Paleo Chicken Pot Pie

My husband had been a hankering for pot pie (he really needs to stop looking at commercials). He used to love the Marie Callender’s frozen pot pies but that was many moons ago and we try to eat a more “fresh” food these days.

In my hunt for a paleo chicken pot pie, I came across this recipe. It looked good except that I didn’t “like” the recipe part of the crust so I decided to try a different paleo one.  That was a mistake. I don’t know if the one associated with this recipe would have been any better so next time I’ll have to try it instead of dickering around.

The recipe came out great! However, as far as paleo goes there is a huge cheat — the crust.  I was so frustrated with the paleo crust recipe that I found online (it fell apart) to replace the one that came with this recipe so I went to my cupboard and used my “old” ingredients for making a crust and used a Martha Stewart recipe instead.

So — this is a semi-paleo recipe.  (laughing)  I know, I know.  There is no such thing as a semi-paleo recipe — it’s either paleo or it’s not but, well, I had to improvise.

So — ready to see what I did?

First the ingredients …

You’ll be adding the celery, carrots, onions and garlic to a large pot and cooking the veggies until they are semi-soft.

Next you’ll be adding the rest of the ingredients to finish up your pot pie filling including about 2 cups of cooked chopped chicken. Then add salt and pepper (to your taste). That’s all that’s needed for my me.

However, my husband said he thought the filling was a bit bland but keep in mind that my husband likes spicy food. If you want more of a “kick” to this recipe, add a little bit of cayenne pepper — just a wee bit at a time until it tastes good for you — or even curry powder.

Here’s how it looks before I added the crust — just before I put it in the oven.

And here is a picture after the pot pie is baked –with the Martha Stewart crust. (Stop laughing at me!)

And — drum roll please!

The filling looks a little “soupy” and it was just a tad liquid-y. It needed a little more arrowroot to help thicken it up more.

I served the pot pie with a Spinach Orange Blue Cheese Salad that I created. I don’t have the recipe put together for that yet so you’ll have to wait on it. It looked quite beautiful though — see?

Here’s the recipe for the chicken pot pie filling that I adapted just a bit …

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon olive oil (for bottom of pot)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 carrot, sliced
• 1 stalk celery, sliced
• 2 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup green beans
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 14 ounce can light coconut milk
• 3 tablespoons arrowroot (for thickening)
• 1-2 teaspoons salt
• Pepper, to taste
• 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped into bite size pieces

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400° Fahrenheit.
2. In a large pot, add the olive oil and heat it through.
3. Add the onion, carrot, celery and garlic then cook through until the vegetables are semi-soft.
4. Add the chicken stock, coconut milk, salt, pepper, green beans and chicken then bring this all to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat to low and then add the arrowroot little by little until it’s all dissolved and the liquid is thick.
6. Pour the filling ingredients into a greased pie plate.
7. Lay the pie crust over the filling and crimp the edges so the filling is trapped inside.
8. Using a knife, make a few slits in the crust.
9. Place the pie plate in the oven and bake for approximately 10-15 minutes making sure to check that the pie crust doesn’t burn.

To make the pie crust, click here for the recipe.

Original chicken pot pie filling — click here.

Enjoy!