Vegetarian Family-Sized Chik'n Pot Pie

Vegetarian Chik'n Pot Pie makes a comforting meal on a cold winter day.  For a family-sized meal make it in one dish and serve it up with a salad or green vegetable to round out the meal.  

I've made dozens and dozens of pot pies in the past and usually individual ones in those disposable aluminum pie plates.  They are a bit tedious to make rolling pastry and cutting tops and rerolling and cutting again.  This Vegetarian Family-sized Chik'n Pot Pie takes the tedium from the job as the pastry is done with one rolling.

Chicken Pot Pie is usually made with a pastry or biscuit topping.  I like both. The crust recipe I've included is a cross between a pastry and a biscuit but feel free to use your favourite pastry or biscuit topping in its place.

Printable recipe at end of post.

Vegetarian Chik'n Pot Pie

• 3 tablespoons butter or oil
• 1 medium onion, diced
• 1 or 2 stalks celery, sliced
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 4 cups milk
• 2 vegetarian chicken-like bouillon cubes or the equivalent in a powdered form (enough to flavour 4 cups of liquid)
• Salt and pepper to taste (may not need salt)
• 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables or peas and carrots, thawed
• 3 cups of your favourite veggie chicken product, diced or cut in chunks (I used rehydrated and fried soya chunks.)
• Pastry for a 2 crust pie, purchased or your favourite homemade. or use the recipe below

How to make it:

Make pastry if using homemade and lay aside. You may use the recipe below or your favourite 2 crust recipe.

In a large pot over medium heat fry the onion and celery in the butter or oil until cooked but not browned.  Stir in the 3 tablespoons flour and stir until blended in with the vegetables.  Stir a minute and then add the 3 cups of milk, the bouillon cubes, salt and pepper.  Keep stirring until sauce thickens and comes to a gentle bubbling simmer.  Cook 2 minutes.  The sauce will be thin but it will thicken as the pot pie bakes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Remove from heat and add the thawed vegetables and veggie chicken.  Pour the mixture into a greased 3 litre/quart baking dish.  I used a rectangular dish about 9x12-inches.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Roll out the pastry as instructed in the recipe.  Roll out a little larger than the dish you will be using.  Place the pastry over the filling and turn the overhang under the dish's edge.  Cut 3 or 4 steam vents in the pastry. 

Bake pie in preheated oven 30-40 minutes, or until crust is baked to a golden brown colour.  While baking you may want to protect the edges of the crust with foil to prevent them from burning.

Serve hot with a side salad for a complete meal.

Makes 6 servings.

Pastry

• 2 cups flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sage, poultry seasoning or summer savoury, optional
• ½ cup oil
• ½ cup boiling water

How to make it:

Place flour, salt, baking powder and your choice of seasoning in a bowl.  Combine the oil and boiling water and add all at once to dry ingredients.  Stir until well blended.  Cover and let stand 30 minutes before rolling out.  

This is the hot water oil pastry I made with my chik'n pot pie.  Mix the salt and baking powder together.  Add the oil and hot water together and stir together to form a soft dough.  Let rest 30 minutes which will give you plenty of time to make the rest of the pie.  You can also use any plain 2 crust pastry recipe or use purchased frozen pastry crust.

This is the famous Mt. Scio Farm Savoury that Newfoundlanders love.  I added about a teaspoon to this lot of crust to see how it would taste and it proved to be a good addition.

Make the filling by frying the onions and celery in the butter or oil over medium high heat.  You don't want to brown the vegetables but they should be soft and cooked.  Stir in the flour until blended in with the vegetables.  Stir a minute and then add the 3 cups of milk, the bouillon cubes, salt and pepper.  Keep stirring until sauce thickens and comes to a gentle bubbling simmer.  Cook 2 minutes.  The sauce will be thin but it will thicken as the pot pie bakes. Taste and adjust the seasoning. Remove from heat and add the thawed vegetables and veggie chicken.  

Pour the mixture into a greased 3 litre/quart baking dish.  I used a rectangular dish about 9x12-inches.

Roll out the crust as instructed in the recipe and lay on top of the filling.  I made the vent holes before placing the pastry on top of the filling as it was easier to do it this way.  You can also cut a few slashes into the crust once it's on the filling which is even easier. 

Place the pie in the preheated oven and place a foil protector over to keep the edges from burning.  Just cut the middle out of a piece of foil that's a little larger than your dish. 

Baked to a golden brown. You can see how the foil protected the edges from burning.

We certainly enjoyed this Chik'n Pot Pie at Peter's house.  This is the crust with the savoury added.

When it's just Don and me eating I make half the recipe.  This one was made with a plain pastry.  No savoury in this one.

Have a large serving for a full meal or a smaller serving with a salad or green vegetable.  

To print click on arrow upper right side.⇩