Pot pie is one of those dishes that immediately brings you back to a time and place.
For me, it's Thanksgiving.
Every year after our holiday meal, my mom uses the leftover turkey to make up a few big pot pies. The dish became synonymous with the post-turkey day binge — the smell wafting into the living room where I spent the day sleeping off the food coma. As my brother and I got older and went off to college, we would always depart Thanksgiving weekend and head back to school with a pot pie in hand.
Even as a 30-something, I still look forward to digging into the warm, gooey pie as I struggle getting back into the swing of the workweek after the holiday break. While delicious, it isn't always the easiest to transport a slice for lunch at the office, which is why I love these mini versions by food blogger Charisse Yu.
Not only are they the perfect single-serving size, but they also call for only four ingredients and come in at just 200 calories each. Plus, unlike the massive pot pie my mom makes, these bite-sized versions take just 30 minutes to assemble and cook up, which is much more my speed. Whether you're making dinner for your kids or meal prepping lunch for the office like me, I foresee these mini pies being a staple in our fall and winter meal rotation.
Before you get started, Yu shared with me her top tips for making the easiest chicken pot pie:
- Use store-bought rotisserie chicken. It will save so much time (and uses fewer dishes).
- Be careful about how the chicken is seasoned. If you use a barbecue flavored rotisserie chicken, you’re going to have a bbq flavored pot pie!
- Use just corn or just carrots for those picky eaters who don’t like certain vegetables. I used frozen vegetables for ease, but if you have fresh, you can use those, too.
4-Ingredient Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Serves: 12
Ingredients:
- Crescent dough, store bought
- 1 cup chicken, cooked and chopped
- 3/4 cup canned cream of chicken soup
- Frozen garden vegetables, thawed
- Chicken seasoning or salt and pepper (optional)
Preparation:
Preheat oven to 375°F.
- In a bowl, mix chicken, cream of chicken soup, vegetables and a sprinkle of chicken seasoning or salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Using a glass or cookie cutter, carve out circles of crescent dough.
- Grease a muffin tin with cooking spray and carefully place dough in each circle.
- Add chicken mixture into each circle.
- Using the leftover dough, cut strips and place it on top, in a weaving pattern.
- Bake for about 20 minutes, check at 15 minutes for desired brownness.
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