Homemade Hot Pockets

At our house, hot pockets are something that we rarely buy, (unless on sale at a price cut so low I can't pass it up).  We consider them a quick Saturday lunch, or my husband will have one in his lunch, (about twice a year), when I forget to plan leftovers for him to carry.  We don't purchase them very often, because they are expensive, full of products we can't pronounce, and they usually sit in the freezer for months before we get around to eating them.  One day, I got to looking at a package in our freezer, and thought, "these are basically just a biscuit wrapped around filling.  I can make several of these for 1/4 the cost of one box".   And so began the trial and error to come up with my homemade hot pockets.  This recipe will give you 8 hot pockets, for the cost of 1 box at the grocery store.  Today, I am going to make Broccoli and Cheese with Chicken Hot Pockets

You will need:
1 can of large sized biscuits, (usually called grand sized and there are 8 in a can)
1 12 oz package of chopped broccoli
butter
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1 cup milk
2 Tabs flour
2 cups shredded chicken
dried parsley flakes
garlic powder
salt and pepper

First you need to make a basic broccoli cheese sauce.  In a medium sauce pan over medium heat, melt 2 Tablespoons of butter.

Add 2 Tablespoons of flour.  Cook the flour for a couple of minutes, to remove the flour taste.

 Add 1 cup of milk.

Add 1/2 teaspoon of ground pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt, stir and continue cooking until the mixture starts to thicken.

Once the mixture has started to thicken, add the shredded cheese, and continue stirring until the cheese melts.

Continue stirring until the sauce is smooth.  Remove from heat.

 Add the broccoli, and stir into the cheese sauce.
You now have a basic broccoli cheese sauce.  This is good just like this to serve as a side dish.


NOTE:  if you are using frozen broccoli, first you will need to defrost the broccoli and drain of all water.  You can also use fresh cooked broccoli.  

In a small bowl, melt 4 Tablespoons of butter

Add 1 teaspoon of garlic powder and 1 teaspoon of dried parsley flakes.  Stir to incorporate.


Now, preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
Lightly spray a baking sheet with cooking spray.

Separate the biscuits, and roll each biscuit into a 6 inch round.  Layer your chicken on half of the biscuit.

Note:  I started with 1/4 of a roasted chicken, This gave me more than enough chicken to get 2 cups of shredded chicken.  Plus, I then used the bones to make chicken stock while I was making my hot pockets.  So the next time I need chicken stock, I will just go to the freeze and have homemade stock, for free.

You could substitute canned chicken if you don't have a roasted chicken.

On top of the shredded chicken layer about 2 heaping Tablespoons of broccoli cheese sauce.

Pull top half of the biscuit over the filling and bottom half of the biscuit.

 Now seal the edges well, so the filling doesn't leak out.

NOTE:  if you have a good biscuit recipe, you can also take the time to make your own biscuits, (which will cut the costs and increase the flavor even more).

Sealing the edges can be done with your fingertips, the edges of a fork, or even rolling the edges of the dough over.  I just press the dough with my fingertips and it seals nicely.

 Brush the top edge of the biscuit with the melted butter mixture.  Place the biscuit on the cooking sheet, BUTTERED SIDE DOWN.

 Brush the top side of the biscuit with melted butter mixture.  Now both sides of the biscuit are coated with the butter mixture.

Once you have all your biscuits completed, bake in oven for 20 minutes or until golden brown.


NOTE:  if you plan on freezing your hot pockets and reheating them for later use, only cook them for 15 minutes.  You don't want to get them too brown.  Then when you re-cook them they will continue to brown.

 As you can see, I used all the butter mixture and all the shredded chicken.

 I have just a small amount of broccoli cheese sauce leftover.

 This broccoli cheese sauce will be a nice side dish in my husband's lunch.  So into the refrigerator it will go.

 It's been 20 minutes and the hot pockets are done.  I have removed them from the oven and from the baking sheet.  They are cooling for a few minutes on a baking rack.  I wish you could smell how good they are!

Here is the inside of one.

Notice how much MORE filling there is than the store bought brand!

AWW, man - that's good.  Nice and cheesy with lots of chicken.  These are going to be a nice quick lunch.

Since I baked mine the full 20 minutes, when I reheat them, I will put them in the microwave for just a couple of minutes, (not the oven, I don't want them to brown any more).

You can change up your filling.  Try a marina sauce with some sausage, or pepperoni, or peppers.  Anything you like can be made into a hot pocket, even potatoes and vegetables.

Let me know what kind of hot pockets you made.  ENJOY !