Dairy Free Chicken Pot Pie
Dairy Free Chicken Pot Pie
A quintessential cozy comfort food, chicken pot pie typically features a buttery-flaky crust and a creamy savory filling.
It might seem sacrilegious, if not impossible, to make chicken pot pie without dairy.
Can we prove the naysayers wrong?
Method
Recipe Sources:
Crust: Martha Stewart's pate brisee , as featured in our results related to Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Dairy Free Broccoli Cheddar Quiche
Filling: https://www.budgetbytes.com/chicken-pot-pie/
Dairy-Free Ingredient Substitutions:
1. Crust: Instead of butter, I used Imperial brand stick margarine, using a 1:1 ratio.
2. Filling: Instead of whole milk, I have used both soy and almond milks in this recipe. When I used a 1:1 ratio, it was delicious, but slightly runny. This time, I used slightly less than the 1/2 cup recommended (closer to 1/3 cup), and you will see the results below.
Procedures and Notes
1. Crust: Prerequisite course 101 (just skim through the blog post on adapting Martha Stewart's pate brisee (Strawberry Rhubarb Pie).
Hot tip alert!
For a simpler, press-in pie crust, check out the crust featured in our post on broccoli cheddar quiche. This is my sister's preferred crust to pair with chicken pot pie. She made it for me once and we enjoyed it for multiple meals even in Florida heat.
2. Today's class will focus on the filling. I did skip the step of cooking the chicken because I had done so earlier, and frozen my shredded chicken in my Souper Cubes. I just set out the frozen chicken in the fridge to thaw.
3. Next, I sauteed onions and added flour. This will help thicken our filling.
4. Then, I added in broth and plant based milk. Here, my broth also comes from freezer courtesy of Souper Cubes, so I just let it defrost slowly and join with the onion, flour, and plant-based milk.
4a. When I have been out of homemade chicken broth, I use this powdered version:
5. Finally, I added in spices, followed by the chicken and a bag of frozen mixed vegetables.
6. Roll out the dough, fill, add a top with some vents, and bake.
Results
The ultimate comfort food, this chicken pot pie is cozy with a crisp crust and creamy filling that held together beautifully when cooled slightly then sliced.
Discussion
Using Martha Stewart and Budget Bytes' recipes, we are able to create a dairy free version of a comfort food classic, chicken pot pie. With the reduced amount of plant-based milk, the chicken pot pie filling held together better when sliced, though the texture may be a matter of preference.
Comfort and nostalgic foods are often accompanied by strong beliefs about the "correct" ways of making them. Alterations to original recipes can seem like intentional breaks from long-lasting traditions and heritage. While there is a lot of value in preserving the past, it can be exclusionary. Adapting recipes and methods to be dairy free, while honoring the original intentions of the dish, sounds like the balance I am trying to achieve.
What do you think?
When do adaptations go too far, and when do they maintain the integrity of the original dish? Do you prefer your chicken pot pie more indulgently overflowing, or held together? Let me know in the comments or on Instagram @dairyfreewithemily.