This Mexican chicken quiche is the quintessential comfort food! Shredded chicken, onions, tomatoes, poblano peppers, jalapeño peppers, chili-lime seasoning, pepper jack cheese plus sharp cheddar, all baked into a flaky, buttery crust. It’s awesomely delicious and you can make it ahead and freeze it so you have a quick meal for weekend guests or mid-week dinners!
We just love the flavor combination of poblanos, jalapeños, along with the tomatoes, onions and pepper jack cheese in this recipe. You can really use any cheese that you like, and if poblanos are too hot for you, just substitute Ortega (Anaheim) chilies, because they are super mild. We also love Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning, but Tajin works really well in this recipe too.
Regardless of what kind of filling you want in your quiche, the formula is pretty much the same for the custard. We use three large eggs and 1 1/2 cups of half & half, but if you have a larger pie dish, just remember to use 1/2 cup of the liquid for every egg. We love a lot of filling, too, and so we probably use about 3 cups all together between the veggies and meats, plus 1 1/2 cups of grated cheese.
If you’re in a hurry, you can use a pre-made crust or a box mix crust, but if you love a homemade crust for your quiche, it’s best to partially pre-bake the pie crust before filling it and baking the whole dish. If you don’t have pie weights or dried beans, use whatever you can to weigh down the crust. The main reason for this is so the empty shell doesn’t collapse. Also, be sure to poke lots of holes in the crust before laying the foil and weights over the raw crust. These help the air escape so big, giant air pockets won’t form in your pie shell. You can see that we were all out of pie weights and dried beans, so I went to my husband’s tool shelf and got some nice heavy washers! They were magic! This recipe makes enough dough for your 9-inch pie crust plus a smaller pie crust. Or, you can use any extra dough for cinnamon sugar roll ups, for patching your crust edging, or make a smaller pie shell and freeze it for another time!
Mexican Chicken Quiche
Equipment
- 1 9-inch pie dish
- Set of pie weights
Ingredients
Flaky Buttery Crust
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 6 oz. unsalted butter, chilled and cut into tiny pieces
- 2 tsp. cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup ice water
Mexican Chicken Filling
- 2 cups cooked and shredded chicken breast
- 1 large yellow onion We like to lightly saute onions in the olive oil until translucent ahead of time, but you can use raw onions, if you are short on time.
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 1 poblano pepper, coarsely chopped
- 1 jalapeno pepper, finely diced
- 1 large tomato, coarsely chopped
- 3/4 cup Pepper Jack cheese, grated
- 3/4 cup mixed Mexican grated cheese or can also use sharp cheddar in place of mixed Mexi cheese
Egg and Cream Custard
- 3 large eggs
- 1 1/2 cups half & half or milk
- 1 tsp. Trader Joe’s Chili Lime Seasoning or Tajin
- 1/2 tsp. lemon pepper
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Preheat oven to 350° F. Get your 9-inch pie dish ready for action!
- Stir flour and salt together in a large bowl. Cut butter into the dries using a pastry cutter or cold fingertips until butter is reduced to the size of small peas.
- Sprinkle cider vinegar over the butter-flour mixture and stir with a fork. Slowly add ice water (don’t get ice into the crust mixture) until the dough can be gathered together. Add water slowly, so you don’t get it too wet.
- Divide dough into a larger and a smaller ball. On a large cutting board or pastry cloth, roll the larger ball into a circle about 14-15 inches in diameter, using extra flour as you need it to keep the dough from sticking to the board. Save the smaller dough ball for patching the crust edges or for making cinnamon sugar roll ups. Or, you can make a smaller pie shell and freeze it for another time.
- Fold the dough into quarters and then transfer it to a 9-inch pie dish. Open up to a full circle and crimp the pie edges to a pretty finished look. I usually flute the edge, but you can also use a fork or any method you like.
- Poke holes all along the bottom and sides of the pie shell with a fork.
- Lay a piece of foil in the center of the pie crust and put pie weights, or dry beans evenly over the foil. Partially bake the pie crust for 20 minutes. Then remove foil and weights and continue to bake for another 10 minutes, or just until the crust is beginning to brown. Remove from oven and cool.
Quiche Filling and Custard
- Beat eggs, half & half, chili-lime seasoning and lemon pepper together. Set aside.
- Layer the chicken, poblanos, jalapeños, onions, tomatoes and the Pepper Jack cheese in the bottom of the pre-baked shell. Pour custard over the top and then sprinkle the mixed Mexican cheese over the top.
- Bake for 45-50 minutes or until the center is mostly set, but still a tiny bit jiggly.
- When baked, remove from oven and allow to set up for approximately 25 mintues before serving.
