Chicken Pot Pie With Biscuits

INGREDIENTS

POT PIE

  • 3 large boneless/skinless chicken breast, about 2 1/2 cups
  • 3 cans chicken broth, 14.5 ounces each
  • 3 chicken bouillon cubes
  • 1 1/2 sticks unsalted butter, divided
  • 1 cup yellow onion, diced, about 1 large
  • 1 1/2 cups diced celery, about 3 stalks
  • 2 cups thinly sliced carrots*
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons fresh thyme or 1/2 teaspoon dried
  • 1 teaspoon minced garlic
  • 2 cups frozen peas*
  • 1 cup frozen pearl onions
  • 1 1/2 cups half & half
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
  • 3/4 teaspoon pepper
  • 1/2 cup all-purpose flour

BUTTERMILK DROP BISCUITS

  • 1 stick real butter, cold
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 3/4 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons baking powder
  • 1 cup full-fat buttermilk, or milk if you don’t have buttermilk

INSTRUCTIONS

  1. Grease or spray a 9 x 13 baking dish with non-stick cooking spray and set aside.
  2. Brush the chicken breasts with some olive oil and sprinkle with some salt & pepper.  Bake until they are no longer pink, about 45 minutes.  Set aside to cool, then dice the chicken into bite-size pieces.
  3. Add the chicken broth and chicken bouillon cubes to a medium saucepan and heat over medium heat, until the chicken bouillon is dissolved.  Leave on low heat.
  4. Melt 1 stick of the butter in a large skillet or dutch oven.  Add the yellow onion, carrots, and celery and cook over medium heat until the onions are translucent and the carrots are tender about 8 minutes, adding the thyme and minced garlic the last minute or so.   Add the frozen peas, pearl onions, chicken, and chicken broth and heat over medium heat for 5 minutes.  Set aside.
  5. Add the remaining 1/2 stick of butter to a medium skillet over medium heat and melt.  Add 3/4 cup of the half & half, salt, pepper, and flour.  Whisk constantly and cook for about 2 minutes until the flour has cooked out.  Add the remaining half & half and whisk until the gravy is smooth.  You can add up to an additional 1/4 cup of half & half if you prefer for a thinner gravy.  Remove the gravy from the heat.  Sprinkle in the thyme and mix to combine.
  6. Spread the mixture in the baking dish and set it aside while mixing the easy drop biscuits.

BUTTERMILK DROP BISCUITS

Note:  You can use 1 can of store-bought buttermilk biscuits if you prefer.  I don’t recommend flaky.

  1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Grease a cookie sheet with solid shortening.
  3. Cut the butter into small pieces, trying to handle as little as possible, and set aside.
  4. Measure and level off the flour with a knife edge and place it in a large bowl. Add the salt and baking powder and mix well.
  5. Using a pastry cutter, cut the cold butter into the flour until the mixture resembles small peas.
  6. Add the milk to the mixture and mix with the pastry cutter, just until the mixture comes together and forms a wet dough. Do not over mix.
  7. Drop the dough by heaping spoonfuls onto the chicken pot pie filling, spacing them out evenly.  See pictures on post.
  8. Bake for 18-20 minutes until the biscuits are golden brown on the tops and bottoms.
  9. Remove from oven and brush the tops with butter if desired and serve.
  10. Refrigerate leftovers for up to 3 days.**

NOTES

*  If you prefer, you can use a mix of frozen carrots and peas, instead of using fresh carrots.  If you use frozen carrots and peas, add them when you add the pearl onions.

**Once the leftovers are refrigerated, the biscuits will soak up some of the gravy.  It will still taste just as good, but you’ll have more of the gravy in the biscuits.

If freezing this recipe, I suggest freezing the filling, thawing, and heating, then making and placing the biscuits on top and baking.