As Easy as Chicken Pot Pie
Only a few years ago, baking a homemade chicken potpie was a labor of love. The chicken had to be cooked, vegetables chopped and crust made - but times have changed. There are so many convenient ingredients in the grocery stores these days that you can turn out a steaming chicken pot pie with very little precooking, peeling or chopping. And by using Martha White® Self-rising Flour or a Martha White biscuit mix, a quick biscuit topping or pour batter crust can be ready in minutes.
Like many casseroles and one-dish meals, chicken pies are likely the tasty result of thrifty cooks stretching one chicken or hen to feed a big family. As a result, there are many versions of chicken potpies.
In the South, some folks make a distinction between chicken pie and chicken potpie. Chicken pies, also known as "Chicken and Pastry," are the savory versions of a fruit pie or cobbler, made with homemade crust and no, or very few, vegetables. Chicken potpies typically include vegetables and have a top crust only. No matter what you call it, a one-dish-meal like chicken potpie is perfect for today's busy families.
Ingredients
One of the best things about home cooking these days is that there are so many options for convenient ingredients like good precooked chicken. Rotisserie chickens are always handy for recipes, but there are many other precooked chicken products sold both in the frozen and fresh meat sections. If you are trying to economize, cook some chicken over the weekend and stick in the refrigerator or freezer. Then it's ready when you are.
The produce, freezer and canned food sections of the grocery store offer a wonderful variety of vegetables ready to add to your pot pie filling - even frozen onions already chopped.
For a creamy filling, ingredients such as condensed soups have been the traditional choice. But there are other options you can use, such as refrigerated and canned sauces or even sauce mixes.
The Martha White® Kitchen has taken the fuss out of the crust by using a convenient biscuit mix or self-rising flour. Easy Pickin' Chicken Pie has a crisp, buttery pour batter crust that has just three ingredients. Chicken Artichoke Pot Pie is topped with parmesan drop biscuits made with a package of biscuit mix and Sunday Chicken and Biscuit Pot Pie features a self-rising flour biscuit dough that can be patted out and cut with a biscuit cutter or into squares with a knife or pizza cutter.
From classic to contemporary, there are many wonderful recipes for chicken potpies today. But no matter which one you prefer, there is no disputing the homey comfort of this American classic.