How to Make Easy Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Celebrating Christmas during a global pandemic meant a lot of virtual Secret Santas with friends. Among a pair of Weber kitchen tongs and a mini TMNT arcade keychain, I also received a set of ramekins. I have been waiting to get my own set of kitchen ramekins for a while now but for some reason I could never bring myself to shell out for some, so I was extra thankful that someone made that decision for me this year.

Ramekins are so versatile and are perfect for a range of things from crème brûlée & pot de creme to french onion soup. However, my new favorite thing to make is Chicken Pot Pie Soup. It has been frigid cold in Chicago the past few weeks so soup has been at the top of our menu. This week I dove right into making one of my favorite dishes and it was unbelievably simple.

This recipe makes enough for about six 6oz ramekins. I will say I was hungry and was able take down about 2. You may want to consider making three 12oz portions if you want to make it a main, however, having 6 allows you to serve as a side or share a little with a group as part of a larger meal.

Here are the ramekins I have. I was happy that my Secret Santa got me Navy ones for some personality but white ramekins are always a classic.

Ingredients

• 1 cup cooked chicken (I use boneless chicken thighs)
• 1 large carrot chopped
• 1 large stalk celery chopped
• 1 medium onion chopped
• 1/4 cup frozen corn
• 1/4 cup frozen peas
• 3.5 cups water
• 2 Chicken bullion cubes
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 Tbsp flour
• 3 Tbsp Butter
• 1 tsp chopped thyme
• Salt & pepper to taste
• Ready-made pie crust (defrosted or overnight the in refrigerator)
• 1 large egg (wash)

1. Making the Chicken Pot Pie Filling

1. Pour the water into a medium-sized sauce pan with the chicken bullion (aka stock) and boil until the bullion dissolves then set aside. In a larger pot melt the butter over medium heat, then add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook for about 3 minutes or until the veggies get soft, stirring occasionally. Then add the cooked chicken & stir to mix.
   Tip: This recipe calls for cooked chicken. If you don’t know how to prepare, you can actually add your raw chicken thigh to the chicken bullion and boil for 10-15 minutes. Make sure you monitor for boil-overs and that you skim the proteins that gather at the top once or twice (just discard). Once cooked through, you can remove, cool and chop. Then go on using the same stock for the rest of the recipe.
2. Before pouring the chicken stock into the pot with the chicken, I like to incorporate the flour into the stock by pouring in and using a whisk to combine. It should thicken your stock considerably. Don’t worry, you want a thick “creamy” base for your chicken pot pie. Once mixed, pour your stock and flour mixture into your pot with the milk, corn and peas, then stir. Stir in the thyme, some salt, and a few cracks of black pepper and cook for another 5 minutes. Then turn off the heat while we get the pie crusts ready.

2. Preparing the Pie Crusts

1. Preheat your oven to 450F. Also, make sure your store bought pie crusts are defrosted and have sat in the fridge for a day or two. You need them to be able to roll out so you can cut them into tops.
2. Take a ramekin flipped upside down and place on one edge of the round pie crust leaving about 1cm of space between the edge of the crust and the ramekin. Using sharp knife cut a circle of crust around the ramekin leaving that centimeter of extra crust around the perimeter. The trick here is your crusts will shrink when they cook so you will want to leave some buffer (about 1cm) of crust around the perimeter of the ramekin so it hangs a bit when you place it on top. It will also allow you to seal it down on the sides before baking.
3. Repeat step 2 for the remaining ramekins and set aside. I was able to get about 4 tops from one 9″ uncooked pie crust. Usually pie crusts come in packs of two so you should be set. Use the other as needed.

3. Assembling your Chicken Pot Pie

1. You will need a medium to large sheet pan to rest your ramekins on while baking. It’s possible your pot pies will bubble over, so it will save you the mess.
2. To assemble, simply take one ramekin and fill it to the near top with your chicken filling. Place one of your mini pie crusts on top of the ramekin and press down gently on the rim so the crust seals and sticks. Then take a sharp knife and cut some slits at the top of the pie so you can let steam escape during baking. All you’re trying to do is make a steam vent, but if you want to get fancy you can search pie designs.
3. Take an egg and beat it very well to make an egg wash. Using a kitchen or small basting brush, brush the eggwash onto the crust of your pie.
4. Repeat the above steps for all of your pies and organize them on your sheet pan. Place your sheet pan and pies into the oven for about 15-18 minutes, or until the egg-washed crusts turn a golden brown. Then you can carefully remove the sheet pan from the oven. Let them cool until you’re able to handle with oven mitts. Then take a pic for Instagram and enjoy. This goes without saying but the filling will be HOT! Eat carefully!

You down with CPP? Enjoy!