Recipe – Mini Chicken Pot Pies

A couple people have asked me for this recipe and I keep forgetting to write it down so I figured this was the easiest way to share :)  I originally found this recipe on this blog through Foodgawker.  It’s a great appetizer for parties and everyone asks me to make these now.

The recipe I modified this from calls for a homemade chicken pot pie mixture.  I go the easy route and save a lot of time by using cream of chicken soup.  I know some people hate condensed soup because it’s processed, not good for you, blah blah blah.  What isn’t good for you, seriously?  At least I use the Healthy Request or 98% fat free kind!  But if you have a homemade chicken pot pie mixture, it will definitely work in this recipe – you can really adapt to whatever you want the mixture to be made of. 

You will need a couple muffin tins (if you want really tiny pies, you could use a mini muffin tin but I’m not sure how much filling you can get in there!), a rolling pin (I use a very small one that is the width of a piece of bread) and a circular cookie cutter (about 3” in diameter).  Can anyone tell me why it was so hard to find a circular cookie cutter that was big enough????  I looked at Christmas Tree Shops, Target, Bed Bath & Beyond, Walmart, etc and could not find a basic circular cookie cutter.  I finally found a biscuit cutter at Crate & Barrel and I’m praying it never breaks or rusts since it took so long to find it!

 

Mini Chicken Pot Pies…

- adapted from Lawyer Loves Lunch

Ingredients:

- 2 cans Healthy Request or 98% fat free Cream of Chicken soup

- 2 cans mixed veggies, drained (I use one that has carrots, peas, potatoes and green beans)

- 2 loaves potato bread (I find that the more yellow the bread is, the better – the recipe I originally found suggested using Nature’s Pride and I did not like that kind because it didn’t spread as much when flattening it)

- 1/2 package of frozen chicken strips (we use the Tyson brand and they are awesome – really flavorful)

- spreadable butter or margarine (used to coat the outsides of the bread circles to make the pie crusts)

- seasonings like pepper, salt, basil, garlic powder

Let’s get cooking!

1) Pre-heat the oven to 325 degrees.

2) Start by cutting a circle in the middle of each slice of bread with the cookie cutter (try to avoid the crusts). 

3) Flatten each bread circle with the rolling pin until it’s completely flat, but do not make it so thin that it tears.

4) Slather one side of each bread circle with butter and then place the bread circle, butter-side down into the muffin tin.  The butter will act like a non-stick spray.  You may need to squish some sides of the bread circle to form it into a complete pie crust – like it’s a muffin liner. 

5) After you have filled the tin with bread circles, bake them for 10-15 minutes at 325 degrees.  I check mine after 8 minutes or so to see if they are browning yet.  You may need to leave them in a minute or two less or more depending upon your oven.  They should be lightly-browned and crispy.  Remove from oven and cool. 

6) Turn your stovetop onto medium heat.  In a large saucepan, pour in the cream of chicken and mixed veggies. 

7) While that mixture is heating, microwave the chicken strips for 1-2 minutes (defrosted enough so you are able to cut them).  Cut them into bite-sized chunks.

8) Add the chicken chunks into the cream of chicken and veggie mixture.  Feel free to add in pinches of pepper, salt, basil, and garlic powder to taste.  Continue stirring until the chicken mixture starts to bubble, usually takes about 5 minutes or so.

9) Take the bread circles out of the muffin tin and place on a serving plate.  Spoon in a few tablespoons of the pot pie filling into each bread crust to fill it completely without overflowing. 

10) Serve immediately – they are best nice and hot :)

I shared this recipe at: