When you think of chicken pot pie , you probably get the same feeling as when you curl up in a soft blanket next to a cozy fire on a frigid day. You can picture yourself folding back the flaky, buttery crust to reveal a steaming vessel of chicken morsels and sweet carrots, peas, and onions enveloped in a thick, savory stew. That's comfort food magic.
But if you go to Pennsylvania, it may not happen that way. That's because the inhabitants of the Keystone state defer to a recipe with its roots in the cooking habits of the Pennsylvania Dutch. It features a similarly hearty mixture of chicken, veggies, and thick broth.
But gone is the tender, flavorful crust, replaced by thick hand-rolled "noodles." It's not necessarily less work than a from-scratch chicken pot pie, but it may still be easier for those who consider a butter pie crust their culinary nemesis. And it's certainly just as warm, comforting, and satisfying as the version the rest of us know and love.
Pennsylvania Dutch chicken pot pie vs. chicken and dumplings This method is strikingly similar to a version of Southern chicken and dumplings or chicken and pastry (though that typically doesn't have veggies like peas and carrots). While some people make chicken and dumplings with rounded pieces of a drop biscuit-like dough, others use a dough they roll out and cut into squares.
Those flat dumplings are similar in appearance to the Pennsylvania Dutch noodles, though Pennsylvanians roll theirs thinner, thus the term "noodle.