Chicken Pot Pie - Meemaw Eats

On a cold Autumn evening, there is no better meal than a homemade Chicken Pot Pie…and last night I realized I had all the ingredients on hand to whip one up for dinner.

I had a left over cooked chicken breast in the refrigerator to get the ball rolling.

So here is my method…in pictures.

First, I sauteed portobello mushrooms with fresh parsley and thyme, salt and pepper, and set aside.

HELPFUL HINT-Don’t dice the veggies too small for this dish, or they will simply disappear in the sauce. You want to see and taste the veggies in the finished pie.

I peeled and diced 4 carrots, 3 stalks of celery, one medium onion, 4 potatoes (peeled) and 3 cloves of garlic. I put them in a large sauce pan with a heaping tablespoon of chicken base (bouillon) and 1 teaspoon of poultry seasoning and water-just enough to cover the veggies.

I brought the mixture to a simmer, and I cooked just until the veggies were al dente, but NOT overcooked. (Add a small amount of additional water if needed during cooking.) Do NOT drain the cooking liquid from the veggies after they are cooked! That liquid will be the base of your sauce…and all those veggie flavors are concentrated there!

Into the cooked veggies, I stirred in about 2 tablespoons of flour and cooked and stirred for several minutes. I stirred in the mushroom mixture, the diced cooked chicken breast, and about 1 cup of Half and Half. Bring the mixture to a boil so you can see how thick the sauce will be, and add more liquid if it’s too thick. (The more often you make this dish, the easier it will be to judge how much liquid you want in your finished dish.)

When the sauce has thickened (sort of the consistency of a cream soup), stir in about 1/2 of a bag of frozen peas. (DON’T cook them before adding…just throw them in frozen…they will cook in the oven!)

I stirred in a big handful of chopped fresh parsley for color, and I poured the filling into a deep pie plate that I had sprayed with cooking spray. And I topped the hot filling with a store bought, pre-made pie crust. I crimped the crust edges tightly to the baking pan, and I cut slits in the crust to allow the steam to escape while cooking.

Then I beat an egg and brushed it over the crust to help the crust to brown. And I topped it with a generous sprinkle of coarse Kosher salt. (DON’T omit the salt at this step. The savory crust will be DELICIOUS with this salt added!) I added a sprinkle of fresh parsley.

I placed the pie on a rimmed cookie sheet that I covered with tin foil to catch spillover (There are always spills..and that’s OK. Just prepare for it to happen by baking on a sheet pan covered with foil.)

I baked the pie at 400 degrees for about 30-40 minutes…or until the filling began to bubble through the slits in the crust. (Remember…the filling is already cooked, so you are just looking for a deeply browned crust and bubbly filling.)

Then I removed the pie from the oven and allowed to “rest” for at least ten minutes to firm up the filling.