Sunday, October 30, 2011

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

I bought a whole chicken at Sam's Club yesterday, not knowing exactly how I was going to serve it.  After tossing around some predictable ideas in my head, I landed on chicken pot pie soup.  I'd had it recently at Jason's Deli, and boy, was it yummy.  I looked up a couple of recipes online, and melded them with my own chicken pot pie filling, and this is what I came up with.  It was EXACTLY what I was going for, which seems to rarely happen.  So, I'm glad I'm taking the time now to type out the recipe so I have it for future reference.
This soup is super creamy and thick, almost like a chowder, but better.  I break up the pieces of pie crust on top, and since I made it at home, I give myself much more crust than I got at Jason's Deli. I like this more than chicken pot pie now.
*Disclaimer: I've had this at Jason's Deli since writing this post, and I must say, my version is a lot richer and does not taste exactly like Jason's Deli. I'll have to keep working on that, but in the meantime, this IS a very delicious soup.

Chicken Pot Pie Soup

Ingredients:
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • ¼ cup onion, finely chopped
  • ¼ teaspoon dried basil
  • 1/8 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/8 teaspoon celery salt
  • 1 pinch of garlic powder
  • ¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper
  • 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
  • 3 cups 1% milk
  • 1 cup half & half (can lighten things up by using all milk)
  • 3 chicken bullion cubes (4 might be better--I'm trying to reduce sodium)
  • 2-3 cups cooked chicken, shredded, diced, or sliced (I used the breast & thigh meat from a store-bought roasted chicken & it was FANtastic.)
  • 2 cups diced cooked potato
  • 1 ½ cups mixed vegetables, cooked
  • 1 batch of pie crust cut into cracker-sized pieces & baked (see below)
Instructions:

In a large pot or dutch oven over medium-high heat, melt butter and sauté onions until soft.  Add basil, thyme,  black pepper, celery salt, & garlic powder.  Stir and sauté for a minute.  Add flour and stir for about another minute.  Gradually whisk in milk and half & half, making sure to whisk out lumps.  Add bullion cubes and continue to whisk until liquid comes to a simmer and thickens.  Stir in chicken & vegetables.  Turn heat to low and simmer for 10-15 minutes, stirring occasionally. 
Serve hot with pie crust pieces.
Makes 4-5 servings.

Pie Crust
Ingredients:
(Note: you can also use store-bought refrigerated pie crust)
  • 1 ¼ cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons butter
  • 3 tablespoons Crisco
  • 3 tablespoons ice cold water
  • flour for dusting
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 400°F.
In a medium bowl, mix flour and salt. With two knives or a pastry blender, cut 4 tablespoons butter into flour until it looks like coarse meal, and then cut in Crisco until well blended. Add ice cold water and stir with fork. Then use your hands to gently work the dough into a ball.  Flour a rectangular sheet of wax paper, place dough ball in the middle, flour the ball, and cover with another rectangular sheet of wax paper. Roll dough out to a thickness of about 1/8”.  With a sharp knife or pizza cutter, cut dough roughly into 2”x 2” squares.  You can also be creative and use cookie cutters to make cute shapes.
Place dough pieces on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.  Prick each piece a few times with a fork.  Bake at 400°F for 11-13 minutes, or until browned on the edges.   Remove from oven. 
Serve with the soup.


16 comments:

  1. Yum, nothing like a bowl of chicken pot pie, in soup form, even better!

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  2. Using puff pastry with a little parmesan sprinkled on top would be good , too. I think that's what Jason's uses.

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    1. Oooh. That does sound good. I knew they used the puff pastry (they don't give us enough in my opinion), but I hadn't realized they used parmesan cheese on it too.

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  3. What do you mean by cut in the pie crust directions?

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    1. You either use a pastry blender or two knives to actually cut the butter up into tiny pieces in the flour. If you're not sure what a "pastry blender" is, just do a google image search, and it will show you. I think it's a must-have tool if you're going to make pie crust.

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    2. I'm going to add pastry blender into the instructions to clarify.

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  5. I found this on pinterest a few weeks ago and was so excited to try it. It turned out great! Thanks for sharing your recipe!

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    1. Thanks for letting me know. I'm glad you enjoyed it! :)

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  6. I truly think they use cream of chicken soup with heavy cream as the base. I love it, too, and I analyze it when I eat it. I may ask when I go there next.

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    1. I really should just ask my nephew who works there. I like the taste of the soup I make, though, so I haven't been that motivated. Next time I see him I will ask.

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  7. Do you think this could be adapted for the crockpot?

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    1. Belinda, I don't think it would adapt well because I think the cream/half & half might curdle if cooked too long, and the chicken would turn to mush. I guess you could use the same flavors, but use raw chicken, but even then I'm not sure what would happen. If you happen to give it a go, let me know.

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  9. I've been making this soup for years, using your recipe. Everyone I've made it for absolutely loves it! The only think I do differently is use the store bought pie crust instead of making my own, because I'm lazy. Thank you for the amazing recipe!

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