Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
Ready to break out of your leftovers rut? Whip up a quick and comforting pot pie with ingredients you’ve probably got lying around the house after cooking a Thanksgiving dinner.
Turkey is all fun and games for a while. But usually by the time day three or four of eating Thanksgiving leftovers rolls around, I’m ready to stay far away from turkey dinner with cranberry sauce and stuffing until next November.
Dare to break out of your post-Thanksgiving rut with this quick and simple turkey pot pie. The best part: There’s a good chance you’ve got everything you need already in your kitchen!
The crust is flaky and buttery, while the creamy inside is bursting with hearty chunks of turkey, sweet carrots and celery and earthy thyme. You can use whatever frozen veggies you’ve got on hand — I opted for cauliflower and broccoli.
You can easily adapt this recipe to use pre-made pastry, but I’ll teach you how to make homemade pastry. WAIT, don’t give up on me yet! It takes just minutes to prepare and all you need is butter, flour, salt and water. It’s way, way better than anything you’d buy at the store. Hands down, no comparison.
Still want to save some time and use pre-made pie crust? You can pick up frozen pie crust sheets at the grocery store. Follow the instructions on the package to ensure you’re properly thawing and cooking it.
This pot pie serves three people (or two very hungry people), but it’s easy to adapt to make a larger serving size. If you’re going the homemade route, simply double the recipe, follow the instructions as normal and use a baking dish with an approximate 9-inch diameter. Here’s a recipe converter calculator, for your convenience.
If you’re using pre-made dough, be sure to get enough for two pie crusts. The box should tell you how many pie crusts are inside.
Ingredients
For the pie filling:
- Chicken broth
- Frozen mixed vegetables*
- Leftover cooked turkey
- Onion, chopped
- Celery
- Carrot
- Olive oil
- Cream
- Flour
- Thyme
- Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper, to taste
For the pastry, use thawed frozen pastry dough or make from scratch with:
- Flour
- Unsalted butter
- Teaspoon salt
- Ice water
*When it comes to frozen veggies, there are all sorts of options and medleys that would work just fine here. To name a few: zucchini, green beans, squash, peas, broccoli, cauliflower, potatoes.
Directions
If you’re making the crust from scratch, combine butter, salt and flour in a food processor and pulse until the mixture forms a large crumb. Add in about a tablespoon of ice water, pulse a few times, and repeat until mixture just starts to come together.
Flour your hands and flour a cutting board. Separate the dough in half and roll out — one half will need to be large enough to line your dish and the other half will form the top of your pot pie. Line the dish with one half of pastry dough and refrigerate both halves until you’re ready to scoop the filling into the dish.
Add olive oil and onion into a pan, until the onions begin to turn translucent. Add celery and carrots and let cook briefly before adding frozen vegetables.
When frozen vegetables have mostly thawed, turn heat up to high and add chicken stock, cream, flour, thyme, and salt and pepper, to taste. Let the mixture cook and then stir in chunks of precooked turkey.
Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator. Scoop the filling into the baking dish, and flatten mixture to ensure it is as even as possible. Top with second sheet of pastry dough and crimp edges with your fingers.
Bake until golden brown, then be sure to let it set. This ensures the pot pie cools down (it will be very hot!) and allows the filling to set, making it easier to serve.
Leftover Turkey Pot Pie
Equipment
- 6 inch ceramic bowl, food processor
Ingredients
For the pie filling
- 2 c. chicken broth
- 1 c. frozen mixed vegetables your choice
- 1 c. leftover cooked turkey
- 1/2 c. onion chopped
- 1/2 c. celery
- 1/2 c. carrot
- 2 tbsp. olive oil
- 2 tbsp. cream
- 2 tbsp. Flour
- 1 tbsp. Thyme
- 1 tsp. Garlic powder
- Salt and pepper to taste
For the pastry (use thawed frozen pastry dough or make from scratch)
- 1 ¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup unsalted butter diced and cold — fresh out of the refrigerator
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ¼ c. ice water
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 425°F.
- (Skip to step 4 if you’re using pre-made pastry dough) In a food processor, combine butter, salt and flour. Pulse until the mixture forms a large crumb. Add in about a tablespoon of ice water, pulse a few times, and repeat until mixture just starts to come together. NOTE: You may not quite need the entire ¼ cup.
- Flour your hands and a working surface. Separate the pastry in half and roll each half into a circle using a rolling pin (a floured jar/wine bottle with the label removed works just fine) until about a quarter-inch thick.
- (Start here if using pre-made dough) Grease a six-inch round baking dish and place half of pastry dough inside, smoothing it out to ensure it covers the walls and lies as flat as possible. Place the second half of the pastry dough on a plate. Place the baking dish and plate in the refrigerator.
- Add olive oil to a large pan under medium-high heat and cook onion until it begins to turn translucent. Add celery and carrots and let cook for five minutes before adding frozen vegetables. Cook until frozen vegetables have mostly thawed.
- Turn heat up to high and add chicken stock, cream, flour, thyme, and salt and pepper, to taste. Let the mixture cook for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to ensure nothing sticks. Stir in chunks of turkey.
- Remove the pastry dough from the refrigerator. Scoop the filling into the baking dish, and flatten mixture to ensure it is as even as possible. Top with second sheet of pastry dough, removing any excess and crimping the edges with your fingers.
- Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until golden brown. Let filling set for about 10 minutes and enjoy!
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Honolulu girl obsessed with farmers markets, eating, seasonal ingredients, eating, writing and eating. Read more about me here and get new recipes from me every week @feedthesoulblog.
