Trader Joe’s sells two types of quiche year round in their frozen section–Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Quiche and Quiche Lorraine. Quiche Lorraine is a traditional recipe containing ham and cheese.
During the holidays, Trader Joe’s also sells a box of mini quiche bites. They call them Mini Quiche Duos because they come in two different flavors–mushroom & swiss cheese and uncured bacon & sweet onion.
Typically released around the middle of November each year, these quiche bites are a huge hit with customers during the holidays.
One Reddit user even stocked up by buying ten packages at once!
When it comes to the Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Quiche, I would consider this a mini quiche, as the box describes it as one serving.
Contents
Pricing
Trader Joe’s Quiche Lorraine can be found in the TJ’s frozen section for $5.49. Each of these quiches serves about three people.
The Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Mini Quiche costs just $2.69 and is designed to be a single-serving meal.
When the Mini Quiche Duos are available, they typically cost $3.99. Each box comes with 12 quiche bites.
Ingredients & Nutrition
The Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Quiche is made with wheat flour, milk, eggs, white button mushrooms, oyster mushrooms, crème fraîche, butter, spinach, water, emmental cheese, modified food starch from potatoes and tapioca, salt, and nutmeg.
I really appreciate how simple and “clean” this recipe is. There are no funky ingredients, preservatives, or flavorings, and the crust is made with real butter instead of oil or shortening.
This whole quiche contains just 420 calories from 26 grams of fat, 205 mg of cholesterol, 660 mg of sodium, 35 grams of carbs, and 12 grams of protein. You’ll also get 25% of your daily value of calcium and a small amount of Vitamin D, iron, and potassium.
Overall, this quiche has some valuable nutrition to offer, but it’s not exactly healthy. With such high sodium and cholesterol content, it’s definitely more in the camp of being a rich treat than something you’d want to eat every morning.
Now for the Quiche Lorraine…
This quiche contains eggs, enriched flour, uncured ham, cream, swiss cheese, butter, milk powder, sea salt, red wine vinegar, deactivated yeast, and white pepper.
Yet another clean recipe without any flavorings or preservatives. Yay!
Per serving (⅓ of the quiche), you’ll be consuming 340 calories from 22 grams of fat, 200 mg of cholesterol, 470 mg of sodium, 20 grams of carbs, and 15 grams of protein. You’ll also get a fair amount of calcium and iron as well as some Vitamin D and potassium.
Overall, the nutritional value of this quiche is fairly comparable to the mushroom and spinach quiche. It’s high in protein and low in sugar, which is great. But it’s also high in fat, cholesterol, and sodium. The Quiche Lorraine is a bit lower in sodium per serving than the Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Quiche, though.
To put it simply, quiche is a rich food. It’s made with cholesterol-rich ingredients like butter, cream, and eggs. So, anytime you’re enjoying a piece of quiche, whether it’s store bought or homemade, you’re bound to be taking in some dense ingredients.
While it’s probably obvious by now, none of the quiches sold at Trader Joe’s are vegan or gluten free, as they all contain dairy and wheat flour. They are not certified kosher.
If you’re looking for a gluten-free alternative to quiche at Trader Joe’s, try their Egg Frittata made with swiss cheese and cauliflower.
Cooking Instructions
All of the quiches sold in the Trader Joe’s frozen section come precooked. However, since they’re sold frozen, they still need to be reheated thoroughly prior to serving. Serving eggs or dairy under 165°F can pose health risks, even if the food has been cooked previously.
According to the boxes on both of these quiches, you can prepare them in a conventional oven or in a microwave.Believe it or not, frozen quiche can also be prepared in the air fryer. Take it from this Reddit user who air fried a TJ’s Broccoli and Cheddar Quiche (now discontinued)…
Another Reddit user reported success after cooking TJ’s Quiche Lorraine in the air fryer. They cooked the quiche for 15 minutes at 350°F.
