When I think of the ultimate comfort food, my mind automatically goes straight to chicken pot pie. When I think of chicken pot pie, I instantly think of winter because it’s usually what I make on a cold night when I’m trying to warm us up with a comforting and filling dish. The trouble is that I crave it during the summer months as well, but don’t make it because it’s a bit too rich for summer. This is where these Chicken Pot Pie Sandwiches come into play. They’re a cross between a classic chicken salad with mayo and a comforting chicken pot pie, the kind with biscuits baked right on top. It’s a dream come true if you really think about it, and the perfect summer dish to make all season long.
Let’s start with the buttermilk biscuits. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter and working quickly, use your finger tips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs of varying sizes.
**Tip: You can use store-bought biscuits if you prefer or are tight on time, but nothing really beats homemade biscuits. You can also use dinner rolls or Kaiser rolls instead. The filling is delicious either way!**
Make a well in the center of the bowl and add in the buttermilk. Using a rubber spatula, stir until the mixture just comes together. You want to work as quickly as possible so that you don’t warm up the butter too much. Cold butter equals flakier higher biscuits.
Dump out onto a floured work surface and knead until the mixture forms a rough looking dough. Roll out into a rectangle and then fold over onto it self. Rotate and roll out once more, folding again and repeating the process once more. Finally, roll out to a rectangle that is 1-inch thick. Cut out into eight rounds using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You might have to rework the scraps to get all eight. Place the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet, placing them close to each other without touching. Freeze for 10 minutes. Brush the tops with melted butter, reduce the oven temperature to 400°F and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.
**Tip: If you want to make these ahead of time, the biscuits can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the fridge until ready to use. Just rewarm before assembling.**
Let’s turn our attention to the chicken pot pie filling, which happens to be a cross between chicken salad with mayo and a chicken pot pie filling. Place the potatoes and carrots in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, and cook until just fork tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
Set a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon butter. Once melted, add in the chicken and cook, stirring often, until just starting to brown and almost cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes.
Carefully drain any liquid, if any, that has accumulated in the pan. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet and then stir the onion, garlic, and celery. Cook until the veggies have softened and the chicken has fully cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme.
Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cook until it’s almost all evaporated, about 5 minutes. Add the peas and cook until bright green and the chill has been taken off.
**Note: You want to use a dry white wine that you’d drink because A) you’ll have leftovers and you’ll want to drink it and because that flavor will be in the filling!**
Remove from the heat, stir in the peas and transfer everything to the large bowl with the potatoes and carrots and set aside to cool completely.
Once cooled, stir in the mayo and parsley. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt or pepper if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour.
To assemble the sandwiches, split open the biscuits and fill each with a heaping amount of the chilled salad. Place the top part of the biscuits on top and serve immediately.
The great thing about this recipe is that you can make both components (the filling and the biscuits) ahead of time and store them in the fridge separately. Then just assemble right before you plan on serving the sandwiches. You can rewarm the biscuits in a 300°F oven for about 5 minutes to take the chill off of them before filling.
Serve as a great weekend lunch or an easy no-stress weeknight dinner. I like to serve them with some chips on the side because I can’t have a sandwich without chips. And don’t forget about the rest of that wine from the filling.
If you’re a classic chicken salad lover and an admirer of comforting chicken pot pie, then you’re going to love these Chicken Pot Pie Sandwiches. They’re a great mix of the two dishes and a great way to eat chicken pot pie outside of winter. Give it a try and let me know what you think!
- 3 small Yukon gold potatoes, rinsed and diced
- 1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 pound chicken tenders, diced
- 1 small onion, diced
- 2 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 celery stalks, diced
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
- 1 cup dry white wine
- ½ cup frozen peas, thawed
- ½ cup mayonnaise
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh parsley
- 8 store-bought or homemade biscuits (recipe follows)
- 3½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- ¼ teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and diced
- 1 cup chilled buttermilk
- 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted for topping
- Place the potatoes and carrots in a medium saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, and cook until just fork tender, about 12 to 15 minutes. Drain, transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
- Set a large skillet over medium-high heat with 1 tablespoon butter. Once melted, add in the chicken and cook, stirring often, until just starting to brown and almost cooked through, about 3 to 4 minutes. Carefully drain any liquid, if any, that has accumulated in the pan. Add the remaining tablespoon of butter to the skillet and then stir the onion, garlic, and celery. Cook until the veggies have softened and the chicken has fully cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt, pepper, and thyme. Deglaze the pan with the white wine and cook until it's almost all evaporated, about 5 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the peas and transfer everything to the large bowl with the potatoes and carrots and set aside to cool completely.
- Once cooled, stir in the mayo and parsley. Give it a taste and adjust seasonings as needed, adding more salt or pepper if necessary. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 1 hour. To assemble the sandwiches, split open the biscuits and fill each with a heaping amount of the chilled salad. Place the top part of the biscuits on top and serve immediately. Enjoy!
- To make the biscuits: preheat oven to 425°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter and working quickly, use your finger tips to rub the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles coarse crumbs of varying sizes. Make a well in the center of the bowl and add in the buttermilk. Using a rubber spatula, stir until the mixture just comes together. Dump out onto a floured work surface and knead until the mixture forms a rough looking dough. Roll out into a rectangle and then fold over onto it self. Rotate and roll out once more, folding again and repeating the process once more. Finally, roll out to a rectangle that is 1-inch thick. Cut out into eight rounds using a 4-inch biscuit cutter. You might have to rework the scraps to get all eight. Place the biscuits onto the prepared baking sheet, placing them close to each other without touching. Freeze for 10 minutes. Brush the tops with melted butter, reduce the oven temperature to 400°F and bake until golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes. Biscuits can be made up to 2 days in advance and stored in the fridge. Just rewarm before assembling.
You are a genius and I love you!
Yum! Made them for dinner tonight.