I've been seeing a variety of high protein tortilla quiche shorts on YouTube and I finally gave into the hype about it. I'm a frittata and quiche lover for sure so any new eggy thing is very appealing to me. This is a very simple and highly customizable high protein tortilla quiche and you're going to love it. Total protein tallies up at about 76 grams for one portion and 38 each when split in half.
Easy Quiche - No dough involved!
The base of a quiche usually involves making dough. I'm a total sucker for making a butter crust quiche by the way, but this time all you need is a tortilla. A big one. When I was shopping for the perfect size tortilla, I realized I needed to size up.
The "regular" sized tortillas that I make chicken quesadillas with were not quite right for this. For tortilla quiche, I went with the "burrito" sized tortilla and it worked great. Next, you need an oven safe pan that's large enough to fit that tortilla. Even if your pan is a little bigger than the tortilla - it's okay! A little of the quiche filling may spill over, but it doesn't matter.
Let's Breakdown the Protein Count
There seems to be a protein craze right now - has anyone else noticed this? I want to mention that I am not a nutritionist and cannot advise you on the amount of protein you should consume on a daily basis. But I loved the idea of a high protein tortilla quiche because it provided a lot of protein and didn't feel super heavy to consume it.
Protein Breakdown:
This is an approximate tally and will vary by brand and whether you use the same measurements (or add more or less depending on your preferences):
- 3 large eggs = 18g (recipe can hold a 4th egg if you choose)
- ½ cup whole milk ricotta cheese = 12g
- ½ cup chopped ham = 15g (you can sub with ground chicken, lean ground beef, etc.)
- 1 large burrito tortilla = 6g (you could also use a high-protein tortilla if you want)
- ¾ cup shredded havarti = 15g (sub with cheddar or mozzarella if you prefer)
- ½ cup feta cheese = 10g
Total protein count = 76g
Cottage Cheese vs Ricotta: Let the Battle Begin
I'm finding the cottage cheese frenzy incredibly hilarious lately. If you watch enough food-related YouTube shorts you know what I'm talking about. There is so much animosity in the cooking channel world right now about cottage cheese. It's almost as bad as the people who "HATE" cilantro because they think it tastes like soap. And the other camp of people who cannot imagine a world without out.
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The camp of people who are anti-cottage cheese are as intense as the camp who adore it. One guy I found, who has a huge following on YouTube, just flips off the camera (meant for the anti-cottage cheese people) when he announces he's using cottage cheese. I absolutely love his channel. A very talented and extremely funny woman has a channel where she tries viral recipes so you don't have to. Every time the recipe calls for cottage cheese (and apparently many viral recipes call for it) she makes a hilarious mockery of it in a way that only SHE can. Love her!
For me, all I want to convey is that I don't particularly care for cottage cheese, but please don't crucify me for that. Most of the high protein tortilla quiche recipes I saw contained cottage cheese. So what can you do? Use another high-protein cheese like ricotta! Yes, for all you non-cottage cheese lovers, there IS an alternative. Ricotta cheese - whole milk or skim. So if you've been dying to make a high protein tortilla quiche, but couldn't bear the thought of using cottage cheese, I'm here for you. 🙂
Also, when I was Googling the nutritional differences between cottage cheese vs ricotta cheese, the main points were that ricotta has more fat and calories, slightly less protein, but more calcium; whereas cottage cheese is higher in protein, lower in calories and fat, but much higher in salt.
Why you SHould BE Cooking at Home
I've said it many times, but here I go again! 🙂 I know we all have busy lives, sometimes so busy we barely have time to breath. But here's the thing: we all need to eat food. Every day. And even though grocery prices seem to keep going up, it is still waaaayyy cheaper than eating out at a restaurant or fast food. Don't get me started on how expensive a trip to McDonald's is getting! Yes, of course I occasionally eat there, but it's become so expensive it's just not worth it.
That's why we need to shop smarter. Try to think of your week of food and make a plan:
- Think of a few things you're craving. Buy ingredients you'll use for multiple meals.
- Shop the sales and don't forget about pork - it's usually cheaper than chicken or beef.
- Do some meal prep for your lunches. Try not to fall into the trap of "not having any time to cook" and spending $15 a day for lunch. If you do that five days a week that's $75 a week or $300 per month. Can you afford $300 per month for lunch?
- Cook your dinners with leftovers in mind and take that a day or two for your lunch. This is the easiest thing to do, just make a little extra and put it in a container.
Cooking can be fun and easy. Get to know your kitchen. Take a little time after work to take care of yourself and your loved ones with a home cooked meal. Once you get into the habit of cooking more at home, it will become a vital part of your daily routine. Cooking is therapeutic for me, and daydreaming while I'm cooking is one of my favorite parts of the day. I highly encourage you to get to your kitchens and begin! 🙂
Looking for More Quick & Easy REcipes? I Gotcha Covered:
- Warm Zucchini Bean Salad w/Croutons
- Grilled Za'atar Lemon Chicken Skewers
- Cheap & Easy Dinner: Chicken Thighs, Potatoes, Carrots & Onions
- Minty Watermelon Salad w/Cranberry Goat Cheese
- Fresh & Crispy Summer Slaw (no mayo!)
- Super Easy Sweet Potato Salad
Dinner for Two: High Protein Tortilla Quiche
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 25 minutes
- Total Time: 35 minutes
- Yield: 2 portions 1x
Description
Get ready for an easy and delicious brunch or dinner with this high protein tortilla quiche for two.
Ingredients
- 2 small scallion stalks, chopped
- ¼ cup spinach or kale, torn into pieces
- ¾ cup shredded Havarti cheese (sub. w/cheddar or mozzarella)
- 8 cherry tomatoes, halved
- 3 large eggs (recipe can hold 4 eggs if you want)
- ½ cup ricotta cheese (whole milk or part skim..cottage cheese works too)
- Salt and pepper to taste, a pinch or so of each
- ½ cup chopped or already-cubed ham
- 1 large burrito-sized tortilla
- ½ cup feta cheese
- More scallion or chives to garnish, optional
NOTE: You will need non-stick spray for this recipe.
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Instructions
- Chop to scallion stalks into small bits.
- Tear up your spinach or kale. Totally honesty: I grabbed what I thought was my CSA spinach (summer farm share) for this recipe, but when I was editing, I realized it might have been the kale!). So use what you have: spinach or kale both work here.
- Shred the cheese. I used Havarti because I had it on hand. Feel free to use cheddar or mozzarella.
- Slice cherry tomatoes in half.
- Crack three large eggs into a mixing bowl, add the ricotta cheese, chopped scallions, spinach or kale, and mix with a whisk until fully combined – it will be thickish and creamy. Then add the cherry tomatoes and mix gently with spatula.
- Chop the ham. I used some leftover Easter ham I had in the freezer. You can easily use the already-cubed packaged ham as well. Sub with ground turkey, chicken or lean beef if you prefer. Set it aside a minute.
- Spray a large oven-safe pan (must be oven safe!) with nonstick cooking spray and place one large burrito-sized tortilla in the pan.
- Pour the egg mixture onto the tortilla and spread across the tortilla to the edges. If it spills over a little don’t worry about it. Spread out the cherry tomatoes by hand if needed for even distribution.
- Spread the shredded cheese across the top evenly, then the chopped ham, and lastly the feta cheese.
- Bake in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes, then 3-5 minutes under the broiler. Serve with a salad or your favorite side.
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