Now that your lawn is strewn with fallen leaves and you’re reaching for a sweater instead of sunscreen, it’s probably time to revamp the weekly menu to include the hearty, warming foods associated with fall. And what’s easier to cozy up to on a chilly autumn evening than a homemade chicken pot pie?
The classic marriage of golden, flaky pie crust with rich and creamy chicken is like a warm hug from your grandmother. Not only is it instantly comforting, but for many of us, it’s a familiar flavor from childhood that leads us on a walk down memory lane.
As one of seven kids with a working mother, I ate a ton of those small, frozen Morton and Banquet chicken pot pies as a kid. They were cheap, easy for my mom (or us kids) to heat up on a busy school night, and thanks to their inoffensive medley of diced carrots and peas tucked under the crust, a dish that pleased even the pickiest kid’s palate.
Now that I’m grown up, I make my pot pies from scratch, usually with chicken picked from the breast of a plump, grocery store rotisserie chicken. Depending on my mood, I sometimes throw a handful of diced potatoes into the filling along with frozen peas and carrot. I sometimes also add button mushrooms for a richer, earthy flavor or a cup of diced apple when I want to make the filling a little sweeter.
Without fail I use Martha Stewart’s recipe for pie crust because its flaky and buttery texture goes well with both sweet and savory fillings. Also, it’s easy to follow and requires only a handful of ingredients. This dough is so forgiving that it’s pretty hard for even novice cooks to mess it up.
While you can, and probably should, make chicken pot pie in a 9-inch crust for an easy, one-dish family dinner, it’s just as easy to make mini pot pies using a muffin tin—simply cut the dough into rounds large enough to line each muffin tin cup and divide the filling among them.
The handy, single-serving packages can be enjoyed right away, warm from the pan, or frozen and reheated whenever the urge for comfort food hits—say, after sports practice or on movie night.
If you’re making the pot pies ahead of time for later use, place unbaked pies in muffin cups, wrap the muffin pan in foil, and freeze until solid (about 2 hours). After ummolding, wrap the unbaked pies in plastic wrap, place them in a large resealable freezer plastic bag and freeze them for up to 3 months.
