This chicken pot pie pasta bake is very moist, rich, and flavorful, with buttery bread crumbs serving as a brilliant stand-in for pie crust. This is the perfect comfort food – a pasta casserole – that tastes just like that other perfect comfort food – chicken pot pie.
Chicken Pot Pie Pasta Bake
This chicken pot pie pasta bake is very moist, rich, and flavorful, with buttery bread crumbs serving as a brilliant stand-in for pie crust. This is the perfect comfort food – a pasta casserole – that tastes just like that other perfect comfort food – chicken pot pie.
Ingredients
- 1 whole roasted chicken
- 1 bay leaf
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter
- 1 yellow onion diced
- 3 carrots cubed
- 3 ribs celery cut into 1/2-inch pieces
- 1 teaspoon salt plus more to taste
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 6 cups chicken broth
- 1 rounded tablespoon chicken bouillon paste
- 1 cup green peas
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 pound dry pasta shells
Crumb Topping
- 1 cup panko bread crumbs
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 cup melted butter
Instructions
- Pull meat from chicken and refrigerate until needed.
- Add 2 quarts of water to a pot and transfer in chicken bones, skin, and any meat scraps. Add bay leaf and bring to a simmer on high heat. Reduce to low and simmer for 2 hours. Remove to cool, about 1 hour. Strain broth and reserve in refrigerator until needed. This may make more broth than the 6 cups needed.
- To make the pot pie mixture, add butter to a pot and melt over medium-high heat. Add onions, carrots, celery, and salt. Cook, stirring, until onions start to turn translucent, about 5 minutes.
- Season with pepper, thyme, garlic powder, and cayenne, and cook for 1 minute more. Add flour and cook until flour toasts to a golden brown on the bottom of the pot, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Stir in 6 cups of broth, and bring to a simmer on high heat, then reduce to medium. Add peas and cream and cook, stirring, for 10 minutes. Cut chicken meat into small bite-size pieces and add it in. Cook 5 minutes more. Turn off heat and reserve.
- Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
- Fill a large pot with lightly salted water and bring to a rolling boil. Stir in pasta and return to a boil. Cook pasta uncovered, stirring occasionally, i minute less than specified in package directions.. Drain very well; stir pasta into pot pie mixture. Transfer everything into a large, deep baking dish (about 4 1/2 quart size), and distribute evenly.
- Stir panko, salt, and melted butter together in a bowl; sprinkle evenly over casserole.
- Bake in the preheated oven until casserole is bubbling around the edges and top is browned, 45 to 60 minutes. Let rest 10 to 15 minutes before serving.
