Chicken Pot Pie! Yum! Not only is this a really yummy dinner, it’s also a great meal to freeze. You can either thaw it and eat it yourself, or you can give it to someone who might have trouble making meals (elderly, someone who just had a baby, ill, injured, etc.) What I like to do is make a lot at one time, freeze them, and then use them as needs arise (usually, that “need” is that I’m mighty hungry for some pot pie!)
This recipe will make about 8 pot pies. You can half or quarter it if desired. Check out my Tips for Freezing Meals.
INGREDIENTS:
-5-6 lbs of chicken (appx. 8 breast halves)
-1 pre-packaged bundle of carrots, chopped into about 1/4″ pieces (doesn’t have to be exact, but I like mine small!)
-1/2 pre-packaged bundle of celery, (see the carrots note)
-Approx. 24 oz of frozen peas, thawed
-1 russet potato (see the carrots note)
-2 medium-size onions (see the carrots note)
-Approx. 47oz Cream of Chicken or Mushroom (I did a mix of both flavors, 1 family-size can and 2 individual cans)
-2 cups chicken broth or water (you can use 16oz of hot water with 2 bouillon cubes dissolved)
-2-4 Tbsp. butter
-8 refrigerated pie crusts in the tin
-2 boxes of pre-packaged, refrigerated, rolled-out pie crust (I cut mine into pieces, because I don’t like a full crust on top. If you want a full crust, use 4 packages. Each package should have two ready-to-use, flattened pie crusts in them.)
DIRECTIONS:
1) Label 8 gallon Ziploc bags like so: “Chicken Pot Pie, [today’s date], Thaw for 2 days, Cook at 350° for ~30 mins or until slightly browned ”
2) Submerge your chicken into 1-2 large pots of water at high heat. When water comes to a boil, reduce heat to medium. Check on your chicken after 10 minutes to see if it is cooked. Take a piece out, cut through it fully on a cutting board, and resubmerge if necessary. Check every 5 minutes, but make sure you cut into a new piece!
3) While your chicken is cooking, cut your carrots, celery, potatoes, and onion.
4) When your chicken is done remove the chicken from the water, shake the breasts dry, and pile them on a cutting board. Put your carrots, celery, and potatoes in the same pot your chicken just left. Bring the heat to medium.
5) Shred your chicken with two forks while your veggies cook. I put one breast, cut into pieces, into a large bowl and shred it like that, as it’s easier when you have a little to work with at a time. You can place your shredded chicken into a separate bowl if you are having difficulty shredding the breasts on top of the shredded chicken you already made.
6) After about 10 minutes, check your veggies. Your fork should insert into the veggies fairly easily. Try one potato, one carrot, and one celery piece. If they aren’t finished at 10 minutes, check every 5 minutes thereafter. When finished, remove from heat and drain. You can keep the chicken/veggie stock for a soup or another recipe.
7) When finished shredding the chicken, set aside. Heat a skillet with 2 Tbsp of butter on it. Add your onions, and cook until semi-transluscent. Keep moving the onions around throughout the cooking process so they don’t burn.
8) Move the cooked onions to a large pot, separate from the veggies. Put heat on medium-low. Add your Cream of Chicken or Mushroom soups and half of your broth. You can slowly add the second half as desired. I like it all, but some of you might want a thicker sauce. If you want more, add more! Mix until incorporated. Add salt and pepper to taste (if desired).
9) Incorporate the cooked veggies and peas to the soup mix. Add chicken and mix well. If there is too much for one pot, split the veggie mixture into two pots and split the shredded chicken between the pots. You should now have an amazing tasting filling!
10) Start scooping your filling into the refrigerated pie crust-lined pie tins until all of the filling is gone. Mine fit perfectly into 8 tins.
11) Roll out your flattened refrigerated pie crust dough, and cut them length-wise into 6 pieces each. Place a few pieces onto each filled pie.
12) You are done! Time to slip the pies into your labelled gallon Ziploc bags and put them in the freezer. If there are too many to lay flat in the freezer without stacking them (it’s ok to put them on something already frozen), then put as many as you can in the freezer, place the others in the frig, and after about 2 hours, stack the ones from the frig on top of the frozen ones in the freezer. (Note: the instructions I wrote on the bag below are wrong… oops!)
Enjoy!
Such a great idea to freeze them like this and deliciously easy too!
My husband is addicted now. I didn’t even think he’d like it, because of all of the veggies! Even Cora eats it. Num!