Comforting Chicken Pot Pie

Flaky, buttery crust.  Bits of golden chicken and mixed vegetables. Creamy, flavorful sauce.  Chicken pot pie is a traditional comfort food and perfect for a chilly winter evening.

The success of this recipe, I think, is due to the ratio of chicken broth to milk in the sauce.  Milk based recipes can sometimes freeze and reheat poorly; but since most of the sauce comes from the roux and chicken broth, this chicken pot pie bakes from frozen smoothly.

To save on some baking time, I like to make individual-sized, or even smaller, muffin-sized pies.  A full, nine inch frozen chicken pot pie might take up to two hours to bake through.  I'm just not that patient.

Chicken Pot Pie

1/3 cup butter
1/3 chopped onion
1/3 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1/4 celery seed (don't underestimate the deliciousness of a dash of celery seed)
1 3/4 cups chicken broth
2/3 cup milk
1 lb. chicken breast, cubed and cooked
1 lb. bag frozen mixed vegetables, thawed (and drained, if water pools around the veggies)
1 pkg. of two refrigerated pie crusts

In a large sauce pan over medium heat, cook the onions in butter until translucent.  Stir in flour, salt, pepper, and celery seed.  Allow to cook for about two minutes. Slow stir in chicken broth and milk. Simmer over medium-low heat until the mixture thickens.

Add the chicken and mixed veggies. Stir to mix.  Set aside.

Line your pie pan (or muffin tins) with pie crust (be sure to save pie crust for the tops).  Spoon in the chicken filling until it reaches the top edge of the pie pan.  Top with more pie crust and pinch the edges until sealed.  Cut a few slits in the top of the pie crust to allow steam to escape.

If freezing, cover the pot pies with plastic wrap and place in freezer.  Once thoroughly frozen you can pop the pies out of the pie plate or muffin tin and wrap completely with plastic wrap and/or foil.  Check out this post to see more about this freezer meal technique. If you are using disposable foil tins this step is unnecessary.  I always like a second or third layer to protect the food from freezer burn, so I usually place the pies inside a Zip Loc gallon-sized bag as well. These outer Zip Loc bags don't ever touch the food directly, so I can re-use them several times over. 

To serve, thaw the pot pies and bake at 400 degrees until golden brown, for 35-60 minutes, depending on the size of your pies.  Allow to cool for ten minutes before serving. 

Enjoy!