Need a great way to get the kids to eat their veggies? Let them help with meal prep!! Plus, add a creamy sauce and flaky topping to all these veggies, and who isn’t going to want to dig right in?! This pot pie is a great way to add any veggie you like to your dinner and still keep it simple. It’s a one-dish meal that comes together by using a combo of fresh and frozen veggies, a simple homemade sauce and a flaky pre-made crust. To me that’s what balance in creating wholesome meals is all about.
Yes, this is really what happens in our house. The sous chef/recipe critic climbs right up and declares her intent to help me “make recipes!”. I love it when she helps! But, I do have to keep an eye on her to make sure she doesn’t add an extra 1/4 cup of salt to anything while I’m working on something else! She just wants to be helpful, you know. 😉
You are essentially going to want about 6 or 7 cups of veggies plus some onion, garlic and herbs. You can see above what we used for our pot pie. Do as much or as little chopping as you want by using more or less frozen or prepared veggies.
Get these all loaded up into your slow cooker! You will need one that is at least 4 quarts. This would be an easy recipe to double by using a 7 quart slow cooker instead!
Use flour, broth, fresh thyme, cornstarch and a little cream to create the perfect homemade sauce. Once everything has cooked up all day and the veggies are nice and tender we will transfer to a baking dish and top with a puff pastry sheet. It takes only a few minutes to be golden brown and a delicious homemade pot pie/comfort food dish is done!
- 7 cups veggies chopped into bite sized pieces as needed I used: brussels sprouts, frozen corn kernels, frozen peas, diced potatoes, baby carrots, and pre-sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 4 cloves minced garlic
- 5-6 sprigs fresh thyme leaves removed
- 1/4 cup flour
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 1/4 cup heavy cream
- salt and pepper to taste
- 1 frozen puff pastry sheet thawed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- Clean and chop veggies as needed and add to slow cooker along with onion and garlic
- Toss with flour to coat well
- Slowly stir in broth until well blended with flour
- Cover and cook on high for 3-4 hours or low for 6-8
- Whisk cornstarch with 1/4 cup water until smooth then stir into the veggie mixure
- Stir in cream, cover, and return slow cooker to high heat for about 15 minutes or until mixture thickens slightly
- Transfer to a 9x13 baking dish and top with thawed puff pastry sheet (cut to fit if necessary)
- Melt 2 tablespoons of butter and brush over top of pastry
- Bake at 400 degrees for about 10 minutes or until pastry is golden and fluffy
I cooked the veggies in my 4 quart slow cooker for about 4 hours on high
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What changes do you have to make if you use frozen veggies?
I’m so sorry, I haven’t tested to give you an exact answer on this one!
We are vegetarian so can the chicken stock be substituted for veg stock or maybe even fish stock to get more flavor?
Yes, it can be subbed out with no issues.
Hi! Do I add the cornstarch mixture while the veggies cook for 3-4 hours? Or after?
you will add it after.
I just made this recipe! It turned out okay, but I have a few warnings for anyone who is actually reading this.
1) The water obviously wouldn’t cover all the vegetables, so I doubled the amount of (veggie) stock and (after cooking) withdrew broth to save. This ensured even cooking!!
2) Although I love the idea of a makeshift crockpot roux, my vegetable gravy didn’t thicken up even NEAR enough. I made a separate roux (butter and cornstarch) in a pot and dumped enough in to finally solidify everything.
3) THE BIGGEST THING: I left my puff pastry in the oven for about 15 minutes. The top was perfectly cooked, but the dough that touched the gravy was COMPLETELY RAW! Next time I would bake the pastry separately and use them as little pillows on which to serve the veggies. Any other alternatives??
I’m allergic to dairy, would it work to substitute almond milk for the cream?
probably, but it would need to be thickened a bit with some cornstarch or flour.
Delicious! Substituted vegetable stock since I’m a vegetarian. Still turned out great! Can you tell me if the calorie count that you figured four it was for each serving our the entire dish?
There was an issue with my nutrition calculator but it should be fixed now!! You can also import the recipe to My Fitness Pal and make any customizations and recalculate it there if you need more specific info 🙂
I love this recipe so much!! We’ve done it twice and loved it.
Making some for new parents, who would prefer recipes with meat. If I wanted to add chicken to this to turn it into a chicken pot pie, would I need to adjust any of the sauces quantities or cook time?
Here’s my chicken pot pie recipe! https://slowcookergourmet.net/slow-cooker-chicken-pot-pie/
I made some modifications using vege broth and coconut cream to make it cruelty free and my whole family loved it, including 2 fussy toddlers. I will be cooking this quite a bit. Thank you for sharing!
My family loved this recipe! For anyone that said it was bland, perhaps they didn’t add enough salt. The vegetable broth was a simple swap, and I made use of veggies that might have otherwise gone bad. Thank you for sharing!!
Thanks, Jennifer, made this last night and it was terrific.
Sorry for the grief you are getting re Vegetarian, I’m a vegetarian and I assure you it was an easy process to swap out the chicken broth for veggie broth !!
My partner took it to work, and her colleagues liked it so much they are going to make it tonight 🙂
Thanks Tim!!! Glad you liked it and I appreciate the support!