This Brandied Chicken Pot Pie with Apple Cider and Puff Pastry is a bit more elegant than many, but it still fits the bill for comfort food at its best!
I made a big batch of Brandied French Chicken and split it up to make chicken breasts in a brandy and cider cream sauce, an amazing Brandied Cider Soup and this Pot Pie recipe. If you think you might like to cook once and freeze a couple of other meals for a fantastically easy meal then check out this big batch recipe for Brandied French Chicken.
If you are just looking for a delicious Pot Pie recipe then read on!
You will need a casserole dish about 10" X 3" deep. Spray it with cooking spray and layer the chicken, then the carrots, then the peas. Pour the chicken/mushroom sauce over the vegetables and let it seep down to the bottom of the casserole. Top with the puff pastry.
Using commercial puff pastry makes this recipe very easy to pull together. While the chicken is cooking you can pre-cook the carrots in a bit of water in the microwave or in a sauce pan with a bit of cook spray or butter.
Bake until puff pastry is golden brown and Voila! Brandied Chicken Pot Pie worthy of a special occasion! If you want you can freeze the pot pie once assembled but not cooked. See recipe for instructions on baking from frozen.
This makes a hearty meal for 4 people or 6 smaller servings. It is best eaten the day it is made but leftovers will keep in the fridge for a day or 2. The texture of the puff pastry changes after refrigeration and reheating.
Brandied Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 4 Brandied French Chicken 4 breasts and 2 cups of sauce if you have leftovers from the big batch recipe
OR If you are starting fresh:
- 4 skinless, boneless chicken breasts
- 2 medium onions diced finely
- 8 oz sliced cremini mushrooms or button mushrooms
- 1 clove garlic
- 4 Tbsps butter divided 2 + 2
- 1 tablespoon flour
- 1 cup natural apple cider (non-alcoholic)
- 1 cup chicken stock
- ¼ cup brandy
- 4 oz hard apple cider
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 ½ Tbsps corn starch
- ½ cup 10% cream divided ¼ + ¼ cup
Vegetables and Topping
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 4 carrots peeled and diced finely
- 1 pkg commercial puff pastry
Instructions
- Thaw puff pastry either overnight in the fridge or over a couple of hours at room temperature.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Heat 2 Tbsps butter in a large deep sided pan. Brown the chicken breasts on all sides over medium high heat about 3 minutes per side. Remove breasts to a platter.
- Reduce the heat to medium and melt remaining 2 Tbsps butter in the pan. Add the onions and cook about 5 minutes. Add the mushrooms and cook for another 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute.
- Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the flour so the vegetables are coated and the flour is moistened.
- Return the pan to the heat and add the chicken back into the pan.
- Add the natural apple cider, chicken stock, brandy, hard cider and pepper. Cover and cook over medium low about 20 minutes until chicken is cooked through.
- When the chicken is cooked add ¼ cup of cream and the salt.
- Measure the corn starch into a small dish and stir in the remaining ¼ cup of cream until corn starch is dissolved.
- Add the cornstarch mixture to the chicken dish and stir until sauce thickens.
- While the chicken is cooking peel and dice the carrots. Put them in a microwaveable dish with a ¼ of water. Cook on high until they are just tender. This takes about 10 minutes in my microwave but power levels vary so adjust time as necessary.
- Roll out puff pastry to approximate the shape of your casserole.
- When chicken is done, remove the breasts and chop into bite-size pieces. Keep the chicken pieces and the sauce separate at this point.
- Spray a casserole dish about 10" X 3" deep with cooking spray. Spoon the chicken into the bottom of the dish.
- Next spread a layer of carrots evenly over the chicken. Then spread the frozen peas in a layer over the carrots. Pour the sauce over the top of the vegetables and let it seep down to the bottom of the dish. (If you have more sauce than needed consider reserving some for Brandied Cider Soup).
- Cover the pot pie with the pastry and crimp the edges. Cut a few slits in the pastry to allow it to vent. See Note 1 below if you want to freeze it at this point.
- Bake 45-50 minutes in the oven. If pastry is getting too dark cover loosely with foil. Just lay the foil on top of the pastry. Do not fold down the edges. You do not want the pastry to steam.
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