Anna Louise Cheese and onion quiche is one of the most satisfying things you can make in a tart tin. A crisp, buttery pastry case filled with a rich, silky custard of eggs and cream, deeply flavoured with slow-cooked sweet onions and sharp mature Cheddar — it is the quiche that makes people forget they were ever ambivalent about quiche.
Mary Berry’s cheese and onion quiche recipe is the definitive version. The onions are cooked slowly in butter until completely soft, sweet, and golden before they go into the filling.
This is the step that makes all the difference between a quiche with a pleasant onion flavour and one with a deep, complex, slightly caramelised onion sweetness that makes it genuinely special.
The pastry is properly blind baked. The filling is properly seasoned and set. The cheese on top goes golden and slightly bubbly during baking.
This is the quiche for a summer lunch, a picnic, a dinner party starter, or a weekday dinner with a simple salad alongside.
What Makes This Quiche Exceptional
Properly caramelised onions. Twenty minutes of gentle cooking in butter until the onions are completely soft, sweet, and beginning to colour is the foundation of this quiche. Raw or under-cooked onions in a quiche filling taste sharp and harsh. Properly cooked onions taste sweet, complex, and deeply savoury.
A properly blind-baked pastry case. The pastry must be cooked through and crisp before the filling goes in. This prevents the soggy bottom that is the most common quiche failure.
The right ratio of eggs to cream. Too many eggs and the filling is rubbery. Too much cream and it does not set properly. The ratio in this recipe gives a filling that is set but just trembling — silky and yielding rather than firm and dense.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Cheese and Onion Quiche
For the Shortcrust Pastry
- 200g plain flour, sifted
- 100g unsalted butter, cold and cubed
- Pinch of fine salt
- 2–3 tbsp cold water
For the Filling
- 40g unsalted butter
- 3 large onions, thinly sliced
- 1 tsp caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 300ml double cream
- 150ml whole milk
- 175g mature Cheddar, finely grated
- ½ tsp English mustard powder
- ¼ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tbsp fresh chives, finely snipped (optional)
How to Make Mary Berry Cheese and Onion Quiche — Step by Step
Step 1 — Make the Pastry
Pulse the flour, salt, and cold butter in a food processor to fine breadcrumbs. Add cold water one tablespoon at a time until the dough just comes together.
If making by hand — rub cold butter into flour and salt until fine breadcrumbs. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time until the dough coheres.
Flatten into a disc, wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Step 2 — Line and Blind Bake
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Roll the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to 3mm thickness. Line a deep 23cm loose-bottomed tart tin, leaving slight overhang. Prick the base. Refrigerate for 20 minutes.
Line with baking parchment and fill with baking beans. Blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove beans and parchment. Bake for a further 8 to 10 minutes until pale golden and completely dry on the base. Trim the pastry edges.
Reduce oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4.
Step 3 — Cook the Onions
Melt the butter in a large frying pan over a medium-low heat. Add the sliced onions and caster sugar. Cook gently for 20 to 25 minutes, stirring regularly, until completely soft, golden, and beginning to caramelise. The onions should have reduced to about half their original volume and be sweet and fragrant.
Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cool slightly.
Step 4 — Make the Custard
Whisk the eggs, double cream, and milk together in a large jug until combined. Add the mustard powder, nutmeg, and generous seasoning with salt and pepper. Add the chives if using. Stir in 125g of the grated Cheddar.
Step 5 — Assemble
Spread the cooled caramelised onions evenly over the base of the blind-baked pastry case. Pour the egg and cream mixture carefully over the onions — fill to within 5mm of the top of the pastry. Scatter the remaining 50g of Cheddar evenly over the surface.
Step 6 — Bake
Place the quiche on a baking tray — this makes it easier to handle and catches any drips. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes until the filling is set with a very slight tremor in the centre and the top is golden and slightly puffed.
