Easy Chicken Pot Pie

I have had a craving for Chicken Pot Pie for a few weeks now - but I wanted to make one that was "homemade" but didn't want to spend an entire day making it. Solution?? This little recipe I came up with. I researched recipes from Ina Gartner, Ree Drummond to name a few - then took some awesome short cuts and came up with this!!!

*Picture thanks to Ree Drummond - we had company the night I made Chicken Pot Pie so taking a pic of it was the last thing on my mind.

For the record - my 4 kids and the 3 teenaged boys we had over for dinner ALL got seconds and all each finished their portions in record time.

Easy Chicken Pot Pie

1/4 c flour

4 T butter (half a stick)

2 c chicken stock

1 chicken bouillon cube or 1 t granulated chicken bouillon

1 "Traditional" rotisserie chicken

1 c frozen, diced onions

1 c frozen carrots, diced or crinkle cut

1 c frozen sweet peas

1 c frozen sweet corn

2 Marie Callendars frozen pie crusts

1 c heavy cream

1/4 c fresh parsley (or thyme), finely minced

Salt and pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot or Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots and *celery (we just found out that my son is allergic to celery – seriously.) Saute until the vegetables start to turn translucent, a couple of minutes.

Add 2 cups of the diced chicken and stir to combine. Sprinkle the flour evenly over the vegetables and chicken, and stir to combine. Cook for a couple of minutes, stirring gently.

Pour in the chicken broth, stirring constantly. Stir in the bouillon cube. The flour will combine with the chicken to create a delicious gravy. Next, add the peas and corn.

Pour in the cream and stir. Allow the mixture to cook over low heat, thickening gradually, about 4 minutes. Season with the parsley (or thyme), salt and pepper, and continue to cook on low for 30-40 minutes. You want to have time for all of the veg to get soft and for the flavors to meld. Taste and adjust the seasonings as needed.

While the filling is melding on low, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and get the pie crusts out of the freezer to thaw.

Pour the chicken mixture into one of the pie crusts – don’t be afraid to pile it in there – the top crust will help keep it all in. Then cover with second pie crust. Use your fingers to pinch the edges of both crusts together to seal it. Use a fork to pierce a few holes in the top crust.

Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes before serving.

Seriously SO DELICIOUS and comforting - and with all that veg!!