I found this chicken pot pie recipe from a blog called Well Plated while I was looking for something to make for dinner one night. It’s since become one of my go-tos when I’m not sure what to make, since it really is so easy and the ingredients aren’t hard to come by.
One thing that drives me absolutely nuts when looking for online recipes is the lengthy stories about the author’s husband’s best friend’s grandma and how this one recipe is just so super special because grandma brought it over from the old country. But look! The author made it healthy! I absolutely hate scrolling through that drivel. I’m just going to post the recipe here and include additional notes on what I did while making it. I’ll also reword and reorganize some of the steps for clarification.
Ingredients:
- 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
- 10 oz cremini baby bella mushrooms
- 1 cup diced carrots
- 1/2 cup diced celery
- 1 1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups cooked and shredded boneless, skinless chicken breast
- 2 cups unsweetened almond milk
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup frozen pearl onions
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme
- 1 prepared pie crust
- 1 egg
Steps:
1. Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Lightly spray a 9 inch pie dish with cooking spray. I found a round pie pan at H.E.B. (a Texas grocery store). It looked more shallow than I thought it should be but it ended up being fine. Gather your veggies and chop them.
2. Heat a large Dutch oven or similar deep, heavy bottomed pan over medium high heat. I just used a large pot. Add the oil to the pan, once hot, add the mushrooms and cook for 8 minutes, until mushrooms are beginning to brown, stirring occasionally. Add the carrots, celery, garlic power, salt, and pepper. Cook until the mushrooms have browned more deeply and the carrots begin to soften, about 3 additional minutes. The first time I made this I used mushrooms, but neither my husband nor I really loved it. We felt like it took away from the chicken pot pie flavor and was too earthy. I usually do love mushrooms-just not in this dish! I’ve gotten much better at not measuring exactly. I just used about half a bag of baby carrots, and several stalks of celery. Make sure you are cooking long enough to soften the carrots and celery, I tend to want to rush and sometimes they end up too crunchy.
3. Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and cook for 2 minutes.
4. Slowly pour in the almond milk, adding a few splashes at a time, stirring constantly. Bring to a low boil, scraping any brown bits from the pan. Continue to let bubble until thickened, about 3-5 minutes. I divided the almond milk into 1/4 cups and stirred those in individually. It does take a little bit to really bubble up and thicken so go by your pan, not by the minutes on the clock-something that I’m still working on! Also, make sure you get regular, unsweetened almond milk. I accidentally used unsweetened vanilla almond milk while cooking once and it completely ruined the dish.
5. Stir in the chicken, peas, onions, (I used regular, not pearl onions, and I just got frozen onions because they were cheap and already diced, and I’m lazy.) and thyme. The fresh thyme is good, but, unlike the original recipe, I found that it wasn’t totally necessary-it still tasted good with or without it and to me it wasn’t worth the (small) extra effort or cost to buy fresh thyme. The author also has a wonderful, quick, way to get shredded chicken if you don’t have time, or forget, to set it in your crock pot. Basically, you boil the chicken until it’s cooked (it doesn’t take long!) drain the water, and shred it. I’ve heard that a hand held blender does the job, but I personally find that too messy and stick to the two fork method. Here is the link.
6. Spoon the chicken mixture into the prepared pie dish.
7. Roll the pie dough into a circle large enough to cover your dish. I make sure that some hangs over the edge so that the inside doesn’t bubble out into the oven. Separate your egg yolk from the white and then brush the edges of the pie dish with the egg white. You can use your finger if you don’t have a brush. Just make sure to wash your hands thoroughly. Lay the dough over the top of the pan so that it hangs about 1/2 inch over the sides. Gently press the dough so that it sticks on the edges, then brush the remaining egg white over the top. Cut 3 slits into the dough.
8. Bake for about 25 minutes until the crust is golden brown.
My pie doesn’t always look perfect, but it tastes delicious! I need to work on my slit-cutting skills. At first glance I thought that this would be a difficult dish to prepare, but it really wasn’t that bad. The most time consuming part for me is chopping the vegetables. I love this as a quick, easy, dinner that is healthy and filling. It makes for good leftovers too. This will be perfect in the fall and winter. (Here in Texas, however, I’ll just have to crank the AC while cooking.)
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