Real chicken pot pie.

Not your average pot pie found in the freezer section, this is even better because you can decide what goes into it. If you prefer a biscuit topping, you can use one – homemade or canned. If you don’t like carrots, or peas, or corn, then leave them out. If you’d like to have peppers, more garlic, parsnips, broccoli – the list goes on forever – then add it!

This is a basic, all-American pot pie recipe, in my opinion. You can add or subtract, make a twist for another flavor (Southwestern? Thai?), or change out the topping for endless possibilities. I tweaked the recipe found on Feeding Andy, which in itself is a great recipe. I’ve knocked down the amount of dishes, changed a few ingredients, and increased the amounts for a batch-style recipe. You can freeze the filling by itself for later use, or make everything but the topping and freeze the whole thing for another day.

Chicken Pot Pie
yields enough for 2 9×13″

ingredients:
4 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 Tablespoon butter
4 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
1 medium sweet onion, medium dice
1 large russet potato, peeled and diced fine
1 bag frozen sweet corn kernels, thawed and drained
1 bag frozen green peas, thawed and drained
1 bag frozen sliced carrots, thawed and drained
4 cups veloute1
2/3 cup heavy cream
1 can crescent roll dough
ice bath

directions:
Preheat oven to 450F. In a saute pan over medium-low heat, melt butter and stir in onions. Cover and Fill a 4-6 quart pot with water and blanch vegetables (it works best if you blanch and shock each separately, but you can drain them all in one colander). Use the same water to poach chicken breasts until cooked through. Remove from water, drain and dice fine. Combine vegetables and chicken in two greased 13×9 pans. Bring veloute to a simmer, add heavy cream, and simmer 5-8 minutes or until thick and custard-like. Split veloute mixture in half over both pans. Cover one pan with crescent roll dough and bake 15-20 minutes, or until dough is puffy and golden-brown. Dig in while you let the other pan cool, then cover with a double-layer of aluminum foil, label and freeze.

1 veloute: a gravy-like sauce made with a blonde roux and chicken stock. To make 4 cups, start with 4 tablespoons each of butter and flour in a pan over low heat. I use the same pan that I browned the onions and garlic in, so get all the pan drippings and flavor. Cook over medium-low heat, whisking constantly, until color has formed and flour taste is gone. Slowly whisk in 4 cups of chicken stock, bring to a simmer and let cook for 5-10 minutes.