Either I was a deprived child, or chicken pot pie simply isn't popular in the UK. I'd heard of it several times in American novels, but up until I stumbled across this recipe on Stephanie O'Dea's blog, I hadn't been able to find a recipe that appealed to me. In fact, the first chicken pot pie recipe I found was in a Debbie Macomber novel and featured canned chicken, which did not appeal to me in the slightest.
I'm glad I wasn't put off by the ingredients in the original recipe as my version turned out really well. I've made it twice so far and it's definitely becoming a family favourite.
Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie
Serves: 4 - 6
Preparation Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 3 - 5 hours on High or 6 - 7 on Low
Ingredients
4 chicken breasts, chopped into chunks
1 cup of peeled, chopped carrots (or approx. three medium sized carrots)
1 (326g) can of sweetcorn
1 cup of frozen peas (or fill the empty sweetcorn can with peas to get approx. 1 cup)
1 teaspoon of dried oregano
1 teaspoon of dried thyme
1 teaspoon of celery seed
1 onion, chopped (we prefer red onions)
2 cans of Bachelor's Condensed Cream of Chicken Soup (MUST be condensed)
A couple of tablespoons of milk (to add to the cans of soup and squish around to get the dregs of the soup out as condensed soup is pretty stodgy and sticks to the can)
Directions
1. Preheat slow cooker. Chop up (and peel, where necessary) chicken, carrots and onion.
2. Add chicken to slow cooker, then add all of the vegetables and herbs.
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| As you can see, we chose to add brussell sprouts to ours. Also, while the red onion gives the pie a good colour at this stage, it loses its colour in the cooking process. |
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| Yum. Appetising? Not so much at this stage. |
We topped ours with biscuit, which may be unfamiliar to British readers. It's hard to describe, but basically came out as a mixture between scone and bread in this recipe. I used this recipe to make my biscuits topping, but altered it slightly as I found the milk made it too watery. You may choose to top your pie with mashed potatoes or pastry, but I do recommend trying it with biscuit. It's worth the work.
Biscuit Topping Ingredients
2 cups (250g) of plain (all-purpose) flour
1 tablespoon of white (granulated) sugar
1 teaspoon of salt
1/3 cup (70g) of margarine
3/4 cup (180ml) of milk
Biscuit Topping Directions
1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
2. Cut the margarine into the mixture until it resembles coarse meal.
3. Gradually stir in the milk until the dough pulls away from the side of the bowl.
And now, back to our original chicken pot pie instructions...
4. Spread the biscuit dough on top of the pie as best you can, attempting to cover as much of the contents as possible.
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| I love how a random pea somehow escaped and made on to the top of the biscuit topping. |
5. Cook on High for 3 - 5 hours or on Low for 6 - 7. Because of the topping, this recipe is impossible to add to or adjust while it's cooking, although I would occasionally lift the lid to check on how the biscuit mixture was cooking and spot some soup bubbling up the sides.
Suggested Variations:
- Add 10 brussell sprouts with the ends chopped off
- Add 1/2 cup of white wine
— Rachel
