Biscuit crust turkey pot pie (or chicken pot pie) is, hands down, one of the most popular dinners I make. The biscuits are low in fat, high in flavor, fluffy and lightly sweet. We love the way the biscuits seem to almost melt into the pot-pie filling.
This is also a fantastic way to use up your leftover Thanksgiving turkey, as well as any random vegetables you have on hand. My biscuit pot pie recipe works as well with chicken as it does with turkey, and you can use whichever vegetables you want to. I used leeks, mushrooms, and frozen peas & carrots because that’s what I had, but feel free to use any other vegetables you want. The good thing about this recipe is that it’s super-versatile.
I also recommend boiling your turkey carcass and making stock with it, if you can. Otherwise, bottled/canned chicken stock will work perfectly well, too.
Hey, buttermilk is important here! Buttermilk is acidic, and the acid in the buttermilk reacts with the baking soda to help the biscuits fluff up properly. If you don’t have buttermilk, you could add use ½ cup skim milk + 1 teaspoon lemon juice. Or, you could use Greek yogurt, because Greek yogurt is acidic too. I like to use Saco Brand Buttermilk Powder because it lasts forever in the fridge, and it’s super-convenient. They sell it in the baking aisles of most supermarkets.
Biscuit Crust Turkey Pot Pie
Ingredients
Biscuit Crust
- 2 tablespoon powdered buttermilk
- ½ cup tepid, lukewarm water
- 2 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp sugar
- 1 teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon baking soda
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoon canola oil (or other neutral-tasting oil)
Turkey Pot Pie Filling
- 1 teaspoon canola oil (or other neutral oil)
- 1 leek (thinly sliced)
- 4 ounces mushrooms (sliced)
- 2 cups chopped leftover turkey
- ¼ cup flour
- 1½ cups low-sodium turkey broth or chicken broth
- 1½ cups frozen peas and carrots
- ½ teaspoon dried parsley flakes
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
- 2 cups chopped leftover turkey (discard the skin)
Instructions
Make the biscuit crust
- I don't usually keep buttermilk on hand, but Saco buttermilk powder is great for this. Fill up ½ cup of tepid water — water should feel neither hot nor cold when you stick your finger in it. Add 2 tablespoons of buttermilk powder and stir it into the lukewarm water until it kinda dissolves (there'll still be some lumps…)
- Add 2 teaspoons of active dry yeast to the tepid buttermilk. Stir it in to dissolve and let it sit for 5 minutes.
- Meanwhile, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda, dried parsley, dried thyme, and salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk the 2 tablespoons of oil into the buttermilk/yeast mixture.
- Add the liquid ingredients to the dry ingredients and stir them around until a dough starts to come together. Knead the dough a few times until it becomes workable – about the consistency of an earlobe. Add more flour if the dough is too loose.
- Cover the bowl of dough with plastic wrap and set it aside as you prepare the turkey pot pie filling.
Make The Turkey Pot Pie Filling
- Preheat the oven to 400 °F . Lightly spray an 8×8-inch casserole dish with nonstick spray.
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium heat.
- Add the leeks and mushrooms to the hot skillet. Cook for about 3 minutes until the veggies start to turn soft.
- Stir the flour into the turkey stock or chicken stock to make a slurry. Pour this into the skillet with the leeks and mushrooms. Scrape up any browned bits at the bottom of the pan.
- Add the dried herbs, pepper, frozen peas and carrots, and turkey to the skillet. Turn the heat up to medium-high and bring the mixture to a boil. Then, turn the heat down and let the mixture simmer for 5 minutes until heated through.
- Transfer the turkey pot pie filling mixture to the prepared baking dish.
Assemble The Turkey Pot Pie
- Turn the biscuit dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Divide the dough into 4 equal sized pieces. Roll each piece into a ball and flatten it out like a pancake.
- Arrange the 4 dough pieces in the baking dish, on top of the turkey pot pie mixture.
- Give the tops of the biscuits a light spray with nonstick spray or an olive oil mister.
- Bake in the 400 °F oven for about 25 minutes, until the tops of the biscuits are nice and brown.
