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I’m not sure why it’s taken me so long to post this recipe. I’ve been making it since last year . It’s one of my favorites and something I make regularly. I have another more traditional chicken pot pie recipe which I like a lot, but that recipe is most certainly not low fat so I don’t make it as much (usually only after holidays to use up the extra chicken/turkey). This recipe is a lighter version of chicken pot pie, but it tastes just as good. I got it from the Weight Watchers website and while I’ve made some modifications to it, it’s still pretty light, especially compared to other chicken pot pie recipes you’ll find.
As I’ve mentioned before, I love using ramekins to make individual portions of my favorite recipes. I’m not so good with the portion control so I like having things portioned out for me in advance. It’s just easier that way. You can make this in 4 small ramekins (10 oz.) or 2 large ramekins (20 oz.). I got some large ramekins recently, so I’ve been using those.
The big modification I made to this recipe was to make the biscuit topping from scratch. The original recipe says to use those biscuits in a tube that you get in the grocery store. I tried it that way and wasn’t impressed. Yes, it’s easy, but I don’t trust dough in tube. Who knows what crap is in those things? Plus biscuits from a tube don’t taste as good. Sorry, they just don’t. Homemade is always going to be better.
And I can understand the thinking that it’s faster to use pre-made biscuits, but making them from scratch adds no extra time to this recipe. Seriously. The filling has to simmer for 15 minutes, so you make the biscuits while it’s simmering. It doesn’t even take the full 15 minutes either, it only takes me about 10. Also, I’m pretty sure (though I haven’t checked, so I could be wrong) this biscuit recipe is lighter than pre-made because it’s made with low fat yogurt. You could use buttermilk, too, but Mark Bittman says the yogurt version is better and I trust him!
Typing this out, I realized this has a lot of steps, but it’s actually a pretty simple recipe. I think it’s a lot easier and faster than my other chicken pot pie recipe. Chicken pot pie is pure comfort food and great for snowy/rainy day. Usually I feel guilty when I make comfort food (hello macaroni and cheese!) so it’s nice to be able to make this recipe and still feel like I’m eating well.
Individual Chicken Pot Pies
from Back to the Cutting Board, based on recipes from WeightWatchers.com and How to Cook Everything by Mark Bittman
Dinner | Servings: 2-4
Prep time: 25 min | Cook time: 20 min | Total time: 45 min
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
- 3 sprigs of thyme (optional)
- 2 tbsp. self-rising flour (you can make self-rising flour if you don’t have any)
- 1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup white wine (replace with more chicken broth if you don’t have any or don’t want to use wine)
- 1/3 cup frozen peas
- 1/3 cup frozen corn
- 1 tsp. chopped fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp. black pepper
- 1/2 tsp. salt
Topping
- 1 cup all-purpose or cake flour (I prefer to use cake flour because you get a lighter, less dense texture, but I’ve made it with AP and it’s still good)
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. baking soda
- 3 tbsp. cold butter, cut up into small cubes
- 1/4 cup + 3 tbsp. low-fat plain yogurt or buttermilk (I always use 2% Greek yogurt)
Process
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees (F). Coat four 10 oz. or two 20 oz. (that’s what is pictured) ramekins with cooking spray (or a 9×9 pan if you don’t want to do individual pot pies).
- In a large pan, melt butter over medium heat. Add chicken, onion, celery, carrots and sprigs of thyme. Saute until chicken is no longer pink. Remove sprigs of thyme and discard.
- Add flour and stir so that it mixes with butter and becomes more like a paste.
- Slowly pour in chicken stock and wine, stirring constantly so no lumps form. Add peas, corn, chopped thyme, salt and pepper. Bring to a boil. Simmer until thick, about 15 minutes.
- While the filling is simmering make the biscuits. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a large bowl (or food processor).
- Cut the butter into the flour mixture either by hand or food processor. I do it manually by picking up some of the flour mixture between my fingertips and rubbing it with a cube of butter. Then repeat until all the butter has been thoroughly blended. It should be crumbly, but well incorporated.
- Stir in the yogurt until the mixture forms a ball.
- Turn the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead 10 times, no more. Add a little flour if it’s very sticky, but not too much, it should slightly stick to your hands.
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Press/roll the dough into 1/2 in. thick rectangle. Take one of your ramekins and use it like a biscuit cutter to cut out the exact size you need. Repeat for each ramekin you have. Set rounds aside.
Note: If you have any extra dough left cut into smaller biscuits, you can bake them along with the pot pies, just take them out after about half the baking time since they will cook faster.
- When your filling has thickened, pour evenly into each ramekin. Top with a biscuit round.
- Place ramekins on a baking sheet covered in foil (they tend to overflow, so that saves some clean up time) and bake for 15-20 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown and the mixture is bubbly.
you’re SO right about homemade biscuits kicking butt over the canned ones. well worth the minimal xtra effort.
.-= tianne´s last blog ..TWD: Toasted-Coconut Custard Tart =-.
I love chicken pot pie, yet I’ve to make it at home. I’m bookmarking this recipe!
Just to mention… in new wonderful year .
My son is going to make these for his cub scout dinner. We’ll need around two dozen. Would you just multiply every ingredient times 6 or did you find the filling could stretch?
There is a pretty generous amount of filling in these, so you could probably get away with multiplying 5 instead of 6.
Thanks for getting back to me!
I tried to print the individual chicken pot pie recipe but each time I clicked on “print recipe” it would just refresh to the whole blog on it. Do you have a print friendly version or does one really have to print the whole thing out (comments and all)? Thank you. I really like your blog. I’m not a blog person at all, but found yours to be very useful. I have subscribed.
Celsa Garcia
Hi Celsa,
There was a problem with the print links but I just fixed it so you should be able to print the recipe now. Thanks for letting me know about the issue! I’m so glad you like my blog and I hope you enjoy this recipe, it’s one of my favorites. 🙂
I made these yesterday and they were probably the best pot pies I have ever had! So delicious on a nice cold day (I was home during an ice storm)I will absolutely be making these again and can’t wait to spread the word on how good they are and pretty easy to make as well. I am looking forward to checking out more of your recipes!
~Oh and the homemade biscuits are WAY better than any store bought!
Amazing recipe…. we love this dish any time! My husband is in school and gets home late some nights… the leftovers freeze really well (either baked or not). He just pops them into the oven and it’s like I cooked! They just take a little longer to bake if frozen because they have to thaw out first. But, I am such a fan… this one will stay on the dinner rotation for a LONG time! Thanks!
Can this be made ahead, or maybe in stages? For example: Make the day before and assemble the day of the event? Will that work for the biscuits?
I think the filling could definitely be made ahead of time. I’m sure it could be stored in the fridge for at least a day or it could be even be frozen. Then just heat it up when you’re ready. I would say that biscuits need to be made fresh, though. They don’t take long to make, and they’re definitely going to taste better fresh.
But I’ve heard about making things like pizza dough ahead of time and freezing it, so it’s possible that could work with biscuit dough? Maybe google can point you in the right direction for that.
Emily thanks for such a great recipe! I made these last night. I’ve been wanting to make individual pies vs. one large pie, and these were superb! I made the biscuits from scratch too, and they were fabulous. Your recipe was such a hit, I wrote about it on my cooking blog (https://redlab27.com). Thanks again!
Loved this recipe! So flavorful and comforting without being too heavy. Made them for my family and they were so impressed. Does anyone know the nutrition info?
Can you add red potatoes to the filling?
Can this be frozen?
This recipe looks yummy! Will try next time, the recipe I use now is delicious but very heavy. I didn’t see nutritional information, do you have a calorie count per serving? Thank you!