Chicken pot pie is one of those true comfort foods. The flaky crust paired with the creamy chicken and vegetable filling is one hearty meal. And most people I know agree: When it comes to pot pie, the crust is the best part.
If you want to make your own chicken pot pie, there are several ways to make and freeze so you don’t end up with a soggy crust or too thin a filling.
When you want to make it and freeze, think of it like lasagna. You can make, bake, cool and freeze. Or you can make, assemble and freeze. Either way when you’re ready to cook, there’s no need to thaw; just add a good 15-20 minutes of extra baking time.
Another way is to just make the filling, cool it and store in freezer-quality bags. This way, you can make several batches of filling and place the bags flat in the freezer. And if you make your own dough for the crust, you can make it, shape it into a disk and freeze it, too. Thaw the filling and dough overnight. You can roll out the dough for the bottom crust, add the filling and then the top crust in the time it takes to preheat the oven.
To freeze an unbaked pot pie, assemble it in a pie plate or dish. Place it in the freezer, dish and all. Once frozen, pop it out of the pie plate, wrap in foil and then in freezer-quality plastic wrap. Freeze up to 3 months. When ready to bake, brush the top with an egg wash. Place the pie in a 375-degree oven. For unbaked pot pie, allow at least 50 minutes to fully cook it. If the edges brown too much, cover with strips of foil.
To freeze an already baked chicken pot pie, cool it completely after baking. This might take a good 30 minutes or more; after that you can refrigerate it to chill it more. Once cool, follow the same instructions as above for freezing. To reheat, no need to thaw, reheat in 375-degree oven for about 35 minutes.
Pot pies are sometimes referred to as meat pies because they can be made with any kind of meat or poultry, have a long history, dating back to the 18th century. One thing for certain, according to www.foodtimeline.org, is while a pot pie always has a top crust, it doesn’t always have a bottom crust. And the crust isn’t always a traditional pie dough crust either.
Which brings me to today’s recipes. One is a favorite of mine that uses a puff pastry crust. You can make individual pies or make one in a larger casserole dish. You can also make the pie using a traditional crust. The other recipe for individual chicken hand pies can be made as one 9-inch pie. Use your favorite pie crust recipe or store-bought or the one provided.
