Can I just get an “amen” for comfort food? In a day and age where we walk around feeling guilty for eating bread, ice cream and anything that comes from a box, it’s hard to find pleasure in the simple things like a home cooked meal that leaves you happy. And that’s why I’m sharing one of my favorite recipes with you today, Chicken Pot Pie! I’m going to be honest and tell you up front that making your own is a labor of love- it’s not a quick, 30 minute meal. But if you muscle through, you will have a family favorite that will make everyone wanting more.
Ingredients
1-1.5lb Chicken Breasts, cut into small pieces
3 Carrots
2 Stalks of Celery
1 Cup Frozen Green Peas
1/3 Cup Chopped Onion
1/3 Cup Butter
1/3 Cup All Purpose Flour
1/2 TSP Salt
1/4 TSP Black Pepper
1/4 TSP Celery Seed
1 3/4 Cups Chicken Broth
2/3 Cup Milk
2 Unbaked Pie Crusts (just buy them, don’t sweat making them)
Instructions
First let me say that I’m not a professional food blogger. I really enjoy cooking, but I don’t have a studio set up in my house and pretty much take food pics with my phone. But I’m a mom too and I hope you can relate and still enjoy this recipe, even without gorgeous photos!
Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Peel and slice carrots, chop celery and then add to stockpot. Add green peas.
Cut chicken into small cubes and add to pot.
Pour in enough water to cover ingredients and set to boil. Once boiling, cook for 15 minutes. Basically, you want the chicken to be cooked (but not over done so it’s hard and rubbery) and the carrots to be soft.
Once cooked, dump pot into strainer and set aside in a bowl. It should be noted that I used a LOT of chicken this time. As in, almost 2 lbs worth. I just didn’t see the point in cutting a breast in half. What am I going to do with half a chicken breast? So it went in the pot. Besides, can you have too much chicken in chicken pot pie?
Now it’s time to make your roux! In the same stockpot you cooked the chicken and veggies, add in butter and chopped onion. Cook until the butter is melted and onion is translucent.
It looks buttery and delicious. Reduce heat slightly and then add in your flour, salt, pepper and celery seed. Stir until well mixed, and frequently. You do not want your roux to become globby or browned.
Then add in your chicken broth and milk slowly. Still stirring frequently and reducing heat even lower.
Allow the roux to thicken and then remove from heat. While the roux is cooking, lay one pie crust into your pie pan. Press down the pie crust so it’s firmly sitting in the pie dish. Be sure to pinch to the edges of the dish. My pie dish is particularly deep so you can see how the crush barely reaches the edges. If you use a Pyrex version, you will have plenty of dough. I do not recommend using aluminum, disposable pie pans for this meal. You need a sturdy, glass or ceramic dish to properly cook and contain a pot pie.
Now pour the chicken and vegetables into the pie dish.
When the roux is done, pour over your chicken and vegetable mixture. Be sure to coat evenly!
If the crust wasn’t raw, I’d say it already looks good enough to eat! Take your second pie crust and gently lay on top of the mixture. Pinch the two crusts together at the edges and cut off any excess. Take a knife and cut at least 6 slits to allow steam to exit while cooking. Then put in oven and cook for 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Remove from oven and gaze upon your chicken pot pie. Take that, Marie Callenders!
Allow to cool for at least 10 minutes, if not more. The filling will set up (i.e. firm up) the longer you wait. I personally can never wait long enough so the filling tends to spill out a little when I cut the first piece. But you won’t hear me complaining!
Hooray! I’m so glad you took the challenge and made your own chicken pot pie. I’ve made this for family, friends who’ve had babies and friends who’ve gone through surgery and it’s always met with rave reviews. Once you make your own, you’ll quickly see how it surpasses those freezer and even restaurant versions!
This recipe is inspired by the ever so popular Chicken Pot Pie IX found on AllRecipes.com.