Mini Chicken Pot Pies

One of my very favorite things to make and take to get together's is Mini Chicken Pot Pies.  I absolutely LOVE this recipe from Betty Crocker.  I have modified it slightly to make it my own and it is delicious.  Its always a HUGE hit with children and adults! ( Following the Pot Pie recipe is a mini recipe of how I cook my chicken for this and some other suggestions)  Here is what you will need:


Tools:


1-2  Twelve cup muffin/cupcake pans
3 inch round biscuit/cookie cutter
Rolling pin (having both a mini and a standard will work best.  Use the mini to roll out the cut out circles and the standard to re-roll out pie crust)
2 sheets of wax/parchment paper (to cut & roll out pie crust on)


Ingredients:

1 (10ounce) package frozen peas & carrots (or frozen veggie of your choice)

1/3 cup butter or stick margarine

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup chopped onion

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon pepper

1 ¾ cups chicken broth

2/3 cup milk

2 ½ to 3 cups cut-up cooked chicken or turkey

3 9inch Pie Crusts ( or 2 boxes, each box will have 2 pie crusts if your buy the refrigerated)

Non stick cooking spray

Directions:

1.  Rinse frozen veggies in cold water to separate, drain.

2.  Melt butter in 2-quart saucepan over medium high heat. 

3.  Stir in flour, onion, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring constantly, until mixture is bubbly; remove from heat. 

4.  Stir in broth and milk.  Heat to boiling, stirring constantly.  Boil and stir 1 minute.  

5.  Stir in Chicken and veggies; remove from heat. 

6.  Heat oven to 425 degrees.

7.  Unroll 1 of the 2 pie crust onto your wax paper.  Cut as many circles with your biscuit cutter as you can fit.  Remove excess and save.  

8.  Using the mini rolling pin roll out each 3 inch circle just slightly so that it will fit in your muffin cups covering the bottom and sides.  

9. Very  lightly spray your muffin pans with non stick cooking spray.

10.  Line each cup with your rolled out circles.

11. Roll out the saved excess pie crust and repeat steps 8-10 until all your muffin cups are filled. (Use part of the 3rd pie crust if needed.)  

12. Unroll 2nd pie crust.  Using your biscuit cutter cut out circles.  Remove excess, roll out and cut out circles, until you have 24. (Use rest of 3rd crust if needed.)

13.  Fill each muffin cup with Chicken mixture, 1/2 to 3/4 full. 

14. Top each with your 3 inch circles of pie crust and gently seal the top and bottom crust together.  

15.  Place in your preheated oven and bake 10 - 15 minutes, or until lightly golden.  Watch them because it will take more or less time depending on your oven.

16.  Cool and gently remove from muffins pans.  A quick swipe around the sides with a butter knife will normally be all thats needed to remove them easily!

17.  Share and enjoy!!

If you have any of the chicken mixture left over you can it does freeze well and makes a delicious quick meal on mashed potatoes or rice!  If you are just doing this for your family you can always only make 12 and save the rest of the mixture.  You can also just make one large pie, like in the original Betty Crocker Recipe.  Just cook the pie following the directions on the the box. 

As I said before I will share the quick and easy way I pre-cook my chicken for this recipe.  Normally I use about 1 pound of boneless, skinless chicken breasts and 2 (14 oz) cans of chicken broth.  I season it depending on what sounds good but normally just add a little garlic and some pepper.  I combine everything in a pot and simmer over low heat until chicken is cooked thru but not dry, about 12-15 minutes.  I then either shred or dice the chicken and Voila, its ready for chicken pot pie (or chicken tacos or chicken salad or whatever!)  Make sure to use the broth you cooked the chicken in for your chicken pot pie, there is no reason to waste it!  Another easy way to pre-cook the chicken would be in your crock pot.  You could do a whole chicken and use the rest for other meals later in the week!  Please leave a comment and let me know how you liked your mini chicken pot pies!