Smoked Salmon Crustless Quiche

Perfect for using leftover salmon, this easy "impossible pie" recipe makes its own crust. Quick, simple prep; ready to eat in under an hour. 

Jump to:

• What's the Story Behind this Recipe?
• What Goes into this Recipe
• How to Make a Smoked Salmon Impossible Pie
• FAQs & Expert Tips
• Related Recipes
• Smoked Salmon Crustless Quiche

What's the Story Behind this Recipe?

This easy crustless salmon quiche is a riff on Bisquick's old-school Impossible Pie recipe. Impossible pies were ubiquitous in the 1970s and '80s, when they gave working mom's like mine a reason to keep a box of premade baking mix in the pantry at all times. (For this recipe, you can use a store-mix, or make homemade baking mix.)

The "impossible" part occurs during baking, as the baking mix sinks to the bottom of the dish and forms a soft, crust-like base for the pie.

Impossible Pies became popular because they are fast, easy, and extremely budget-friendly. A great way to use leftovers, you can throw almost anything into the mix and have dinner on the table in an hour, with only about 10 minutes of actual work. One of the things we love about this salmon quiche recipe is that it can extend a single leftover salmon fillet into another entire meal.

The basic Impossible Pie Recipe is a simple mixture of milk, baking mix, and eggs. To that you can add almost limitless combinations of proteins, aromatics, and seasonings to create a savory marriage of frittata and traditional quiche. For example, in the case of this salmon quiche recipe, smoked salmon, cheeses, orange zest, and onions are added.

What Goes into this Recipe

Ingredient Notes & Substitutions

★ Salmon: We recommend using hot-smoked salmon when making this recipe. We also make this with leftover grilled salmon, which a a good substitute for smoked salmon in this case.

Do not use cold-smoked or brine-cured salmon (i.e., lox or gravlax). See FAQs for more about smoked salmon.

For something completely different, try subbing in ham or chicken for the smoked salmon.

★ Bisquick: You can use the store-mix, or make homemade baking mix.

★ Cream cheese: We have made this quiche both with full-fat cream cheese and Neufchatel, with equally good results.

★ Cheddar: Use any cheddar, jack, or other semi-hard cheese.

Avoid using pre-grated cheese if possible to avoid the added starch (usually potato starch) that comes with it. The starch helps keep the grated cheese from clumping; however, it also thickens any recipe in which it is used.

★ Milk: Use 2% or whole milk if possible. We have not yet tested this recipe using any alternative milks.

★ Green onions: Use whatever onion you have on hand: red, sweet, or yellow onions will all work. Just be sure to chop them finely before adding.

★ Orange zest: This is totally optional, but it adds a nice little citrusy brightness to the quiche. Lemon zest is also tasty.

How to Make a Smoked Salmon Impossible Pie

Preheat oven to 400°F | 205°C.

Use shortening or butter to grease a 10" pie dish (or 8" square pan).

I don't usually use vegetable shortening (i.e., Crisco), but this is one of the rare occasions when it is the best product for the job. You need to have a study barrier between the egg mix and the pan to keep it from sticking. Cooking spray doesn't work as well.

Mix the smoked salmon, green onions, and grated cheese together and pour into the prepared pie plate.

Place, eggs, milk, Bisquick, and seasonings in a blender and pulse until smooth.

You can add the cream cheese two different ways.

1. Add it to the blended mix: Pulsing the cream cheese directly into the milk and egg mixture is the easiest way to go. You have to be careful though: if the cream cheese emulsifies into the mixture, it will be not allow the baking mix to settle as much as it could. Just a few quick pulses should do the the job. The resulting crust is robust, but more frittata-like. (We prefer this option.)
2. Add cubed cream cheese evenly across the top: Add the cream cheese in small cubes evenly over the top of the salmon mixture. This results in a more traditional Impossible crust.

Carefully pour the egg mixture into the pie plate over the smoked salmon mixture.

Use a fork or a chopstick to more the filling around a bit so that the liquid mixture makes it to the bottom of the pan.

Bake 35-40 minutes, or until a knife inserted halfway between the center and the edge comes out clean.

Allow to stand at least 10 minutes before serving. (This is part of the cooking process.)

FAQs & Expert Tips

Serving Suggestions

This little quiche recipe is so versatile! You can enjoy it for any meal of the day, and it goes with so many things!

As with most quiches, we like a little fruit on the side, especially for brunch. Oranges are a perfect complement to this light, lovely meal. It also goes well with any kind of berry: blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries, to name a few.

For a tasty lunch or light dinner, we think it pairs well with cranberry orange couscous or a light carrot salad.

Mr B and I both enjoy a little spice on our as well. If you want ot zing things up, try this with your favorite hot sauce.

Related Recipes

We love smoked salmon! Check out these delicious recipes for Smoked Salmon Chowder (with Leeks & Fresh Tarragon), Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, and Smoked Salmon Pastry Cups!

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