Chicken Pot Pie
There are so many variations of this I want to try - from adding winter veggies or replacing the top crust with puff pastry - but this one tastes cozy and classic.
INGREDIENTS YOU WILL NEED:
Olive oil - 2-3 tbsp
Frozen Pillsbury pie crust - 2-pack (keep frozen)
Canned peas & carrots - 2 14oz cans
Chicken breast - 1 lb
Diced onions - 1/3 cup
Garlic paste or fresh garlic - 2 tbsp
Butter - 1/3 cup
AP Flour - 1/3 cup
Chicken broth - 1 3/4 cups
Milk - 2/3 cup
Egg - 1
Seasoning for chicken:
Garlic powder - 2 tsp
Onion powder - 1 tsp
Calabrian (or red) chili flakes - 1 tsp
Smoked paprika - 1/2 tsp
Kosher salt - 1/2 tbsp (or to taste)
Black pepper - 1/2 tbsp (or to taste)
Seasoning for “gravy”:
Kosher salt - 1/2 tbsp (or to taste)
Black pepper - 1/2 tbsp (or to taste)
Celery seed - 1/2 tsp (you can use celery salt, but you’ll want to reduce how much regular salt you’re using)
White pepper - 1 tsp
UTENSILS I’D SUGGEST HAVING:
Baking sheet
Large saucepan
Cutting board
Large spoon or ladle
Whisk
Medium to large bowl - for chicken mixture
Large cutting knife
Cooking tongs - for cooking chicken
Fork - for egg wash
Small bowl - for egg wash
Silicone brush - for egg wash
ORDER OF OPERATIONS:
Prep and cook chicken, combine with veggies and set aside
Make and thicken onion gravy, set aside
Add chicken to one pie crust, add gravy
Cover bottom crust with top crust and bake
Cool before cutting into
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat? Yes - 425 degrees F (220 C)
Open both cans and completely drain vegetables, set aside in a medium bowl
Dice the chicken breasts into bite sized cubes around the same size and add all the seasonings listed for chicken above
Heat olive oil in a large saucepan on medium high until it’s hot enough to sizzle a drop of water, then add your chicken to the pan. We’re going to cook it most of the way through but don’t feel the need to get every piece completely done because it’ll continue cooking in the oven
Tip: If you have a smaller pan or a lot of extra chicken, be careful to not overcrowd the pan with too much meat. That would prevent the chicken from browning properly and give you tougher almost “steamed” chicken vs. sauteed
Add cooked chicken to your bowl of vegetables, set aside again
Wipe out your saucepan with a napkin and then, over medium to high heat, melt your butter and cook the onions until soft and translucent, stirring occasionally to keep them from sticking. Stir in flour and the seasonings listed for gravy. (Don’t fret, it’ll look strange at first to have flour in a hot pan before you add the liquid, but you’re stirring it into the butter and onions to prevent it clumping on the next step.)
Using a whisk, slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer this “gravy” mixture over medium heat, stirring frequently, until it’s thickened to a gravy consistency, then remove it from the heat.
Tip: Not stirring enough or having your heat up too high at this stage can lead to the milk burning, which will smell and taste gross. Also I use Fairlife protein milk for this recipe which still works great.
Pull your frozen pie crusts out of the freezer and place on your counter to partially thaw. Don’t thaw too early because then the dough will be easily torn and hard to work with / losing it’s shape like the one in the picture below (oops). You’ll know it’s right when you can pull the crust away from its container a little and it keeps its form
Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Ladle or pour your gravy mixture over the top until all chicken is mostly covered. I like to poke around a bit with my spoon to give the gravy room to get into nooks and crannies, but as it heats in the oven, it will spread, so there’s no need to stir the two mixtures together and potentially damage your dough
Remove your top pie crust from its tin, flip upside down and cover your pie with it, sealing the edges gently by pressing down with a fork. Make three or four 1-inch slits in the top to allow steam to escape.
Bake in your preheated oven for 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Important: If you do not allow the pie to cool, the gravy mixture won’t thicken back up to hold everything together. You might just cut into chicken soup.
Enjoy!
