Food for Postpartum | Chicken Pot Pie

The best gift we received postpartum came in the form of a meal train. My friends signed up to bring us dinner once we returned home. It showered us with so much love and we felt so nourished.I’ll never forget the first meal we received postpartum: homemade chicken pot pie. I bit into it and I instantly knew it was the best meal of my life. It’s possible that I was just so tired and hungry that my brain tricked me into believing that... but this meal is top 5 for me, still!My friend, Vanesa, was kind enough to give me the recipe and I’ve tweaked it to be my own in the time since.My favorite thing about this chicken pot pie recipe is that it’s easily customizable, it’s simple, and it makes enough filling for two standard pies (which means I can freeze half for a lazy dinner later!). This is a meal I frequently bring to postpartum families in the days after birth, and it always seems to bring a smile to their faces. 

Chicken Pot Pie

Ingredients

~ 2 pounds chicken breast, cubed3 carrots, sliced~ 1/2 pound small Yukon Gold potatoes1-2 heads broccoli, cut into bite size pieces2 tsp Better Than Bouillon chicken stock2 cups water (to make the stock) 2 ribs celery, diced1 onion, diced1/4 cup butter4 T cornstarch1 T flour1 c heavy whipping creamBlack pepper to tasteSalt to taste2 sheets Pre-Made Pie Dough

Cooking Instructions

Fill large stock pot or Dutch oven with potatoes and just enough water to cover.Boil until a fork goes in easily (~10 minutes).Combine chicken stock (stock & water), chicken, celery, carrots, onion, and broccoli. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally (but keeping lid on in between).Add pepper, salt, and butter.Dissolve cornstarch and flour into whipping cream and stir into filling.Simmer 3 minutes until sauce has thickened.Line a pie plate with 1 sheet of pie dough, carefully pressing pie dough into plate so it makes contact with the pan everywhere.Pour half the filling into lined pie plate. Cover with second pie dough. Pull top dough under bottom dough and crimp all the way around with fingers or fork.Cut slices on top of dough for venting.Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes (50 minutes if from frozen).Let cool until it’s a decent eating temperature, then enjoy!Pour remaining pot pie filling into freezer safe container and freeze for another day! Whether you're bringing it to a new family, or you're prepping your own food for postpartum, a Chicken Pot Pie is a perfect postpartum meal for the whole family... but maybe the newborn should just stick to milk. ;)