Cooking for One
by: Eric Kim
May16,2019
4
12 Ratings
- Prep time 10 minutes
- Cook time 40 minutes
- Serves 1
Jump to Recipe
Author Notes
This chicken pot pie recipe is a reminder that comfort food doesn't have to mean heavy. A light Thai curry and coconut chicken filling takes the winter favorite and makes it fit for these warm and rainy days of spring. In the same way that I adore Better Than Bouillon chicken concentrate, store-bought red curry paste is a great shortcut for lazy weekends in, when you're looking for maximal flavor (here in the form of Thai red chiles, garlic, and lemongrass) but with minimal effort.
Speaking of minimal effort, the pie crust is homemade, with the idea in mind that making one single portion of dough feels somehow more manageable than a large one. Relaxing even, at least for me. (But hey, I won't be mad if you decide to use store-bought puff pastry; that stuff is delicious, too.) —Eric Kim
Test Kitchen Notes
Featured in: . —The Editors
- Test Kitchen-Approved
What You'll Need
Ingredients
- Pie crust
- 4 tablespoonscold unsalted butter, cut up into small pieces
- 3/4 cupplus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling out
- 2 to 3 tablespoonsice water
- 1 large pinch kosher salt
- Filling
- 1 tablespoonunsalted butter
- 1 large shallot, diced
- 2 boneless, skinless chicken thighs (about 1/2 pound), cut into bite-size pieces
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2 tablespoonsThai red curry paste
- 2/3 cupunsweetened coconut milk (one of those mini 5.46–fluid ounce cans), well mixed (or if you want a more classically creamy filling, 2/3 cup heavy cream plus 2 tablespoons chicken stock)
- 1 cupradishes, quartered
- 1/2 cupfrozen peas
- 2 teaspoonsfish sauce
- 1/2 lime, juiced
- 1 pinchsugar
Directions
- Preheat oven to 400°F.
- For the pie crust: In a small bowl using the tips of your fingers, press the flour into the butter until you have small, flat pieces (and most of the flour is touching butter in some way). Add the ice water and salt and form dough into a ball. Wrap and chill in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
- For the filling: In a small 8-inch, oven-safe skillet, melt the butter and sauté the shallot for 1 to 2 minutes, just until fragrant. Add the chicken thighs, season with salt and pepper, and cook for 3 minutes. Stir in the curry paste and cook for 1 minute. Add the coconut milk, bring to a simmer, and keep cooking until reduced slightly, about 10 to 15 minutes. (If you've decided to use heavy cream and chicken stock instead of coconut milk, then skip this step and add them in the next.)
- Turn off the heat; add the radishes, peas, fish sauce, lime juice, and sugar (plus cream and stock if using); and stir together.
- Take the pie dough out of the fridge and, using a wine bottle (the best rolling pin in my book), roll out into a flat 9-inch circle (i.e., large enough so it's about 1 inch larger in diameter than the skillet), about 1/8 inch thick. Gently place over the filling, folding the edge under itself all the way around the pan to seal. Crimp if you have the skills (I don't). Cut four slits on top and transfer skillet to a sheet pan (for insurance, in case the pot pie spills over while cooking).
- Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, or until the crust has browned and filling has reduced.
Tags:
- Pot Pie
- Thai
- Asian
- American
- Chicken
- One-Pot Wonders
- Weeknight Cooking
- Cooking for One
- Weekend Cooking
- Entree
- Dinner
See what other Food52ers are saying.
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Lauren
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jane.pilcher1
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Victoria Woodson-Lafair
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Peter Joseph
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Eric Kim
Eric Kim was the Table for One columnist at Food52. He is currently working on his first cookbook, KOREAN AMERICAN, to be published by Clarkson Potter in 2022. His favorite writers are William Faulkner, John Steinbeck, and Ernest Hemingway, but his hero is Nigella Lawson. You can find his bylines at The New York Times, where he works now as a writer. Follow him on Twitter and Instagram at @ericjoonho.
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10 Reviews
Lauren April 1, 2020
Loved this! I made it for two (I know, I know, the whole point of the recipe is for one) so I just put it in a slightly larger cast iron pan, used a little more veggies and chicken and coconut milk and it was fine. I made my own gluten free crust and it was ok but I'll tweak that next time. I used a mix of carrots, asparagus, and green beans (because: coronavirus quarantine...that's all I had). It came out great. I will definitely make again and my husband loved it.
jane.pilcher1 January 27, 2020
I certainly agree with you about the Better Than Boullion (sp?) to keep on hand in refrig for stock. I’ve been using it for a number of years & it’s the BEST. I cook for one all the time & this pot pie sounds great. Must try it. And I freeze bacon also in portions. I freeze many dishes to eat at another time. I love leftovers, mine anyway! Lol!
Peter J. January 27, 2020
Your comment on freezing bacon reminded me of something. Trader Joe's sells small packages of excellent bacon ends and pieces. I keep one or two in the freezer and cut off as much as I need from the frozen block for recipes that call for chopped bacon, lardons, etc. then wrap the remainder in plastic wrap.
Victoria W. October 28, 2019
DELICIOUS! I used bok-Choy (2 whole stems) carrot straws, diced potatoes and the few Brussels all from the previous night’s roasted chicken. Also used left over roast chicken instead of boneless thighs and a sheet of puffed pastry/filo dough. GUESS WHAT? .... it’s all gone! .... ok ok perhaps I created a whole new recipe. But either way... ....YOU GOTTA TRY THIS
Eric K. October 28, 2019
Ugh, that sound so good. I have some leftover phyllo in my fridge; I'll try this sometime.
Peter J. September 23, 2019
This recipe reminds me of a mistake we made years ago while trying to make Jamaican beef patties from the recipe in the late Mollie O'Neal's New York Cookbook that might provide an interesting variation on this recipe. The pattie dough has curry powder in it, but for some reason, the dough we made was not right for making patties. After a couple of days in the fridge, I decided to use it for a chicken pot pie, and it has become a staple ever since.
Eric K. October 28, 2019
I love that, Peter.
Rachel August 14, 2019
Hi! Any proportioning/cooking recs for scaling this up to a 10- or 12-in skillet to share?
HappyHugs May 16, 2019
Oh! You forgot to tell us to put the pie crust on in the last step! I assume you roll it out and drape it over the top and crimp the edges?
Eric K. May 16, 2019
Yes, correct! Thanks for flagging; see Step 5 now.
