prepared the morning of the event, and served at room temperature later. They can also be kept in the fridge for 2 days.  Once the quiches are out of the oven, let them cool and remove them from the tart tins. Place them on a baking sheet, cover with foil and place in the fridge. Reheat them in a pre-heated oven at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for about 15 minutes.

Looking for more breakfast and brunch inspiration – check out the following recipes.

1. Overnight French Toast Bake
2. Almond Cake
3. Banana Bread
4. Salted Caramel Crepes
5. Avocado Mushroom Toast
6. Lemon Blueberry Muffins 
7. Pakistani Qeema Recipe
8. Mushroom and Cheese Omelette

Would love it if you could try out and rate the recipe, and let me know how it was in the comments below! 

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Chicken and Mushroom Mini Quiches (Makes 12 quiches)

Mini quiches are the perfect party snack, be it as finger food, for brunch or for hi tea. These chicken and mushroom mini quiches are made with sliced chicken, mushrooms and capsicum in a shortcrust pastry or pie dough crust and look as terrific as they taste!

Course Breakfast, Brunch, Hi Tea

Cuisine American, French

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour

Total Time 1 hour 45 minutes

Servings 6 people

Calories 150 kcal

Ingredients

• 3 sheets shortcrust pastry thawed (20cm / 8" square) or pie crust (Note 1), or homemade shortcrust pastry

For Egg Custard:

• 8 eggs
• 1 cup /240ml heavy cream (known as thickened cream or whipping cream as well)
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
• 8 tablespoon shredded cheese

For the filling:

• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 small onion chopped
• 150 g mushrooms sliced
• 200 g chicken sliced
• ½ red bell peppers / red capsicum optional
• 1 teaspoon sriracha sauce
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon black pepper

Instructions

Prepare the shortcrust pastry:

1. Place the mini tart tins upside down on the shortcrust pastry and cut out a circle about ½ inch (1.5 cm) larger than tin. Fit the pastry into the tin, pressing It down, and then pushing the pastry through the fluting to rip off naturally. Trim the edges with a sharp knife. Repeat the process until all the tins are prepped with the pastry dough.

2. If you are careful with the way that you place the tart tins on the shortcrust pastry, you should be able to fit 5 mini tart tins (sized 10 x 2 cm / 4 x ¾ incfrom one shortcrust pastry square (20cm / 8" square. In case there are any empty spaces, they can be patched with the excess pieces of pastry dough.
3. If you are using shortcrust pastry or xxxxx, roll out dough on a floured surface to ¼ inch (6 mthickness. Follow the same steps to cut out and fit the pastry into the tart tins.
4. Once all the tart tins are prepped with the dough, place the tins on a baking sheet and place in the freezer for 15 minutes.

Prepare the egg custard:

1. In a medium size bowl or Pyrex pitcher, add the eggs and beat together with a whisk or a fork. Add the heavy cream, salt, black pepper, and Italian herbs. Set aside.

Prepare the filling:

1. Preheat oven to 180°C/350°F (160°C fan).

2. Heat oil in a large skillet or frying pan. Add the sliced garlic and saute till fragant and light golden. Add the chopped onions, and saute for a minute and then add the mushrooms.
3. Saute the mushrooms till they are golden brown, and water evaporates. Add the sliced chicken at this stage, and cook for a few minutes till cooked through.

4. Add the red capsicum (if using) and saute for a minute.

5. Season with salt, black pepper and sriracha sauce. Mix everything well, and set aside to cool.
6. Make sure the filling is cool before adding to the tart tins.

Assemble and bake the mini quiches:

1. Take the prepared tart tins out of the freezer, and sprinkle the cheese into each individual tart tins . Half a tablespoon should be enough for each tart shell.

2. Top with the chicken and mushroom filling, making sure that the chicken and mushroom pieces are distributed equally across all tart shells. In case the chicken pieces seem to large, you can always shred them with a fork to make them smaller.

3. Top the mini quiches with the egg custard filling – about 2 – 3 tablespoons should be enough for each tart tin. Fill the tart tin about 80 – 85% full as the quiches will expand on baking. For leftover filling see note 2.

4. Bake at 180°C/350°F (160°C fan) for about 25 minutes, and then increase temp to 190°C/375°F (170°C fan). Bake at the higher temperature for about 5 – 8 minutes until the pastry is golden brown, and top is brown.

5. Remove the quiches from the oven, and let them cool slightly – about 5 minutes.
6. Remove from the tins, and serve immediately.

Recipe Notes

• Mini Quiche Crust – in Australia, use square frozen shortcrust pastry sheets. These are available in 1 kg packets of 5 pastry sheets each in the freezer section. In the US or Canada, these are known as ‘pie crusts’ and are available in the fridge section. Get the rectangle roll and fill ones.
• Leftover filling – it is possible for there to be leftover filling, as so little is used in each quiche. In that case, you can make an additional mini quiche using leftover pastry or you can make a quick omelette.