I have discovered that my daughter loves chicken pot pie. Who knew? I think it is pretty yummy too. She skips around the room when she finds out that is what is for dinner. I like it because I can make it earlier in the day, put it in the refrigerator and then my husband can throw it in the oven for the nights when I’m at work.
I have a thing with pie crust, though. I just don’t like it. Well, I like the top of a pie crust, but the bottom layers is always soggy. And that is gross! This recipe has a crumble on the top. It is like breaking your pie crust into little pieces which maximizes crispiness. The crumble instead of a crust was inspired by Mel’s Kitchen Cafe. The filling of this recipe comes from my recipe box. There is no crust on the bottom of this pot pie. You can feel free to add crust to yours if you like. The filling is creamy and full of flavor. The filling recipe is a lot easier than a lot of pot pie recipes because you can cook the chicken at the same time you cook the veggies. You can also just use the meat off a store-bought rotisserie chicken. You can also throw in any other vegetables you have or like.
I hope your 7 year-old loves it as much as mine!
Ingredients
- For the Crumble Topping
- 2 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into 1/2" cubes
- 3/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup milk (whole preferably)
- For the Filling
- 1 pound chicken breasts
- 1 cup sliced carrots
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 cup sliced celery
- 1/3 cup butter
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 teaspoon celery seed
- 1/4 teaspoon pepper
- 1 3/4 cups chicken broth
- 2/3 cup milk
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400
- In a medium mixing bowl combine flour, baking powder, salt and pepper. Cut in chilled butter. Use a pastry blender or use your clean fingers to incorporate (that is what I do.) Stop when you have pea sized pieces. Add Parmesan and toss to combine. Add milk and mix until it just comes together.
- Break dough into small bite-size pieces and place on a parchment-lined baking sheet
- Bake in 400 oven until turning brown and crispy, approximately 15 minutes. Stir every 5 minutes to ensure even browning.
- Set aside. (This can be prepared several hours or a day in advance to spread out the prep time.)
- Fill a large pot with salted water and bring to a boil. Add chicken and carrots. Cook until chicken is cooked through and carrot is starting to be tender. Add peas to the boiling water and cook approximately 3 minutes. (Long enough that the peas are heated through, but not overcooked.)
- Drain the water and set aside the chicken and veggies.
- In another medium saucepan melt butter. Add onion and celery and cook for 5-7 minutes until onion is soft and starting to get a little color. Sprinkle flour on top of butter mixture and stir. You want to to continue cooking and stirring until the flour turns a blonde color. Add the salt, pepper and celery seed. Slowly stir in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer and cook over medium heat until thickened. Taste and add more salt and pepper if desired.
- Preheat oven to 350
- Chop chicken breasts into 1/2" cubes, then toss with vegetables
- Spoon chicken/vegetables into a casserole dish (I use a 2 quart oval casserole dish.) Pour sauce over chicken. Top with cooked crumbles.
- Cover with tin foil and cook for approximately 30 minutes or until the filling is bubbling. Remove foil for last 5 minutes.
- Let sit for 10-15 minutes before serving.
I tried this recipe tonight. It was a little labor intensive, but the whole family loved it. I think I made the crumbles a little too large, but I will definitely be making it again so I can experiment with the size.