I originally found this in Cook’s Country, but I’ve made a few modifications. A lot of people like this one, so I’m posting it up here. It’s pretty easy to do, and only dirties one pot (usually). Note that it looks a lot more complicated than it is, since I put in a lot of (hopefully) helpful hints. I’ve made this many many times, so I’ve got it down to a science.

1 tube of fridge biscuits (ex. Pillsbury, gives you 10 biscuits)

4 tablespoons of unsalted butter (1/2 stick)
1 onion, minced
2 celery ribs, sliced thin
2 carrots, peeled and chopped into quarters

(Your onions, celery, and carrot pieces should all be about the same size.)

1/2 cup flour
1/4 teaspoon cayanne pepper (optional)

2 3/4 cups chicken broth (about two regular size cans)
1/2 cup heavy cream (get a pint container, you can use it for other stuff)
2 teaspoons of chopped fresh thyme OR 1 teaspoon of dried thyme (works fine)

4 ounces of frozen peas (optional–about 1/4 bag of peas–make sure to defrost in water and DRAIN before adding, otherwise you’ll have too much liquid). Make sure they are defrosted and drained. If they come out of the frozen package already looking like prunes then throw them out, since they have already been refrozen at the store and will suck. Complain to your store and get your money back. They should never sell re-frozen veggies, since they are awful. It’s not the end of the world, you can still use them, but they won’t look as pretty and won’t taste as good.

1 rotisserie chicken, skinned, meat shredded (about 4 cups) OR 4 “normal” sized skinless boneless chicken breasts COOKED OR 5-6 “normal” sized skinless boneless chicken thighs COOKED. If you are cooking your chicken breast/thighs, just put a bit of oil in a pan and brown both sides of the chicken. Then let cool a bit and shred with a fork/knife/hands/whatever. Don’t worry if it’s not cooked all the way, since it will be in the broth for a while and get cooked through. Helpful hint: Cook and shred the chicken beforehand. It will sit at least 3 days in the fridge and makes the process MUCH faster. In other words, cook up the chicken on Sunday and have pot pie on Mon/Tue/Wed. Helpful Hint 2: I ALWAYS use frozen chicken thighs. Why? Because they taste good and are dirt cheap. Half the price of breasts and much tastier for this dish. Don’t be afraid of the chicken thigh! They are very tasty in dishes like this.

4 teaspoons of lemon juice (optional, but recommended, gives it a “kick”)

Salt and Pepper

Okay! Got your stuff? Let’s cook!

(If you are cooking your own chicken breast/thighs, then do it now. Have the chicken cooked and shreded before you begin.)

1) Cook the biscuits per package directions…except: Spray the biscuits with some PAM and sprinkle with salt. (You don’t need PAM, but I’ve found that the salt sticks better.) Helpful Hint: You are putting salt on them to give a counterpoint to the semi-sweetness of the pot pie. If you omit the salt, you may find that it’s too “sweet”. Helpful Hint 2: You don’t have to start cooking these now, you can wait a bit. But until you know the recipe it’s safer to cook these now, even though they only take 10 minutes.

2) Melt butter in large pot. Make sure it’s a bigger pot, like something you might cook stew or chili in. Not huge, but big enough. I used a 10″ wide by 4″ tall cheapie pot. Do this over medium-high heat.

3) Once butter is melted, toss in onion, celery, and carrot. Stir around every once in a while. Cook about 8-10 minutes until they are soft.

4) Stir in the flour and cayenne pepper. It will get VERY thick and CLUMPY–this is PERFECT. You want to think, “boy, I put too much flour in”. That’s OKAY. Stir every once in a while for about 8 minutes. If it smells like its burning, turn down the heat (this is UNLIKELY, since you have water in the veggies and fat in the butter).

(Once you have gotten good at this, you’ll put the biscuits in the oven at this point, since they will be done at the same time as the pot pie part. But, for now, just get them ready beforehand so you don’t have to worry about two things at once.)

5) Now stir in the broth. Start with ONE normal sized can. Stir in the cream. The sauce will be very thick. Stir in more broth until it’s thinner (like a cream soup). You’ll have to do this by eye. Helpful Hint: When you add the chicken stuff will get THICKER, so a little more broth is OKAY. When you add the peas they will thin out the sauce slightly (be sure to DRAIN THEM WELL–or it will be WAY TOO THIN). The thing to keep in mind is it’s easier to make something thinner. Better for it to be too thick and to have to add more broth than too thin and have to boil off.

6) If you are happy with the thickness, stir in the Thyme, Chicken, and Lemon Juice. Give it a minute. Does it look too think? Add a bit more broth (if you are out of broth, add more cream, if out of cream, add a bit of water). If it looks too thin, that’s okay, just let some of the water boil off.

7) At this point the biscuits should be out of the oven and ready. The “stew” (“pot pie”) portion should be done (ex. chicken heated through, sauce looks right, etc). Ready to go? Okay, dump in the defrosted peas and give them a stir. Grind in a bit of pepper and salt if you like. Let it sit for a minute then spoon into soup bowls. Then, put 2-3 biscuits on top of the “stew” and serve.

This will serve 4 people. For 2 people, you’ll be full and have a bit of leftovers. For four people, I’d probably add a bit more meat and cook two tubes of biscuits (if people like biscuits). If you are 1 person, then go for it! You’ll have some very tasty leftovers and lots of biscuits for yourself (or, just cook 5 of the biscuits and save the other 5 for later)! Note that when re-heating the next day it will probably be very thick. Just add some broth/cream/water to thin it out.