My husband, Bruce, builds the most beautiful homes I have ever seen, our included! When he has boards going up (framing stage), he’s on the run to the job, to the lumber yard, to home and back again. Bruce often has to eat quickly or even grab something as he leaves for the next errand. I decided to make chicken hand pies since he loves chicken pot pies.
Chicken Hand Pies vs. Pot Pies
A hand pie should have a drier consistency and has to be sealed well. Juices from condiments, pickles, and tomatoes drip from sandwiches. Nothing should leak from these hand pies! I quickly put this together with ingredients I keep in the refrigerator and freezer. Except for puff pastry dough, you probably do, too. I suggest you keep a box in reserve. You can use puff pastry in so many sweet and savoury ways, and it’s always ready to go.
Easy Chicken Hand Pies
Ingredients
½ pound ground chicken (minced chicken)
½ small onion - chopped
1 stalk celery - chopped
1 small carrot - grated
¼ cup cheddar cheese - grated
2 teaspoons parsley - chopped
1 pinch salt - to taste
1 pinch ground black pepper - to taste- 1 pinch season salt
1 medium egg white- 1-2 sheets puff pastry dough - thawed
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. I like to use a pizza stone so that the pizza stone would be preheating in there, too. If no stone, use a cookie sheet. It works just fine.
- In a frying pan, brown the chicken in about one tablespoon of olive oil. Add salt and pepper to taste.
- When meat is thoroughly cooked, transfer to a bowl. Retain any oil or add a bit more to cook the vegetables. Again, add salt and pepper to taste. When the vegetables are tender, remove any liquids from both the meat and the vegetables.
- Combine the meat and vegetables in the still-warm frying pan—taste to determine if you want to add salt or seasoning. Add the cheese and parsley and mix well. The cheese should melt nicely and help the whole mixture stick together. Let it cool in the pan.
- On a lightly floured board, place a sheet of pastry dough unfolded (do not roll it out any thinner). Cut the pastry dough into four squares. This way, you can fold it into a rectangle or a triangle. Make sure you are working with cold dough.
- Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of meat and vegetables on one half of the square. You will need to leave about 1/2 inch around the cut sides to seal it with a fork. Be careful not to overfill because if you have to stretch the dough, there’ll be too much filling.
- Working with 1/2 of a sheet, I added two large scoops of mixture with no leaking. Fold the dough over the filling side and match up the edges. Gently press down to hold the seam in place. Using 1/4″ of the end of a fork, press into the dough to crimp the seal. Don’t go all the way to the board. Just make sure you have pressed the two sides together.
- Place the finished hand pies on a parchment-lined baking sheet and pop them in the frig. They will be so much easier to handle if you are transferring to a stone. Use the 15 or 20 minutes they are cooling in there to clean up.
- Now, with a pastry brush, coat the tops of the hand pies. It will help the seal and give it a beautiful tan as it cooks.
- Place the pies on the sheet in the oven for about 20 minutes. The tops will become a beautiful golden brown. If you are staying home, serve hot with roasted sweet potatoes (or whatever you like). If it’s for someone on the run, let them cool a bit and wrap them in wax paper, ready for the trip ahead.
