Chicken Pot Pie

Makes 1 large lasagna sized pot pie or 2 deep dish pies

For the filling:

• 2 tbsp margarine or butter
• 1 onion, diced (I skip the onion and use onion powder as I don’t like onion)
• 3 celery ribs, diced
• 2-3 cloves of garlic, minced
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
• 4 carrots, peeled and chopped
• 2 cups chicken broth
• 1 can cream of chicken soup
• 2 cups frozen corn
• 3 cups cooked shredded or chopped chicken ( I used leftover roast chicken)
• salt and pepper, to taste

For the crust:

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2  cups Tenderflake lard (cold)
• 12-15 tbsp ice water

In large saucepan, melt butter. Add onion, celery and garlic and saute until transparent. (As I don’t like onion, I skipped the onion and added onion powder later).

Add carrots and potatoes, chicken broth, salt and pepper and thyme. I also added onion powder to taste at this step. Bring to a boil. Simmer over medium heat until vegetables are tender, about 10-15 minutes.

Add can of cream of chicken soup, mixing well. Add chicken and frozen corn, and stir. Bring to a boil, and then simmer for 10 minutes. Season with more salt and pepper to taste, if needed. Remove from heat and let cool.

For the crust, add flour and salt to a large bowl and stir. Add cold Tenderflake and using a fork (or pastry cutter) mix together until crumbly. Gradually add water 1 tbsp at a time until a soft dough forms. Roll out to about 1/4″ thick, and make sure that the crust is larger than the dish you are using. Use flour to prevent sticking to the counter and the rolling pin. You can skip this step and use a pre-made crust if you prefer, or use your favourite pie crust recipe! I’m not much of a baker, so I try to keep this step simple!

Normally I would just make 2 pies, but this time I made the pot pie in my lasagna pan. I didn’t do a full top crust, instead my son helped cut out heart shapes to put on the top of our pie. I think he did a pretty good job!

Once the filling has cooled down slightly, pour into the crust and add the top crust (or the shapes like we did).  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F and bake for about 50-60 minutes or until the crust is nice and golden.

This made a really good sized pie, and we actually have enough left over for dinner tomorrow night! Because I used leftover chicken from last week, it was also really budget friendly! The chicken originally cost just over $10, and I ended up getting three dinners out of it.

Do you have a favourite chicken pot pie recipe you would like to share? Let me know in the comments!

~Andrea