Lighter Chicken Pot Pie Recipe | We are not Martha (2024)

FAQs

How do you keep chicken pot pie from being runny? ›

Bake the pie: Bake chicken potpie until the crust is lightly browned and the filling is bubbly. Avoid the temptation to dive right into the pie. Letting it sit for 15 minutes will allow the filling to firm up. And no one wants a runny pie!

The sauce in chicken pot pie is typically a gravy. I use a seasoned white gravy made from scratch with flavor-building ingredients, chicken broth, and half-and-half.

Add a little more salt and black pepper. Taste to see if it's less bland. Sauteed garlic and onions in oil also add a good flavor. Try adding a squeeze of lemon juice over the chicken before mixing.

Getting a brown, flaky/crispy bottom crust on your pie is all about quick and effective heat transfer. That's why aluminum or aluminum/steel pans — rather than glass or stoneware — are your best choice for baking pie. Metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat quickly and efficiently from oven to pie crust.

You do not need to pre-bake a pie crust for an apple pie or any baked fruit pie really, but we do freeze the dough to help it stay put. Pre-baking the pie crust is only required when making a custard pie OR when making a fresh fruit pie. you should probably get: Pie weights are super helpful to have for pre-baking.

I only gave my pot pie a top crust, because I feel like the bottom crust always gets soggy. If you do want to add a bottom crust, I suggest blind baking it. What does blind baking mean? It's when you bake your pie crust without a filling in order to crisp it up.

Watery filling

Water can be released from your pie filling while cooking in the oven. To avoid turning your pie into a sloppy mess, add flour to the filling or add some nuts to thicken it up, like in our Chicken and Leek Pie. This will help to absorb any excess water while it's cooking and will keep the pastry crispy.

7Place the pie on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the crust is deep golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes. To prevent the crust from getting too brown, you might want to cover it lightly with foil for the first 15 minutes of baking time. 8Serve it up by the big ol' spoonful!

In the South, some folks make a distinction between chicken pie and chicken pot pie. Chicken pies, also known as “chicken and pastry,” are the savory versions of fruit pies or cobblers, made with homemade crust and no, or very few, vegetables. Chicken pot pies typically include vegetables and have a top crust only.

Chicken pot pie is an all-American comfort food. The most iconic version of it originated in Lancaster, in Pennsylvania Dutch country, but was brought to the United States by European settlers and had its roots in English dishes made from leftovers.

Why is pot pie unhealthy? ›

High Saturated Fat: The pastry crust in chicken pot pie is often made with butter or lard, which is high in saturated fat. Diets high in saturated fat can lead to increased fat accumulation in the liver.

A warm chicken pot pie might feel just right on a chilly day, but it can also do a number on your stomach. This seasonal food favorite is often loaded with fat, a common IBS trigger. The wheat in the crust is a source of the fermentable fiber fructans, says Scarlata.

Add Flour Or Cornstarch

Instead, ladle a small amount of broth into a separate bowl and let it cool. Add a few tablespoons of flour or cornstarch to the bowl and whisk until it's blended smooth. Next, bring the soup to a simmer and add the mixture back to the pot. Pro tip: Don't dump in the entire mixture at once.

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

I only gave my pot pie a top crust, because I feel like the bottom crust always gets soggy. If you do want to add a bottom crust, I suggest blind baking it. What does blind baking mean? It's when you bake your pie crust without a filling in order to crisp it up.

To prevent it, you need to either create a barrier between the wet filling and raw pie dough, or ensure the pie dough browns and sets before the filling has a chance to soak it.

You've spent time and effort putting the pastry together, so don't sell yourself short by skipping the final step—the egg wash for the pie crust. The truth is that cream and egg washes are a simple but vital step to improving the appearance and flavor of pies and other baked goods.