Amazing Paleo Chicken Pot Pie
Oh my! This chicken pot pie is just like your old, favorite chicken pot pie. Except it’s better. And it’s paleo. You have to make this when the cool weather hits your town. It is so warm and comforting and it makes a huge amount. You’ll have leftovers for days! You could even split the recipe into two pans and freeze one for later (instructions below). Or just enjoy lots of leftovers. If you have a large family, this should fill everyone’s belly!
If you have leftover turkey in your freezer from Thanksgiving, this would be a great use for it!
This recipe is really flexible. You can add a different variety of vegetables if you prefer. You can add more or less meat. And if you don’t want to mess with making the crust (but it is delicious) you can add some extra broth and eat the filling as soup. Yep, we’ve done that and it’s super yummy!
So here’s the thing: I was going for warm and comforting, not magazine ready looks. If you want to make your crust super pretty, cut out little pastry chickens and all, you go right ahead. I think it looks lovely just like this.
Amazing Paleo Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
Crust
- 1/4 cup lard or palm shortening
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt
- 1 3/4 cups finely milled almond flour
- 3/4 cup arrowroot
- 5-6 Tbsp. cold water
Filling
- 2 Tbsp. ghee or avocado oil
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 3 large carrots chopped
- 3 stalks celery chopped
- 1 tsp. salt or to taste
- 1/2 tsp. black pepper or to taste
- 1 1/2 cups green beans cut into about 2 inch pieces
- 8 oz. cremini mushrooms sliced and diced
- 3 Tbsp. arrowroot
- 2-3 cups good quality chicken broth add 2 cups and then add more if desired
- 1/4 tsp. poultry seasoning
- 1 Tbsp. coconut aminos
- 1 tsp. fresh lemon juice
- meat from one rotisserie chicken chopped
Optional topping
- 1 large egg
- 1 tsp. water
Instructions
- In a large dutch oven or skillet with high sides set over medium high heat, heat ghee until melted. Add onion, celery, carrots and 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. Stir and cook until onion is translucent, about 10 minutes.
- Add green beans, mushrooms, additional 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper. **If you are using broth from a carton that is not low sodium, you may want to hold off on adding this additional salt until you get to step four and taste for seasoning. Stir and cook for 5 more minutes.
- Stir in arrowroot, reduce heat to medium and cook for 2-3 minutes.
- Add broth and poultry seasoning, stir and bring to a low simmer. Allow to simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Taste for seasoning and add salt and pepper if desired.
- Add diced chicken, stir thoroughly. If your mixture is too thick, add additional broth 1/2 cup at a time. Simmer over low heat while you make your crust.
- Preheat oven to 375. In a large mixing bowl, combine almond flour, arrowroot and salt. Using your fingers or two forks, mix in lard until your mixture resembles small pebbles.
- Now add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix. Keep adding water until your dough comes together with no dry spots remaining.
- You can roll your dough out on a piece of parchment or just on the counter. I don't like to mess with parchment, so I just add a little additional arrowroot to my counter and roll the dough out there (roll it to about 1/4 inch thick or a little less). Choose your baking dish (a large deep casserole, at least 9×9). Flip your dish(es) upside down over your dough and using a dull knife, trace the outline of the dish. This piece of dough will be the top crust.
- Take the remaining dough (not the top piece) and fit that down in the bottom and up the sides of your dish. It's ok if it doesn't cover every bit of the sides.
- Pour your filling into the baking dish. Using a bench scraper or large spatula, lift your top crust and fit it in place over the filling. Sometimes to save time, I simply drop the crust on top in little pieces as you can see in this picture.
- Mix the egg and water and beat together well. Using a pastry brush, brush the egg mixture over the top of the crust. You can totally skip this step if you want to, but it adds a nice golden sheen to the crust. Using a fork, poke holes randomly all over the top crust.
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until top crust is beautifully browned and you see the juice of your filling bubbling up around the edges. If your crust begins to brown too much, you can lay a piece of foil over the top.
- Remove from oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving. For freezing instructions, see notes below.
Freezer instructions:
Make the recipe as instructed, including baking. Allow to cool at room temperature for an hour, then refrigerate until completely chilled. Wrap pan completely in plastic wrap and then foil, label and freeze. When ready to reheat, allow to thaw in the refrigerator for one to two days, remove foil and plastic wrap then put the foil back on the top. Bake in a 350 degree oven for 20-30 minutes. Remove the foil for the last 10 minutes. Depending on how deep your pan is, your pot pie may take a little longer or a little less time to heat through. Just stick a sharp knife down in the center of the pie and then touch the knife. It should be hot to the touch.