This vegetable pot pie fills an 8x8 dish with potatoes, carrots, onion, peas, and green beans in a creamy thyme sauce, then bakes under a golden crust. It's made with your favorite broth, so you can use chicken, beef, or vegetable broth. It takes about 35 minutes of work and 30 to 45 minutes in the oven. Below the recipe, you'll find what each ingredient brings magically and how to cut a blessing into the crust.
Why Pot Pie Is a Hearth Witch's Comfort Food
Pot pie is a hearth witch's comfort food because it turns the last of the harvest into one warm, covered dish. Root vegetables from the earth go under a crust made from wheat, the oldest symbol of the harvest, and the whole thing bakes in the heat of your kitchen's fire.
Pot pie is a savory pie that's especially popular in the United States. English cooks revived the custom of serving pies in the 16th century, and European settlers brought them to North America. Today, the crust can be homemade, a store-bought pie crust, or biscuit dough, and all three work in this recipe.
A covered dish also makes a natural kitchen spell. The crust is a lid that holds the warmth in, and the steam vents you cut on top are a place to carve a symbol of what you'd like to keep safe inside your home.
Magical Properties of the Ingredients
This pie leans toward grounding, protection, and comfort for the cold months. Here is what each ingredient brings.
- Potatoes are for stability and protection. They grow underground and belong to the element of earth.
- Carrots are for grounding. They grow down into the dark soil.
- Onion is for protection. In many kitchen traditions, people set out cut onions to absorb negative energy.
- Thyme is for courage and for a peaceful home.
- Peas are for prosperity. Like most seeds and beans, they carry the energy of growth.
- Green beans are for growth and plenty, a little green in the middle of a root-vegetable dish.
- Butter has long been part of hearth and household magic, used for peace in the home and to smooth things over.
- Flour comes from wheat, the oldest symbol of the harvest and of having enough.
- Milk is nourishment and comfort. It has been left as an offering to household spirits for centuries.
- Olive oil comes from the olive tree, a symbol of peace since ancient Greece.
- Celery salt is for protection and focus, with salt's purifying power.
If you'd like a heartier supper, serve the pie with our Instant Pot pot roast, or try Italian sausage and potatoes on a night when you'd rather not roll out a crust.
How to Make Vegetable Pot Pie
To make vegetable pot pie, sauté the potatoes, carrots, and onion until soft, melt butter into them, stir in flour, then slowly add broth and milk until the sauce is smooth. Stir in celery salt, thyme, peas, and green beans, pour it into an 8x8 dish, top it with crust, and bake at 425°F until golden.
Vegetable Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 2 teaspoons olive oil
- 2 cups potatoes diced
- 4 ounces carrots diced
- ⅓ cup onion chopped
- ⅓ cup butter
- ⅓ cup flour
- 1 ⅔ cups broth your favorite
- ⅔ cup milk
- ¼ teaspoon celery salt
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme
- ¼ cup frozen peas
- ¼ cup frozen green beans
- 1 pie crust or biscuits
- 2 tablespoons milk for brushing
Instructions
- Heat the oven to 425°F.
- In a large skillet, sauté the potatoes in the olive oil over medium-high heat until they're partially translucent.
- Add the carrots and onion. Sauté until soft, but don't let them brown.
- Add the butter to the pan and let it melt.
- In a measuring cup, stir the broth and milk together.
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables in the pan and stir well.
- Slowly add a small amount of the broth mixture to the pan, stirring until it's smooth. Repeat until all of the broth mixture is in.
- Add the celery salt, thyme, peas, and green beans. Stir until combined.
- Pour the filling into an 8x8-inch baking dish and top it with the crust.
- Cut slits in the crust to vent the steam, and brush it with the 2 tablespoons of milk.
- Bake for 30 to 45 minutes, until the crust is golden brown.
Notes
- Chicken, beef, or vegetable broth all work. Vegetable broth makes the pie vegetarian.
- Adding the broth a little at a time keeps the sauce from turning lumpy.
- Set the dish on a baking sheet to catch any filling that bubbles over.
- Let the pie rest for 10 minutes before serving so the sauce can thicken.
- Leftovers keep for 3 days in the fridge.
- Homemade Instant Pot bone broth works anywhere this recipe calls for broth.
How to Cut a Blessing Into the Crust
You can turn the steam vents in your pot pie into a small protection charm for your home. Here's how.
- Choose what you'd like to keep safe. It might be your household, a person who's going through a hard season, or simply a quiet, warm winter.
- Cut your vents in a symbol instead of plain slits. A simple sun, a star, a heart, or the initial of the person you're baking for all work.
- Hold your hands over the pie before it goes in the oven. While you hold them there, recite:
Crust above and roots below,
keep us warm through frost and snow.
- Serve the first slice to the person you had in mind. If it's for the whole household, set it in the middle of the table and let everyone share.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is This Vegetable Pot Pie Vegetarian?
This vegetable pot pie is vegetarian when you make it with vegetable broth. It isn't vegan as written, because the sauce uses butter and milk. For a vegan pie, use plant-based butter, unsweetened plant milk, and a vegan crust.
Can I Use Biscuits Instead of Pie Crust?
Yes, you can use biscuits instead of pie crust. Lay canned or homemade biscuits over the hot filling, brush them with milk, and bake until they're golden brown and cooked through.
Can I Use Puff Pastry?
Yes, you can top this pot pie with puff pastry instead of pie crust. Cut vents in it and brush it with milk the same way.
Why Is My Pot Pie Filling Runny?
Your pot pie filling is runny because the sauce didn't get a chance to thicken. Stir the flour into the butter well before adding the broth, add the broth slowly, and let the baked pie rest for 10 minutes before you cut it.
Can I Make Pot Pie Ahead of Time?
Yes, you can make pot pie ahead of time. Make the filling up to a day ahead and keep it in the fridge. Warm it on the stove before you pour it into the dish and add the crust, so the bottom doesn't stay cold while the top browns.
A covered dish of roots and herbs is a small way of telling the people you love that they're safe here.
