Monday, November 22, 2010

Comforting Chicken Pot Pie


Timothy and his roommates used to love eating the frozen mini chicken pot pies.  Marie Calendar got my husband through some pretty cold winters.  But once we got serious and I was at his house doing more cooking, I kept thinking, "I can do that! And I could probably do it just was well, for less money!" So I set out to find an easy pot pie recipe that tasted homemade.  I'm pretty sure this was how I snagged Timothy.  What farm boy doesn't like a girl that can cook.  I made this once and it turned out pretty yummy.  But for us, chicken pot pie is not something that is on the menu every single week.  Our menu usually has something Mexican, Italian, something involving meat & potatoes, and something super easy.  It's sad to say that chicken pot pie is rarely on the brain.  However, when I sat down to write the menu for my freezer meals for this season, chicken pot pie only seemed logical.  So I busted out the old recipe, and made a few.  Timothy said he just wishes somehow I could make little mini frozen ones that he could take to work.  So I'm working on that...but for now, here's a hearty, simple, delicious chicken pot pie that you can make for your family on a cold winter night. 

*On a side note, I am going to try to do a cost breakdown of as many of the meals as I possibly can, so you can see per serving how much money it would cost for your family.  I realize that sometimes it is more expensive to make your own food, but in my opinion (and take it for what it's worth) I would rather spend $1 more on the whole meal in order to know exactly what I'm putting in my food.  Most of my recipes are semi-homemade, so I can't guarantee a preservative/additive free recipe, but I figure as much as possible is good enough for me!



Chicken Pot Pie
makes 6-8 servings
Printable Recipes
Ingredients:
1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves - cooked and cubed (or 1 lb cut up chicken pieces)
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
1/3 cup butter
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tsp rosemary, oregano, or thyme (I like to mix up which spice I use each time)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk

2 (9 inch) unbaked pie crusts
1 egg
1 Tbsp water

Directions:
1.  Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C.) Unroll and place one pie crust in a pie pan, leaving the edges to crimp later.
2.  In a separate bowl, mix chicken and frozen vegetables, set aside.
3.  In a saucepan over medium heat, cook onions in butter until soft and translucent, . Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and herb of choice. Slowly stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until thick. Remove from heat and set aside.
4.  Place the chicken mixture in bottom pie crust. Pour hot liquid mixture over. Cover with top crust, and seal edges. Make several small slits in the top to allow steam to escape.  Mix egg and water and brush over the top of the pie crust.  Sprinkle with extra herb you used in the filling. 
5.  Bake in the preheated oven for 30 to 35 minutes, or until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbly.  Cover edges of pie if start to get too brown. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.


Freezer Directions: Brush on egg wash and cover first with plastic wrap very tight, making sure to press down in all the creases, almost making a second skin.  Pop in the freezer until completely frozen, then cover very tightly with aluminum foil.  Write baking directions on top of foil.  If baked frozen add at least 15-20 minutes on cooking time.  If defrosted about 10 more minutes.  Watch for burning crusts!

Adapted from All Recipes


Cost Breakdown:
1 lb chicken pieces = $2.00
2 cups mixed frozen vegetables = $1.25
1/3 cup butter = $.50
1/2 cup chopped onion = $.35
1/2 cup all-purpose flour = $.15
1/2 tsp herbs = $.20
1 3/4 cups chicken broth = $1.25
2/3 cup milk = .20
2 unbaked pie crusts = $2.50
1 egg = $.10

Total = $8.50
Cost Per Serving (6 servings) = $1.42

*All prices are from local grocery store fliers.
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3 comments:

  1. Oh my gosh, what a wonderful chicken pie. I have been longing for this for such a long time. Thanks for sharing the recipe.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thank you so much for the kind words! I hopped on over to your site. I can't wait to try the Shrimp with sumac, looks AMAZING!

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  3. My SIL made this and said it was fabulous!

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