Without an air fryer, I decided to do things the old fashioned way and bake my TJ’s Quiche Lorraine in the oven.
According to the box instructions, this quiche should not be defrosted prior to baking.
Here’s what my quiche looked like straight out of the packaging…
Following the instructions, I preheated my oven to 400°F.
After removing the plastic wrapper from the quiche, I decided to take it out of the paper/plastic tray it comes in, even though the box says you can bake it in this tray. I’m a little wary of the chemicals used to produce grease-resistant food packaging, so I placed my quiche into a standard metal pie pan instead.
Once the oven was ready, I placed the quiche on the center rack and set the timer for 25 minutes (the box suggests 25-30).
At 25 minutes, the center of the quiche still feel very hot to me, so I left it in for another 10 minutes, totaling 35 minutes of cooking time.
Here’s what it looked like when it was finished…
In retrospect, I probably could have taken it out a little sooner, since the edges got a bit too brown.
When I baked my Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Quiche, I just used my toaster oven since the quiche is so small. It seemed like a waste to heat up the whole oven.
According to the box instructions for the mini quiche, I baked it for 30 minutes at 375°F. When I first took it out of the oven, I noticed that the quiche seemed very watery and wet. I definitely recommend following the box’s suggestion to let the quiche sit for about five minutes before cutting it. Cutting it too early would probably have resulted in a watery mess. I suspect the extra water content probably comes from the frozen spinach and mushrooms, which both retain a lot of water.
Microwaving Your Quiche
If you decide to prepare your quiche in the microwave, here’s what you need to know…
For the Quiche Lorraine, the box recommends microwaving the quiche for six minutes at 50% power and 2-3 minutes at 100% power. Remember to remove the plastic packaging prior to microwaving.
For the mini quiche, TJ’s does not recommend preparing in the microwave. This is probably because the quiche comes in an aluminum tray, which cannot be microwaved.
If you would like to prepare your Mixed Mushroom Mini Quiche in the microwave, remove your quiche from all packaging, including the metal tray. It’s extremely important to never place metal of any kind into a microwave. Instead, place the quiche on a microwave-safe plate, then heat for 2-3 minutes or until heated through.
Keep in mind that preparing foods like this in the microwave might not yield the best result. Quiche crust is meant to be crisp and flaky, which is an effect that can only be achieved in an oven or air fryer. By microwaving your quiche, you will end up with a soggy, somewhat rubbery quiche crust.
Be careful not to heat your quiche in the microwave for too long or else it could explode and create a big mess.
My Honest Review
First, I’ll let you know what I thought of TJ’s Mixed Mushroom & Spinach Mini Quiche…
Sadly, I was a little underwhelmed by this quiche. Spinach and mushroom is usually one of my favorite mixes of flavors, but I just didn’t think it worked that well in this case…
The quiche isn’t seasoned very well in my opinion, which I should have known from looking at the ingredients. The only seasonings listed are nutmeg and salt. So, while it is plenty salty, I didn’t really get much other flavor.
All that said, I did think the crust was high quality. It’s buttery and flaky just like a pastry crust should be.
If you want something quick and easy on the go and you’re a big fan of spinach and mushrooms in the morning, then I’d say there’s nothing wrong with buying a few of these mini quiches. But I don’t think I’ll be buying it again any time soon. TJ’s could improve this quiche by adding a few more spices to the recipe.
Now, let’s talk about the Quiche Lorraine…
For a frozen quiche, I thought this Quiche Lorraine was pretty amazing. The flavor is delicious, the uncured ham is super flavorful, and there’s just the right amount of cheese. I also found the crust to be crisp and buttery (even though I overcooked it a bit).
Even though the box says this quiche can serve three people, I’d say it makes more sense as a meal split between two. I easily (and happily) ate half the quiche by myself for breakfast.
I would definitely buy this Quiche Lorraine again. For just under $6, it’s a great way to prepare a delicious gourmet breakfast in just half an hour.
