I made air fryer quiche for the Coronation, and it was a crowning glory

air fryer coronation quiche cut in half next to an air fryer
(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Oksien)

You can cook all kinds of food in an air fryer, and air fryer quiche is a dish that's relatively quick and easy to make.

Quiche is one of those foods that divides opinion; you'll either love it, or hate it. I'm a big fan of quiche – it beats a cheese sandwich for lunch, and it generally feels like I'm getting a more wholesome meal, as long as the filling is generous, plus I'm still getting my cheese fix.

And when speed is of the essence the best air fryers are much quicker to use than an oven for dishes such as quiche, with no pre-heating often required. 

With the Coronation of King Charles taking place in the UK this weekend there's one recipe that I just had to try in the air fryer that I currently have on review: Coronation quiche.

I followed an air fryer quiche recipe that I found from a popular account on YouTube and tweaked it slightly to follow the royal-themed recipe. Keep reading to see how I got on…

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Air fryer quiche recipe

I followed an air fryer quiche Lorraine recipe by popular YouTuber Fork to Spoon to give me an idea of the required temperature and cooking duration for my Coronation quiche. For the ingredients and method I followed a separate recipe by Royal.UK – see the YouTube video below.

There was a bit of trial and error involved, as this particular recipe is a new one, but I was very happy with the results.

Air fryer quiche ingredients

This recipe is suitable for one 20cm flan tin or six individual tins – I could only fit five individual tins in my air fryer, so had some ingredients left over. I used shop-bought pastry, but of course you can make your own pastry from scratch if you're so inclined.

Pastry

  • 4.4oz/125g plain flour
  • Pinch of salt
  • 0.8oz/25g cold butter, diced
  • 0.8oz/25g lard
  • 2 tablespoons milk
  • Or, 1 x 8.8oz/250g block of ready-made shortcrust pastry

Filling

  • 0.12L /125ml milk
  • 0.17L / 175ml double cream
  • 2 medium eggs
  • 1 tablespoon tarragon
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3.5oz /100g grated cheddar cheese
  • 6.3oz/180g cooked spinach, lightly chopped
  • 2.1oz/60g cooked broad beans or soya beans

air fryer coronation quiche ingredients

(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Oksien)

To make air fryer quiche you will need the following:

Step 1: Measure out all the ingredients. Cook the spinach and broad beans or soya beans.

Step 2: Make your pastry, or remove the shop-bought pastry from the refrigerator. If removing from the refrigerator, leave for approximately 15 minutes before preparing your quiche.

Step 3. Roll out the pastry. Place your pie dish on top of the pastry, upside down, and cut around it leaving one inch around the border. Press the crust into the dish and remove any excess pastry.

Step 4: Cook the pastry in the air fryer at 300F / 140C for five minutes.

baking quiche pastry cases in air fryer before filling

(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Oksien)

Step 5. Beat together the milk, cream, eggs, herbs and seasoning.

mixing filling for air fryer coronation quiche

(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Oksien)

Step 6. Sprinkle half of the grated cheese into the base of the quiche. Then, top with the spinach and beans and pour over the liquid mixture. 

Step 7. Top with the remaining cheese. Place in the air fryer at 320F / 160C and cook for 17 minutes, or until the filling is set and lightly golden.

mixing filling for air fryer coronation quiche

(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Oksien)

Step 8: Allow to cool for a couple of minutes before removing from the tin. Serve immediately, or set on a cooling rack to cool.

What is Coronation quiche?

The Coronation quiche recipe was created as part of the UK's Coronation Big Lunch. The lunch aims to bring neighbors and communities together to celebrate the Coronation, sharing friendship, food and fun. Her Majesty The Queen Consort has been Patron of the initiative since 2013 ,and has attended Big Lunches all across the UK and the world, including in Ghana and Barbados.

The Coronation quiche is a deep quiche with a crisp pastry case, filled with delicate flavors of spinach, broad beans and fresh tarragon. The quiche can be eaten hot or cold, and it's recommended that you serve it with green salad and new potatoes.


Air fryer quiche verdict

I wouldn't have necessarily chosen to make a Coronation quiche as the first quiche I make in an air fryer, as it contains broad beans or soya beans and spinach, which aren't ingredients I usually go for. That said, I was pleasantly surprised by the result.

It's not every day that a Coronation happens – which is probably why no one's made a Coronation quiche in an air fryer before. I think I've cracked it though, and who's to say that you can't make this quiche in an air fryer any time it takes your fancy?

I bought the pastry to save time. It was also already pre-rolled and really easy to cut. I didn't line the tins with the pastry as neatly as I'd have liked, but when they're filled with filling, and covered in cheese, you won't notice it – just make sure that there are no gaps in the pastry to prevent the filling from leaking.

Cooking the quiche took a little trial and error. The first bake of the empty pastry dishes went according to plan when following the quiche Lorraine recipe by Fork and Spoon, but cooking the filling took longer than expected. I first cooked it for 10 minutes, as outlined in the quiche Lorraine recipe, but this wasn't long enough for the coronation quiche. I added two further minutes to the clock, but the filling still wasn't set. A further five minutes did the trick though. This brought the cooking duration of the filling up to 17 minutes, making up a total cooking time of 22 minutes when including the pre-bake of the pastry.

Aside from the smell of the tarragon when cooking (which was a little offputting), the Coronation quiche tasted really nice. It felt a lot quicker in the air fryer compared to an oven, using pre-sets and with no pre-heating required. It's inspired me to have a go at making more air fryer quiches – they are one of my favorite foods after all.

air fryer coronation quiche on a plate next to air fryer

(Image credit: Future / Jennifer Oksien)

If you're still sitting on the fence and wondering whether to buy an air fryer, you may want to read our article that will help decide whether air fryers are worth it.

Jennifer Oksien
Editor, Top Ten Reviews

Jennifer (Jenny) is currently the editor of Top Ten Reviews, but prior to that, she was TechRadar's Homes Editor. She has over a decade of experience as a digital product writer specialising in appliances, smart tech and mattresses for some of the UK's leading retailers and magazine titles such as Real Homes, Ideal Home and Livingetc. Generally, you’ll find her watching the latest Netflix series, digging around in the garden or attempting to make a cake that is edible.