Easy Chicken Pot Pie with Three Crust Variations
By: Sheri Wetherell
Published: March 18, 2015

Chicken pot pie is a great dish to make with leftover chicken or turkey meat. Once you make a simple sauce with chicken stock that’s thickened with a roux (a flour and butter paste), then you’re on your way to creating an easy meal the whole family will love. This recipe features the traditionally-used vegetables - potatoes, carrots, peas - but go crazy and use what you have in your fridge! Broccoli, kale, leftover Brussels sprouts, and root veggies like sweet potatoes, parsnips and turnips all make lovely additions to a comforting pot pie.
	Make one big pie or portion out your filling into individual size ramekins (kids love getting their own special dish!). And, you’re not limited to a pie crust as your topping. Lay on a piece of buttery puff pastry (super simple!) or create a biscuit or dumpling topping with a simple batter using Bisquick, something many of us already have in our pantry.
 Easy Chicken Pot Pie
 Ingredients:
	1 store-bought pie crust, slightly thawed (or see crust variations below)
	For the Filling:
	3 cups chicken stock, divided  
	1 pound red or new potatoes, cut into cubes
	1 cup (1/4-inch-thick) carrots, sliced
	2 teaspoons butter
	1/2 cup all-purpose flour  
	2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
	1/2 cup onions, chopped
	1 cup frozen green peas
	1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
	Salt and pepper to taste
	Cooking spray  
	2 teaspoons milk
 Directions:
	Preheat oven to 400°.
	To prepare filling, bring 3 cups chicken stock to a boil in a medium saucepan. Add potatoes and carrots; cook 2 minutes or until tender, then remove with a slotted spoon and set aside.  
	Melt butter in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Slowly dust in 1/2 cup flour, whisking as you pour, until a lump-free paste (a roux) has formed. Slowly whisk 1/2 cup of the chicken stock, stirring until the sauce is smooth, then add the remaining stock and stir.
	Stir in potato-carrot mixture, onions, chicken, peas, thyme, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Cook 10 minutes or until sauce has thickened. Remove from heat; cool slightly.
	Coat a casserole dish (about 1 1/2-quart) with cooking spray, then spoon in chicken vegetable mixture.
	Carefully place one slightly thawed pie crust on top, pressing it to the edge of the dish.
	Cut 3-5 slits in the top of crust to allow steam to escape.
	Gently brush crust with milk (not necessary if using puff pastry) and bake at 400° for 45 minutes or until golden. Let stand 10 minutes before serving.
 Variations on crusts:
 Puff Pastry: simply lay a sheet of puff pastry over your pie or casserole dish then bake.
 Biscuit topping: Mix together 1 cup Bisquick, 1/2 milk and 1 egg until a dough is formed. Pour over chicken mixture, then bake.
 Dumpling topping:  Skip the baking and simply drop dumplings (2 cups Bisquick, 2/3 cup milk) by the spoonful into your sauce and let them simmer about 10 minutes.