Chicken Pie Vs Chicken Pot Pie: What's The Difference?

It's pie with chicken, but is it pie or pot pie? We're digging up ancient Egyptian tombs, sneaking midnight leftovers, and slurping Bot Boy noodles to uncover why one of these things is not like the other. Chicken pie and chicken pot pie share a history that goes way back. The earliest representations of pie can be found on ancient Egyptian tombs. While those were generally fruit pies, the ancient Greeks and Romans were among the first to make savory meat pies, which got even more popular in Europe as farming livestock became a livelihood for much of the continent. That's also where wheat crops allowed for the creation of crusts. So where did chicken pie and chicken pot pie turn into different dishes? That happened once they landed in America. When early American settlers got creative in making the most out of their leftovers, they invented the pot pie. More ingredients like vegetables were added to the traditional meat pie in order to beef things up. Today, pot pie remains a popular comfort food for the entire nation. You might think homemade pie crust is best, but there's nothing wrong with opting for the store bought stuff either. Still, the crust is one of the major differences between a chicken pie and a chicken pot pie. A true Southern style chicken pie has a homemade crust. That crust is similar to what you might expect to see in a sweet fruit pie, covering the top and the bottom baked in a buttery, flaky crust. Chicken pot pie, on the other hand, often has just a top crust. There's enough crust to stand up to all that creamy filling, but not too much that it's going to get weighed down with pastry. Initially, standard meat pies leaned heavily on the protein of choice, but that changed when early Americans started using pies as a way to stretch their food supply. Now, pot pies almost always include vegetables, but just which vegetables those might be varies wildly based on the recipe. Carrots, corn, peas, celery, and potatoes are pretty standard, but the Sky's the limit. A pot pie featuring Tex Mex ingredients might include bell Peppers, poblano Peppers, and Chipotle Peppers in addition to black beans, all loaded up with the chicken. Traditional chicken pie, on the other hand, doesn't have any vegetables in it. Still, there's the slight caveat that if there are vegetables involved, they're the under the radar type that could make it past a picky 5 year old. You might notice that many chicken pie recipes call for thighs and chicken broth. If you're considering cooking chicken breasts, you might be better off choosing a chicken pot pie because of its key ingredients. Chicken pot pies often have a creamy ingredient and call for turning chicken broth into a gravy. Recipes sometimes call for a rotisserie chicken or so-called leftover chicken, including the breast. That's typically a dryer cut of the bird, so adding it to a creamy pot pie filling would help make sure you won't end up with a dried out pie. Many chicken pie recipes, on the other hand, call for tender, flavorful chicken thighs. There's more moisture and fat in thighs, so including them in a less gravy like recipe works because they don't dry out as quickly. The contrast in chicken pie and pot pie preparation can only mean that they're served in different ways, too. Since the chicken pot pie has a creamy filling and no bottom crust, it's easiest to eat when it's baked in a dish with deep sides, like a casserole or crock. The crust is perched on top, and that creamy gravy goodness is easy to serve or scoop out with a spoon. We'll take two chicken pot pies. Chicken pie, on the other hand, holds together like a fruit pie and easily keeps its shape. The filling is stable, and since it has a bottom crust, it can be cut into neater slices and served on a plate. Some recipes include broth to keep the meat from drying out, but for the most part, chicken pie can be sliced and chicken pot pie is usually dished out by the spoonful. We've all been there, it's the middle of the night, everyone's asleep, but we're hit with the case of the hungries. And to be honest, there's no way we're going to be able to fall back to sleep with a rumbling stomach. You could heat up leftovers, but the microwave could wake everyone up. Need something that works straight out of the fridge? Look no further than chicken pie. Just like it's cousin fried chicken, chicken pie is absolutely delicious to eat when it's cold. It's so popular that way that some recipes actually call for it to be made ahead of time and served cold the first time. For the record, it's definitely not the same story when it comes to chicken pot pie, which is much better while it's hot. Know you've got a busy few days coming up? Make a chicken pie, throw it in the fridge, and you're set for dinner. There's another variation on chicken and pie out there, the Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie. It's also called Amish chicken pot pie, with some key characteristics that make it completely different from any other pot pies. While the recipe features the usual carrots, peas, and potatoes, this particular kind of pot pie adds a different carb. Noodles. They're called Bot Boy noodles, and this dish is more properly called Chicken Bot Boy. It comes from an area of Pennsylvania that still maintains a close relationship with its 17th century German and Swiss roots, including the use of words rooted in European languages. German terms became anglicized as they spread outside of their immediate communities, and that language is still spoken today. There's another difference to this Pennsylvania Dutch recipe includes saffron, and while it might not seem like it's something that would traditionally appear in pot pies, thanks to a swath of Pennsylvania countryside dedicated to farming saffron, it's a key ingredient in traditional bop boy. Of course, being the comfort food connoisseurs that we are, we'd say yes to Bop Boy chicken pie or pot pie any day of the week.