This Grain Free Chicken Pot Pie is the ultimate comfort food and tastes like home on a cold winter night. The buttery, flaky crust soaks up the thick and creamy filling making it the perfect combination. This recipe is gluten free, grain free, dairy free, and refined sugar free.
You know how Ramen Noodles are a staple in every college students’ diet? Well for me, it was chicken pot pie. Before you roll your eyes at me for being extra, I wasn’t eating my mom’s homemade chicken pot pie. I was getting the frozen version that you microwave for ten minutes. I am guilty for loving fake real food and this was no exception. Once I eliminated gluten, grains and dairy from my diet, I assumed I’d never be able to eat it again.
Well, this recipe has taught me that Justin Bieber was right and you should never say never because here I am sharing with you the best Grain Free Chicken Pot Pie recipe. I am still in awe at how buttery and flaky this crust is without containing gluten or grains. This recipe is so delicious that I ate a whole piece while taking the pictures for this blog post. I should mention that this happened right after I ate lunch, I just couldn’t resist! So enough reminiscing about college and trying to be trendy quoting JB lyrics, let’s get to how to make this mouth watering dish.
To start, preheat the oven to 350 degrees and butterfly the chicken breasts. You don’t have to do this step but I find that it takes less time to cook this way. Place the chicken in the oven and bake until it reaches an internal temperature of 165 degrees (about 20 minutes). While the chicken is cooking, mix together the dry ingredients for the crust (almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot four, baking powder and salt).
Slowly cut one tablespoon of vegan butter at a time into the flour mixture. I use a fork or knife to press the butter into the flour until it resembles large crumbs. Do not melt the butter, you want it to be hard or else this step won’t work. Your flour mixture should not look like a dough at this point, it should look like chunks of crumbs. For a Paleo friendly option, substitute the butter for ghee.
Next, add the coconut milk and eggs to the flour mixture and mix together with a wooden spoon. Using your hands, roll the dough into a ball and cover with saran wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator while you start to make the filling. Don’t skip this step as placing the dough in the refrigerator will make it easier to roll out.
Next you want to start to make the filling. Place the frozen peas, carrots, and green beans in a skillet and cook on high heat until warm (approximately 5 minutes). While your veggies are cooking, mix together the nutritional yeast, coconut milk, arrowroot, chicken broth, salt, and pepper. Add this mixture to the skillet once the vegetables are defrosted and continue to cook on medium heat while you prepare the chicken. Remove the chicken from the oven and cut it into cube sized pieces. Add the chicken to the skillet and continue to cook on medium heat for five minutes or until the sauce thickens. Pour the filling into a 9 by 13 casserole dish and set aside.
Since the dough does not contain any gluten or grains, it is a little bit more difficult to roll out. I have tried several methods to make this process easier. I’ve found that using parchment paper is the best method, but feel free to do your own experimentation. Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the casserole dish (9 by 13) and cover with arrowroot flour (a few handfuls). Trust me here, the more arrowroot you use, the easier this process will be.
Take the dough out of the fridge and place it on the parchment paper. Use your hand to lightly flatten the dough and sprinkle arrowroot on top of the dough and rolling pin. Again, this dough is not what you may be used to and it can still be sticky even after being in the fridge. Therefore, it is important to add the arrowroot so that you can actually roll it without it constantly sticking to your rolling pin. I continue to sprinkle arrowroot on the dough and my rolling pin several times as I am rolling out the dough.
Once your dough is evenly rolled out and covering most of your parchment paper, you are going to lift the parchment paper up from the bottom and flip it over the top of the casserole dish. The parchment paper should be on top. Slowly remove the parchment paper and adjust the crust as needed. I have made this recipe many times and this parchment paper trick is the easiest way to work with this dough in my opinion. I like to go around the sides of the crust and push them down to ensure the filling stays in. Take a fork and poke holes throughout the crust. Place the casserole dish in the oven at bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.
In case you love left overs like I do, this Grain Free Chicken Pot Pie heats up great in the microwave. This recipe may take me longer than my ten minute frozen chicken pot pie, but it tastes a million times better. Not to mention that it’s made with real, whole ingredients and gluten free, grain free, and dairy free. Whenever I am craving comfort food, this is always the meal I make!
-Kelsey
Grain Free Chicken Pot Pie
Course: DinnerDifficulty: Moderate6
servings25
minutes50
minutes1
hour15
minutesIngredients
- Pot Pie Filling:
4 large chicken breasts
1 bag frozen green beans (2 cups)
1.5 bags frozen peas and carrots (3 cups)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
2 cups coconut milk (or any other non-dairy milk)
4 Tablespoons arrowroot flour
1/4 cup chicken broth
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
- Crust:
2 cups almond flour
2 Tablespoons coconut flour
1 cup arrowroot flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
5 Tablespoons vegan butter (I use Earth Balance) or ghee (if Paleo)
2 eggs
1/4 cup coconut milk (or any dairy-free milk)
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Butterfly the chicken breasts and cook until the internal temperature is 165 degrees (approximately 20 minutes).
- While the chicken is cooking, mix together the dry ingredients for the crust (almond flour, coconut flour, arrowroot, baking powder, and salt). Slowly cut one tablespoon of butter at a time into the flour mix (do not melt the butter, you want it to still be hard). Use a knife or fork, to press the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles large crumbs.
- Add the milk and eggs to the flour mixture and mix together using a wooden spoon. Roll the dough into a ball and cover with saran wrap. Place the dough in the refrigerator while you start to make the filling.
- Place the frozen peas, carrots, and green beans in a skillet and cook on high until warm (approximately 5 minutes).
- Mix together the remaining ingredients for the filling (nutritional yeast, coconut milk, arrowroot, chicken broth, salt and pepper). Add this mixture to the skillet once the vegetables are defrosted and continue to cook on medium heat while you prepare the chicken.
- Remove the chicken from the oven and cut into cube sized pieces. Add the chicken to the skillet and continue to cook on medium heat for 5 minutes or until the sauce becomes a thick consistency. Pour the mixture into a 9 by 13 casserole dish and set aside.
- Cut a piece of parchment paper the size of the casserole dish (9 by 13) and coat with arrowroot powder (a few handfuls). Remove dough from fridge and place it on the parchment paper. Use your hand to lightly flatten the dough and sprinkle more arrowroot on top and on your rolling pin. Roll out the dough until it is evenly covering most of the parchment paper. You will need to continue to add arrowroot as you are rolling out the dough. Move the parchment paper close to your casserole dish. Lift the parchment paper up from the bottom and flip it over the casserole dish. The parchment paper should be on top. Remove the parchment paper slowly and adjust crust around the top of the casserole dish as needed. I like to press the sides down as much as possible to ensure the filling stays in. Use a fork to gently poke holes in the top of the crust and bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes.