Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Ever since there’s been a chill in the air I’ve had the urge to make some of my favorite meals.  One of those being chicken pot pie.  I have a staple chicken pot pie recipe that both my husband and I love, however it produces one massive pie.  I’ve really been wanting to make individual pies, like the ones you order at a restaurant.  That’s when I stumbled across a new cooking blog, that I love, and found this recipe for individual pot pies.  The pies are topped with homemade biscuits instead of pie crusts.  One of the biscuits main ingredients happens to be greek yogurt for all you greek yogurt lovers!  Overall this recipe is much healthier than my go-to recipe and it even incorporates white wine (bonus)!!! 

Before you begin baking, WAIT, do you have ramekins?  These are the individual dishes that the pie is baked in.  If you don’t you’ll need to pick some up at the store.    I had some smaller ones (7 oz.), but they weren’t big enough for a meal.  Ideally you’re looking for a 10 oz. ramekin (a little larger is ok too).  I found mine at Meijer’s but I know Target carries them as well.  They come in a plethora of colors, so have fun picking them out.  I think it’s more fun to have a mismatched set, so these are the colors I chose.  Also, before you buy them, double check the bottom to make sure they say oven proof.  

This recipe involves a lot of chopping.  If your cutting board isn’t very large, I suggest chopping one vegetable at a time and adding it to a large bowl, before moving onto the next.  This will allow you to maximize your cutting space.  Also, when cutting the green beans, an easy way to save yourself time when trimming the ends is to line about 5 or 6 green beans up in a row (all tips equally aligned), then simply chop and discard the ends.

Fast way to trim the ends off the beans

I know what you’re thinking, if I’m making the filling from scratch, can’t I just buy ready biscuit dough from the store?  It’s definitely tempting, but don’t.  It will be well worth it in the end.  Plus once the filling is simmering for 15 minutes, it’s the perfect opportunity to make the dough.

Ready to blend/process

The mixture will be crumbly

Cut the pie tops using the ramekins (flipped over)

You’ll find this recipe is very easy to produce if you follow the directions step by step.  Here’s a few tips I wanted to share that hopefully you’ll find useful.  This recipes calls for a 1/2 cup of wine.  That’s not very much wine, especially if you’re not planning to drink wine with dinner.  My suggestion: buy mini bottles of wine at the grocery store.  They usually come about 4 to a pack and they’re sold by individual serving size; just over a cup.  They’re perfect for cooking and there’s no waste after.  With this recipe you’ll have some leftover chicken stock.  You can save the remaining amount in the fridge for a few days OR if you’re a dog owner, top your dogs dry food with a drizzle of this.  Trust me it’s healthier than canned dog food and they’ll LOVE it!  I know my dog does!

Top each with biscuit dough

I have to say, when these came out of the oven, I was so excited to think that I made these!  And all from scratch!  The biscuits were a nice gold brown color and the steam rising from the ramekins smelled absolutely wonderful.  When my husband and I sunk our spoons into the pot pies for our first bite, we were pleasantly surprised.  The biscuits had a nice light buttery flavor, but not over the top buttery like you find in biscuit dough that grocery stores carry.  The chicken stock and wine created a nice soup like gravy while the vegetables were plentiful and added nice texture throughout the mixture.  My husband loved the seasonings and we both agreed we didn’t even miss having potatoes in the mixture.   This is a healthier pot pie recipe compared to the others I’ve made/tried and we were both very impressed with it.  After my husband exclaimed it was delicious, he couldn’t resist and went back for a 2^nd pie.  Mission accomplished!

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Adapted from  Back to the Cutting Board blog, by Emily Carlin

Serves:  4

Prep Time: 25 mins.

Total Time: 45 mins.

Ingredients:

Filling

• 1 tbsp. butter
• 3/4 lb. uncooked boneless, skinless chicken breast, cubed
• 2 celery stalks, chopped
• 2 large carrots, chopped
• 1 large onion, chopped
• 1/3 cup fresh green beans, cut into bite size pieces
• 2 tbsp. self-rising flour (if you don’t have any you can make your own)
• 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup white wine (replace with chicken broth if you prefer to not use wine)
• 1/3 cup frozen peas
• 1/3 cup frozen corn
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
• 1 tsp. chopped fresh parsley (optional)
• 1/4 tsp. black pepper
• 1/2 tsp. salt

Topping

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
• 1/2 tsp. baking soda
• 3 tbsp. cold butter, cut into small cubes
• 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp. low-fat plain Greek yogurt

Directions:

1. In a large pot, melt butter over medium heat. Add chicken, onion, celery, carrots and green beans. Stir frequently and cook until the chicken is no longer pink.
2. Add flour to the chicken mixture and stir well until it has a paste like texture. 
3. Slowly pour in chicken stock and wine, stirring constantly so no lumps form. Add peas, corn, thyme, parsley (optional), salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Simmer for 15 minutes to allow the mixture to thicken.
4. Preheat oven to 375˚F.
5. While the filling is simmering, make the biscuits. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl or food processor.
6. Cut the butter into the flour mixture by hand or with a food processor. Make sure the butter is thoroughly combined. The dough mixture should be crumbly.
7. Stir in the yogurt.  Press the dough crumbles to eventually form a ball out of the dough.
8. Place the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead approximately 10 times.  Add a little flour if it’s very sticky, but not too much, as it should slightly stick to your hands.
9. Using a rolling pin, roll the dough until it is approximately 1/2 inch thick. Take one of your ramekins and use it as a biscuit cutter to create the pot pie tops.  Re-roll the dough as needed to produce more tops.
10.  Coat the inside of each ramekin with cooking spray or lightly grease with olive oil.  Fill each ramekin, approximately ¾ full, with the chicken mixture.  Top with the biscuit dough cut outs.
11. Cover a baking sheet with foil (the pies tend to overflow so this will help with clean up time) and place the ramekins on top.  Bake for 15-20 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the mixture is bubbly.

Note: Serve the ramekins on a dish to your guests as they will be too hot to hold.