Chicken pot pie is one of my favorite winter comfort foods.
I remember making this with mom as a kid every year with the leftover dark meat and veggies from Thanksgiving, with a handful of frozen peas too. We would use frozen pie crusts, rolling one flat for the topper. Sometimes we even used a glass baking dish and just topped with frozen puff pastry. Everyone loved it.
Fast forward 30 years, to when I worked at Artesa and would often shop at the Brown’s Valley market in Napa. They made an in-house chicken pot pie that was the absolute best. Flaky top, juicy chunks of the rotisserie chickens they didn’t sell the day before, tons of veggies like broccoli, carrots and peas, and a creamy white sauce. This is a decent approximation, and works whether you are starting from scratch with raw ingredients or cleaning up the fridge of leftovers.
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken breast (or 3 cups leftover pulled chicken or turkey)
- 2 frozen pie crusts (or 1 package puff pastry)
- 1 onion, chopped
- 5 tablespoons butter
- 5 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 2/3 cup whole milk
- 2 cups diced veggies: peas, carrots, broccoli, celery
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- If using fresh chicken, cut into cubes, simmer in water for ten minutes, then drain and pull the meat. Or shred leftover roast chicken or turkey.
- Melt butter in a saute pan and cook onions and garlic into soft. Do not brown.
- Stir in the flour.
- Preheat the oven to 400F
- Add the milk a little bit at a time, stirring constantly.
- Add the chicken stock and stir, bring to a simmer.
- Add the veggies to the pan and cook through. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- Pour the mixture into a thawed pie crust, or into a greased pie or baking pan. Top with puff pastry or a second pie shel, rolled flat. Make a few slits to allow steam to escape. You can also brush the top with a beaten egg of your choice want a golden top.
- Bake 35 minutes, then remove from oven and allow to cool 15 minutes.