Pot pies without the potatoes

March 15, 2012 7:33 PM

I'm looking for a really good pot pie recipe.

Having some friends over for dinner tomorrow. We live in Seattle where the weather has been crap this week, and I want to do a comfort food-y kind of meal. I'm also really in the mood for a pot pie, but don't want a traditional one.

The thing is, I'm totally craving this potato and carrot side dish, so I don't want a main dish that's too potato-and-carrot heavy, so I feel like that knocks out most traditional pot pies. I'm also interested in a vegetarian recipe, but am open minded.

Any recommendations?

posted by Ideal Impulse to food & drink (15 answers total)

I don't really use a recipe for pot pie. I simmer all the veggies in broth, thicken with a flour slurry, and put in a good, buttery crust. Sometimes full crust (essential, I think, for a really decadent pie) but sometimes I just make a biscuit crust to dollop over the top.

Veggies other than carrots that are good in pot pie:

parsnips
pearl onions or chunks of white onion
butternut squash, cubed
sweet potato, cubed
peas (I don't like these actually but many people do - use really fresh or frozen)
celeriac, cubed
fresh green beans, cut in 3/4" chunks

chicken pot pie also stands up to herbs really, really well. So lay on some fresh thyme or rosemary or sage or all of the above.
posted by Miko at 7:44 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I'm in Seattle too, I totally understand the craving of warm comfort food. Not a pot pie recipe, but my first thought was Hutspot. A Dutch potato, carrot and onion dish. Wonderful on a cold wet day.
posted by jennstra at 7:47 PM on March 15, 2012 [1 favorite]

I make Ina Garten's chicken stew with biscuits. It doesn't have potatoes. It does have carrots. I leave out the pearl onions most of the time and sometimes I use canned biscuits instead of homemade. You can also top this recipe with phyllo or other pastry. It's a winner.
posted by Fairchild at 7:49 PM on March 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

Seconding the Ina Garten recipe. Though it says Chicken Stew with biscuits, I make the stew and use it to fill pie crusts. There's enough stew to make two deep dish pies, actually, so I usually just freeze the extra filling until a future date when I want to make another pot pie. Yum. Pot pie.
posted by terilou at 7:58 PM on March 15, 2012

We live in Seattle

Fish pie!
posted by islander at 8:20 PM on March 15, 2012

My merely good chicken pot pie (basically Ina Garten's recipe) becomes transcendent with the addition of a squeeze of dijon mustard to your filling before it goes in the oven. People who don't even like mustard like my pies.
posted by liamcampbell at 8:26 PM on March 15, 2012 [3 favorites]

0. Gently cook your chicken to barely done.
1. Mix with whatever veggies you like.
2. Instead of thickened broth, bind with a finished, thickened white sauce (Bechamel sauce) -- don't forget the nutmeg!
3. Top with chunks or disks of biscuit dough (with cheese?) instead of making a full pastry crust.
4. Bake at 400 for about 20-25 minutes or until biscuits are golden.
posted by maudlin at 9:31 PM on March 15, 2012

Thirding the Ina Garten recipe. But only use 1/2 stick of butter in the stew part. Ina uses a crazy amount in this recipe. (I love Inda but she uses ridiculous amounts of fat in some of her recipes.) This recipe is delicious and I've never been a pot pie fan.
posted by shoesietart at 10:06 PM on March 15, 2012

The British are the masters of the savory pie.
posted by mdonley at 1:54 AM on March 16, 2012

I just wanted to add that whatever chicken pot pie you settle on, add a good amount of dried thyme to it. AMAZING flavor dimension instantly.
posted by TestamentToGrace at 5:44 AM on March 16, 2012

There are no potatoes in this HIGHLY recommended recipe, which has a top rating of 5 stars after almost 5,000 reviews.
posted by Falwless at 5:47 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

To celebrate pi day, I completely made up a recipe for "southwestern cornbread pot pie," and it was AWESOME (if I do say so myself). I have a preference for SPICE, but you can easily tone it down. A lot of what I used was just because I had it in the kitchen -- recipe is very flexible.

So, in the slow cooker (turn it on high), throw:

2 cans of beans (I used 1 of garbanzo and 1 of black)... totally a preference
1 bag of frozen green beans & corn
1 or 2 cans of spiced diced tomatoes
Bag of baby carrots
2 cups of chicken broth
a few TBSP of soy sauce
I also threw a jar of salsa in there, so really... it's whatever you're in the mood for

Meanwhile, sautee a large onion, 3-4 cloves of garlic, several stalks of celery, a few jalapenos (again, spice is your preference entirely), spice it with a healthy amount of chili powder, cajun seasoning, salt, pepper, a little extra garlic, cumin, and paprika (I'm Hungarian.. ha). Keep these spices out, as you can add them to taste to the slow cooker.

Once browned, throw the onion mixture into the slow cooker, and let it brew for a couple of hours. After about 2, mix together a cup of milk and 3/4 cup or so of flour, throw it in to the slow cooker and mix well.

After about 4 hours in the slow cooker, mix in a healthy bunch of fresh cilantro.

Now, it's time for the fun part. The cornbread topping!

You will need (FYI: I doubled this recipe because I had a LOT of stuff in the slow cooker):

For the topping
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup yellow cornmeal
3 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons double-acting baking powder
3 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and cooled
3/4 cup milk
1 large egg, beaten lightly
1/2 cup grated Monterey Jack

Into a bowl sift together the flour, the cornmeal, the sugar, and the baking powder, add the butter, the milk, and the egg, and stir the batter until it is just combined. Stir in the Monterey Jack.

Pour the contents of the slow cooker into a deep casserole dish (I had to use two), and drop the batter by the large spoonfuls around the edge of the casserole. Sprinkle the top of the cornbread with paprika.

Bake the potpie in the middle of a preheated 400°F. oven for 10 minutes, reduce the heat to 350°F., and bake the potpie for 30 minutes more.


Corn bread recipe is courtesy of Epicurious
posted by eenagy at 6:20 AM on March 16, 2012 [1 favorite]

This vegetarian Portobello Pot Pie is my favorite. It does have potatoes and carrots in it, but they're mostly in there for variety/bulk. It's really all about the portobellos and shiitakes. Soy sauce gives it a less traditional flavor. I usually halve the sage, and just use regular flour for thickening instead of rice flour.
posted by fussbudget at 7:31 AM on March 16, 2012

In addition to the other (excellent!) suggestions:
I do a chicken pot pie that's heavy on Indian spices (if you're unfamiliar with them, plain ol' generic yellow curry will do), which is warming comfort food, but also has a bit of a zing. I'll normally put in about 2 tablespoons (in addition to some fresh minced chiles and a bunch of normal spices) for your standard 11x13 cassarole dish.

Instead of a mashed potato topping, you could go for mashed cauliflower - just google for plenty of recipes. Nearly the same comfort food profile as potatoes, but you've added another serving of veggies
posted by Gori Girl at 4:56 PM on March 16, 2012

Cook's Illustrated or Cook's Country had a great recipe for a pot pie topped with biscuit crumble which had no potato.
posted by nicwolff at 9:34 AM on March 18, 2012