Winter is in full swing here in Utah. We’ve got piles of snow everywhere and it was 14 degrees F when I woke up this morning. BRRRR! All I want to do is bury myself in a big pile of warm laundry fresh from the dryer and wait for spring. That’s obviously not a viable option, so if I can’t count on comfy laundry to warm my chilly extremities I guess I’ll have to choose the next best thing…cozy comfort food. I thought about mac and cheese (for the obvious reason that a mix of carby pasta and a decadent cheese sauce can cure WHATEVER ails you), but I was fresh out of cheese (and due to frigid temperatures I was obviously not willing to go buy some). But you wanna know what I did have in my fridge??? Pie crust!
Yep, you know those pre-packaged ones you buy at Thanksgiving because you are too busy to make real ones? Yep, that’s what I found! And yes, it is still in there from Thanksgiving! The beauty of those preservative-enhanced pieces of buttery, flakey goodness is that they have a surprisingly long shelf-life in the fridge or freezer and can save the day in a moment like this! So with a pie crust in hand and thawing chicken in the sink I was struck with a beautiful idea for a creamy chicken pot pie! Um hello comfort food all-star!
I’ve consumed many a chicken pot pie in my day, yet I’ve never actually made one. So I did what I always do when I’m looking for a perfect, down-home classic family recipe…I google-searched for a Pioneer Woman recipe! She’s the queen of comfort food and her recipes always turn out awesome. So I foraged the fridge for ingredients and lucky for me had some carrot sticks, celery, and an onion on hand! I was GOLDEN. Yesssss! This is recipe is largely hers, but I did make a few changes…I doubled the vegetables, decreased the broth so it was thicker, and put a pie crust on the top and the bottom (because in my mind it’s not chicken pot pie without a delightful crust on the top and the bottom! See recipe details below and google Pioneer Woman “chicken pot pie” if you want her recipe.
- 3 cups of shredded chicken
- 4 tablespoons of butter
- 1 cup finely diced onion (usually one onion)
- 1 cup finely diced celery
- 1 cup finely diced carrots
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 ½ cups chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon of turmeric (not necessary if you don’ have it)
- Salt and pepper, to taste
- Chopped fresh herbs (any combination you like—I used thyme, rosemary, sage, to taste (about 3-5 tablespoons)
- ¼ cup of cream or half and half (also not necessary if you don’t have it)
- 2 unbaked pie crusts
- 1 egg
- 2 tablespoons of water
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onions, carrots, celery and stir until onions become translucent—about 5 minutes.
- Add the shredded chicken to the vegetable mixture and stir.
- Next sprinkle flour over chicken and vegetable mixture and continue to stir and cook for one minute.
- Pour chicken broth over mixture and continue stirring while mixture thickens.
- Once it thickens to your desired consistency add in the turmeric, salt, pepper, and herbs.
- Add the splash of cream and continue to stir (if mixture is too thick just add more chicken broth).
- Remove pan from heat and set aside.
- Place one unbaked pie crust in the bottom of a pie dish or pan.
- Pour warm chicken and vegetable mixture on top of bottom crust.
- Place unbaked pie crust on top of chicken mixture and seal it well with bottom crust by pressing them together using fingers.
- Cut 3-5 slits in the top crust to allow for ventilation while cooking.
- Mix egg and water to make a basic egg wash and brush egg wash on the crust.
- Place in the oven and cook uncovered for 30 minutes (or until the crust is a deep golden brown).
- Allow pot pie to cool for about ten minutes prior to serving.
- ENJOY!
