Chicken Pot Pie Bundles

Chicken pot pie is one of my absolute favorite foods. I remember back when I was in high school, my mom would buy those Marie Calendar's individual chicken pot pies, and I'd eat one at least once a week when I would get home from soccer practice. It was like my 'pre-dinner' meal. That was then I could pretty much eat whatever I wanted. Sigh. 

The problem with chicken pot pie is that generally it's packed full of calories. Which, I suppose, is what makes it such a fabulous comfort food. I've tried my fair share of chicken pot pie recipes, and nothing has really done it for me. Until I came across the recipe I'm sharing with you today! This recipe for Chicken Pot Pie Bundles has all the savory taste of traditional chicken pot pie, but a fraction of the calories. These bundles are packed full of veggies, and they are perfectly portioned. And because each one of these fabulous bundles is so low in calories (approximately 180 each), feel free to have more than 1 - your secret is safe with me.

Ingredients:

• olive oil
• 1 boneless, skinless chicken breast, cut into bite sized pieces
• 1 large carrot, peeled & diced into 1/4 inch pieces (about 1 cup)
• 1 small onion, diced into 1/4 inch pieces (about 1/2 cup)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tsp freshly chopped tarragon, or 1/2 tsp dried tarragon
• 1/2 tsp kosher salt
• pinch of ground pepper
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 4 tsp cornstarch
• 3/4 cup frozen petite peas
• 3/4 cup frozen corn kernels
• 2 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 12 egg roll wrappers (NOT wonton wrappers - get the big egg roll wrappers!)

How to:

• Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat some olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Add carrots and onion to skillet, stir frequently and cook until softened - about 5 minutes.
• Add garlic, mix, and cook for an additional 1 minute, stirring frequently.
• Add in chicken, tarragon, salt, and pepper. Cook until the chicken is no longer pink - about 5 minutes.
• Add in peas and corn and heat until thawed, about 2 minutes.
• Whisk together chicken broth and cornstarch in a separate bowl. Add chicken broth to skillet and heat to a simmer. Cook until thickened, about 2 minutes, stirring gently to mix.
• Gently place an egg roll wrapper in each cup of a 12-cup muffin tin. Let the sides of the egg roll wrapper extend over the sides of each cup (see picture).
• Fill each cup with a generous 1/4 cup of skillet mixture.
• Top with Parmesan cheese.
• Gather the sides of each egg roll wrapper and press together to seal each bundle. It helps to wet your fingers with a small amount of water so the bundles seal better. 
• Brush the tops of each bundle with olive oil. 
• Bake for 12-15 minutes, or until bundles are browned.

I found it helpful to fully 'seal' the bundles after I brushed them with the olive oil. These individual pot pies took a some time to prepare  (mostly the prep work - cutting up raw chicken always takes me forever), but the end result was SO worth it. I've never cooked with tarragon before, so I wonder if this is where all the fabulous taste came from. As soon as I added the tarragon to the skillet, my kitchen began to smell amazing. I'm going to find a way to include this magical spice into a few more recipes. 

The original recipe I worked from can be found here.

Enjoy!