Recipe: Homemade Pot Pie

I looooove pot pie! Once I realized how many (awful) ingredients were in the frozen pot pies, I started making my own. It wasn't as intimidating as I thought it would be, and now I think they're a lot of fun to make. This is my absolute favorite comfort food!

Ingredients for Crust:
1 ¹/₃ c. whole wheat pastry flour (about 1 c. soft white wheat berries)
½ c. cold butter (1 stick)
¼ c. cold water

Ingredients for Filling:
1 TBS. butter
1 TBS. flour
2 c. chicken stock
2 chicken thighs
1 c. vegetables, such as carrots, broccoli, and mushrooms

In a grain mill, grind soft white wheat berries using the pastry setting.

Make the crust first. It will be much easier if you have a food processor, but if you don't you can absolutely do it by hand - it just takes a little more arm power. I did it many times by hand before I got a food processor! Cut the butter into small pieces, and put it in the food processor with the flour.

Put the lid on and pulse until the mixture becomes integrated and course.

Add in 1/4 cup of cold water. Pulse again until it mixes into dough. You might need a little more water - just add it in one tablespoon at a time.

Take the dough out and gather it into a large ball. Wrap it in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge for at least 20 minutes. If you need to leave it in there longer, it won't hurt anything.

While the dough is in the fridge, make the filling. The first thing to do is to get your vegetables going. You can use raw or frozen vegetables. In this case I had raw carrots, frozen broccoli, and frozen mushrooms. You can sauté the vegetables if you want, but I think it's easier to just steam them. I put the raw carrots in there first because they take longer to cook.

Once the carrots are partially cooked after about 10 minutes, add the other veggies and steam for about 10 more minutes. Once they are done, set them aside.

While the vegetables are steaming, start on the chicken. Remove any bones and cut the chicken into small pieces. Add one tablespoon of butter to a skillet and let it melt. Then add the chicken and cook until the pieces are no longer pink in the center.

Remove the chicken and set aside in a bowl. Try to leave the butter and remaining fat in the skillet. There should be enough left to start a roux. Remember that a roux is equal parts fat and flour, so here you will need about one tablespoon of flour. You can add more flour or butter to get the right consistency.

Next, pour in the chicken stock.

Since the skillet is already hot, the gravy will thicken up pretty quickly. As soon as it does, remove from heat and stir in the chicken and vegetables that you just cooked.

Now it's time to get the dough out of the fridge. Separate the dough into four (almost) equal balls.

I have these cute little ramekins that are perfect for individual pot pies. You can use a regular pie plate or any oven safe dish. If you're only making one pot pie, just cut the dough into two balls instead of four. Roll out two of the balls and press them into the bottom of the ramekins.

They don't have to be pretty, just as long as they're in there.

Bake them in a preheated 350° oven for 20 minutes. They will puff up a little bit, but that's okay.

Pour the chicken and vegetable mixture into the ramekins. It's best to have them full!

Now roll out the other two balls of dough and lay them on top of the ramekins. You can fold them inside and make them look nice if you want, but I like the rustic look from just laying them over. Since my husband and I like different fillings, I think it's really cute to carve our intials into the pies. You need to at least cut a few slits in there so the pies can vent.

Bake in the oven for another 30-40 minutes. I usually place aluminum foil over the whole thing for the first 20 minutes so the pies don't burn, and then remove it so the crusts can get golden brown.

There it is - your very own homemade pot pie!

This is probably one of the best foods on Earth! ENJOY!

Printable: Homemade Pot Pie