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Chicken Pot “Pie”

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Chicken Pot “Pie”

This Chicken Pot Pie recipe is easier and more fun because the crust is baked separately and added to the dish at serving time. It's a great option for leftovers because you can reheat the filling without steaming the crust.
Course: Main Course
Keyword: Dairy-Free Option, Gluten-Free Option, Make-Ahead Option, No Salt or Low Salt
Servings: 3

Note: If you are cooking for a particular style of eating, please check all of your ingredients carefully.

Many of my recipes have alternatives, and you want to choose the alternatives that fit the style you are preparing. Also, packaged goods may have ingredients you wouldn’t expect. Soy sauce may or may not have gluten. Chocolate may or may not have dairy. This means you want to check the ingredients labels on the products you will use. Also, it’s important to be aware that if you are cooking for someone with allergies or other reasons to take special care, you should avoid cross-contamination. For example, don’t use the same utensil that was used in food containing the allergen or use the same cutting board that was used for food containing the allergen.

Ingredients

Pie Crust (or use purchased crust and/or use gluten free crust)

  • 2 cups flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 3/4 cup shortening
  • 5 tablespoons ice water (approximately)

Filling

  • 1 28-ounce box chicken broth (can use low sodium or unsalted–see Notes following recipe)
  • 2 to 3 cups chopped cooked chicken (roast a chicken per instructions or use purchased or leftover cooked chicken)
  • drippings and brown bits from roasting pan or four cubes of chicken bouillon (optional–see Notes following recipe)
  • 2 to 3 carrots, peeled and chopped (two large or three medium)
  • 2 to 3 potatoes, peeled and chopped (two large or three medium)
  • 1/2 cup frozen corn
  • 1/2 cup frozen peas
  • 1/2 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt (optional–see Notes following recipe)
  • 3 tablespoons corn starch (dissolved in 6 tablespoons cold water)

Instructions

Pie Crust (skip to cutting the dough if using purchased crust)

  • Heat oven to 400 degrees. Mix the flour and salt. Mix in the shortening with two knives or a pastry blender.
  • Continue mixing until there are no chunks of shortening and the dough is the texture of coarse meal.
  • While stirring lightly with a fork, sprinkle in the water, one tablespoon at a time until the dough is moist enough to form a loose ball,
  • Loosely form two balls of dough and flatten slghtly.
  • Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough, and cut into rectangles.
  • Instead of rectangles, if you would like, cut the dough into fun shapes.
  • Transfer dough to baking sheet.
  • Bake until just starting to turn light brown. Cool on a wire rack if you have one.
  • Baked shapes.

Roast Chicken and Drippings (skip to preparing the filling if using purchased cooked chicken or leftover chicken.)

  • Put a small amount of water in the roasting pan and roast chicken on rack. Add more water during roasting if needed so the drippings do not burn to the bottom of the pan. A rich brown color is perfect.
  • Scrape up drippings from the bottom of the pan.
  • Strain drippings and skim off excess fat.

Prepare Filling

  • Bring broth, drippings (if using), bouillon (if using) and salt (if using) to a boil. Add carrots, potatoes and corn and cook until vegetables start to soften. Add chicken, peas and pepper and bring to a boil.
  • Stir the cornstarch and water together and pour the mixture into the pot. Simmer, stirring constantly, for one minute.

Assemble Dish

  • Scoop filling into bowl and top with crust.
  • Pot pie with teddy bear propped up with rectangles of crust.
  • Pot pie with hearts.
    Chicken pot pie with heart shaped crust.
  • Pot pie with jack-o-lantern.
  • Pot pie with football player.

Notes

It’s a bit of a project to capture drippings, but they are a treasure of flavor to add to your filling, like brown gold.  One chicken creates more meat than you need for this recipe, but capture all of the drippings for your filling.
Regarding the filling, I usually like to give a recommendation regarding the amount of salt to add to a recipe, but in this case it depends in part on how much salt is in your broth, and if you use bouillon, that will add some salt as well.   You can start the filling by mixing broth, drippings (if using) and two cubes of bouillon (if using).  Taste, and add more bouillon and/or salt if you would like.  These are combinations I like to use:
  • If you have drippings, use low sodium chicken broth, the drippings and no additional salt.
  • If you are using bouillon instead of drippings, use unsalted chicken broth, four cubes of bouillon and no additional salt.  The idea is to double up on the flavor without doubling up on the salt.
  • If you are cooking for a low-salt diet, use unsalted chicken broth, drippings and 1/2 teaspoon salt, or omit added salt altogether and allow people to add salt at the table.  Stir the salt into the filling prior to adding the crust.
You can also allow people to choose the amount of crust they like, and can offer both regular crust and gluten-free crust for different guests.  People eating low carb can omit the additional carbs entirely or serve with whole-grain rice, whole-grain crackers or whole grain bread in place of the crust.
The filling is flexible, and you can swap in different vegetables for those on the ingredients list.  Choose your favorites, or use what you have in your fridge.
If you have time during the day and want a hassle-free dinner time, you can make the crust, roast and chop the chicken and prep the drippings during the day.  Later, when you make the filling and assemble the dish, there will be less fuss and less clean-up.  Or for even less effort at dinner time, completely prepare the crust and filling earlier in the day and reheat the filling at dinner time before adding the crust.
The filling freezes well and can be made in advance, and frozen.  You can also freeze the crust and pop it in the oven for a few minutes to crisp it before serving.

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