Chicken Pot Pie

Due to my worsening hip pain, I am changing up how I do my freezer recipes this month. Not wanting to get behind on my freezer cooking, right before surgery, I have decided to change my method a bit. This method has been recommended in a lot of blogs and books for the beginner freezer meal cook, that I have read. Instead of doing all the cooking in one day, try and just cook 2-4 of the same meal when you prep a meal for dinner, then freeze the rest. It doesn't take much more time or energy to make four of something than it does to make one. Really! Today I did Chicken Pot Pie. I made 4, cooked 1 and froze the remaining 3.

Today I will share my method and recipe!

Keep in mind ingredients are approximate. I don't really measure as much as put stuff in until it tastes good to me. Feel free to switch up ingredients to your family's taste.


Chicken Pot Pie 

(per pie)
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 small russet potatoes
1/2 C. carrots
1/2 C. frozen corn
1/2 can Cream of Chicken soup
1/2 C Milk
1-2 C. chicken broth or stock
1 t dried minced onions
1 t garlic powder
1/4 T Rosemary
1/4 T Thyme
1/4 T Sage
1/2 T parsley
celery salt (small pinch)
salt and pepper to taste

1 pre-made frozen pie crusts in foil pan (deep dish).

I use the pie crust that comes frozen in the foil pan in the freezer section. It usually comes in packs of 2. This serves 2 adults and the toddler. My daughter doesn't eat it, so I don't even make enough for her. If you need to make this for a larger crowd, just double the recipe, put it in a larger foil pan, and buy the crust that comes in the roll. Of course you can also make homemade crust. Another option is topping the filling with refrigerator biscuits instead of pie crust. I have also seen individual sized foil pie pans at the store. Those would be great to keep personal portions on hand for lunches, or quick dinners! 

Take out pie crusts and let thaw.

 (all the extra broken off pieces, I save and thaw also. They can be used to flatten out and fill gaps in the dough later)

Cube Chicken and cook in a large stock pot.

While chicken is cooking, cube the potatoes. I make mine into small cubes so they don't overwhelm the dish, and make it too starchy.

I store my potatoes and other veggies in a bowl of water until ready to use, to prevent browning. You can use any veggies you like in this recipe. Drain most of the water before adding to the pot.

Add the veggies to the pot, and cook until the veggies just start to soften. You can add a bit of water or stock to keep it from sticking, if needed.

Add the soup, milk, and water or stock, until there is just enough liquid to completely cover the meat/veggie mixture. Simmer until sauce has reduced to a thickened consistency, similar to a thin gravy.

While the pot of "soup" is simmering, turn the crust dough out on to sheets of wax paper. It will come out misshapen and a bit strange looking. Just press it together into a circle shape, the best you can, and press flat with a rolling pin. Store in a stack in the fridge until filling is ready. It is ok if it doesn't look perfect. 

Once the "gravy" is thickened, place it into the pie pans, and let cool until no longer steaming. Taste and add final seasonings at this point.

Once cooled a bit, flip the crust over off the wax paper on top of the pie pan. Carefully cut or push off any extra dough, making a clean edge around the pie. Push with a fork on the edges to seal crust to the pan, and make the edges look neat.

Wrap well with foil, write cooking instructions on foil, and freeze! They are sooo much better than the pot pies you get in the freezer section at the grocery store!

TO COOK:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake with foil on for 1-2 hours. I know it is vague, but it depends how cold your freezer is, and accounts for the difference in ovens. After 1 hour, check every 20 min or so. Once it is heated through the center, take the foil off and turn heat to 400. Bake until top is golden brown. Let sit for 15 min before serving for best results. Enjoy!!

(this one wasn't so perfect looking, but it is the one we baked today, and it was yummy!)

We had this today on a drizzly, rainy day, and it was perfect! YUM!

Don't forget to leave a comment if you try this recipe, with your critiques, and/or ideas for the recipe. Let me know what worked or didn't work for you. Hope you love it!