To me, all food is comfort food…or at least cooking all food is comforting.

The aromas, sizzles, and steady rhythmic motions of chopping and whisking calm my heart and soul. The kitchen is where my stresses and fears melt away and my hands and senses take control. Recipes are simply suggestions and my taste buds and mood determine the amount of cinnamon or cayenne that will end up in my dish.

Cooking with others is fun as well…but in a different way. As a textbook extrovert, I oddly love being in the kitchen by myself–experimenting, guessing, and always imagining what those I’m cooking for would love to taste and eat.

{Note: The only thing I don’t love is doing dishes–which is why I’m so thankful and blessed that I married a man who’s okay with our split of the kitchen duties–that could have been ugly. Phew!}

As I’ve said before, I wholeheartedly see cooking as an act of love. And for me, trying to take classic, traditional dishes that my husband loves and making them something we can both enjoy is a prime example of that.

In fact, I think I would say that cooking people food that they love in a way that’s good for them is my specific “cooking love language”

{Note: I know there is no such thing as cooking love languages…but “Love Languages” are my favorite so I’m making this a thing. Just roll with it…

If my cooking love language is “Makes people food they love in a way that’s good for them”…maybe others could be “Brings surprise desserts for coworkers” or “Makes freezer meals to deliver for people who need them” or “Hosts dinner parties for friends”?

Oh my. I love this. Now all I want to do is talk about cooking love languages. I have issues. Anybody else?}

Anyways…before I got all excited about love languages, my point was that cooking is an act of love. And there is no man that I love more than my amazing husband…although cooking food for him that he loves in a way that’s good for him is an on-going challenge.

Why? Because Tom (like most people) doesn’t see all food as comfort food. He sees comfort food as laden with creamy, potato-y, pasta-y, cheesy goodness. And comfort food can be pretty darn difficult to make low in sugar and carbohydrates.

In fact, there is one food that (up until now) I couldn’t figure out how to make pre-diabetic-friendly no matter how hard I tried: the ever-elusive chicken pot pie.

Now here’s the deal–Tom loves chicken pot pie. We literally cannot go to Costco without the man longingly looking at the pre-made ginormous chicken pot pies and giving me puppy-dog eyes that are just begging for us to buy this item that weighs as much as an small child.

Now because I love the man, we have bought this monstrosity before and had it for dinner. Tom literally eats half of it and he’s in heaven for those twenty minutes during our meal while he’s eating…but an hour later he’s insanely thirsty due to all the sodium he just ingested and basically comatose because of the carbohydrate crash.

And this is not just the case with the Costco version–in fact, the Costco version is arguably better for you since they make the pie-crust in-house. The real problem with the versions of chicken pot pie that I’ve tried to buy or make is that they all include (usually canned) filling that’s full of sodium and some-sort of pre-made dough that has ingredient labels ladened with preservatives and ingredients that I couldn’t pronounce if I tried:

So, with the cards stacked against me, it’s no surprise I’ve struggled trying to make an updated version of this dish. To put it simply, my “cooking love language” saw this dish as the ultimate challenge.

So…where’s the compromise?

Here’s our answer:

• Ditching all things from a can and making surprisingly-simple from-scratch condensed cream of chicken soup
• Using rotisserie chicken to cut-down on the cooking time
• Upping the veggie-content by including celery, onion, peas, green beans, carrots, and corn…and leaving out the potatoes
• Making homemade four-ingredient/protein-packed/beyond-simple cheddar jack biscuits to top your hot-pie/pot-dish

| Chicken Hot-Pie/Chicken Pot-Dish|

Serves: 6 Tom’s or 8 Alaina’s

Ingredients Needed:

For the Condensed Soup:

• 1 1/2 cups low-sodium chicken stock
  • Broth is fine too if that’s all you have on-hand!
• 3/4 cup skim milk
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. pepper
• 1/2 tsp. onion powder
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp. dried thyme
  • Yes, you need the thyme. Yes, I know you may not have this in your cupboard. It makes it the dish. Trust me. 

For the Filling:

• 2 cups skim milk
• 3 cups rotisserie chicken, chopped
  • Remember–get it at Costco! It’s already pulled off the bone! 
• 2-12 oz. bags steam-in-the-bag frozen pea/corn/green bean/carrot mixed veggies
• 1 1/2 cups celery, chopped
• 1 large yellow onion, chopped
• 2 tsp. minced garlic
• 1 tsp. olive oil

For the Biscuits:

• 3 cups self-rising flour
• 2 1/2 cups 0% greek yogurt
• 1/2 cup skim milk
• 3/4 cup cheddar jack cheese, shredded
• 1/2 cup. all-purpose flour
  • This is for dusting your working surface and biscuit-cutter–not for going in the mixture!

Directions:

Before you do anything, make sure you have a big enough dish! This hot-pie/pot-dish is almost-all filling…so you need a big casserole dish. The one I use is  a 9 by 13 lasagna pan that’s almost 3 inches deep. If you don’t have this large of a dish…never fear! Just split the dish between two oven-safe dishes

First, prep your ingredients!

