Pot pie is a staple in my house during the cold winter months. This recipe is what I consider to be a “lazy meal.” One of my go-to recipes for when I don’t feel like making a big elaborate dinner. It uses pantry staples and produce that you most likely already have in your kitchen. This is a cozy meal that’s sure to be a crowd pleaser!
Something to note is that this recipe requires 2 sheets of pie crust. Whether you’re making the dough from scratch or using store bought, I find pie crust to be super helpful to have in the freezer at all times. Even when we lived in a motorhome traveling the country, I was sure to have pie crust in the freezer so I could make this recipe for when we were hosting friends. Yes, it’s that easy! I now make it regularly in our off grid cabin in the woods. I personally love to make sour dough pie crust, but have used store bought plenty of times and this recipe comes out delicious every time.
The secret is the sauce. Keep in mind this is a pantry staple recipe. So the sauce is made with 3 simple ingredients that I always have on hand. Milk, flour, and nutritional yeast. The sauce is cheesy, creamy and makes the vegetables bind to the meat and makes this pot pie so delicious. Hungry husband approved, and is great to feed a crowd, I hope you love this recipe just as much as I do.
This recipe can easily be made gluten free, vegan, or vegetarian. Just adjust using the appropriate flour, milk, and “meat”
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Nutritional yeast
Once upon a time, during my 10 year vegetarian season of my life, I discovered nutritional yeast from a dear friend who was sprinkling it on her salad. Once I realized not only was it delicious, it’s super good for you, I’ve always had it in my pantry ever since. Fast forward to now being a stay at home mom, and eating meat, I still use this stuff in my cooking. It provides a delicious “cheesy”, savory and umami flavor, plus is loaded with a bunch of vitamins, protein, antioxidants, and minerals.
Nutritional yeast contains all 9 essential amino acids, loaded with B vitamins, such as b12, and is good for your immunity because it contains trace minerals such as zinc.
As we call it in my house, “Nooch”, is so easy to add to recipes. Sprinkle it on popcorn, make the worlds easiest Mac and cheese using heavy butter and “nooch”, or have it be the star of the show in this pot pie sauce. The best part of “nooch” is that it is a pantry staple. So if you want a cheesy taste in your recipe, and don’t have actual cheese in your house, nutritional yeast saves the day. A little does not go a long way so don’t be shy to use a lot of it. You can’t go wrong.
Einkorn flour
In this pot pie sauce, you can use whatever flour you have on hand. All purpose, bread, oat or even whole wheat. But I love using einkorn flour. Particularly when it’s not a fermenting recipe, such as sour dough discard pizza.
The reason why I love using einkorn flour in non fermenting recipes, is because it has a lower gluten content that it’s All purpose flour counterpart. It’s less processed than traditional flours and has a more nutrient profile. Unfortunately Einkorn flour is not as easy to find though. I buy my einkorn products online, It’s a little pricier than other flours but I believe it’s better for myself and my family.
Don’t have einkorn flour? Don’t worry! This recipe is super flexible and you can use whatever flour you have in your pantry.
Milk
After making this recipe for years in many different seasons of life, I think it’s safe to say I’ve made this recipe with all different types of milk and it comes out delicious every time. Living off grid, I have come to love plant base milk concentrates. I could make a whole separate blog post about them but in a nut shell, (pun intended) it allows you to always have “milk” available in your pantry. Just add some concentrate, water, and other optional ingredients such as sweetners, and blend. Great for alternative lifestyles or trying to cut down on your waste. I love this stuff. Also great to add straight to a smoothie if you ran out of milk or juice, or make home made coffee creamer.
For years, I have made this recipe using milk concentrates, regular plant based milk, as well as raw milk. No need to adjust the recipe based off of your milk preference. Just use what you have!
Crust
This recipe calls for two sheets of pie crust. There’s no shame in some pre-bought game. I’ve use them plenty of times when I’ve been in a pinch. Lately I love making my crust from scratch, particularly sour dough. Pie crust dough is easy to make ahead of time and put in the freezer to save for a rainy day. If I have some free time on a random day, I’ll make some pie dough. Throw it in the freezer, and now I have homemade pie dough for if I need to have an easy dinner meal or have company coming over and would love to serve a homemade fruit pie. Whatever the need, I can’t encourage you enough to always have pie dough in your freezer. You’ll use it more than you’ll realize.
*pie tip: brush some milk on top of your pie before putting in the oven, it will add a nice coloring on top and will help prevent burning.
Filling
This is a very forgiving recipe. It uses very simple ingredients that you most likely already have in your fridge. Using heavy garlic and onion, a few carrots, couple handfuls of kale, and a pound of ground beef. Be sure not to go light on the garlic. More is better!
This recipe starts with the bulk of the work happening in your stock pot, transferring the ingredients to a prepared pie dish. Then baking it. Feel free to make this a head of time then just reheat it whenever your ready to make dinner. Freezer friendly!
How to make
To a large stock pot, over medium heat, add diced onions and garlic. Sweat them down using some oil, reserved bacon grease, or coconut oil. Roughly about 3 tablespoons.
Next add your ground beef
Once your meat has cooked add your carrots and kale
Next add the sauce ingredients: flour, milk, and nutritional yeast. Once combined, turn off the heat.
Next, Prepare a 9” pie dish with pie crust. Using a fork, poke holes on the bottom to help prevent a “mushy” bottom.
Add your filling
Then put the second layer of pie crust on top.
To prevent any possible spillage from smoking out your house, I like to put my pie on a pizza cooking tray lined with a silicone mat to catch any drippings. But this is optional. At this point, I trim the edges, using a fork to singe the two crusts together, and brush with some milk to encourage browning. Don’t forget to cut some holes on the top so heat can escape while cooking.
Bake at 350 for about 30-45 minutes. Rotating half way to get an even browning on all size.
This recipe is super simple and the oven does most of the work. I can’t wait for you to try it. Bon appetite!
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