If you grew up eating Marie Callender’s frozen chicken pot pies, you may have the same soft spot I do when it comes to pot pie. Rich and filling, and just what you want on a colder day. Of course, those pot pies are not cheap, but you can make a much cheaper and better-for-you version from scratch in fairly quick order.
You’ll see we cook our crust separately from the filling. This is because we don’t like soggy crust, and found that we can have equally good, crispy crust on day 4 as we did day 1 if we store the cooked crust separately and crumble it on top each serving fresh when we eat it.
Quick Facts
Serves: 8
Prep Time: 5 minutes
Cook Time: 30 minutes
Ready In: 35 minutes
Ingredients
- 2 pre-made pie crusts
- 2 chicken (or turkey) breasts
- Salt
- Pepper
- 4 small red potatoes, cut into 1/2″ cubes
- 3 carrots, diced
- 1 onion, diced
- 4 ribs celery, diced
- 8oz package brown mushroom, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 1 cup frozen peas
- Parsley, Italian seasoning
Equipment
- Skillet with a lid
- Tongs
- Medium pot with a lid
- Sheet tray
- Preheat oven to 425. Cut premade pie crusts into quarters, and arrange on the baking sheet so they don’t overlap. Cook until crust is golden brown, cooling on a wire rack to prevent burning the bottoms.
- Cook chicken (or turkey) breast according to this fool proof chicken breast method.
- Meanwhile, place potatoes in a medium pot filled with enough water to cover them and bring to a boil before salting the water generously. Cook until potatoes are able to be pierced with a fork without much resistance. Don’t overcook and let them become mushy or fall apart. Drain and set aside.
- When the chicken is done, remove it from the pan and allow it to cool on a cutting board. Reheat the chicken pan over medium heat, add a bit more oil and the carrots. Season with salt and cook covered until carrots are tender when pierced with a fork.
- Once the carrots are tender, add the celery and onion. Cook until celery has softened. Add mushrooms and garlic, cook until mushrooms have shrunk slightly.
- Meanwhile, cube the chicken into bite-sized pieces.
- Add flour and stir to evenly coat vegetables. Add chicken stock and heavy cream, stirring until the liquid and flour have combined to great a gravy-like sauce. Add the frozen peas, potatoes, and cubed chicken. Season to taste with herbs like parsley or Italian seasoning.
Want to cut down on prep time even more? Use a bag of frozen mixed veggies in place of the carrots and peas. Just add them in when the frozen peas are added and you’ve got a quicker dinner with just as much flavor!