Favorite Chicken Pot Pie

by | Oct 24, 2021 | Chicken, Comfort Food, Dinner, Family Favorites, Main Dish, Recipes, Winter

Favorite Chicken Pot Pie
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For some strange reason, maybe the change of the seasons, the slight chill in the air, the promise of rain… who knows, hubby brings up the subject of chicken pot pie for dinner. While out and about he goes out in search of something for dinner and reports back that he considered picking up a chicken pot pie at Costco… but he didn’t. So that gets me thinking, and craving a good, old-fashioned, no-holds barred chicken pot pie.  I grew up with a wonderful Dad who loved his chicken pot pies. So we ate chicken pot pies quite often, but they were either baked from store bought frozen pies (Marie Calendars or Swansons in a pinch) or at his favorite Marie Calendars restaurant. And, you know what? They were really good! Tasty and Comforting. My Dad wasn’t at all adventurous in his cuisine. No, he liked his food simple, basic, and not highly spiced. And he didn’t cook… at all.  And while my mom was a fantastic cook, but still often sort of subscribed to that 50’s convenience food thing. And while she cooked from scratch most nights, chicken pot pie just wasn’t something she ever made from scratch.

But when hubby mentioned it, I got all these memories going, and was suddenly craving chicken pot pie. While we were tempted to grab one from Costco, I figured we could do better than those convenience food pies–And We Did! Perfect for this rainy, stormy, cold Sunday evening, this pie was creamy, and full of chicken and fresh veggie flavor, with a flaky pastry that was just perfectly balanced. I was going to use a frozen pie dough from Trader Joe’s, but didn’t plan ahead and take it out to thaw, so ended up making our favorite all-butter pastry in the food processor.

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Favorite Chicken Pot Pie

  • Author: Stacey McNeill
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Description

A delicious dish for a crisp Fall day, this is a favorite for Sunday supper. If I don’t feel like making pastry, I’ll use frozen Trader Joe’s pastry.

Ingredients

  • pastry for a two-crust pie (bottom and top)
  • 1 cup chopped leek or white onion (about 1 medium)
  • 1/2 cup chopped celery
  • 1 cup chopped or thinly sliced carrots (about 2 medium)
  • 8 ounces cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 3 large garlic cloves, minced
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • 2 cups chicken broth
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt, or more to taste
  • 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon of dried thyme
  • 4 cups of shredded cooked chicken (a rotisserie chicken works great)
  • 1 cup frozen peas
  • 1/3 cup finely minced Italian parsley

Pastry Topping:

  • 1 egg, well beaten
  • 1/2 Tablespoon milk or cream
  • Kosher salt

Instructions

  1. In a large skillet or Dutch oven, melt 6 tablespoons of butter. Add diced onions, carrots and celery and saute about 10 minutes over medium heat until veggies are starting to get soft.
  2. Push the mixture to the side of the pan, turn up the heat a bit and add the mushrooms, as much as possible in a single layer. Allow them to cook on one side until  browned. Then mix all the veggies together and add the garlic. Stir and saute for another minute or two.
  3. Add the flour and stir for a minute or two. Add the salt, pepper and thyme and continue to stir and cook, stirring constantly, for another minute.
  4. Add chicken stock and milk. Bring the mixture to a simmer and cook for a few minutes until it thickens.
  5. Add chicken, peas, and parsley. Stir and cook for a couple minutes. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired. Remove from heat and set aside to cool slightly.
  6. While the chicken and vegetable mixture is cooling, roll out half your pastry dough into an 12 inch circle and place it into your pie pan. Pour the chicken and vegetable mixture over the crust.
  7. Roll out the other half of the pie dough into a 10 inch circle and place over the filling. Fold the edges of the pie dough over and crimp to seal and form a nice edge.
  8. With a sharp paring knife, poke 8 to 10 slits in the top of the pastry. Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon of milk, and brush this mixture over the top of the pie. Sprinkle lightly with kosher salt.
  9. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 to 40 minutes or until the top crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the slits in the pie crust. Allow the pie to cool on a rack for 10 to 20 minutes before serving.