Cozy Chicken Hand Pies
I first whipped these up on a cold, rainy day in beautiful Québec City while my mom and I were road-tripping around Canada. After spending a week on Prince Edward Island and many days exploring Nova Scotia, I can’t say we were sad about a rainy Canadian day to rest and reset. P.S. If you’re looking for some Unique Things to Do in Quebec City check this out!
I’d made us some delicious chicken thighs the night before and though my mom claims to eat leftovers, it’s not her preferred choice. We made a quick run to the store (and a pit stop at perhaps my favorite Canadian bakery of the trip) and I figured, why not try to whip together some hand pies?
These are savory and delicious, almost like a hand-held chicken pot pie, and so versatile. If you have some leftover veggies that are different from the ones below, swap them in. Turkey leftover from Thanksgiving instead of chicken? Use that up instead! Simply roll out your store-bought puff pastry, pack it with filling, cover it, and bake it for the flakiest dinner paired easily with some green beans or a simple salad.
Also, you can easily make this recipe without leftovers. See the notes below for cooking fresh the day of!
Cheers to deliciously reinvented leftovers and hand-held savory (and of course sweet) pies!
WHY A HAND PIE?
(sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
(sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
INGREDIENTS
- (sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
(sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN HAND PIES
(sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
3 reasons you’ll love these pies
TIPS & VARIATIONS
- (sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
MAKING AHEAD & STORING
(sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
MORE COZY RECIPES
(sorry, coming soon with a website update – full recipe available at the bottom!)
Equipment
- Knife
- Cutting Board
- Foil
- Frying Pan
- Spatulas
- Spoon
- Measuring Cups
- Meausring Spoons
- Parchment Paper
- Baking Sheet
- Pastry Brush
- Fork
- Mixing Bowls
Ingredients
- 1 head of garlic
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- ½ yellow onion thin half slices
- 1 cup fresh spinach roughly chopped
- ½ cup cooked carrots finely diced
- ¾ tsp salt
- ¼ tsp pepper
- ½ tsp ground thyme
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 2 tsp flour
- ¾ cup chicken broth
- 1 ½ cups leftover chicken meat shredded
- 1 ½ cups yellow potatoes parboiled and finely diced (2-3 potatoes)
- ⅓ cup cream
- Frozen puff pastry dough 2 sheets, thawed in the fridge
- Egg optional
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400F
- Roast your garlic: Cut the top of your head of garlic off, to open it up without cutting off too much of the actual garlic, drizzle olive oil over top, and wrap in foil. Place directly on the middle rack of your oven and bake for 30 minutes before removing and setting aside to cool
- Once your garlic has cooled enough to handle, in a large frying pan add your 2 tablespoons of olive oil and your sliced onions. Stir and cook over medium heat until transparent and a little color starts to show, about 3-5 minutes
- Squeeze in your roasted garlic then add your spinach, carrots, salt, pepper, thyme, and parsley. Cooking down until the spinach has wilted
- Sprinkle flour over your mixture and stir together. Cooking another minute or two to cook out some of that raw flour flavor
- Pour in your chicken broth and stir together, scraping any bits off the sides and bottom of the pan, and bring to a simmer
- Add in your shredded chicken and diced potatoes
- Stir in your cream and bring the mixture back to a simmer, just to warm everything through
- Remove from heat and let cool at room temp for 15 minutes, cover, and place in the fridge for another 40 minutes to allow the flavors to marinate and your mixture to cool
- Preheat your oven to 400F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper
- Spread out your puff pastry sheets and cut into 6 even rectangles per sheet (12 total)
- Place 6 of the squares on your lined baking tray, with about an inch of space in between
- Take your chicken mixture out of the fridge and add a heaping scoop to each square. Splitting the mixture evenly across the six rectangles
- Cover with the remaining 6 puff pastry rectangles and use a fork to crimp closed all the edges
- Beat together your egg with a splash of water and brush the tops of your pricked rectangles. Carefully prick the top of each rectangle to allow the pastry to breathe while cooking
- Bake for 20-25 minutes until a deep golden brown
- Remove and let cool on a wire rack for 15 minutes
- Enjoy!
