Chickpea Pot Pie

A vegan twist on a classic pot pie! This recipe is a crowd pleaser for both vegans and meat-eaters alike, relying on familiar flavors and a super flaky pie crust. The Origin For years, Sally's Baking Addiction has been one of my favorite baking blogs. When I found her recipe for Turkey Skillet Pot Pie, it looked like a wonderful pot pie with classic, nostalgic flavors. Although I didn't eat meat growing up, my parents would often make these Amy's pot pies for an easy dinner and so I was familiar with the comforting aura of pot pie. I decided to try out this recipe but with my husband's favorite food - chickpeas! Although I started out following her recipe more closely, I made a few tweaks to make it my own and to really accentuate the chickpeas. This dish is now one of our favorites to make for guests - most of my friends who have come over in the past 2 years for dinner have had it at least once, if not more. It's the perfect meal for 6, or if you have more people, just increase or even double the filling ingredients and make sure your crust is big enough to cover the whole pan. Not to mention it makes great leftovers!! The Ingredients It might deceptively seem like the star here is the chickpeas, but really, it's the pie crust. If you haven't made it before, I promise you, you can do it. Read this recipe at least once (yes, including the description) and then try it out. It makes 2 crusts and you only need 1 for this recipe, but you can save the other in the freezer for up to 3 months. If you're vegan, just use Miyoko's (my favorite vegan butter) or any other brand available to you as a substitute for the butter, otherwise following the recipe as is. I've made it like this many times and it turns out even better than the dairy version in my opinion! Okay but of course we also have to make a great filling to hold up to that perfect crust. Our filling here is made up of:

• Vegetables: I stick to the absolute classics of pot pie - garlic, onion, carrot, peas, corn and potato. If you don't like my choices, feel free to sub out with your favorite pot pie veggies!
• Chickpeas: These add protein and fiber to our pot pie and let us pretend that it's a very healthy meal😉They are also delicious - they get super soft from the cooking and really absorb the flavor of the sauce.
• Thyme: The absolute key to that nostalgic pot pie flavor. Don't skip it!!
• Flour, milk, broth, salt and pepper: Together, these combine to make our creamy and thick base that makes pot pie that memorable comfort food. I haven't tried this with any flour types other than all-purpose but let me know in the comments if you do! I've tried all of dairy, oat and almond milk and it turned out great every time. For the broth, I always use Better than Bouillon but any variety works!

The Method I always assumed that pot pie would be so difficult to make, but this recipe is actually fairly simple. A few potential stumbling blocks that I'll point out before you get started:

1. If you include potatoes, make sure they are fully cooked (easily stabbed with a fork - or just taste one!) before you put on the crust and put it in the oven. I made this fatal error myself once and ended up having to pick out half the potato pieces as I ate it because they were still hard. The potato will not cook substantially in the oven.
2. Once you add the milk and broth, don't let the mixture dry out. If you notice the liquid getting thick, that's okay, but if it dips too far below the filling ingredients, don't be afraid to keep adding water (or broth if it's not too salty) as long as it's still on the stove. The filling liquid will cook off a bit more in the oven, so it's better to err on the side of slightly too wet vs too dry while it's cooking.

This pot pie has brought me and my family a lot of joy and comfort, so I really hope you enjoy trying out this nostalgic classic for yourself.