Turkey Pot Pie

We have a saying in my family that the best part about Thanksgiving isn’t the meal, but rather the leftovers.  And out of all of the different ways that we like to utilize our leftovers, our favorite is, and always shall be turkey pot pie.  I mean our love for turkey pot pie runs so deep that often we will cook up one, sometimes even two additional turkey breasts on Thanksgiving, specifically to be set aside for making the dish.  I know that sounds a little bit crazy, but honestly, there are so many great qualities that can be attributed to turkey pot pie that I won’t have much of a challenge in convincing you to try this recipe.

For starters, turkey pot pies are just one of those dishes that truly epitomize comfort food.  I mean who wouldn’t want to eat chunks of turkey meat, and hearty vegetables, smothered in piping hot gravy, all wrapped in a crunchy pie crust.  Damn…. My soul is being warmed just writing about it.

The second thing that I love about turkey pot pie is the fact that you can just as easily make a bunch of smaller individual pies, compared to making larger pies meant for a group of people.  This is nice because certain people prefer different ratios of the ingredients, i.e. more turkey, or more veggies, and thus you can make single servings of pies according to the preferences of the individual eating it. The last aspect that I love about turkey pot pies is the fact that they freeze extremely well.  This means that you can simply spend an hour or two in one day, and whip up enough pies to feed you every week for damn near the entire winter. Who doesn’t love that!?

Tips, Tricks & Suggestions

• You can just as easily turn these into chicken pot pies by simply substituting the turkey meat, and turkey gravy, with their chicken alternatives.  It will taste just as great, but I guess it really just comes down to what type of leftovers you have.
• When it comes to pie crust you can either use my homemade pie crust, or you can purchase and use something called phyllo dough.  The homemade pie crust is definitely the more traditional option, however, my personal favorite is the phyllo dough. Not only does it save you time from making your own pie dough, but it also provides a much more flaky crust. Either way that is entirely up to you and your personal preference.

Turkey Pot Pie Recipe

Prep time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 1 and a half hour

Servings: 4

Ingredients

*These measurements are for one 9 inch deep dish pie pan*

1 Cup of cooked Turkey meat (cut into inch to ½ inch sized pieces)

2-3 Medium carrots (peeled, and cut into ¼ inch coins)

2-3 Sticks of celery (cut into ¼ inch pieces)

2 Medium russet potatoes (peeled & cut into inch to ½ inch sized chunks)

1 Cup of pearl onions (peeled, frozen)

1 Cup of frozen peas

2 Cups of turkey gravy

Phyllo dough or Homemade Pie Crust

Instructions

1. Boil the carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes: Get out a large pot and toss into it the carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes.  Then put enough water into this pot so that it covers all of the veggies by about an inch.  Next place this pot on your stovetop, over high heat, letting everything come to a boil. Let it boil for about 15 minutes just so that the veggies are slightly cooked.

2. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit

3. 3. Assemble the pie: Get out your pie pan and grease it either with some butter, or a spray like pam.  Then place a few pieces of the phyllo dough, or one sheet of the homemade pie crust on the inside of the pie pan in order to make the bottom layer of the pie. Then place in all of the veggies (including the frozen peas), and the turkey meat, and use a spoon to make sure that they are mixed together well. Then pour on the gravy until it covers everything, and again use a spoon to mix everything together.  Finally top everything with about 3 to 4 layers of the phyllo dough, or one sheet of the homemade pie crust. If you are using the phyllo dough then spray pam between each layer of the dough so that they stick together. At the end pinch together the bottom layer of pie crust/phyllo dough with the top layer so that it forms one nice package.

*make sure to either work fast or keep the phyllo dough covered as it can dry out fast.  Also don’t worry if it breaks, just try to piece it all together and you will be just fine.

4. Bake the pie:  Take a knife and puncture 3 to 4 small slashes into the top center of the pie crust.  Then place the pie into your preheated oven and let it bake for about an hour. You will know that the pie is fully cooked when both the gravy begins to boil out of the slashes we made in the pie crust, and the top crust of the pie is browned to your liking.  Once the pie is done, take it out and let it rest for a minute or two.

5. Serve & enjoy

Print Recipe

Turkey Pot Pie Recipe

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time1 hour hr 30 minutes mins

Total Time1 hour hr 45 minutes mins

Servings: 4 people

Ingredients

*These measurements are for one 9 inch deep dish pie pan*

• 1 Cup of cooked Turkey meat cut into inch to ½ inch sized pieces
• 2-3 Medium carrots peeled, and cut into ¼ inch coins
• 2-3 Sticks of celery cut into ¼ inch pieces
• 2 Medium russet potatoes peeled & cut into inch to ½ inch sized chunks
• 1 Cup of pearl onions peeled, frozen
• 1 Cup of frozen peas
• 2 Cups of turkey gravy
• Phyllo dough or Homemade Pie Crust

Instructions

• Boil the carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes: Get out a large pot and toss into it the carrots, celery, onions, and potatoes.  Then put enough water into this pot so that it covers all of the veggies by about an inch.  Next place this pot on your stove top, over a high heat, letting everything come to a boil. Let it boil for about 15 minutes just so that the veggies are slightly cooked.
• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit
• Assemble the pie: Get out your pie pan and grease it either with some butter, or a spray like pam.  Then place a few pieces of the phyllo dough, or one sheet of the homemade pie crust on the inside of the pie pan in order to make the bottom layer of the pie.  Then place in all of the veggies (including the frozen peas), and the turkey meat, and use a spoon to make sure that they are mixed together well. Then pour on the gravy until it covers everything, and again use a spoon to mix everything together.  Finally top everything with about 3 to 4 layers of the phyllo dough, or one sheet of the homemade pie crust. If you are using the phyllo dough then spray pam between each layer of the dough so that they stick together. At the end pinch together the bottom layer of pie crust/phyllo dough with the top layer so that it forms one nice package. *make sure to either work fast or keep the phyllo dough covered as it can dry out fast.  Also don’t worry if it breaks, just try to piece it all together and you will be just fine.
• Bake the pie:  Take a knife and puncture 3 to 4 small slashes into the top center of the pie crust.  Then place the pie into your preheated oven and let it bake for about an hour. You will know that the pie is fully cooked when both the gravy begins to boil out of the slashes we made in the pie crust, and the top crust of the pie is browned to your liking.  Once the pie is done, take it out and let it rest for a minute or two.

Inspiration from other blogs

From Family Fresh Meals

From Fifteen Spatulas