Vegan mini quiches with spinach and bacon

Revel in the flavor decadence of vegan mini quiches with spinach and our favorite sheet-pan bacon and savor every bite of these sumptuously healthy morsels

This recipe is all about taking three things we love – spinach, plant-based bacon, and simple gluten-free, egg-free quiche baked up mini style. The result is healthy decadence – the best kind!

Sheet pan plant-based bacon

I’m always hunting for a new recipe involving my favorite plant-based bacon recipe. The ‘sheet pan’ approach means that there is no time for marinating required. You’ll just want to press it for 20 minutes and then add everything to your food processor and spread it on a baking sheet.

What you’ll need:

8 oz. (250 gm.) tofu

¼ cup (60 ml) tamari or soy sauce

1 Tbsp. maple syrup

1 Tbsp. liquid smoke

2 tsp. apple cider vinegar

½ tsp. onion powder

½ tsp. garlic powder

½ tsp. black pepper

¼ tsp. cayenne pepper (optional)

Tips

8 ounces of tofu will be more than enough to yield 1 cup of bacon bits needed for the mini quiches. If you can maintain the willpower not to snack on the leftover, you will have enough for a couple of bacon sandwiches or you could even split the batch and have spinach, apple, and bacon salad tomorrow or the next day.

Because I’ve made a lot of this stuff, I have a systematic approach to crisping up sheet pan bacon. Start by spreading it as evenly as you can on the parchment paper-lined baking tray. That helps it bake evenly.

To flip it, grab another piece of parchment paper and cutting board. Lay the parchment paper over the top and then the board and flip everything over. Once you’ve flipped it, peel away the top parchment paper, and then, gently slice the bacon into strips and separate them a bit. Grab the paper and transfer the flipped bacon back onto the baking tray and into the oven. This process might seem a bit fiddly, but it’s really easy and it leads to crispy, evenly baked bacon. And that's what we're after. 

Batter basics

Before you add the chopped spinach and bacon, you want to be sure your quiche batter is not too thick (or thin). I added 1 ½ cups of plant milk to 2 cups of chickpea flour which created a smooth batter. To bring out the flavor, I added the following ingredients:

2 T nutritional yeast – for a little savory, cheesy flavor

1 T Dijon mustard – that will give you a bit of tanginess, smoothness. and color

½ tsp. garlic powder

¼ tsp. cayenne powder

½ tsp. salt – this is optional, your bacon and mustard may give you enough saltiness depending on your taste preferences

If 4 cups of chopped spinach might seem like a lot. It’s not. As the quiches bake, the moisture of the spinach will release and help keep them moist and it will reduce the spinach. You won’t be spinach overpowered, just spinach powered with this one.

If fresh spinach isn’t an option for you, I’ve also made this with chopped kale. You won’t get as much reduction, so you may want to reduce the amount to 3 – 3 ½ cups. It would also be a good idea to sauté or steam it first to help it soften.

Optional additions

If you want to put your own signature mini quiche signature you could also add some diced oven-dried tomatoes, a tablespoon of chopped herbs such as basil, parsley, or dill or a tablespoon of chopped red onion. It’s a great time to get creative.

I used an 8-cup muffin tin with ‘spring’ bottoms, but any non-stick muffin tin will do. You could also make the entire recipe in a traditional quiche pan. In that case, reduce the oven heat to 400⁰ F (200⁰ C) for even baking. It will take about 20 minutes in that case.

Despite how anxious you are to start eating them (and you will be), I’ve discovered that it’s easiest to remove the baked mini quiches if you allow them to sit for 5 minutes or so. They will start to cool just a bit and retract from the sides of the tin. You can also gently run a dull knife around the edges to loosen them slightly.

Final thoughts

There are times when a bit of kitchen magic happens and usually, that involves ingredients we love. Not a surprise that that quiche creating included plant-based bacon and spinach – I could make a sandwich with just that and go away happy. And to be honest, traditional quiche made with eggs wasn’t anything I missed about a plant-based diet. But I’d miss the vegan version for sure.

I never dwell on recreating my past ‘bad’ nutritional practices through recipes. It never tastes the same and there are just too many good things out there to eat. Leave the past behind, let go of any mistakes you might have made. That’s unproductive. Learn from it, forgive it, and move on. Make a few mini quiches and think about how far you’ve come – even if that’s just in the moment of the very first bite. That’s the progress we can savor. Peace. 

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