This mini quiche recipe uses pie scraps and mason jar lids to turn out the cutest mini quiches you've ever seen! Even better, these bite sized ham and cheese quiche are totally delicious, too...

ham and cheese quiche on a wooden cutting board garnished with fresh thyme

Mini Ham and Cheese Quiche Recipe

For years I struggled with making a solid pie crust. I followed my mom's crisco pie crust recipe to the letter, and it always looked perfect right up until that moment that I tried to wrangle it into a pie plate. It all went south from there...

When I say "years," I really do mean YEARS. I'd nearly given up on ever turning out a perfect pie, and then just last year it finally dawned on me.

My mom's recipe was written to produce two 9-inch pie crusts (or one double 9-inch crust). But I've always used my favorite Fiesta pie plates -- which are 10 ⅜-inches deep dish bakers. Doh!!!

I'd been rolling my crusts way too thin in an attempt to make them fit my extra large pie dish. Luckily it was a pretty simple fix! I rewrote the recipe to double the amount of dough, and now all is well.

Well, almost -- now I often find myself with some excess pie crust trimmings...

mason jar lids and cut out scraps of pie crust for quiche on a wooden cutting board

What To Do With Pie Crust Scraps?

My mom always formed her pie crust scraps back into one crust, which she'd brush all over with melted butter. After topping it with a generous amount of cinnamon and sugar, she'd roll the crust up like a strudel and bake it. Mmm, SO GOOD!!

But I saw another idea in the recent November issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. It described using mason jar lids as tiny pie tins to bake pie crust scraps for mini quiche.

Pie crust for quiche? Interesting. Of course I had to give it a try... So I tested it out with my pumpkin pie crust scraps on Thanksgiving morning, and I have to say -- it's a totally brilliant idea!

Just cut 4-inch rounds from the scraps and fit them into standard sized Mason jar lids. Line them with parchment paper and fill with dried beans or pie weights to blind bake the crusts.

sautéed ham and onion quiche filling in a skillet for mini quiche recipe

Ham and Cheese Quiche Filling

I figured I could adapt the filling from my popular mini spinach quiche. However, I soon discovered that we were out of bacon. Whomp, whomp...

But I did have a package of deli ham on hand, and it was a delicious substitute!

First, I sautéed the ham and a bit of onion in butter to give them some color and flavor. Then I divided the ham and onion mixture among the prepared quiche crusts, about 1 tablespoon per crust, and topped each with a heaping tablespoon of shredded mozzarella cheese.

Finally, I poured the quiche filling mixture (a simple combination of eggs and sour cream) over the top and baked the mini quiches for 15 minutes.

mini quiche recipe using pie crust scraps and mason jar lids on a pizza pan

Mini Quiches For The Win

These yummy mini quiches didn't even survive the cooling rack! It's safe to say they were an absolute hit, and I have a feeling that next time I'm going to have to make a separate pie crust just for these.

Of course, you could also just pick up a refrigerated pie crust at the grocery store. Why wait until you have pie scraps to give them a try?!

mini quiches on a wooden cutting board garnished with fresh thyme

Make Ahead Quiche

If you need a make ahead quiche recipe, look no further. The pie scrap quiche crusts can be prepared several days ahead of time. Then you can fill and bake them fresh the day you plan to serve them!

These mini ham and cheese quiche are also excellent the next day. So if you want to fully make them ahead of time for a special brunch, go for it.

BTW, they're also a fantastic way to use up leftover ham from Christmas, Easter, Sunday dinner, etc.

More Easy Egg Recipes

If you like these pie crust mini ham and cheese quiche, you might also enjoy these other delicious & easy egg recipes:

Did you make this recipe?
I'd love to see how your mini quiches turn out... Tag me @Unsophisticook on Instagram or use the hashtag #Unsophisticook so I can check it out. Enjoy!

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