Cheese Shortcrust Pastry Recipe for Savoury Quiche

Are you ready for the perfect quiche crust? This easy cheese shortcrust pastry recipe is golden, crunchy and rich in flavour. It uses grated parmesan for the best flavour and takes a classic pâte sablée 3 ingredients pie crust basic recipe to another level.

I'll also show some foolproof quiche blind bake tips and tricks to prevent soggy pastry if you want to impress guests at a dinner party.

Years ago, when I first made a cheddar shortcrust pastry for quiche, its cheesy texture turned out to be the best shortcrust pastry ever.

And now, not only do I use it for my homemade quiche crust, but I now also use it for my pie dough and shortcrust pastry cheese straws.

But for best results, we now prefer making a pie shell with this Parmesan cheese quiche crust dough. It is the perfect pastry crust for pie filling and wet ingredients when making quiche recipes without cream.

Jump to:

• ✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe
• What is Pâte Sablée?
• 🛒 Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients
• 📋 Instructions
• ⏲️ Cooking Times
• 👩‍🍳 Substitutions
• ⚖️ Variations
• 🔪 Equipment
• ❄️ Storage
• 💡Pro Tips
• ❓ FAQ
• 🍽️ Recipes with Shortcrust Pastry
• 📖 Recipe
• 💬 Comments

✔️ Why You'll Love This Recipe

Here are a handful of reasons why we think you'll love eating this cheese pie pastry:

• Great for special occasions
• It's a luxurious homemade pastry
• A simple recipe that uses basic ingredients
• There's no nasty additives or preservatives
• An easy recipe that can be made by hand
• Versatile for savoury tarts, quiches, pie crust or cheese straws
• Much cheaper to make your own pastry than store boughtpâte sablée

What is Pâte Sablée?

My French quiche uses the method, pâte sablée (pronounced pat-sa-blay in French). It translates as "sandy dough" to describe the fine breadcrumbs resulting from rubbing cold butter and flour together.

I then stir in ice water and sometimes a large egg for pâte à foncer. Another type of pastry you can make is a sweet shortbread pastry called pâte sucrée by adding ⅓ cup of icing sugar for sweet fillings.

Another great option for a consistently flaky crust is pâte brisée. It is made similarly, but usually with a lower fat content and with a stand mixer as opposed to hand rubbed.

🛒 Shortcrust Pastry Ingredients

Please see the printable recipe card with exact ingredient quantities and preparation instructions at the bottom of this post.

Plain flour (All Purpose flour) - this is flour with no rising agents, unlike puff pastry or Sablé Breton. Or you can use a 50/50 ratio of flour mixture with plain wholemeal flour for a mealier taste if desired

Unsalted butter - this is cold butter diced into small cubes. If using salted butter, you won't need the extra salt

Salt - this is a small pinch of salt if using unsalted butter. Note: if your tastebuds are sensitive to salt, you can skip this as Parmesan might be salty enough for you

Parmesan - finely grated, or you can swap for finely grated cheddar cheese

Iced water - I use 3 tablespoons of water, but you can use a little more or add an egg yolk to make it easier to roll while strengthening and also make an extra pastry in taste and colour. (You can also use the egg white as an egg wash for pie tops)

📋 Instructions

Tip: if preferred, you can remove the dough from the fridge 3 hours before using. Then tear up pieces of the dough and press into the tart pan by hand.

⏲️ Cooking Times

Baking Quiche

After blind baking, I add my quiche fillings and bake for 25-30 minutes until set and golden brown at the same temperature.

For quiches with milk and eggs (not cream), you may need to bake for longer

Baking a Pie

I mostly don't bother with blind baking, but prick the base and brush with egg for a waterproof coating.

Then fill and top before baking for 45-50 minutes at 170c fan, 190c conventional, gas 5 / 375F until golden

👩‍🍳 Substitutions

Depending on your dietary needs, here are a few simple swaps you can make to this melt in your mouth pastry:

• Flour - swap for plain gluten free flour if required. We've also tried oat flour which has a lovely mealy taste
• Parmesan - you can use finely grated cheddar cheese, or a vegetarian hard cheese. You might also be able to source a vegan version
• Butter - for a vegan quiche crust recipe, start by using solid fats like a baking block by Stork or a grocery store's own brands also work. For non vegetarians, you could use lard, but this is best for savory dishes as opposed to sweet dishes
• Salt - feel free to skip this if using salted butter

⚖️ Variations

Here are some more ways you can flavour your homemade shortcrust pastry for now or maybe next time:

• Plain pastry - make this simple cheese shortcrust pastry even simpler by not adding cheese. It won't be a a rich shortcrust pastry, but it still tastes great!
• Spicy - add a good pinch of some cayenne pepper to the cheddar cheese pastry recipe for extra warmth
• Herb short-crust pastry - try mixing in ¼ cup of finely chopped fresh herbs such as basil, thyme, rosemary, oregano, or sage. Or 1 tablespoon of dried herbs
• Smoky - stir in 1 teaspoon of smoked paprika
• Mustard - add 1 teaspoon of mustard powder

To try different quiche fillings, you can find many quiche recipes here on my blog

🔪 Equipment

Please note that as an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases made through affiliate links.

• Mixing bowl, pastry blender or a food processor with paddle attachment
• Clingfilm or plastic wrap
• Measuring spoons
• Weighing scales
• Cheese grater
• Rolling pin
• Parchment paper or aluminum foil
• Pie weights (baking beads or rice)
• Quiche dish*

*Money Saving Tip

Ideally, I would use a loose-bottomed flan tin for the best experience as they get hotter quickly and are easy to serve from. But if you like to save money too, most charity shops have quiche dishes for sale.

❄️ Storage

Storing - if you have excess pastry, I recommend storing it in an airtight container and refrigerating for up to 3 days. You can use it for a smaller pastry case

Freezing - cool to room temperature and again, store in a freezer-safe container for up to 3 months.

Defrosting - if you want to use the next day, defrost ahead of time in the fridge overnight

❓ FAQ

🍽️ Recipes with Shortcrust Pastry

Whether you love a slice of quiche lorraine, cheese and onion tart, or an easy beef pie with tender crusts, here are some recipes you can use this shortcrust recipe:

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📖 Recipe