Baby Dear and I have an afternoon ritual of sorts, on days that he goes to preschool. As soon as I strap him into his car seat and settle in to begin our drive home, he always asks me what I’ve planned for dinner. After I tell him what’s on the menu for that night, I then ask him what he had for lunch. His answers always make me smile – partly from knowing that my ‘lil gourmand is being well fed, and part from the way he tries to string his words together. Like the time he had lasagna, and couldn’t remember what it was called. After a few minutes of pondering, he finally blurted out. “What’s Garfield’s favourite food?”. Yes, he’s super funny like that!
The daycare he goes to gets the kids’ lunches catered. When I first glanced at the menu, I got a wee bit jealous and not to mention, nervous. The list included dishes like Roasted Veggie Lasagna, Butter Chicken, Pasta in Kale Pesto and Fish Picata. Fish Picata? Really? For 3 year olds? As much as I absolutely loved the fact that Baby Dear would be fed a variety of gourmet meals ranging in taste and texture, it also worried me if my often simple home cooked meals would have him turn his nose up at it. How silly was I! Baby Dear enjoys the humble Grilled Cheese with Tomatoes with as much pleasure as he savours a slow-cooked Biryani. The kid loves good food – as long as its tasty, he’s game!
A few months ago, Baby Dear told me he had Chicken Pot Pie for lunch. Well, he actually said he had pie with chicken, peas and carrots. I kinda put the two and together and figured that’s what it meant. He had it again some weeks back and told me how much he liked it and wanted me to make it for dinner some day. Then, sometime last week, while I was watching the Food Network, Baby Dear happened to glance at the screen and see Chicken Pot Pie actually being made. He screamed with delight and demanded I make it as soon as possible. I finally promised him I would.
Well, as I was thinking about what to cook for dinner today, I peeked into the fridge and stared at a container of some leftover Chili from a few days ago. The idea suddenly hit me; and although it’s no REAL Chicken Pot Pie, it definitely made Baby Dear request me to make it again soon!
INDIVIDUAL CHILI POT PIES
Prep time: 10 min | Cooking time: 10 min | Makes: 8 mini piesIngredients:
4 cups leftover chili
1 can of readymade pie dough, cut into 8 circles sized to fit the tops of the ramekinsDirections:
Spray 8 mini ramekins with a bit of oil along the edges.
Place half a cup of chili in each of the ramekins. Top each ramekin with a circle of pie dough and bake according to package instructions till the tops are cooked through. Serve warm.
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I love anything that has pot pie tagged at the end of it! This looks soooo good! It will be great for a FALL day! Great post and thanks for sharing 🙂
What a great idea! I always tend to make a huge amount of chili, so it’s nice to have some ideas on how to dress up the leftovers for the next day, and the next…!
Chili & Pot Pie – 2 of my favorite things! I’ll have to try this after we have chili this weekend!
I love the idea of using left over chili (or stew or anything we ate for dinner last night) into a pot pie! It doesn’t look or taste like left overs at all! Though I love cooking enough on purpose to have left overs, I bet this recipe would convert even those who insist they won’t eat left overs!
That looks so yummy! I’ll have to see if could do this gluten-free.
You definitely could Cassie, just use your favourite gluten-free biscuit/pie recipe to top it off.
This sounds like such a yummy recipe!
Your chili pot pies look great! I love the individual servings in your colourful bowls! Recipes for fast and delicious weeknight dinners are always appreciated. These pot pies have the added bonus of deliciously using up leftovers!
We often have leftovers around here and I love experimenting with new ways to use them up. This recipe is one of my favourites!
I’ve made several different types of pot pies but never thought of chili pot pie. Definitely giving this a try when the weather cools off.
I’m always looking for ways to change up our dinner and this sounds wonderful! My kids LOVE, LOVE, LOVE chicken pot pie and chili, so this looks to be a win-win.
YUM! I love anything pot pie and eat in summer too! Great idea….will pin! Stopping by for the first time and love your site!
Genius! I think this might quickly become a favourite around our house!
I’m pinning this one for winter, but man, it sounds good!
Can’t wait to try these!
First of all, those pictures look amazing!! I am def going to make this for my fam… now if only you could promise that my pot pies will look like yours. Cheers!
wow that sounds like an awesome daycare! that menu is awesome and the chilli pot pies sound yummy too!