Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie

This recipe makes six to eight servings with just three cups of meat. It is basically the recipe for chicken and dumplings with a bit more meat and several more vegetables in a celery seed pastry crust. It can be served beside a lovely crisp green salad and/or a medley of roasted root vegetables like red and gold beets drizzled with balsamic vinegar for a special Winter evening meal. It stands up well to reheating in a 350 degree oven out of the fridge. It can also be baked and frozen, then reheated in a 350 degree oven.

This recipe will take more time than the poultry with dumpling recipe. It is the perfect Winter afternoon project for a Sunday when you’d like to plan make one pie for dinner and a second one for the freezer to save yourself time later. 

Check the instructions for rendering chicken and turkey. If you have poultry fat, use it instead of butter.

Tips: Ingredients:

1 large onion (chopped medium fine)

2 T cooking fat (butter, oil, olive oil, chicken or turkey fat)

3 teaspoons sage

2 ½ teaspoons rosemary

1 ½ teaspoons ground pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon tarragon

3 Tablespoons of cornstarch

3 cups poultry stock (chicken or turkey – depending on your meat)

2 cups red potatoes, chunked with skins on (about 14 red creamers, quartered)

2 cups carrots, chunked (about 3 large carrots) – may substitute parsnips for half the carrots

1 ½ cups celery, chopped (about 2 long stalks)

1 cup snipped green beans, cut into 1 ½ inch lengths, or frozen green beans.

1 small can plain sweet corn, or 1 cup of frozen corn

½ – ¾ cup frozen peas (optional)

3 cups of cooked turkey or chicken in chunks (can use both light and dark meat)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch blended into 1 ½ cups skim milk (see Tip in Chicken and Dumplings)

Better than Bouillon turkey or chicken flavoring to taste.

¼ cup Vermouth

For the Celery Seed Pastry Crust:

3 cups flour and one and half teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon and one teaspoon of Celery Seed (optional)

1 cup (2 sticks) cold, but not frozen unsalted butter (right from the refrigerator)

6-8 Tablespoons cold water

Instructions:

Before you start cooking, prep the vegetables, meat, and spices for introduction at the right time. You can use prepared chicken or turkey broth or stock, but you may want to keep your Better than Bouillon handy as the broth may be bland. Better than Bouillon allows you to add just enough flavor for your taste. Add cornstarch with liquids by slowly dribbling in the liquid while constantly stirring in the measure of cornstarch. 

  1. In a large Dutch Oven heat the cooking fat and add the onions. Sprinkle the spices over the cooking onions. Once the onions have softened a bit, sprinkle the 3T cornstarch over them evenly.
  2. Dribble the stock into the pot slowly stirring constantly as the cornstarch will immediately thicken the liquid. Once all the stock is added, introduce the potatoes and carrots, parsnips (if desired). Cover and allow the pot to simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until these dense root vegetables begin to soften.
  3. Add the meat, green beans, corn and peas. If using frozen vegetables, it may take a few minutes to bring the pot to bubbling again. When the pot starts to bubble again, add the milk and cornstarch mixture.
  4. The skim milk will not have enough fat to separate, and the cornstarch will keep the mixture thick and hearty. Taste and see if you need a bit more turkey or chicken flavor. Add Better than Bouillon by the half teaspoon as it is very concentrated.
  5. Add the Vermouth and celery. There should be enough flavor that you probably don’t need added salt. Turn off the pot while you make the celery seed crust.

 

Celery Seed Crust Instructions

The proportions listed above will make enough crust for one nine-inch double crusted pie with a sealed and fluted edge to wrap and put in the freezer, and one ten inch open faced pie for immediate consumption.

Stir the celery seed into the flour and salt, then cut the unsalted butter into the flour mixture. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time. See the pie crust videos for complete instructions on how to make pastry.

Divide the pastry dough into three equal balls. Each ball is enough to cover the bottom and sides of a shallow nine-inch pie plate with room to spare. Many plates sold today are deep 10- inch pie plates.  Adjust the filling in a 10-inch pie plate to get the crust over the edge of the filling.

If you are making this to feed six to eight people immediately, you can use a large ceramic or Pyrex casserole dish or enameled iron cooking pot as your baking dish. It is easy to roll out one large sheet of pastry and use this to both line the dish and fold over the filling. This pie has an open face that allows you to see the filling. The crust drawn up over the edges looks like a half-opened drawstring purse. 

Alternatively, you can divide your big dough ball in four smaller balls to make two six-inch, double crusted pies. Just remember that for whatever size you are making, prick the bottom crust, and if you are sealing and fluting the edges, you will need venting in the top crust.

