Smoked Salmon Crustless Quiche

Name: Smoked Salmon Crustless Quiche
Prep time: 10 min
Cook time: 35 min
Total time: 45 min
Ingredients: 6 ounces smoked salmon (chopped or shredded); 1 cup shredded cheddar cheese (~3 oz); ⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions (2-3 green onions); 3 ounces cream cheese; 2 cups milk; 1 cup Original Bisquick; 4 large eggs; 1 teaspoon fresh orange zest ((optional) or lemon zest); ½ teaspoon salt; ¼ teaspoon white pepper

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

Slice of crustless quiche on small plate, garnished with oranges and green onion slices. Remaining quiche in pie plate in the background.

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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

Smoked salmon quiche ingredients, labeled: eggs, milk, Bisquick, smoked salmon, cheese, cream cheese, green onions.

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.

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.)
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.

Overhead shot of batter in blender cup, aside cast iron pie dish filled with chopped salmon, green onions, and grated cheddar.

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.

Crustless quiche (Impossible pie) prepped in a cast iron pie dish.

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.

What kind of salmon is best for this recipe?

Use hot-smoked salmon when making smoked salmon quiche.

Do not use cold-smoked or brine-cured salmon (i.e., lox or gravlax).
Cold smoked salmon is much like lox, with a silky, buttery texture and a concentrated briny, salty flavor. Lox are delicious but don't work well in recipes like this one, where you want a more meaty, flaky salmon texture.

Whats the difference between brine-cured and smoked salmon?

Cured salmon can be broken down into two basic categories: brine-cured salmon, and smoked salmon (hot & cold).

Smoked salmon is a blanket term for salmon of any origin (wild, farmed) or cut (fillet, steak) that is cured with hot or cold smoke. Cold-Smoked Salmon is smoked significantly longer and at a lower temperature than hot-smoked, which results in a texture that is similar to lox, but with an infused smoky flavor.

Brine-Cured Salmon
Lox and Gravlax fall into the brine-cure category. Lox and Gravlax are both salt-cured, but unlike smoked salmon, do not go through a smoking process. The difference between lox and gravlax is in the brining spices: gravlax is cured with sugar, salt, and dill, rather than a salt brine.

Overhead shot of on slice of pie on plate, garnished with orange slices, and remaining pie in pie dish to the side.

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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5 from 1 vote

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

Adapted from The Lake House Bed & Breakfast in Lincoln City, Oregon.

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Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Main Dish

Cuisine: American

Prep Time:10 minutes

Cook Time:35 minutes

Total Time:45 minutes

Servings: servings

Calories: 258kcal

Author: Renee

Equipment

1 Blender immersion or upright
1 Cast Iron Pie Dish (10-inch) or other pie dish

Ingredients

US Customary - Metric

6 ounces smoked salmon chopped or shredded
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese ~3 oz
⅓ cup thinly sliced green onions 2-3 green onions
3 ounces cream cheese
2 cups milk
1 cup Original Bisquick Try this homemade version!
4 large eggs
1 teaspoon fresh orange zest (optional) or lemon zest
½ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon white pepper

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F | 205°C.
Use shortening or butter to grease a 10" pie dish (or 8" square pan).
Mix 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.
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.)
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.

Notes

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).

Nutrition

This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. You are solely responsible for ensuring that any nutritional information provided is accurate, complete, and useful.

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