Chicken Pot Pie

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I am a sucker for what they like to call comfort food. I don’t know who they are, but they obviously know what they’re talking about…who doesn’t want to be comforted by their food?

The ultimate comfort food for me is a hot, creamy, flaky-crust, oh-so-satisfying chicken pot pie. It seems very ‘winter dinner’ to many folks, but honestly, I make this all year ‘round, even when it’s 112º here in Las Vegas, Nevada. Served with a crisp and cold Caesar salad on the side and perhaps some hot buttered corn muffins, well, then I am simply in food heaven.

And it’s not as hard as it looks to bring it all together, especially if you use pre-cooked roasted chicken and prepared pie crusts. I know, I know…the horror! But trust me, your guests won’t know you didn’t make it all from scratch.

It’s what I call half-homemade. And it works very nicely, thank you very much.

Like I note on the printable recipe PDF below, I tend to DOUBLE this recipe when I make the filling, then freeze half for a future second pie. Just move the filling from the freezer to the refrigerator 24-48 hours before you are going to bake the pie…and make sure you actually have the second box of pie crusts on hand. Once upon a time, I was ready to throw my second pie together for dinner and, alas, I had no crusts. And no flour in my pantry, either. So, we had Chinese delivery instead, which totally didn’t suck.

Anyway, I hope you’ll try the pie. And I hope you don’t over fill it like I did once, hence why I tell you to bake it on top of a foil lined cookie sheet (see photo below). 

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CHICKEN POT PIE

Servings: 4 to 6 Prep: 30 minutes / Cook: 1 hour

Ingredients:

• ½ cup unsalted butter
• 1 yellow onion, chopped
• 4 carrots, peeled, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• ½ cup all-purpose flour
• 3 cups chicken broth
• ¼ cup heavy cream
• 32 oz cooked chicken meat*
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 egg, beaten
• Parsley, chopped
• Thyme leaves
• Black pepper
• Salt
• 2 prepared pie crusts (I use Pillsbury’s ready-to-bake 2-pack)**
• Cooking spray

* There are many ways to source and prepare the chicken for this recipe. You can poach 4 boneless, skinless breasts, then cube; buy a rotisserie chicken and pick apart the meat; or, do what I usually do—purchase a large container of cooked and shredded roasted chicken from the deli section of the grocery store.

** Of course you can make your own crust from scratch, but I think the premade ones are just as good. (My late grandmothers would seriously disagree with me on that though!)

Note:

• I usually DOUBLE this recipe. I’ll make one pie for dinner, then freeze half of the filling for a future pie. Move it from the freezer to the refrigerator 24-48 hours before you’re going to bake the second pie and it’ll be ready to assemble. Tastes just as yummy with a lot less work.

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 375º F (190º C).
2. Take your prepared pie crusts out of the refrigerator.
3. Over medium heat, melt butter in your biggest, heavy bottom pot (I use my beloved Le Creuset Dutch oven), then sauté the onion, carrots until softened, about 8 minutes or so.
4. Add the garlic and cook a few more minutes.
5. Incorporate the flour, stirring constantly, until you get a golden color, about 3 minutes. 
6. Slowly whisk in the broth.
7. Bring to a boil and cook, about 5 minutes.
8. Remove from heat, then add the cooked chicken, peas, cream, parsley, thyme, salt, and pepper. Set aside.
9. Cover a large cookie sheet with foil and spray a 9” glass pie plate with cooking spray.
10. Unroll one pie crust and place in pie plate.
11. Add filling to pie plate.
12. Unroll second pie crust and place on top of filling, crimping the edges together with the bottom crust. You might have to fold the crust under itself.
13. With a sharp knife, cut four 2” slits on the top of the crust.
14. Brush the beaten egg over the surface of the pie.
15. Bake pie on cookie sheet (in case it overflows) until golden, about 45 minutes.
16. Let cool a bit before serving.

Leftovers heat up well covered with foil in a 325º F oven, 20 minutes or so, or in the microwave if you’re in a hurry, and who isn’t?

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