“Blessing your future self.” That’s what Homestead on Purpose calls canning. It is the ultimate convenience food. You do all the bulk work up front and can eat on it for years. Meat that is tender and cooked, pie filling, fruits, or complete dinners, when canning in bulk you are ensuring your rushed and famished future self is taken care of. Read on to see how I turned canned meat into a delicious chicken pot pie recipe.
If you haven’t read how I was forced into the intimidating nature of canning meat, read about ‘The Great Chicken Massacre’.
I had a lot of chicken and turkey to work with, and the ingredients to a chicken pot pie are simple, inexpensive, and it is such a warm and hearty treat for a cold winters evening, especially when served in homemade pie crust.
I followed the Ball Book of Canning and Preserving recipe for ‘Chicken & Gravy Dinner in a Jar’. This is a raw packed recipe, which means you don’t have to precook the ingredients, not even the meat. The high heat process of pressure canning cooks everything and in its own juices which is why these one jar, ready made meals are so delicious.
This chicken pot pie recipe is so simple. It just calls for boneless chicken (you can can meat with bones in as well), celery, onions, and potatoes. I also like to add carrots. Just be careful straying from recipes because acidity and processing times matter for safety. Add a little salt and pepper and some broth and process in a pressure canner for 90 minutes for quart jars. Amounts will vary in the recipe based on how many quarts you want to can.
I will make several pie crusts at a time and freeze them. Now I have a shelf stable, ready made meal I simply have to pop into the oven in a defrosted pie crust, for a homemade meal that I batched out when I had the time, to save myself when I didn’t.
Happy canning.
Lauren
