These delectable vegan mini quiches made from crispy phyllo shells stuffed with a savory mixture of seasoned tofu and spinach.
I've wanted to post a quiche recipe for a while now. Eggless egg-based dishes are a new source of excitement in my life! Seriously though, as I've told you guys before, if there is one animal-based ingredient that I have no problem doing without, it would be eggs. The taste and texture just never worked for me.
So I was very excited, as I'm sure you can imagine, to discover how much I actually love vegan versions of eggy recipes. Whatever it is about eggs that I don't like, tofu doesn't seem to have it. If you've been following for a while, you've probably seen my takes on tofu scramble, a vegan omelet, and most recently, huevos rancheros.
This post actually documents my second attempt at quiche. I tried something over the summer. Got up early, made a pie crust from scratch. Sauteed some veggies, blended tofu. It was a load of work. Two hours later I was sad to discover that I didn't like it. I tried. My boyfriend thought it was great. (Interestingly enough, he loves eggs.) I took photos, thinking I needed to revisit the quiche at a later time when I hadn't spent two hours slaving over it. Still didn't like it. The center wasn't quite firm enough, it reminded me too much of eggs...I don't know. I couldn't post it. No matter how much encouragement I get from others, I just can't post a recipe for a dish that I don't totally enjoy eating.
Well, it turns out my boyfriend must have really dug that quiche, because when he started seeking out some healthy breakfast food to take to work with him, the subject of quiche came up again. This is the type of problem I love to help out with, so of course I got really excited when I saw mini phyllo shells on display at the supermarket, thinking they would be perfect for portable breakfasts, and less work than making my own quiche crust. When I busted the box opened, I found that mini phyllo shells were a bit more mini than expected. They were maybe an inch or two in diameter. My vegan mini quiches would have to be pretty darn small. Here I thought he'd be able to eat one or two for breakfast. That would clearly not work. I made them anyway, and we did eat them for breakfast. In fact, we ate the whole batch for breakfast, which is actually good news, because you know what that means? You guessed...I actually liked these! The texture was better. They cooked up nice looked prettier. These were some tasty little suckers. Perhaps not ideal for breakfast due to their size, but perfect for appetizers or snacking on at parties, and oh, look at that: we're but one day away from the biggest party day of the year. Enjoy!
Spinach Vegan Mini Quiches
Ingredients
- 15 mini phyllo shells
- ½ lb. extra firm tofu
- 1 tbsp. unflavored unsweetened soy or almond milk
- 1 tsp. soy sauce
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp. olive oil
- ½ medium onion diced
- 3 garlic cloves minced
- 2 cups spinach sliced thinly
- 2 scallions finely chopped
- pinch of salt
- a generous amount of black pepper
Instructions
-
Place tofu, milk, soy sauce and nutritional yeast into food processor and blend until a smooth, thick paste forms, scraping bowl as needed.
-
Preheat oven to 350. Arrange shells on baking sheet.
-
Heat oil in medium skillet over medium heat. Add onion and sautee until softened, about five minutes.
-
Add garlic and spinach and continue to sautee until spinach wilts, about another minute.
-
Add tofu mixture and scallions and reduce heat to low. Cook, stirring frequently, until tofu softens and everything is evenly blended.
-
Spoon mixture evenly into shells. Bake for about 10 minutes, or until tops begin to brown.
-
Serve warm. I like to eat mine with a little hot sauce.
Hi Alissa,
I haven't tried the recipe yet but it looks absolutely delicious. Your photos are perfect too. I will definitely try the recipe soon.
Thank you,
Asha
Hi Asha! Thank you so much! Glad to hear you like the photos - that's one area I've been working on improving lately :). I hope you enjoy these when you get a chance to try the recipe!
Why do you need the nutritional yeast?
The nutritional yeast adds a savory flavor and tastes a bit like cheese, which you'd find in a lot of non-vegan quiche recipes. You could leave it out, but they wouldn't be nearly as flavorful.
Great recipe! I finally made these last night and they were delicious! I didn't have onion, and I substituted frozen chopped spinach. I blended up the tofu in my turbo blender, so it was very smooth. We ate some hot, but liked them even better chilled. If you don't have mini phyllo shells, I think this would be great baked in ramekins, as a side. I'm going to try making spinach artichoke dip this way.
Yay! Thank you so much, Brooke! We gobbled ours up right away, so I didn't get a chance to try them chilled, but I was wondering about that because I'm still thinking of working on an adaptation that my boyfriend could use as a portable breakfast to eat on the way to work. I love the spinach artichoke dip idea too. Thanks again and I'm so glad you enjoyed these :)
I wonder if you could make these ahead of time and bake at party time?
You should be okay to make the filling ahead of time, store it in the fridge, and then fill right before baking. I'd be worried that the shells might get soggy otherwise! If you give it a try I'd love to hear how they turn out :)
Yum! I took these to my friend’s house on Thanksgiving, and they were a huge hit. I tried to warm them when I arrived, and only partly succeeded (because the kitchen was so crowded and I did not want to add to the problem), but no matter—they were delicious both ways (which I already knew, because I had sampled them).
I'm so glad to hear that!! Thanks so much Alice!
Could I make, bake and freeze these and warm up for a party?
I think so, but I'm not sure if the phyllo will stay crispy.