Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie

I stumbled upon this idea a few years ago while I was surfing the internet for good slow cooker recipes. I can't remember the original source for the inspiration, but I think it was a blog that featured a slow cooker recipe for every day of the year! It might have been this one? A Year of Slow Cooking

Anyway, it was chock-full of awesome slow cooker ideas and recipes. I fell in love with my $20 CrockPot in Veterinary school. I bought a cheapie on sale at Target and started using it for the typical chilis, stew, soups, pot roasts, etc while I was stuck in class or clinics. It was so revolutionary for me to be able to come home to a hot dinner that was already made! It was fan-freaking-tastic!

So as I got a little more comfortable with the CrockPot I started to look for other was I could use it. Jambalaya, creamed corn, mac n' cheese, chex mix! The possibilities were pretty much endless. There were totally a few flops, but for the most part I was pretty happy with this new cooking tool.  So much so that I have yet to jump on the InstaPot craze (pressure cookers legit scare me).

One of my friend's Dad didn't quite understand the appeal. I remember when we were both talking about the awesomeness of slow cookers she mentioned her dad asked her why she needed one and what was the difference of just leaving a pot on the stove on low. Well, I think I feel a little more comfortable leaving the house with the slow cooker running vs. the stove or oven on. So there's that. And also, if you get a slow cooker with a removable ceramic insert, you can go straight from the fridge to the countertop cooking in the morning. And you won't have to worry about your house catching on fire. Or your dog or cat knocking a pot over while trying to sneak food.

I last made this slow cooker chicken pot pie a long time ago and one of my old roommates told me I needed to post the recipe. So here I am, a short 5 years later, posting it.

The key to this is to keep the moisture from building up in the pot. Otherwise your biscuit top will get soggy. This was a trick I learned from the Year of Slow Cooking blog: Place a kitchen towel under the lid and a wooden spoon between the pot and the lid to allow some steam to escape or get trapped. Now you don't have to do a separate step to bake the crust/biscuits! I hate additional steps when it comes to slow cookers. I mean, it kind of defeats the purpose of the slow cooker when I have to braise meat before-hand, or finish something off in the oven, etc!

Slow Cooker Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients:

• 1 lb. boneless, skinless chicken thighs or breast
• 1 can of cream of mushroom condensed soup (8 oz)
• 2 stalks celery, diced*
• 2 carrots, diced*
• 1 c. diced onion (about 1/2 a large yellow onion)
• 1 c. frozen green peas*
• 2-3 c. chicken stock
• 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
• salt and pepper
• 7 oz. mushrooms, sliced (optional)
• 1 16 oz. can of refrigerated biscuit dough (about 8 biscuits)

*If you didn't want to cut up vegetables yourself, you can totally use frozen vegetable medley's in place of those

Directions:

1. Combine chicken, all vegetables, cream of mushroom, and spices in crock pot
2. Layer biscuits over the top.
3. Wrap the top lid of the slow cooker with a kitchen towel and prop it open over the pot with the handle part of a wooden spoon.
4. Cook on low for 5-8 hours.
5. Optional: if you like your biscuits extra crispy, you can toast those up a bit in a toaster oven or oven for about 3-5 minutes at 350F; or if you are super lazy like me and your whole plate got cold while you were trying to feed/clean-up your toddler and distract your dog, stick the whole plate of stuff in the toaster oven for a few minutes.