Do not overbake — the filling continues to set as it cools. A quiche that looks perfectly set in the oven will be slightly overcooked by the time it reaches the table.
Step 7 — Cool and Serve
Leave to cool in the tin for at least 20 minutes before slicing. Quiche is best served warm rather than hot — the filling sets more completely as it cools and slices far more cleanly.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Cheese and Onion Quiche
Cook the onions properly — twenty minutes minimum. This is the most important step. Undercooked onions give a sharp, raw flavour that dominates the filling. Fully caramelised onions give a sweet, complex depth that is completely different. The sugar accelerates the caramelisation. Do not rush this stage.
Blind bake the pastry until completely dry. The base must be pale golden and dry to the touch — not soft, not white, not doughy. An underbaked base becomes soggy under the liquid filling. Ten minutes uncovered after removing the beans is the minimum.
Do not overbake the filling. The filling is ready when it has a very slight tremor in the centre — like a just-set panna cotta. It continues to cook from residual heat after it comes out of the oven. A completely set, no-tremor filling in the oven equals an overcooked, slightly rubbery filling on the plate.
Serve warm not hot. The filling slices most cleanly and has the best texture warm rather than hot. Twenty minutes out of the oven is ideal.
Use mature Cheddar. A mild Cheddar disappears into the filling. Mature Cheddar gives a sharp, distinctive flavour that stands up to the sweetness of the caramelised onions. Extra-mature if you want a more assertive result.
Serving Suggestions
Warm with a simple green salad and good bread — the perfect lunch. As part of a summer buffet or picnic. As a dinner party starter in small portions. Cold the next day from the fridge — quiche keeps very well and is excellent cold.
How to Store Mary Berry Cheese and Onion Quiche
In the fridge: Store covered for up to 3 days. Serve cold or warm in a 160°C oven for 10 minutes.
In the freezer: Freeze in slices for up to 2 months. Defrost overnight in the fridge and warm in a 160°C oven before serving.
Mary Berry Cheese and Onion Quiche Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Make pastry: pulse flour, salt, and cold butter to fine breadcrumbs. Add cold water until dough coheres. Wrap and chill 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Roll pastry to 3mm. Line 23cm tart tin. Prick base. Chill 20 minutes. Blind bake with beans 15 minutes. Remove beans — bake 8–10 minutes until pale golden and dry. Trim edges. Reduce oven to 180°C / 160°C fan / Gas 4.
- Cook sliced onions in butter with sugar over medium-low heat for 20–25 minutes until completely soft, golden, and beginning to caramelise. Season. Cool slightly.
- Whisk eggs, cream, and milk. Add mustard powder, nutmeg, seasoning, chives if using, and 125g Cheddar.
- Spread onions over pastry base. Pour egg mixture over. Scatter remaining 50g Cheddar on top.
- Place on baking tray. Bake 30–35 minutes until set with a slight central tremor and golden on top.
- Cool in tin 20 minutes. Serve warm.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use single cream instead of double?
Single cream gives a slightly less rich, slightly less set filling. It works but the result is less unctuous than double cream. A mixture of single cream and whole milk in equal quantities is a reasonable compromise if double cream is unavailable.
Can I add bacon to this quiche?
Yes — 150g of smoked bacon lardons cooked until crispy and scattered over the caramelised onions before the filling goes in is a wonderful addition. Cheese, onion, and bacon is a classic combination.
Can I make this without blind baking?
You can but the base will be soggy. Blind baking is the only way to ensure a crisp pastry base under a liquid filling. It takes twenty-five minutes and makes the difference between a good quiche and a great one.
Why is my quiche filling rubbery?
It was overbaked. The filling should have a slight tremor when it comes out of the oven. Once rubbery, the texture cannot be recovered — but reduce the baking time next time.
Can I use a ready-made pastry case?
Yes — a good quality ready-made shortcrust pastry case is a reasonable shortcut. Blind bake it further if it looks pale before adding the filling.
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