This vegan chicken pot pie is made with tender veggies simmered in savory herbed sauce and baked up under a flaky pastry crust!
When my husband and I first began dating, he was really interested in my cooking and made frequent requests, usually for vegan versions of his old, non-vegan favorite dishes. This is actually a big part of what got me started blogging. (Thanks hubs!)
Some things I tackled right away. I was all about the Reuben sandwich, so much that I’ve blogged four versions of it. Others took a bit longer. I was never a big fan of meatloaf, but eventually figured out that I love it when it’s vegan. The idea of making a vegan chicken pot pie took a little while for me to warm up to. I think I only actually ate the dish once when I was kid, and I guess I wasn’t that impressed, because I did give up meat and all by the time I was thirteen. A couple of years ago I caved in, but just sort of, and came up with this French onion pot pie. Delicious, he tells me, but not a chicken pot pie by a long stretch.
Finally, after five years together and three plus years blogging, I’m ready. And I think I did a pretty darn good job!
So, pot pie! There’s a lot of directions you can take when putting together a vegan chicken pot pie, which I proved pretty well by getting sidetracked with the whole French onion thing. This time around, I opted to stay as true to form as possible, and instead of creating a fun vegan chicken pot pie with a twist, I made something that adhered as much as possible to the classic.
Veggies, herbs, creamy gravy and vegan chicken, in the form of mushrooms + seitan, all baked up under a flaky crust. I know lots of you aren’t into seitan, so if that’s the case, skip it and double the mushrooms. I know some of you are into seitan big time. If that’s the case, omit the mushrooms and use twice the seitan. Either way it should be pretty chicken pot pie-esque. You can also go in lots of directions with the crust. Puff pastry was my favorite, but if you want something a bit healthier, use the whole wheat olive oil crust from my earlier pot pie recipe.
Vegan Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons olive oil, divided
- 10 ounces cremini or button mushrooms, stemmed, cleaned and sliced
- 1 medium onion, diced
- 2 cups diced carrots, about 3 medium carrots
- 1 1/2 cups diced celery, about 2 stalks
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 1 8 ounce package seitan, finely diced
- 1 cup dry white wine
- 1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh rosemary, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, or 1 teaspoon dried
- 1/2 cup whole wheat flour, all-purpose works too
- 2 cups vegetable broth
- 1 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes, use more if you'd like
- 1 tablespoon soy sauce
- 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
- 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 vegan pie crust of choice, you can use store bought pie crust, one batch of my whole wheat olive oil crust, or vegan puff pastry
Instructions
- Coat the bottom of a large pot with 1 tablespoon of oil and place over medium heat. Add mushrooms in an even layer and cook for about 5 minutes, until browned on bottoms. Flip and cook 5 minutes more. Remove from the pot and transfer to a plate.
- Add remaining oil to the pot, along with onion, carrot, celery and garlic. Cook for about 10 minutes, flipping occasionally with a spatula, just until the veggies begin to soften and onions become translucent. Return mushrooms to the pot and add seitan, along with any juice in the package.
- Add wine, rosemary and thyme to the pot and bring to a simmer. Allow to cook for about 10 minutes, until most of the liquid has cooked off.
- Add flour, a bit at a time, stirring frequently to form a thick paste that coats the veggies. Add broth, milk, nutritional yeast, soy sauce and liquid smoke. Raise heat and bring to a simmer. Lower heat and allow to cook at a low simmer for about 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until veggies are tender. Stir in peas. Taste test and season with salt and pepper to taste. Adjust any other seasonings as desired.
- Preheat oven to 375°. Gather a 9 x 9 inch casserole dish. Use a rolling pin to roll pie crust or puff pastry so that it's large enough to fully cover the top of the dish. (This may not be necessary if using premade puff pastry.)
- Transfer the vegetable stew into the dish, then drape crust overtop, trimming any low hanging edges. Cut a few slits in the dough.
- Bake until crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, about 30-35 minutes if using a puff pastry crust, 40-45 minutes for pie crust or olive oil crust.
- Remove from oven and allow to sit for about 5 minutes before serving.
Recipe Notes
If you don't like seitan, leave it out and double the mushrooms. If you don't like mushrooms, leave them out (skip the first step) and double the seitan.
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