From Dry to Divine: A Pot Pie Recipe to Revitalize Leftover Chicken

Chicken, chicken, chicken! Is your bird a bit too dry? Don’t toss it in the trash! Transform that dry, dreary poultry into a divine dish. With this simple Chicken Pot Pie recipe, you’ll turn your leftover chicken from zero to hero. Let’s get cooking!

Maybe you’re asking, “Janel, why do you even have (dry) chicken in the first place? Don’t you eat vegetarian in your house?”

Great question, thank you for asking. In fact–in those moments when I do eat meat, friends ask me this same question. The truth is, I’m not a vegetarian, but I love and eat vegetarian and vegan meals most of the time. I also actively don’t buy meat at the market unless we have a big lime by the house and expect to feed people.

What I am, however, is a no-wastey person.

When have have guests over, and food comes to my house, I will never throw any leftovers in the trash (unless it’s gone bad.) Vegans: don’t come at me, okay?

If I had a motto it would be this: If the animal died, I’d rather eat it than go in the garbage. Make sense? Why kill the animal only to waste it? The world already wastes too much, and I cannot have that. Hence, #nowasteyperson

Moving on, because I know why you’re here and it’s to make a pot pie. I made this in my large cast iron skillet and then transferred it to a small one to make it more abundant. I only used 2 cooked chicken breasts and 1 thigh and added fresh veggies as I only had frozen peas. It works the same, only that I sautéed them all first.

I also used coconut milk instead of dairy, because that’s all we got in here! I also used a pre-made frozen pie crust that was unthawed on my counter while I cooked everything else.

This makes for 1 medium pie, to serve 4 people, or if you’re feeling extra hungry, enough for 2 people.

Kitchen Tools

Cast Iron Skillet
Wooden Spoon
Measuring Cup
Cutting Board
Knife

Ingredients

2 tbsp butter
1 onion diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 seasoning peppers, diced
1 carrot diced into small squares
2 celery ribs dice into small squares
diced cooked chicken (I used the meat from two breast and one thigh)
1 tbsp corn starch
1 3/4 cup broth (I used hot water and a 2 veggie Maggi cubes)
3/4 cup of coconut milk
1 pie crust I swear by these you know!
Salt & pepper
Summer savory
Fresh or dried thyme if you have

Method

1. Mise en Place people! Dice up your veggies and prepare your ingredients, this is going to go quick. Add your Maggi cubes to a measuring cup with 1 3/4 hot water - this is now your "broth"
2. Pre-heat oven to 425ºF (216ºC)
3. Add Butter to a hot skillet, and add your onion, carrot, celery ribs and sauté until onions start to go translucent, adding salt & pepper and summer savory. If you have fresh or dried thyme, add it now too.
4. I personally don't like to overcook my veggies, so at this point, they're tender but not soft (other than the onions) so here we'll add the corn starch, stir it up a bit for a minute, and then add the broth, slowly, so it creates a gravy consistency.
5. Slowly add your coconut milk
6. Add the diced chicken and turn off your heat.
7. Roll out your pie crust and carefully place it on top of your skillet, pressing the edges down carefully so the crust is touching the mixture. Fold the sides how you like - Since my cast iron skillet was small, I just flipped the sides on themselves so I didn't have to trim the edges as I didn't want to waste this yummy goodness
8. Cut slits into the middle so heat can release while it bakes
9. Bake for 30-40 mins until crust is golden brown (I added a sheet pan below to catch anything that may have bubbled over)

Remove and allow to cool a bit before serving