Wow! This is the ultimate Autumn comfort food made with your favorite fall veggies with a hint of Thanksgiving – thanks to the cranberries. Besides comforting to eat, it’s RELAXING to make. Do as much or as little prep as you choose fresh or frozen veggies.

Thanksgiving preview

I think of this recipe has a preview of coming attractions as the days get shorter, colder and Thanksgiving approaches. It’s is an easy twist on a chicken pot pie using puff pastry instead of traditional pie crust. It has loads of healthy fall veggies. Whole berry cranberries (from a can) and stuffing cubes or seasoned croutons provide that hint of Turkey Day flavors. This dish has a lot of flexibility to customize to your taste and plenty of shortcuts to reduce prep time.

Ingredients — Ingriedients (onion not pictured)

The protein is the rotisserie chicken. Honestly, this is one of the best deals at your supermarket deli! The size is perfect, it’s cooked to perfection, and you usually have options in seasoning flavors. Of course, this is also a great way to use up leftover chicken or turkey. The point is that the chicken is ready. It does require chopping or shredding, so give yourself a couple of minutes to do that. I prefer chunks of chicken rather than shredded, but that’s a personal taste.

The long and the short

Fall veggies are the star of the show! I chose celery, carrots, broccoli, onion, and mushrooms because that’s what I had in my vegetable bin. Brussels sprouts, turnips, or zucchini are also delicious options. (You want about 5 cups total.) Prepping the veggies will take some time. I make this dish on the weekends, so time isn’t an issue, and I enjoy chopping vegetables — it’s meditative!

While fresh pre-cut packages or frozen veggies are great time-savors, they offer limited selection in variety.

There are options if you have limited time or just don’t like messing with veg prep. There are pre-cut mixed fresh veggies in the produce department, giving you all the benefits of fresh without the work! The other option is using frozen mixed vegetables. The advantage of frozen is convenience. The downside is being limited to a generic mix, missing out on the seasonal harvest.

The hints of Thanksgiving are brought to you by the addition of seasoned stuffing or croutons. I have always made this with stuffing cubes, but this time when I went to grab the stuffing mix – it wasn’t there! (I hate it when that happens.) However, I did have seasoned croutons, and they worked just as well.

The “secret” ingredient

poultry seasoning image — The “secret: ingredient

If there is a secret ingredient to this recipe, it’s the poultry seasoning. It’s the perfect blend of sage, rosemary, thyme, and a couple of other herbs. It’s a great all-purpose seasoning for chicken and eliminates having to measure out a bunch of individual spices. I highly recommend keeping it in your pantry. You can use any combination of the herbs mentioned above to equal a teaspoon if you don’t have poultry seasoning.

Short cut crust

There is no bottom or side crust on this pot pie, only a top, which is puff pastry (about 1 3/4 sheets.) You can find puff pastry in the freezer aisle at the grocery store. If you take the puff pastry out of your freezer when you start, it will thaw while you prep the chicken and veggies.

Favorite kitchen hack

The pot pie bakes in a 3-quart baking or casserole pan. An 18×9 rectangle baking dish is perfect as it makes it easy to cover with the square puff pastry sheets. Generously coat the pan with non-stick spray.

My favorite kitchen hack is to use the open door of the dishwasher as the surface to place the pan. Any excess spray washes away next time to run the dishwasher, and your countertop stays clean.

Prepped ingredients — Prepping the veggies will take some time. Shortcuts include buying pre-cut vegetables or using frozen mixed vegetables.

Let’s cook

Once the prep is done, this dish is a breeze to make. Saute the veggies in a large, deep skillet (12 inch). Add the flour and cook a few more minutes before adding the chicken, broth, stuffing, half & half, and seasonings. When the mixture begins to thicken, pour it into the prepared 3-quart cooking pan/dish.

Sauce cooking in three images — Saute the veggies, add other ingredients and cook until sauce starts to thicken

Dollop the cranberry sauce on top of the chicken mixture in a random pattern; there is no need to spread it out. Top the entire thing with puff pastry. I used one full sheet and about three-quarters of the second sheet. The pastry sheet cuts easily with kitchen shears. To give the crust a beautiful golden shine, top the pastry with an egg wash.

Puff pastry brushed with egg wash in baking pan — Puff pastry crust brushed with egg wash

It’s easy! Whisk up an egg in a measuring cup or small bowl. Using a pastry brush, cover the pastry surface. No pastry brush? An easy hack is to use a wadded paper towel.

Bake & serve

Pop the pan in a preheated oven and bake for about 45 minutes. Let them sit for about 5 minutes to firm up. Enjoy!

Harvest Pot Pie

Recipe by Jane BruceCourse: MainCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy

Servings

servings

Prep time

minutes

Cooking time

minutes

This easy pot pie casserole is the ultimate Autumn comfort food made with your favorite fall veggies with a hint of Thanksgiving – thanks to the cranberries and stuffing mix. There are plenty of shortcuts to make this as quick and easy as you choose!

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken, chopped or shredded (about 4 cups)
½ cup butter (1 stick)
2 celery stalks, thinly sliced
1 medium onion, diced
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 cup half-and-half
1 cup broccoli florets
1 cup chopped carrots
1 cup sliced mushrooms
5 tablespoons all-purpose
5 oz seasoned stuffing or seasoned croutons
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 can whole cranberry sauce
2 sheet frozen puff pastry (one package), thawed
1 large egg, whisked

Directions

Prep: Thaw puff pastry on the counter. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Coat a 3-quart baking dish with nonstick cooking spray. Prep veggies. Chop or shred cook the cooked chicken.
Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook for about 5 minutes. Stir in the flour and cook 2 minutes more. Add the chicken, broth, half-and-half, stuffing/croutons, poultry seasoning, salt, pepper, and stir to combine. Cook until the sauce begins to thicken, 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from the heat.
Transfer the mixture to the prepared baking dish. Drop the cranberry sauce randomly over the mixture. Top with the puff pastry dough (trim the second sheet to fit pan.) Use a pastry brush to evenly coat the puff pastry with the egg. Using a paring knife, cut a few small vents in the center of the pie.
Bake until the puff pastry is golden brown, about 45 minutes. Let stand 5 minutes before cutting.

Notes

Rotisserie chicken: You can also use leftover chicken or turkey.
Vegetables: Mix and match any vegetables of your choice (roughly 5 cups). Brussels sprouts and turnips are great. You can also use frozen mixed vegetables
Poultry seasoning: Substitute a combo mixture of dried sage, thyme, rosemary or marjoram to total 1 teaspoon.
Puff pastry: Find it in the freezer section of the grocery store. It usually comes two sheets to a box. You will use one full sheet and a portion of the second sheet to completely fit the size of your pan.
Pastry brush: If you don’t have a pastry brush, a wadded-up paper towel can be used.
3-quart pan: A rectangle pan will be the easiest (for fitting the puff pastry sheets). An 18×9 works beautifully.