Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie
We eat a LOT of chicken wings around here.
Back when Jon and I were in college, still dating, we would join my roommate Nicole and Jon’s roommate Nick (now my brother in law) for chicken wings every Wednesday. There was a bar downtown that used to do a buffet with about 20 different wing flavors, and man, was it ever cheap. I think maybe $4.95, and to top it off, they also did $1.00 pitchers of beer.
The boys could really put a hurt on those wings and pitchers.
Since then, we’ve returned to the same buffet, but the last time was about 4 years ago, and the price was double. Now the place is vacant. I directly relate those two facts. College bars need a night of cheap food. Good cheap food. But I’m not the boss of everybody. Almost, but not every body.
A few days ago I was craving buffalo style wings again. But I was also craving pot pie. Something warm and hearty before spring really gets here and makes such a dinner off-putting. Therefore, I decided to combine the two. I also wanted to use a few readymade products to keep it weeknight friendly, but, given some extra time, you could certainly make this all from scratch. What resulted was a very meaty, flavorful, kicking pot pie. Plenty of punch, plenty of down home. Stick to your ribs delicious. Give it a try!
Buffalo Chicken Pot Pie
makes 6 servings
- 1 package Refrigerated Pillsbury French Bread
- 1/2 Rotisserie Style Chicken, cubed (or 2-3 cooked chicken breasts)
- 1 sweet onion, chopped
- 3 carrots, cleaned and chopped
- 1 stalk celery, chopped
- 7 tablespoons butter, divided
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 2 tablespoons heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic , wet packed
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt to taste
- 1/3 cup Frank’s Buffalo Sauce
- 4-5 medium potatoes, skin on, cleaned & cubed
- 1 cup shredded cheese (I used Cheddar/Pepper Jack blend)
In a small pot, boil the cubed potatoes until just tender. Once done, drain and set aside. While they are cooking, preheat oven to 350.
Unroll the dough from the can, and divide it into 6 rectangles or to fit 6 individual baking ramekins/au gratin dishes. Spray the dishes, then press the dough into the bottoms. Bake for 10 minutes.
While dough is baking, saute the onion, carrots, and celery in 1 tablespoon of butter in a large stir fry pan. Season with salt.
In a separate pan, make your roux by combining 4 Tablespoons of butter and 1/4 cup of flour. Do not allow to burn. Add in cream and stir well. Add in garlic, red pepper, and salt, continue to cook for another couple of minutes. Finally add in Frank’s Buffalo Sauce. Stir and keep warm over low heat.
Add the buffalo roux to the onion mixture and stir well. Add in the cooked chicken and cooked potatoes. Taste and adjust seasonings as necessary.
Remove dough from oven after 10 minutes, and fill each by packing the dish full of chicken filling. Press down and pack tightly. Top with shredded cheese.
Return dishes to the oven and bake for 20-25 minutes. Remove from oven, serve and enjoy!
It’s a simple and easy dish, perfect for a quick midweek meal. And the leftovers reheat wonderfully! In fact, I liked it better the next day. I think I may make a few tweaks to this recipe, but I intend to enter some version of it in this years Pillsbury Bake Off. I’ll need to make sure it meets all of the required guidelines, but it’s so delicious I really feel like it needs to be entered!
Do you enter the Bake-Off? I’ve entered once before, back when I FIRST started this blog. Things have progressed around here, so why not give it another go? Who knows – we all stand a chance, right?
If you’d like to enter the 45th Pillsbury Bake Off, I have a little incentive to get you in the mood, courtesy of Pillsbury. How about a nice Pillsbury Blue apron, and a fantastic little Pillsbury Cookbook? All of the recipes I saw in it were so family friendly, and cover the gamut from appetizer to desserts. Nice book to have in your repertoire! If nothing else, it will definitely inspire you to get your own creation underway…just be sure to submit it to Pillsbury by April 18! (And seriously, isn’t this apron cute??)
To enter the giveaway, just leave me a message here, telling me one thing…have you entered the Pillsbury Bake-Off before? Or, do you plan to enter this year?
Contest is open until Wednesday, March 9 at 11:59pm EST. Good luck!