Who doesn’t love the hearty deliciousness of a chicken pot pie? Pot pies are just one of those comforting, all-in-one meals that appeal to almost everyone’s taste buds.
In fact, in college pot pies were one of my staples for existing. I lived off of individual frozen pot pies, pizza rolls, and Ramen noodles. Diet of champions? Eh… not really.
Since college, my husband is happy to say that I’ve leveled up my cooking. In fact, he often says it’s been one of the most surprising things about marrying me. Hayden enjoys all my kitchen experiments for the most part.
Except for that one time I made liver and onions. That one was a fail (but let me just say I think it was the liver’s fault).
In this article, I’d like to share our little spin on chicken pot pies. It involves using smoked chicken. Add in a homemade crust and you’ll be swooning as you pluck that pot pie out of the oven. You’re going to love it.
Smoking the Chicken
When we first starting butchering our own chickens, we found ourselves wondering how best to use whole chickens in our household. I hadn’t had much experience with cooking entire chicken. We usually cooked the parts individually.
Then, for Thanksgiving a few years ago, my mom mentioned wanting to ditch the turkey for something different. So, we decided to bring a few whole chickens with us as we trekked across the state. We looked up a brine recipe and submerged the chickens in a brine containing salt, sugar, soy sauce, and apple cider vinegar overnight. Then, we started up the smoker and smoked them for 3 to 4 hours.
My goodness.
The chicken fell off the bone gloriously. And, honestly, I don’t think any of us gave a second thought about side dishes.
If you don’t have access to a smoker or aren’t able to smoke your chicken, you can use any sort of cooked chicken. It’s totally up to you. Try using a rotisserie chicken or roast your chicken in the oven with some herbs! Just please… don’t buy canned chicken. I beg you to be kinder to your tastebuds and learn how to really cook chicken in a way that everyone will be excited about. It will make all the difference. Feel free to drop a comment below for tips.
Making the Pot Pie Filling
After your chicken is cooked, you’ll need to start making the filling for the pot pie.
Chop all the carrots, onions, and celery into small pieces and saute in butter until the veggies start to soften. Add in your peeled and chopped potatoes, then stir in your flour.
The flour coats the veggies and makes the filling become thicker. You’ll notice when you pour in the broth how the liquid will be cloudy. That’s good! You want a thick filling.
To make a creamier filling, try adding some whipping cream to your broth and veggie filling.
After the potatoes have softened, add in the smoked chicken and frozen peas and cook to heat everything through.
Making a Homemade Pie Crust
While a homemade pie crust is not a requirement for this recipe, it is definitely something to consider. This is another way you can level up your pot pie.
Since this recipe makes 2 pot pies, make sure to mix up enough dough to make 4 pie crusts.
When I first started making homemade crusts, I found the recommendations for using two forks to “cut in” butter really frustrating. Basically, to have a flaky crust, you need to crush cold butter into pea-sized lumps. Using two forks to do this is one way, but you can also purchase something called a pastry cutter.
The pastry cutter was a game changer. I also use it when making homemade biscuits. I would highly recommend picking one up if you’re serious about making homemade biscuits and pie crusts.
Another reason to make homemade pie crust!
When I’m making homemade pie crust, I often have a little bit of extra dough. I usually roll it out on a cookie sheet and cut it into squares with a pizza crust cutter.
I sprinkle the dough with sea salt and then pop it in the oven for 10 to 12 minutes to make crackers! Mmm, delicious!
As you can see, my kids devour it right out of the oven!
Filling the Pot Pies
When it’s time to fill the pot pies, I lay the the bottom crust in each pie pan, making sure it’s centered correctly. I fill in one pie pan with half of the pot pie filling, and then use the rest for the second pie pan. Make sure not to overfill, otherwise you’ll have a mess in your oven.
I add the top pie crust and pinch it down, hopefully creating a seal between the bottom and top crust. I am not an expert at making my pot pies look pretty. I’m going for taste, not style.
Once the top pie crust is on, make sure to cut slits in the crust so air can escape while cooking. Also, I usually add a piece of tin foil around the edges of the pie pan so the edges don’t burn before the middle is cooked through.
You may also want to add some tin foil to the bottom rack in your oven, because I find that even if I don’t overfill, the filling likes to seep out and burn on the bottom of my oven. You can also use a cookie sheet for this purpose, too.
Bake your pot pies for 30 minutes at 425 degrees F. Remove the tin foil from the edges and bake for 5 minutes longer or until the crust is nice and golden in color.
I know you’re not going to be able to wait too long, but let your pot pies cool a bit before slicing and serving.
Ta-da!
Enjoy your delicious, homemade smoked chicken pot pies!
If you’ve tried out this recipe, let us know how it went in the comments!
Homemade Smoked Chicken Pot Pie
Equipment
- 2 9" pie pans
- tin foil
- 1 Rolling Pin for homemade pie crust (optional)
- 1 silicone baking mat for less mess if you're making a homemade pie crust (optional)
- 1 kitchen scissors for trimming pie crust neatly (optional)
Ingredients
- 4 pie crusts From scratch is best, but pre-made boxed crusts are fine, too.
- ¼ cup salted stick butter
- 4-5 large carrots, chopped
- 2 medium onions, chopped
- 5-6 celery stalks, chopped
- 4 small to medium potatoes, peeled and chopped into 1-2 inch cubes
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup flour
- 2 large smoked chicken breasts, fully cooked and chopped/shredded Or you can use chicken part of your choice!
- ½ tsp sea salt
- ¼ tsp ground pepper
- 4 cups chicken broth I use my homemade canned broth!
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F.
- Melt butter in Dutch oven or deep pan. Add in chopped onion, celery, and carrots and cook until the veggies start to soften (about 10 minutes). Putting the lid on will help speed this up and reduce burning.
- Add the potatoes in towards the end of cooking the veggies. Stir and cook for a few more minutes.
- Add in the flour and stir to coat all of the vegetables.
- Add the broth slowly while stirring. You should notice the broth thickening as it mixes with the flour.
- Add salt and pepper and cook on low with the lid on until potatoes start to soften (about 10 to 15 minutes). Stir frequently to prevent sticking and burning.
- Once potatoes have softened, add in smoked chicken and frozen peas. Cook for about 3 to 5 more minutes to heat the mixture. If you feel like the mixture is too thick, you can add in more broth.
- Line your pie pans with your crusts. Add the filling (make sure not to get them too full or they'll overflow). Top with the additional pie crusts and pinch the edges. Cut slits in the top of the pie crust.
- You can brush the top pie crust with melted butter if you'd like (or omit). Cut or tear foil into 3 to 4 inch wide strips and wrap around the edges of the crust. This will help prevent the edges burning before the middle is done.
- Bake for 30 minutes or until the center starts to become golden. Take the foil off and bake for 5 more minutes if the crusts need it.
- Let your pot pies cool a little before serving. Then, enjoy!
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