Recipe for chicken and ham pie
This creamy chicken and ham pie recipe is the perfect way to use up your Xmas or Thanksgiving leftovers. The chicken can just as easily be replaced with leftover turkey if that is what you have leftover after your Christmas or Thanksgiving dinner.
This family recipe for ham and chicken pie is simple to make and is not very much work at all. You really just have to make the sauce and fry up some mushrooms and onions as the meat has already been fully cooked when you made your roast.
We often use this recipe to use up chicken leftovers from a Sunday roast as well. Leeks also go well added to the sauce if you want to make a chicken ham and leek pie.
Chicken or Turkey?
We often have a chicken at Xmas because there are only three of us and a huge turkey would just be far too much food.
But I find this is a great way to use up the remains of your turkey as well, as let’s face it there is a lot of meat on a turkey, even if you are just cooking turkey breasts! You can make several pies and freeze them if need be.
How long can you keep Turkey after Xmas?
It is advisable to use up your Xmas or Thanksgiving meat as soon as possible really. There is bit of a tradition in the UK to carry on eating the turkey cold until it is finished. But I have never felt entirely happy doing this.
In my Mum’s house we have a well-used expression: ‘nothing gets wasted’. This means at Xmas we will eat turkey until we have consumed every morsel!
Even though cold turkey is great served with baked potatoes and some cold ham after Christmas, there comes a point when you need to use it up. This recipe is perfect for using up your leftovers before they start to turn.
Some people (for example, the USDA) say you can keep turkey up to three-four days after cooking as long as it has been refrigerated and properly cooked, but really I like to have it all gone within a maximum of 2 days after Xmas.
After all, you do not want to run the risk of ruining your Christmas or the run-up to New Year by poisoning all your relatives …… (or maybe you do?? 😃 haha!)
Turkey and ham pie
We made this meal on Boxing Day (or St. Stephen’s Day in Ireland) this year and it has all gone now! It is very tasty and super quick and easy to make.
Another advantage this recipe has if you use turkey is that because turkey can be quite dry sometimes, this recipe cooks the turkey in a sauce which keeps it moist. And another thing, the kids will love it!
The perfect combination of turkey (or chicken) and ham is a great combination.
Many people in Britain and Ireland have a baked ham at Christmas so it works out well. But if you don’t have ham or gammon, then leeks are also a good combination with chicken (or turkey).
Or just a chicken and mushroom pie can also be a success.
I like to use puff pastry in this recipe. You can, of course, also make it with a shortcrust pastry if you prefer.
I hope you enjoy this leftover chicken and ham pie recipe. It should be a useful and tasty way to get rid of your leftovers after Christmas!
How to make easy chicken and ham pie
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Creamy Chicken and Ham Pie
This creamy chicken and ham pie is a great way to use up your leftovers after Xmas or Thanksgiving or after a Sunday roast.
Ingredients
- Approx. 500g leftover cooked ham and chicken (or turkey) meat
- Thyme and Rosemary sprigs, 2 each
- Salt and Pepper
- 70g mushrooms
- ½ onion, finely chopped
- 50g butter
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 50g plain flour
- 100ml Dry white wine
- 300ml milk
- 300 ml chicken stock
- 50g cream
- Roll of puff pastry (defrosted, if frozen)
Note:
- Above quantities to be adjusted to suit your pie dish
Instructions
- Chop the chicken and ham into small pieces and place in a pie dish. Then fry the mushrooms and onion together in a skillet in some butter and place aside in the pie dish.
- Melt the butter in a saucepan and sauté the garlic in it for about a minute. Then add the flour and slowly add the milk on a low heat, whisking to get rid of any lumps. Add the white wine and then bring to a simmer until the sauce thickens.
- Then add the hot chicken stock and simmer again until the sauce has thickened again. Season with salt and pepper to taste and add the leaves of the thyme and rosemary sprigs, nicely chopped. Then finally add the cream, stirring all the time and remove from the heat.
- Add the sauce to the pie dish, and stir it all up together, making sure everything is covered. You can keep this in the fridge until you are ready to eat.
- When you are ready to cook the pie, pre-heat the oven to 180C. Then roll out the puff pastry for the pastry lid, and place on top of the filling, with a few nice shapes of pastry if you so wish.
- Brush the top with milk and place in a middle shelf of the oven and cook for about 40 minutes or until piping hot and the pastry is browned.
Notes
Serve up with potatoes and carrots or something similar, or just eat it on its own.
Nutrition Information:
Yield: 5 Serving Size: 1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 468Total Fat: 24gSaturated Fat: 11gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 104mgSodium: 1318mgCarbohydrates: 31gFiber: 2gSugar: 7gProtein: 29g
This nutrition information was automatically calculated by Nutritionix, but may not be 100% accurate.