I’m loving these cool, brisk nights of October. And when the weather starts cooling down like this, I find it’s the perfect time to break out my crockpot. Ah, yes my beloved crockpot, maker of many delicious soups and chile.
One of my favorite cool weather meals when I was growing up, and still, is Marie Callender’s chicken pot pie. Oh, how I love it! The flaky pie crust with chicken and vegetables in a deliciously thick, golden sauce. Mmmm…
But the one thing I don’t like about them, is that no matter how long you’ve cooked the pies, the bottom crust remains partially uncooked. I usually put foil around the edges of the pies so I can get the bottom crust cooked all the way through because I like a golden colored crust, more on the lighter side, not burnt. But this usually takes about 90 minutes. And who wants to wait that long for dinner when the directions state "ready in 45-60 minutes"? Not this girl!
So this year, I decided to try and make my own chicken pot pie. After all, how hard can it be? Come to find out, not very hard at all. Pretty easy if you ask me {smile}.
Of course, I cheated a little by using a store bought crust. But if you’re into that whole “I like making my own crust” thing, then feel free to go ahead and do that for your crust. But for now, I’m using store bought crust as it’s much easier and not as messy or time consuming.
As for the “filling” for my chicken pot pie, I was inspired by Pillsbury's Classic Chicken pot pie recipe. I tweaked the recipe to my own liking, making this recipe more like Marie Callender’s classic chicken pot pies.
And the crust, well, I decided to try something a little different by literally thinking outside the box. You see, I was going to make this like the classic pot pies but then I remembered how the bottom crust would always be undercooked. So I thought, why not just make the “filling” and serve it like a soup with your crust on the side. So you end up with a delicious golden, flaky crust every time!
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| Look at that flaky crust! |
It might not look as pretty as a classic pot pie in the pie shell, but your taste buds will tell you differently. As it tastes as good as, if not better, than Marie Callender’s classic chicken pot pies!
Ingredients
2 skinless, boneless chicken breasts (about 1 and ½ lbs.)
1 – 32 ounce carton of Chicken Broth
1/3 cup butter
½ cup sweet, yellow onion, chopped and diced (about ½ of a whole onion)
1 teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 cup milk
¾ cup flour
1 package whole, fresh mushrooms, washed and sliced
1 Large package frozen peas
1 – 12 ounce package frozen peas and carrots (or mixed frozen vegetables)
1 box refrigerated pie crust – cook as directed on the box label.
Directions
Place chicken breast, broth, butter, onion, salt and pepper into crockpot and place on Low setting. Cook for 4 hours.
After 4 hours, remove chicken breasts with fork and place on a clean plate. Shred chicken with 2 forks, as it will be hot to the touch. Place shredded chicken back into crockpot.
Add remaining ingredients and cook for another 1-2 hours on Low setting.
About 20 minutes before chicken & vegetable broth is complete, cook pie crust as directed on box label.
Season chicken and vegetable broth to taste with additional salt & pepper, if needed.
Serve up in bowls and place pie crust on the side or crumble over the top. Enjoy!
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| You can also serve without pie crust as it makes for a delicious chicken vegetable soup. |
*Helpful Hints*
- I don’t care for corn in the mixed vegetables, so I used peas and carrots. You can use any frozen vegetable you and your family like.
- You can buy the sliced mushrooms to save you time.
- You can make your own pie crust.
- You can use less or more flour to make the soup base thin or thicker.
- All measurements are US
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Shared with: Tasty Tuesday Recipe Link Up, Simple Supper Tuesday #84, Savoring Saturdays #37
