Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie

I love chicken pot pie. It is one of those comfort foods that just makes you feel at home. I'm also a lover of anything buffalo. So one day, years ago, I combined the two and came up with Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie. Bite sized pieces of buffalo chicken are layered in with traditional pot pie vegetables to create yummy little bites of flavory goodness. You can use leftover cooked chicken in this recipe, or perhaps even leftover Thanksgiving turkey for a delicious Buffalo Turkey Pot Pie!

Ingredients

2 prepared pie crusts (top and bottom)
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast
1/3 cup Frank's Hot Sauce + 2 Tablespoons
2 T butter
1/2 onion, diced
1/4 c flour
2 c chicken broth
2 c chopped, cooked chicken
1/2 c peas (frozen)
1 c carrots, chopped
1/2 c celery, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper


Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2. Lightly grease a small baking dish. Put chicken breast in dish and smother with 1/3 cup Frank's Hot Sauce. Bake in the 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes. Remove from oven and chop into bite sized pieces. Cover with additional 2 T Frank's Hot Sauce. 

3. Meanwhile, in a medium saucepan melt butter over medium heat.  Saute the onion in the melted butter for about 5 minutes. Add in the flour and stir until all combined. Whisk in chicken broth and cook over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.

4. Fill another medium saucepan with water and bring it to a boil. Once boiling add carrots and celery and simmer for about 8 minutes. Add in peas and continue boiling for another 2 minutes. Drain.

5. Add the vegetable mixture to the onion sauce mixture. Season with salt and pepper.

6. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees.

7. Line a pie plate with the prepared bottom crust. Place half of the chicken onto the bottom crust. Cover with vegetable sauce. Place remaining chicken on top of the vegetable sauce. Cover with top crust and seal the edges. Using a sharp knife, slice a fancy or not-so-fancy design in the top to allow the steam to escape while baking. 

8. Bake pie in a 425 degree oven for 30-35 minutes, until the top crust is golden brown. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving. 

This is really a basic recipe for a pot pie. You could use the same concept to make a beef pot pie by using beef instead of chicken, and beef broth instead of chicken broth. Use it to make a plain old chicken pot pie by simply not using the Frank's Hot Sauce. 

Many recipes call for cubed, cooked chicken. This can sometimes be a hassle because it calls for a huge additional step of cooking a chicken breast. Jennifer over at The Craft Patch offers a great solution to make your cooking a little bit easier by pre-cooking a bunch of chicken and freezing it for later use.You can view all the details HERE.