I am not a food blogger and don’t have a “jump to recipe” button so I’ll post the recipe first!

Ingredients

2 boxes of pie crust (I just get the generic or whatever is on sale)

1 1/2 sticks of butter (12 tbs)

1 cup of chopped onion

2/3 cup of flour

1 tsp of salt

1/2 tsp of pepper

1/2 tsp of paprika

1 tsp of garlic powder

3.5 cups of chicken broth (28 fluid ounces)

1 cup of milk (or cream)

5 cups of shredded chicken

4 cups of frozen mixed vegetables thawed

First preheat oven two 425 and prepare pie crusts as directed in two 9 inch glass pie pans.

Next in a stock pot melt butter over medium heat.

After butter is melted add onion and cook 2 minutes stirring frequently.

Stir in flour, salt, pepper, paprika, and garlic powder until well blended.

Gradually add broth and milk stirring until bubbly and thick.

Now add the chicken and veggies.

Stir everything together and remove from heat.

Spoon half of the mixture in on pie crust and add the rest to the other pie crust.

Top the pies with the second crust. Seal it by pinching the edges or pressing a fork down all the way around.

Cut about 5 slits into the tops of each pie crust. I like making a star shape, but you can get however creative you like with the tops of pies.

Put your pies in the middle rack of the oven and cook them for 30 to 40 minutes or until crust is golden brown. To prevent excessive browning you can add aluminum foil to the edge of the crust in the second half of the baking. The easiest way to do this tear off a sheet of aluminum foil that is about the size of your pie and cut a hole (about 6 inches in diameter) in the middle.

After you finish baking remove the foil and let cool for 5 minutes.

Bon apetite!

Now for the back story.

It truly seems like yesterday I had toddlers and today I have teens. Not quite, but with a family of six that includes boys that 14 years old and 9 years old boy along with two girls ages 12 and 6 year, the appetites are increasing DAILY and it is hard to keep up. I LOVE chicken pot pie. Not only is my favorite comfort food, but it’s one of the few foods that all four of my kids like. The problem is one pie made in a 9 inch pie pan is only going to give you six full size slices. That’s not going to cover it for my family! I looked for a chicken pot pie casserole recipe and searched for something that might accommodate a large family. However everything I tried ended up being a flop and couldn’t compare to the chicken pot pie I know and love. So last night I just doubled my favorite recipe and made TWO pies. It was so yummy. Everyone was full. No conniving or bribing happened. That’s a win in my book. So I posted my pies on Instagram and immediately got recipe requests.

That’s what inspired me to do this full blog post. I based my recipe off of this one. This along with everything I make is on my Pinterest page. Give me a follow @MessyMom. Take note that the original recipe does not have paprika or garlic powder and of course the increments are split in half because it’s a recipe for one pie. We ended up having a lot left over which is great! I love having leftovers. On Sundays I usually have what I call a “free for all” and I try to liquidate all of the things that are in the left over food from the week before so that the fridge is cleared out for my grocery shopping on Monday. It works well since Sundays are busy for us. Another thing I love having leftovers for is that they make easy lunches! Leftovers are my friend, but one that I was seeing less and less of as my children have started inhaling adult portions. I’m still working on tweaking our meals to accommodate the needs, but this chicken pot pie is one put on rotation, especially in winter.