Hearty Butternut Squash Chicken Pot Pie

Add some fall flavor to your chicken pot pie.

If the last chicken pot pie you ate was from that little green box in the freezer section,  you’re missing out. Homemade chicken pot pie is a dinner winner, and deserves a spot in your fall menu rotation.

Malia Call shares her recipe for butternut squash chicken pot pie. This recipe is so versatile and the ingredients can easily be swapped out. Try adding in potatoes, peas, mushrooms, or spinach to the filling to make it your own! You could even omit the chicken, add more vegetables, replace the chicken stock with vegetable stock to make it vegetarian. And, it’s kid-friendly!

Find more from Malia on Instagram, @cookingwithmalia.

Chicken Pot Pie with Butternut Squash

Butternut squash is a great fall produce to add to your pot pie. Malia says it has a similar texture to a potato when it’s cooked, but has a mellow flavor. She loves how colorful it makes your pot pie! It’s an easy squash to find at the grocery store, and is often already peeled and diced for easy use.

Malia uses a grocery store shortcut for the crust: puff pastry dough. It’s found in the freezer section of the grocery store, and is a great substitute for making your own pie crust. She says it bakes up nice and golden brown with layers of crunchy texture—which adds a wow factor to your pie!

Malia says you can freeze the filling for an easy dinner prep. When you’re ready to cook it, pull it out to thaw and finish building and topping your pie.

INGREDIENTS

• ¾ cup carrot, small dice
• ¾ cup celery, small dice
• 1 cup butternut squash, medium dice
• 2 cups yellow onion, small dice
• 2 Tablespoons olive oil
• 1 Tablespoon butter
• 3 sprigs of thyme
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt, more to taste
• 4 Tablespoons flour
• 2 ½ cups chicken stock
• ½ cup heavy cream
• 2 cups cooked chicken, cubed
• 1 sheet puff pastry

Egg Wash (optional)

• 1 egg
• 1 Tablespoon water
• Salt + pepper to garnish

METHOD

1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
2. In a large pot sauté carrot, celery, butternut squash and onion with olive oil, butter, salt and thyme for 10 minutes or until butternut squash is tender.
3. Then add flour and cook for an additional 2 minutes.
4. Add chicken stock and heavy cream and simmer for 5 minutes until mixture has thickened. Remove sprig of thyme.
5. Cool filling before assembling and baking. To assemble, gently roll out the puff pastry until it is slightly larger in size.
6. Pour filling into a deep pie dish, cut puff pastry to the size of the rim of the dish and place on top.
7. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with kosher salt and pepper.
8. Bake at 400 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown overall. Let rest for 5 minutes and then serve.

Source: Malia Call