Delicious flaky biscuits top an easy mixture of canned chunk chicken, mixed vegetables and cream of chicken soup in this week's pot pie. CHRIS THELEN/STAFF

Homemade warmth

Chicken pot pie can be quick and simple but still rich in flavor with right ingredients

Web posted March 1, 2000

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 Biscuit-Topped Chicken Pot Pie

By Karin Calloway
Special Columnist

Chicken pot pie is comfort food at its best. The combination of creamy chicken and vegetables topped with a flaky crust is as welcome as a hug from your mom.

I was raised by a busy mother. A piano teacher, church choir director and active community volunteer, she had plenty of time for hugs but rarely enough time to boil a chicken, remove the meat from the bones, make a sauce and roll out biscuits for the perfect pot pie. The pot pie in my house often came from the freezer section of the grocery store.

Today I'm offering you an alternative to frozen chicken pot pie. My quick version packs homey goodness with only a few minutes of preparation time.

Cream-of-chicken soup and sour cream replace a more labor-intensive white sauce, and canned goods reduce the amount of other cooking involved. Canned mixed vegetables and chunk chicken are used, and refrigerated flaky biscuits add the crowning touch.

Visit Karin Calloway's Quick Cooking recipe archive

What may surprise you in today's recipe is that you can have a creamy, rich-tasting pot pie that contains reduced-fat or fat-free products. I've said before that I prefer the Healthy Request cream-of-chicken soup in most dishes, but I haven't had great results when substituting fat-free sour cream in most recipes. This recipe is an exception. The fat-free sour cream doesn't detract from the taste or texture of the pot pie.

I've never been a big fan of canned chicken. The cans that include all white meat tend to be dry and chewy. Recently, I discovered chunk chicken packed in water. It includes white and dark meat, is 96 percent fat-free and has the flavor and moist texture of a chicken that you've stewed yourself. It's perfect for this recipe, but I wouldn't recommend it for chicken salad since it is fairly saucy, and the liquid from the can is hard to drain.

If you aren't a fan of canned vegetables, simply substitute a 10-ounce package of frozen mixed vegetables. Thaw the vegetables in the microwave or in the refrigerator overnight before adding to the casserole. I chose canned vegetables for today's recipe because that's what my children prefer.

The recipe uses six biscuits split in half horizontally. The Hungry Jack biscuits I purchased came with 10 biscuits in the tube. Refrigerate the extra biscuits in a zip-top plastic bag for tomorrow's breakfast or as a side to a bowl of soup.

Or use them as a topping for an apple or cherry cobbler the next evening. Simply place a can of apple- or cherry-pie filling in a square baking dish. Halve the biscuits horizontally and cut each half into quarters. Toss them in a bowl with 2 tablespoons melted butter, 2 tablespoons brown sugar and 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon. Spread the biscuit pieces over the top of the pie filling and bake in a 350-degree oven for 20 to 30 minutes, until the fruit is bubbly and biscuits are done. Top each serving with vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Biscuit-Topped Chicken Pot Pie

1 10 3/4 -ounce can Healthy Request cream of chicken soup

1 cup fat-free, low-fat or regular sour cream

1 15-ounce can mixed vegetables, well drained

1 10-ounce can chunk chicken in water, undrained

6 biscuits from 1 tube flaky biscuits

1 tablespoon melted butter or margarine or nonstick cooking spray

Heat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine soup, sour cream, drained vegetables and chicken in a medium bowl. Spread in a 2-quart casserole prepared with nonstick cooking spray. Split 6 of the biscuits in half horizontally and place over the chicken mixture. Drizzle a little melted butter or margarine over each biscuit, or spray each biscuit with a bit of nonstick cooking spray.

Place in oven and bake for 30 minutes, until chicken mixture is bubbly and biscuits are golden brown.

Makes 4 servings.

Karin Calloway is a Web chef for Viking Range Corp. (www.vikingrange.com) and a member of the International Association of Culinary Professionals. You can write her in care of Newsroom, The Augusta Chronicle, P.O. Box 1928, Augusta, Ga. 30913. Or send e-mail to karingca@aol.com.