Pot Pies

Pot Pies are a great dinner time meal, and they are so easy, inexpensive, and a great way to stretch a little bit of food that would only serve one person into enough to serve 4 or 6 people easily.  This recipe will adapt easily for chicken, turkey or beef.

Preheat your oven 400 degrees

chicken, (about 1 cup chopped), turkey or beef
2 or 3 carrots
2 or 3 cloves of garlic
2 stalks celery
1/2 medium onion
5 or 6 mushrooms
peas, corn, green bean (1/2 cup each)
1 cup chicken stock (beef stock if you use beef)
2 Tabs butter
2 Tabs flour
1 cup milk
dried thyme, paprika, parsley, pepper, and any other spices you like
1 cup Bisquick
1 egg
1/2 milk

First chop your aromatic vegetables, (the carrots, onions, celery, garlic)  Get these ready to saute in some butter and olive oil.  Chop your mushrooms and set them aside for later.

 In a dutch oven pot, saute your aromatic vegetables.  Make sure to add a little salt and pepper to your vegetables to bring out their flavor.  Cook just until softened.  I use about 1 tablespoon of olive oil and 2 tablespoons of butter.

Next you need to add about 2 tablespoons of flour and cook for about 3 or 4 minutes to remove the flour taste.  This will be the base of your thickener for the pot pie, (so do not rush this step).

Everything will now be a nice golden color and it smells wonderful.  Kind of like Thanksgiving morning.

Now add your broth.  I usually save my chicken stock when I cook my chicken, (it's perfect for these pot pies).  If your making a beef pie you will want to use beef stock, (I also save my beef stock when I cook a roast, there's so much more flavor than what you get in a can, and there's less salt.)

Now add your sliced mushrooms.  Let the stock cook for about 15 minutes until it starts to thicken up.

While the stock is cooking this is a good time to get the rest of your vegetables ready.  Since I garden during the summer - I can pull these vegetables out of my freezer and have them ready for the pot pies.  If you don't garden, you can buy a bag of frozen mixed vegetables, thaw them out and use them.  Or better yet buy some fresh veggies to use.  Yummy, and oh so good when you use fresh.

Add the rest of your vegetables and stir them in.

 Add your chopped meat. ( I had 1/2 of a chicken breast and 1 chicken leg.  By itself it would have only fed one person, but when I am done, I will have enough to feed 4 to 6 people. )

Stir everything and add your milk.  You can use whole milk, (I've used cream, and even skim milk in a pinch).

 Now add your spices.  Thyme, paprika, parsley, anything else that your want to flavor the sauce.  Continue cooking for about 10 more minutes to allow the flavors to develop and meld together.

If your pan is oven proof, you can save cleaning another pan and put the topping right over the filling.

Today, I'm going to put my filling in a non greased casserole dish.  Make sure your dish is deep enough that your have enough room above the filling for your pie topping.

 For the topping today, I'm going to use 1 cup Bisquick, 1 egg, 1/2 cup of milk, 1/2 teas thyme, 1/2 teas pepper

You can make a pie crust topping - VERY GOOD!
You can open a can of biscuits - VERY GOOD!

It's your choice what to put on top of the pot pie, depending on your family's desires and how pressed for time your are.

Mix the pot pie topping

Pour the topping over the pot pie.

Bake for about 30 minutes

 The top will be golden brown and the casserole hot and bubbly.  This smells wonderful!!


NOTE:  In a pinch for time, I have even used a can of cream of chicken soup, a bag of frozen vegetables, chopped meat and a can of refrigerator biscuits to make a quick pot pie.

This is your creation, and you can personalize it your way.

Now this says - Welcome home to dinner.  I'll serve a fresh made salad and this chicken pot pie to my husband, and I can hear him smacking his lips about how good it is.


So next time you have just a small amount of leftover chicken, turkey, or beef and some vegetables - go make a pot pie,  And let me know how it turned out.