a simple recipe :: easy peasy chicken pot pie

Cold temps mean warm meals at our house, but I still want to have meals that are easy to prep and family friendly. After a lot of trial and error I think I’ve finally perfected my Easy Peasy Chicken Pot Pie recipe. We probably have this new family favorite every week! (In fact, I had leftovers of it for dinner last night. Yum!)

Prep should take about 30 minutes and you can add another 40 minutes cook time. I’ve found that the cook time is perfect for cleaning up the mess I made during prep time as well as enjoy a cup of coffee, or some of that hidden chocolate stash…

Ingredients ::

1/2 a rotisserie chicken cut into bite size pieces
2 large carrots, peeled and diced
2-3 stalks diced celery
1/2 to 1 medium onion diced
3-5 potatoes medium diced (1 1/2 to 2 cups)
1 cup frozen corn thawed
1 cup frozen peas thawed
2-3 Tbsp. chopped fresh rosemary
Salt and Pepper
2 1/2 cups chicken stock
1/2 cup arrowroot flour (you an use regular flour to thicken but you will taste the difference – you may need more or less depending on how thick you prefer your gravy)
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 premade pie crust

Cooking Directions ::

1. Preheat your oven to 350 F
2. Completely grease a 9×13 pan using butter. (I like to use a basting brush to make this step easy on myself.)
3. In a large pan (I use a stainless steel stockpot) melt the butter over low to medium heat. Saute the celery for 3-4 minutes. Add carrots, onions, potatoes, corn, and peas. Salt and pepper to taste. Saute for an additional 2-3 minutes.
4. Add rosemary, rotisserie chicken, and chicken stock. Slowly add arrowroot flour to mixture. Salt and pepper to taste once more. Continually stir mixture as the stock thickens to gravy consistency.
5. Remove to heat and pour pie filling mixture into the greased baking dish. Level toppings and add pie crust. The crust will NOT be a fit in size so I use a pair of kitchen shears to cut a straight edge along one side and then piece the smaller portion to completely cover the toppings.
6. Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Top should be golden brown and filling should bubble around the edges of the pan.
7. Allow to cool and set up for 5-10 minutes then serve!

Tips & Tricks ::

• You obviously can’t but half a rotisserie chicken so prep the other half at the same time and freeze it for next week’s pot pie!
• To save yourself even more time you can buy the diced veggies from your local grocer.
• If you used dried rosemary instead of fresh, make sure to FINELY dice the leaves.
• Instead of premade pie crust on top you can make your crust, try mashed potatoes (Shepherds Pie style), or even use biscuits.
• When I can find them in season I like to surprise my family with purple potatoes. Never fails to excite the kids!
• To fast thaw the peas and corn, put them together in a strainer and run them under warm water for about 60 seconds.
• Use more or less stock depending on how much gravy you like, just make sure to adjust the arrowroot flour as well!