The kids love chicken pot pie, but if you’ve ever make the whole thing from scratch, it can feel like an all-day affair. Here is a quicker way to have it for dinner.

INGREDIENTS (adapted from The Joy of Cooking)

About 1-1/2 or 2 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 T butter
1 medium onion, chopped
3 medium carrots, peeled and diced
2 celery stalks, diced
3/4 cup frozen peas

4 T butter
1/2 c flour or gluten-free/grain-free flours (for example: cornstarch, potato starch, coconut flour, arrowroot, tapioca starch)
2 cups chicken stock
1-1/2 cups milk (whole or 2%, or dairy-free)
Salt
Ground white pepper
Nutmeg

DIRECTIONS
Put the chicken in a large saucepan and cover with 2 cup broth and enough water to cover. Poach the chicken for about 15 minutes, or until done. Reserve 2 cups of the poaching liquid (and rinse out the pan to use for the white sauce so you don’t accumulate too many dishes). While the chicken cools, make the vegetables.

Heat 2 T butter or oil in a skillet. Add chopped vegetables (except for peas) and cook until tender, about 10 minutes. Set aside while you make the white sauce.

Melt 4 T (1/2 stick) butter in a saucepan, and add the flours, whisking together until blended. Slowly add the chicken broth and milk and keep whisking. It may look like a gloppy mess, but just keep at it until the sauce becomes smooth.

Dice the chicken and add it to the white sauce along the the vegetables and peas. Salt generously to taste, and add a sprinkle of white pepper and nutmeg. A squeeze of lemon juice is also a nice touch to brighten the flavors.

Ladle into bowls and serve with fluffy biscuits or almond biscuits.

If you have a pie crust or some puff pastry on hand, you can bake it in fun shapes. The kids can eat their soup with pie crust cookies.

If you are making pot pie, put it into a 9×13 casserole dish and cover with pie crust. Bake at 375 deg for about 30 minutes.