1. sciencewoman
  2. "Too busy for a pie contest" chicken pot pie

"Too busy for a pie contest" chicken pot pie

By sciencewoman on March 12, 2009.

i-9dc84d4d9156dccb30d5f62466b4219a-swblocks.jpgWhen the Overlordz announced a pie contest in honor of Pi day, I thought that I might be able to muster something up. But after seeing Janet's seven(!) delectable pies, Maria's pie + cocktail, Jess's "yes pecan" pie, and Zuska's bird pie, I realized that I don't have the skills or the time to compete with these kitchen mavens. I'm a busy woman. Most nights dinner is done in a hurry and deserts are a rare luxury. Baked deserts even more so.

But I can make a mean pot pie. It's quick, it's easy, and it's comfort food. I got the original inspiration from Real Simple, but the recipe is accommodating to your tastes and fridge contents. Recipe and pictures below the fold.

Ingredients:

  • Two refrigerated pie crusts - ready to be unrolled into your pie pan
  • 2 cups cooked chicken chopped shredded
  • 10.5 oz. can cream of chicken soup
  • 1/2 cup milk
  • 16 oz. bag of frozen veggies (original recipe called for 8 oz. bag, but more is better!)
  • 1 diced potato (an inspired addition by ScienceGrandma)

"Too busy for a pie contest" chicken pot pie ingredients

Substitutions appropriate for your gastronomic preferences, economic circumstances, and larder availability heartily encouraged. I also didn't measure anything that didn't come premeasured and it worked out fine. (2 cups chicken ~ 1 thigh +1 breast of a rotisserie chicken) I used Trader Joe's Fire Roasted Vegetables with Balsamic Butter Sauce because that's what I had on hand, and I think the sauce added a nice, sophisticated note to the otherwise down-home pot pie. The veggies were also excellent.

Cooking

  • Occupy toddler with playdough at the kitchen table.
  • Pre-heat oven to 375.
  • In a big bowl, mix the cream-of-soup and the milk together, add the chicken, potatoes, and (defrosted) veggies.
  • Unroll a pie crust into the pan. (Compliment yourself on not bothering to make a crust from scratch)

    • "Too busy for a pie contest" chicken pot pie filling

  • Fill pie crust with filling. (Admire attractive result.)
  • Unroll top crust over pie. (Give extra scraps to toddler who is now done with the play dough).
  • Cut vents in crust.
  • Send toddler on a mission to find a pan and food items in her play kitchen in the next room.

    • "Too busy for a pie contest" chicken pot pie served

  • Put potpie in oven for 35-40 minutes. Clean up playdough. Clean up dishes. Enjoy time with toddler.
  • Check on pie. If crust not pleasantly brown, turn heat up to 425 for 5 minutes.
  • Remove pie. Serve and enjoy.

"Too busy for a pie contest" chicken pot pie bakes

Tags
arts and crafts
SciWo says...
chicken pot pie
easy recipe
pi day
pie contest
recipe
veggie pot pie
working mom

More like this

My Pi Day Entry: "Yes, PeCan" Pi
Rumor has it there's going to be a no-holds-barred culinary throwdown here at Scienceblogs in honor of Pi Day. Personally, I need little excuse to make a pie. And the staffer needs little excuse to eat pie - particularly pecan pie. So here is my entry. . . .the "Yes, PeCan" Pi. As pies go, this is…
Some Thanksgiving recipes (part 2).
Here are the rest of the recipes for dishes that I'm making for Thanksgiving this year (with the exception of pumpkin pie -- I'm still shopping for a pumpkin pie recipe). I'll mention here (and should have mentioned in the previous post that all the measurements here are U.S. quantities (cups,…
A late, unbaked entry for Pi Day - Old Southern Coconut Pie
Well, the living nightmare that is my home office refuses to clean itself completely. So , I am left with all the best intentions but no pie to contribute to the Pi Day competition. I had intended to bake PharmGirl's great-grandmother's old Southern traditional coconut pie. Alas, it was not to be…
Grow Your Own Garden Pie
For the Grow your Own Bakeoff, a blogging event that celebrates the foods we grow or raise ourselves and the dishes we make using our homegrown products, I baked a Swiss chard-Gruyere pie. Here is the recipe: First, gather as many ingredients as you can from your garden. In our garden, I found…

This is one of my favorite things to make, because I make them in large ramekins instead of a pie plate, and use chicken for my husband and portobello mushrooms for me, since I don't eat meat. But I don't make them that frequently since rolling out the pie crust, with cutting in the butter and whatnot, can be time consuming and isn't exactly a weeknight post-lab friendly dinner. I've never even thought to pick up pre-made pie crusts -- what a great time saver (I hear my grandmother groaning in disapproval already).

Mmmmm...that looks tasty and as if even someone as kitchen-challenged as me could make it! Thanks for sharing this recipe!

YUM! This actually looks like something I could make. Those fire-roasted veggies from TJ's are my favorite frozen food item ever.

One of my favorites too, although my version really wouldn't be admitted to a pie contest.

I use Bisquick: 1 cup + 1/2 cup milk & 1 egg. Mix and pour over casserole of (frozen veg/chicken/soup mixture -- nuked for 4 minutes to thaw the veg). Put in oven. Cook @ 400, 30-40 mins. End up with a yummy, fluffy biscuit "crust" on your pot pie.

Preschooler loves adding the frozen veg and chicken to the soup and stirring it all up. Also likes to crack the egg (!), pour the milk, add the Bisquick, stir that up and then pour it over top.

Mommy ignores lesson that she's teaching about cooking from a can, bag, box, and the red light place in the grocery store where the hot chickens are.

So, I made the pie yesterday, with a few necessary substitutions... for the record, cream of mushroom soup works instead of cream of chicken (who would have thought that cream of chicken soup would be so hard to find?! But 3 stores later and I had to settle for the muschrooms... but I added in some sliced fresh mushrooms with the other veggies and it was yummy). Thanks for the dinner idea :)