Chicken Pot Pie, Skinny-fied

Chicken pot pie is considered the ultimate comfort food!  It’s a savory pie filled with a luxurious chicken stew. One big problem-it’s actually one of the 30 worst foods in America! Why? Because a typical chicken pot pie you buy in the freezer section has a shocking 680 calories and 48 grams of fat. I know you’re thinking you’ll never be able to eat this dreamy pot pie again, right? Don’t worry…Using skinny ingredients like skinless chicken breasts, reduced-fat milk, reduced-sodium chicken broth, plus adding a whole lot of vegetables, you still can, guilt-free!  This skinny chicken pot pie recipe has only 266 calories, 6 grams of fat and 6 Weight Watchers Freestyle SmartPoints.  It doesn’t need the top and bottom crust either. It’s served spooned onto a plate or bowl and garnished with a flaky biscuit. I hope you enjoy this fabulous casserole!

Prep and Cook Time: 30 minutes

Bake Time: 14 minutes

Ingredients

3 cups Swanson’s reduced-sodium chicken broth or your favorite

1½ cups onions, chopped

1 cup potato, peeled and cubed (½ inch cubes)

1 cup sweet potato, peeled and cubed (½ inch cubes)

1 cup carrots, peeled and chopped

1 cup celery, sliced

1 lb chicken breasts (boneless, skinless), cut into bite-size pieces

1½ cups frozen peas (not defrosted)

1½ cup reduced-fat milk

½ cup plus 1 tablespoon all purpose flour

2 tablespoons fresh thyme, chopped or 1 teaspoon dried

¼ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon fresh ground black pepper

1 pkg. Pillsbury Golden Layer Flaky Biscuits (100 calories for each biscuit), see shopping tip

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. In a large pan, add chicken broth and bring to a boil.

2. Stir in onions, potato, sweet potato, carrots and celery. Bring back to a boil, reduce heat and cover. Simmer for 6 minutes.

3. Add chicken pieces and frozen peas, breaking them up. Bring back to a boil, turn heat to simmer, cover, and cook for 5 minutes.

4. Place a colander into a large bowl. Pour chicken, vegetables and broth into colander. Add strained broth back to the pan. Set aside chicken and vegetables.

5. In a separate small bowl, add flour. Gradually add milk to the flour stirring with a whisk, until well blended.

6. Increase heat to medium with the broth. Stir in milk/flour mixture with a whisk. Cook for 5 minutes or until thicken. Stir often.

7. Add back chicken and vegetables, along with thyme, salt and pepper. Mix well.

8. Coat an 11 x 7 baking dish (see Shopping Tip) with cooking spray and pour in the chicken stew.

9. Open the package of biscuits, separate them and place on top of chicken stew. Line them evenly over top.

10. Place the pie on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for 14-16 minutes until the biscuits are real golden brown. Note: If they are not browned enough for your liking, or they still aren’t bake completely, remove and place biscuits on a baking sheet and continue to bake in 350 degree oven until real golden brown, about 6-10 minutes. Or bake biscuits  separately on a baking sheet while the casserole is baking. If baked separately, follow biscuit instructions.

11. To serve, spoon into each bowl and top with 1 biscuit. There will be two extra biscuits for whoever wants it.

Serves 8 (each serving, ⅛ of recipe and 1 biscuit)

Food Facts
The pot pie dates back to the medieval era. In fact, savory pies were an important part of any royal chef’s menu. Recipes for pot pies appeared back in 1877. In those days they used a deep pot lined with a crust. They didn’t eat the crust. It was there to protect the stew from the flavor of the metal.  Swanson’s introduced the first frozen pot pie in 1951!


Shopping Tips
You can find Pillsbury Biscuits in most large supermarkets in the refrigerated section where they display all the “ready to bake” items. Look for ones that have 100-110 calories a biscuit.

Storage Tip
If you’re cooking for one or two people, don’t let this stop you from making this wonderful pot pie. It freezes great. Divide the leftovers into single serving containers and freeze.

Weight Watchers FreeStyle SmartPoints 6
Weight Watchers SmartPoints 8
Weight Watchers POINTS PLUS 7