#chicken-pot-pie

#chicken-pot-pie

It's hard to deny that chicken pot pie is pure coziness wrapped inside of a pastry shell. There's rich gravy and tender chicken chunks, bright vegetables and an impossibly flaky crust. It's the kind of meal that will always make your mouth water, especially when the oven timer seems to be taking forever. So when you're seconds away from creamy filling cascading onto your plate, it can be hard to resist the urge to grab a fork and dig right in.

"This was a little crazy," she writes in the recipe's intro. "I was walking through an airport once and spotted chicken pot pie soup on a restaurant menu. What a good idea!" "It was actually harder to make than it sounded my first few attempts just tasted like chicken pot pie filling, not soup," she added. "This one, though, hit all the right comforting notes, with good chicken stock, roasted chicken, and puff pastry croutons."

Whoever thought to combine creamy roast chicken and flaky, buttery pie must have been a genius. A hearty dish built with savory pulled chicken, rich and creamy broth, and plenty of tender vegetables, the stew is hard not to fall in love with, especially when covered in the layers of a crunchy pie crust. It's not hard to make, either, especially if you have leftover chicken and a store-bought crust shortcut.

While we loved the beef pie's lush, dimensional gravy (a hallmark of ultra-savory beef pot pies over their creamy chicken counterpart), this pie's chief sin was that there just weren't enough veggies or beef in the filling. Still, it wasn't bad. As we mentioned in our review, "Was this beef pot pie better than a chicken pot pie? No, but it was still pretty tasty, and if you tend to prefer beef over chicken anyway, then you really can't go wrong with this option."

Skip the kneading and use store-bought refrigerated crescent roll dough to make a quick top crust with homemade-worthy texture. Crescent roll dough is flaky and buttery, rising to golden brown perfection during its tenure in the oven. No need to worry whether your crust will "turn out, this time." Uncross those fingers and let the tried-and-true texture of store-bought crescent roll dough do its thing for your pot pie.

Chicken pot pie may have its roots in medieval England, but it's now a favorite in households across America. While you can always pick up a store-bought chicken pot pie, making it from scratch is so much more rewarding. Not only can you take easy shortcuts when making homemade versions, you can also add ingredients and make swaps that'll really bring the recipe to the next level.