I’ve already got a pot pie recipe on this site, and it’s kind of my pride and joy, since it’s one I came up with myself, and (can I brag a little?) it’s to die for. Savory chicken, a velvety cream sauce, and pan-roasted veggies….mmmm….it’s like my wee chickeny baby I just love to dote upon.
But that doesn’t mean there aren’t other awesome pot pies out there, each with their own spin on the classic. My own recipe certainly isn’t the final word on pot pies, as far as I’m concerned. Especially when I see a new pot pie recipe that involves cheese.
That’s right, I said POT PIE WITH CHEESE.
If you’re a purist, you might think this sounds about as appealing as cheese on your breakfast cereal.(Aside: can I just note how long it took to think of something, anything, for that sentence that would be gross to put cheese on? But cereal and cheese does sound pretty wrong. Give me a minute, though–I may warm up to the idea…) When I saw this veggie pot pie skillet with cheddar biscuit topping over on Budget Bytes, I was smitten. If Beth, the author of that blog, tracks her visitor stats, she may have noticed a giant spike in the number of visits to that particular post in the last few weeks.
They’re all me. I have now made this recipe four times since Christmas, with no signs of slowing down.
Here’s why. This recipe is:
- Meatless
- Easy
- Cheap
- One-dish meal
- Uses very common ingredients, making it a virtually no-shop meal if you keep things like frozen vegetables, chicken broth, and flour on hand
- Totally cozy-comfort-food delicious!
Even my kids go crazy over this meal, which I normally would not think possible for something so obviously based on vegetables. The filling is herb-y and creamy and the biscuit topping always comes out light with just the right texture–a real feat for something as notoriously tough to nail as biscuits.
All that being said, I do have to confess that while it may be vegetarian, this recipe is definitely not low calorie or low fat, since it has quite a lot of butter and no small amount of cheese. Still, we’re talking pot pie here, so nobody’s expecting it to be super healthy, right? In moderation, it’s a yummy, easy one-dish meal that won’t break the bank. Try it out for an alternative to the usual pot pie!
Veggie Pot Pie Skillet with Cheddar Biscuits
Ingredients
For the filling:
- 3 Tbsp. butter
- 1 small onion, diced
- 3 Tbsp. flour
- 1 c. milk
- 1 c. vegetable broth
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 1/4 tsp. dried thyme
- 1/4 tsp. dried sage
- ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 lb. frozen mixed vegetables
For the cheddar biscuits:
- 2 c. all-purpose flour
- 1 Tbsp. baking powder
- 1/2 tsp. salt
- 6 Tbsp. cold butter
- 1 c. shredded cheddar
- 2 Tbsp. chives, snipped (or 2 tsp. dried chives)
- 1 c. milk
Instructions
For the filling:
- In a 12-inch oven-safe skillet (very important that it's oven-safe!), melt butter over medium heat. Add diced onion and saute until transparent, about 5 minutes. Add flour and continue to saute another minute. Pour in milk and vegetable broth and whisk until smooth. Add salt, thyme, sage, and some black pepper.
- Bring the mixture to a boil and let simmer for a couple of minutes until it thickens to to the point where a utensil dragged through it leaves a trail. Add frozen vegetables and stir to combine. Continue to cook until veggies are heated through. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees while you make the biscuits.
For the biscuits:
- In a large bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and salt. Cut in cold butter in small pieces and mix with your hands, the back of a fork, or a pastry cutter until the mixture looks like damp sand. Add cheddar and chives, then milk. Stir just until a dough comes together.
- Take the veggie filling off the heat and dollop the biscuit mixture evenly across the top of it.
- Bake 18-20 minutes or until biscuits are cooked through. Serve immediately, being very careful not to burn yourself as you serve from the skillet! (Lesson learned from experience.)
Notes
In the oven as I type! But I have a feeling it will be a poor representation of your creation– I completely forgot to buy baking powder and tried to substitute baking soda with soured milk instead…. then forgot the baking soda 😩
I mixed it frantically after cooking for 2 minutes. Hopefully I didn’t mix too many veggies in to the biscuits and somehow disbursed the leavening agents!
*sigh* next time I’ll know what I’m doing!
Okay, so…. this is amazing!!! Thank you for sharing, Sarah! You have changed Fridays in this house forever!
So glad you gave it a try, Shannon, and that it turned out well! Next time if you have baking powder maybe it’ll come out even better! (But pretty cool that it worked out without it.)
I do not have an “oven safe pan” would it be possible to cook the filling and then transfer it to a glass pan, add the topping and finish it that way? Will it effect the way it is cooked?
Hi Paulina! Yes, I think a glass dish would be fine and shouldn’t affect the cooking process.
After reading the side of a pancake box yesterday morning and seeing chicken pot pie, I just had to have it! Although, as a vegetarian I obviously wanted to have a meat-free pot pie! So after the pretty easy process of cooking this dish, it came out amazing! I did my twists with extra seasonings and fresh basil, parsley, and garlic, and it came out wonderful. This will definitely be made again but in a much smaller portion since all the meat-eaters in my house are doubting this delicious meal and aren’t wanting to give it a try.
Hi Justine, so glad this came out well for you! Thanks for visiting!
Do you think I could use almond milk in the filling? I’m worried it won’t thicken…
Hi Jamie, good question. I’m really not sure about almond milk here…I’ve used it in pudding and it has thickened, so it’s possible it would do so in this sauce as well. But I think you might also get an undesirable flavor from it. Let me know how it turns out if you try it!
Unsweetened original almond milk worked great in the filling recipe!
Some members of my family are lactose sensitive and one is a vegetarian. To accommodate everyone, I made Pillsbury biscuits, a cheddar chive biscuit (bought in the freezer section), diced chicken, and the filling with the almond milk. I let everyone make their own pot pie. It was a huge hit!
Awesome, thanks for the update!