If you have extra pastry leftover, you can make decorative leaves or other shapes on top of the crust. Please see photos included here for ideas.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 35-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Chicken or Turkey Pot Pie

This recipe makes six to eight servings with just three cups of meat. It is basically the recipe for chicken and dumplings with a bit more meat and several more vegetables in a celery seed pastry crust. It can be served beside a lovely crisp green salad and/or a medley of roasted root vegetables like red and gold beets drizzled with balsamic vinegar for a special Winter evening meal. It stands up well to reheating in a 350 degree oven out of the fridge. It can also be baked and frozen, then reheated in a 350 degree oven.

This recipe will take more time than the poultry with dumpling recipe. It is the perfect Winter afternoon project for a Sunday when you’d like to plan make one pie for dinner and a second one for the freezer to save yourself time later. 

Check the instructions for rendering chicken and turkey. If you have poultry fat, use it instead of butter.

Ingredients:

1 large onion (chopped medium fine)

2 T cooking fat (butter, oil, olive oil, chicken or turkey fat)

3 teaspoons sage

2 ½ teaspoons rosemary

1 ½ teaspoons ground pepper

1 teaspoon thyme

½ teaspoon tarragon

3 Tablespoons of cornstarch

3 cups poultry stock (chicken or turkey – depending on your meat)

2 cups red potatoes, chunked with skins on (about 14 red creamers, quartered)

2 cups carrots, chunked (about 3 large carrots) – may substitute parsnips for half the carrots

1 ½ cups celery, chopped (about 2 long stalks)

1 cup snipped green beans, cut into 1 ½ inch lengths, or frozen green beans.

1 small can plain sweet corn, or 1 cup of frozen corn

½ – ¾ cup frozen peas (optional)

3 cups of cooked turkey or chicken in chunks (can use both light and dark meat)

3 Tablespoons cornstarch blended into 1 ½ cups skim milk (see Tip in Chicken and Dumplings)

Better than Bouillon turkey or chicken flavoring to taste.

¼ cup Vermouth

For the Celery Seed Pastry Crust:

3 cups flour and one and half teaspoons salt

1 Tablespoon and one teaspoon of Celery Seed (optional)

1 cup (2 sticks) cold, but not frozen unsalted butter (right from the refrigerator)

6-8 Tablespoons cold water

Instructions:

Before you start cooking, prep the vegetables, meat, and spices for introduction at the right time. You can use prepared chicken or turkey broth or stock, but you may want to keep your Better than Bouillon handy as the broth may be bland. Better than Bouillon allows you to add just enough flavor for your taste. Add cornstarch with liquids by slowly dribbling in the liquid while constantly stirring in the measure of cornstarch. 

  1. In a large Dutch Oven heat the cooking fat and add the onions. Sprinkle the spices over the cooking onions. Once the onions have softened a bit, sprinkle the 3T cornstarch over them evenly.
  2. Dribble the stock into the pot slowly stirring constantly as the cornstarch will immediately thicken the liquid. Once all the stock is added, introduce the potatoes and carrots, parsnips (if desired). Cover and allow the pot to simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes until these dense root vegetables begin to soften.
  3. Add the meat, green beans, corn and peas. If using frozen vegetables, it may take a few minutes to bring the pot to bubbling again. When the pot starts to bubble again, add the milk and cornstarch mixture.
  4. The skim milk will not have enough fat to separate, and the cornstarch will keep the mixture thick and hearty. Taste and see if you need a bit more turkey or chicken flavor. Add Better than Bouillon by the half teaspoon as it is very concentrated.
  5. Add the Vermouth and celery. There should be enough flavor that you probably don’t need added salt. Turn off the pot while you make the celery seed crust.

 

Celery Seed Crust Instructions

The proportions listed above will make enough crust for one nine-inch double crusted pie with a sealed and fluted edge to wrap and put in the freezer, and one ten inch open faced pie for immediate consumption.

Stir the celery seed into the flour and salt, then cut the unsalted butter into the flour mixture. Add cold water a tablespoon at a time. See the pie crust videos for complete instructions on how to make pastry.

Divide the pastry dough into three equal balls. Each ball is enough to cover the bottom and sides of a shallow nine-inch pie plate with room to spare. Many plates sold today are deep 10- inch pie plates.  Adjust the filling in a 10-inch pie plate to get the crust over the edge of the filling.

If you are making this to feed six to eight people immediately, you can use a large ceramic or Pyrex casserole dish or enameled iron cooking pot as your baking dish. It is easy to roll out one large sheet of pastry and use this to both line the dish and fold over the filling. This pie has an open face that allows you to see the filling. The crust drawn up over the edges looks like a half-opened drawstring purse. 

Alternatively, you can divide your big dough ball in four smaller balls to make two six-inch, double crusted pies. Just remember that for whatever size you are making, prick the bottom crust, and if you are sealing and fluting the edges, you will need venting in the top crust.

If you have extra pastry leftover, you can make decorative leaves or other shapes on top of the crust. Please see photos included here for ideas.

Bake in a 425 degree oven for about 35-45 minutes until the crust is golden brown.

Baking Ingredients

Get In Touch

Skip to content