Tried & True Recipe: Turkey (or Chicken) Pot Pie

Not as appetizing before it bakes as it is when it's all nice and golden brown, but it's something!

Every year around Thanksgiving I like to roast a turkey just for our little family.  Mark loves turkey (and leftover turkey sandwiches). Molly seems to be following in his footsteps as meat (turkey included) seems to top her lists of favorite foods at the moment.  I like it okay, but what I like most about it is that around Thanksgiving time stores are practically giving them away and for about the same amount of effort that it takes to roast a chicken I get so much meat for my time and money!  One turkey will yield multiple meals and leftovers and plenty of good for you, tasty stock.

One of the meals I love to make with the cooked turkey is Turkey Pot Pie.  This recipe is SO. GOOD.  It's easy to double and it's freezer friendly!  Basically, I love it.  I'll be honest, it does take a bit of work to make the filling, sauce, and crust, but it's well worth the effort (especially if you double it!)!  I'm so thankful I put in the time and effort previously when I pull a pot pie out of the freezer and pop it right into the oven and we can enjoy an awesome home cooked meal with barely any work!

We recently had one of these tasty pot pies from the freezer and it reminded me that I need to share the recipe while we're still in comfort food mode.  I don't know about you, but it's still plenty chilly in my area and pot pie makes a great cold weather meal!

This recipe works just as well with chicken, just use what you have/prefer.



Turkey (or Chicken) Pot Pie
Adapted from Annie's Eats originally from The Pastry Queen

yields 2 family size (9 inch) pies or 6-8 individual size pies


For Filling:

3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, chopped
1 large carrot, chopped
1 large Russet potato, chopped
3 cloves garlic, minced
3-4 cups chopped/shredded turkey (or chicken, can also use the meat from a rotisserie chicken)
1 cup frozen peas
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
salt and pepper, to taste


For Sauce:

8 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 cups turkey stock (or chicken stock)
1/2 cup heavy cream
dash of hot sauce
salt and pepper, to taste


For crust*:

16 tablespoons cold butter, cut into 1 tablespoon pieces
3 cups all-purpose flour
10 ounces cream cheese, cut into large cubes
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
1 large egg (for egg wash)


To prepare filling:

Melt butter in large skillet over medium heat.  Add onion, carrots, and potatoes to pan and saute, stirring occasionally, until veggies start to soften (~10-15 minutes.  Note: as pies will be cooked in the oven be sure not to overcook veggies at this stage you just want them to start softening up.  This is especially important if you're going to be freezing the pies!).  Add garlic and cook until fragrant.  Turn off heat.  Stir in turkey, peas, crushed red pepper flakes, and salt and pepper, to taste.  Set aside.


To prepare sauce:

Melt butter in large saucepan over medium heat.  Whisk in flour until smooth.  Cook flour for a minute or two.  Whisk in broth until smooth and cook, stirring frequently, until it reaches the consistency of "cream of" soup (nice and thick!).  Stir in cream, hot sauce, and salt and pepper, to taste.

Combine sauce with filling mixture and spoon into pans.  I like to use disposable 9" pie pans.  You can use real pie plates, individual sized disposable pie plates, ramekins, etc.


To prepare crust:

To bowl of a food processor fitted with metal blade, pulse butter and flour until crumbly.  Add cream cheese, salt, and pepper.  Continue pulsing just until dough begins to form.  Turn dough out onto a floured surface and roll out to 1/4-inch thickness.  Lay dough on top of filled dishes.

In a small dish beat the egg with a little water.  Using a pastry brush, brush egg wash over crusts.

Freeze at this point or bake on a cookie sheet as instructed below.


To bake: 

     From fresh:  40-45 minutes at 375-degrees

     From refrigerator (frozen and then thawed): 50-55 minutes at 350-degrees

     From frozen:  Remove from freezer 30 minutes prior to baking and allow to sit at room temperature.  In the meantime, pre-heat oven to 425-degrees.  Cover pie loosely with foil and bake for 30 mins.  Reduce heat to 350-degrees.  Remove foil and continue baking for an additional 55-60 mins, or until crust is golden brown and pie is bubbly and heated through.  Sometimes I cover loosely with foil again towards the end if the crust is getting too brown.  Just keep an eye on it!

Decrease times slightly  if you're cooking individual sized pies.  Let stand 5-10 minutes before serving.


*A note about doubling the crust.  When I double this recipe I use 2x the ingredients for everything except the crust.  I've found I only need to increase the crust by 50% and I have plenty.  If you're making 12-16 individual pies you may end up needing 2x the crust, I'm not sure.  When doubling I also make the crust in two batches so as not to overload my food processor.  


Enjoy!