Hearty Chicken Pot Pie

I have made a lot of chicken pot pies but I will say this one takes the cake…. I mean pie. I’ve tweaked this recipe a few times and I think this is the best concoction yet. It’s the perfect comfort food especially on a cold winter day. 

Personally, I prefer to stay in on Valentines Day with a nice home cooked meal than dine out at a crowded restaurant. If you plan on staying in, consider making this classic, southern meal. It takes a little bit of time to prep, but it’s seriously the best chicken pot pie you will make. The flaky crust is key to making this pie. Everything is from scratch so you know it’s a meal made with lots of love. My neighbor Sara, taught me how to make this crust and she uses it to make the best homemade apple pie. You could even divide the prep work by making the crust a day ahead of time. 

Hearty Chicken Pot Pie (serves about 6-7 people)

Crust:

• 2  1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 2 sticks of really cold butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes  (put cubed butter in freezer for about 1 hr to thoroughly chill)
• 1 tsp salt
• 6-8 tbsp of ice water

Combine flour & salt in a food processor and pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6-8 times until mixture resembles a coarse meal with pea size pieces of butter. I have a small food processor so I divided the ingredients in half to make the bottom and top crust separately. Add 1 tbsp of ice cold water into the mixture and pulse to mix. Keep adding 1 tbsp of water at a time until the mixture starts to clump when you press it together with your fingers. If you pinch the crumbly dough and it starts to hold together, then it’s ready. 

If you don’t have a processor, put the dough ingredients into a large bowl and use a fork to crush the butter into the flour. Work the flour mixture until the butter breaks apart and resembles a coarse meal. Keep adding 1 tbsp ice cold water into the flour mixture until the dough mixture starts to clump together while you are working it with the fork. Similar to the food processor directions, pinch the dough to check if it clumps together. 

The picture above shows that it’s holding together so the crust is ready to be formed into a dough ball. Form 2 dough balls from the mixture. 

Take one dough ball and lay it out on the counter on top of some plastic wrap. Wrap your other dough ball in plastic and keep it in the fridge. Roll out your dough and continue to make it flat. You can add a little flour so that it doesn’t stick.  After you’ve flattened out the dough, put your pie dish upside down on the counter facing the dough. Slowly peel the dough off the counter to flip it onto the dish. Voila! 

Once you have the dough on the pie pan, place the wrap back on top and keep it in the fridge while you prepare the other dough and filling. 

Take out your other dough ball from the fridge and do the same exact thing by rolling it out on a plastic wrap. Make sure you roll enough out to fit the circumference of the pie. 

Wrap in half and keep it in the fridge with your other pie crust while you prepare your filling. Tip: If you don’t want to make this all on the same day, you can prepare the dough ahead of time and just wrap it to keep it in the freezer.

Filling:

• 4 cups shredded rotisserie chicken
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1/2 cup milk
• 1/4 cup flour
• 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 cup diced potatoes
• 1 large diced onions
• 1 cup frozen peas
• 1 cup frozen corn

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Using medium heat, start by melting your butter in a pot and add in your diced potatoes. Cook for about 5-7 minutes.  

Combine your diced onions, frozen peas and corn. Add your salt and pepper and saute the veggies until they are tender. Stir in the flour and slowly pour your broth and milk. Continue stirring until the mixture thickens and then turn off heat. 

Add your shredded chicken and mix into the thick filling. 

Take out your bottom crust from the fridge and pour your chicken filling. Take out the top crust from the fridge and carefully cover the pie. 

The edges will stick out so make sure to tuck them into the pie. 

 Get a fork and seal in the edges.

Cut 4 large slits to allow steam to escape. Place on a baking tray and bake for about 45-55 minutes until the crust is a beautiful, golden brown color.

Oh man this is zee best homemade chicken pot pie! I promise you! Yes, I’m totally yelling at you right now because you need to make this soon.

Cut yourself a nice thick slice of pie and serve alongside a fresh salad to counter balance the buttah. #buttahalwaysmakesitbettah 

The crust is amazing but the filling makes an awesome partner to this dish. Make it for your loved ones and they will thank you endlessly. 

 Soooo good…..

<><yuni

Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. 1 John 4:7