• Chop and pre-measure everything and separate into what you need for the condensed soup, the filling, and the biscuits. Set aside.
  • I know this sounds crazy…but if you do the prep work you will save yourself a LOT of grief. The recipe goes fast if you spend 15 minutes prepping! If you don’t….well, it doesn’t go fast (I may have learned this from experience…)
  • This also includes microwaving those steam-in-the-bag veggies–just pop them in one at a time as you’re chopping the rest of your veggies!

Next make your condensed soup

• In a large soup pot that can fit all of your filling ingredients, bring your chicken stock to a boil over medium-high heat
• While the stock is trying to boil, whisk together your flour and milk until the flour is dissolved (it’s okay if it gets a little frothy!)
• Once the stock is boiling, s-l-o-w-l-y pour you milk mixture into the stock–whisking constantly to avoid burning
• Once the milk is added, KEEP WHISKING and add in your seasoning
  • This is why you pre-measured your spices. You are so smart! You would have needed a third hand to measure spices while also whisking. It would been no bueno.
• Reduce heat to medium and bring the mixture back to a boil whilst NEVER STOPPING WHISKING for about three to four minutes or until thickened
  • I know your wrist is getting sore. Be strong. This is going to be delicious.
• Once thickened, stir in your chopped chicken and reduce heat to medium low
  • You did it! I am so proud of you! You JUST MADE CONDENSED CHICKEN SOUP!!! #winning

Now you get to turn that soup into filling…

• Stir your milk into your condensed soup
  • Ensure you are scraping the bottom as you stir so you don’t leave any delicious condensed chicken soup stuck to the bottom of the pot. You worked HARD for that soup!!
• Stir in your pea/corn/green bean/carrot mixture you steamed earlier
• While continuing to stir the filling occasionally, saute your celery, onion, and garlic in the olive oil on a neighboring burner

• Once the celery and onion have softened, add the mixture to your pot of filling
• Continue stirring occasionally–keeping the pot on medium-low heat

You’re almost done…now you get to make your biscuits!

• Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F
• Using the all-purpose flour, dust your working surface generously
  • Biscuits are super sticky–trust me on this
• In a medium mixing bowl, combine your self-rising flour, yogurt, milk, and cheese
  • DO NOT OVERMIX. I’m serious. Just stir it until it’s just mixed!

• Take your dough and roll it out to be about 1/2 inch think
• Using a floured glass or round cookie cutter, cut out your biscuits
  • You will need to re-flour your cutter every 2-3 biscuits
  • The dough should make about 15 biscuits–if you have more you can set aside and make some biscuits for later after your hot-pie/pot-dish has cooked!
  • PS–Have you been remembering to stir your filling mixture? 🙂

All that’s left is to put it all together!

• Leaving your biscuits where they are for minute (aka on the counter), carefully pour your warm filling mixture into you casserole dish
  • Remember, if you don’t have a dish big enough…it’s okay! Just split it between two oven-safe dishes!

• Once poured, line your biscuits (yes, raw biscuits. they will cook. I promise) onto your mixture in tight rows
  • I recommend brushing off any excess flour…I forgot to and that’s why mine look a bit flour-y! But hey…it still tastes delicious even if you forget! 
  • If you’re using a 9 by 13 pan, you should be able to fit three rows of five biscuits

• Place your hot-pie/pot-dish into the oven and set your timer for 15 minutes
  • Remember, all you’re doing is baking your biscuits–everything else is already cooked!
  • TIP: You may want to put a cookie sheet on the rack under your casserole dish…especially if you don’t have a very deep one. This mixture can get pretty bubbly–you don’t want to have to clean up any spillage! 

• After 15 minutes, check your biscuits. They will not turn golden brown –but check for done-ness by simply pressing down on a few of your biscuits. It should feel crisp and slightly hardened.

And that’s it! Now simply serve! 

• With the pure amount of veggies and protein in this dish AND the biscuits on top–I consider this dish a meal in and of itself. You can of course serve with another veggie or salad–but I promise it will fill you up all on it’s own!

WHOA. Take a second and bask in the glory of what you just did. You just made chicken pot pie completely from scratch. Nice work!

Now I’m telling you–this dish is good. It may be a better-for-you version of chicken pot pie…but while it does have a LOT less sugar, carbohydrates, and sodium it does NOT have any less flavor.

This dish is bursting with chicken flavor, tons and tons of crunchy veggies, and topped with cheesy biscuits that have an amazingly fluffy texture and perfectly crispy crust.

{And did I mention that the biscuits have only 15 carbohydrates and over 5 grams of protein each? HECK YES.}

I literally thought Tom was going to ask me to marry him all over again after I served him this dish. In fact, in all honesty I don’t know if I have ever made or will ever make again anything he loves more than this version of chicken pot pie.

The best part? This dish is comfort food at its finest. It warms your entire body and soul from the inside out…and you don’t feel gross after you eat it.

With this dish I got to use my “cooking love language” and make one of Tom’s favorite dishes in a way that we can feel good about eating together…and Tom knows the perfect way to show the girl with an actual love language of physical touch how much he appreciates me doing so: a great big hug.

Here’s to making many more culinary compromises–all in the name of love.

xoxo, alaina