Frittata vs. Quiche: 3 Differences Between the Egg Dishes

A frittata is an Italian open-faced omelet. Frittata recipes can call for a variety of add-ins, ranging from meats such as sausage or ham to veggies such as bell peppers, zucchini, onions, or spinach. It’s also common to add cheese to a frittata, including varieties like goat cheese, mozzarella, Parmesan, feta, or cheddar cheese. You can mix the cheese in with the eggs and sprinkle more of it on top right before you serve the dish.

To make a frittata, you beat the eggs and dairy (typically heavy cream or half-and-half) together with the filling ingredients and pour them into a large frying pan to cook on the stovetop. You do not flip a frittata while it’s cooking; you instead transfer it to the oven (or broiler) to finish cooking. This also browns the top of the egg dish.

A quiche is a savory tart. The egg filling is a custard made from beaten eggs, dairy, or cream, and your choice of filling combinations. Example add-ins include combinations of ham and cheddar cheese or mushrooms and sautéed spinach. You pour the filling into a pastry crust and then bake it until the egg mixture is set.

One of the most well-known quiche recipes is quiche Lorraine, a dish that is popular in France. While many people associate quiche Lorraine with French cuisine, it actually has German origins, since the French area known today as Lorraine was previously a German region.

To make a quiche Lorraine in a standard nine-inch pie tin, you can use three large eggs, one cup whole milk, one-half cup heavy cream, two teaspoons kosher salt, bacon, or ham, a finely chopped onion, grated Gruyere cheese, sharp cheddar, or Swiss cheese, and chives for garnish. First, bake the crust in the pie tin until it becomes golden. Then beat the rest of the ingredients in a large bowl, pour the egg mixture into the pie crust, and bake everything in the oven until the quiche is set and the top layer is golden.

Frittatas and quiches are both baked dishes containing eggs, cream or whole milk, and a range of fillings that can include veggies, meat, and cheese. But the two meals also have differences, including:

1. 1. The crust: A quiche contains a crust, while a frittata does not. A pastry crust—similar to a standard pie crust— holds the quiche’s filling. A frittata, sometimes called a crustless quiche, has no crust, and you can bake it directly in a pan or skillet.
2. 2. The filling: A quiche is a custard tart, but a frittata contains less dairy. The filling in a quiche follows the ratio of one large egg to one-half cup of dairy. The standard frittata ratio, which will fill a twelve-inch frying pan, is six eggs, one-quarter cup heavy cream, and two cups of filling.
3. 3. The pan: A quiche bakes in a pan, whereas a frittata cooks in a cast-iron skillet. Like a tart, a quiche bakes in a round pie pan or tart pan in the oven for the entire cooking time. On the other hand, you cook a frittata in a cast-iron skillet or frying pan, starting it on the stovetop and then transferring it to the oven or broiler to finish cooking. It's recommended that you don't use a nonstick pan to cook a frittata if you will be finishing it in the oven. Instead, use plenty of olive oil in the bottom of the pan to prevent it from sticking.

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