Boost The Flavor Of Chicken Pot Pie Filling With An Often Discarded Ingredient

When it comes to getting an easy meal on the table, nothing compares to a store-bought rotisserie chicken. It can be served up piece by piece or shredded into tacos, but probably one of the biggest achievements of ready-made chickens is simplifying chicken pot pie. Skipping the step of roasting a whole bird can transform pot pie from a weekend treat to a weeknight dinner in no time. The only drawback is that you might miss some flavor in the pot pie filling, since you can't scrape up all the tasty bits that stick to the bottom of the roasting pan. However, you can do the next best thing, which is searing the chicken skin in a pan to build some flavor. Not only will this bring back some of that roasting pan goodness, but it also uses a part of the chicken that was probably going to get thrown away.

Searing chicken skin for pot pie is as simple as it sounds, and an added bonus is the leftover chicken fat in the pan, which you can use to cook the vegetables for the filling. The fat also adds great flavor to the roux that thickens the sauce. Just be sure to choose a good-looking rotisserie chicken from the grocery store with plenty of skin intact.

If you're ready to put your rotisserie chicken skin to use, start by peeling away as much skin as you can from the carcass, including from the breast, back, legs, and thighs. Next, heat up a deep saute pan or saucepan that can hold the volume of your pot pie filling and cook the skin. The goal is to get the skin to stick to the pan and create fond — a fancy culinary term for the browned bits that stick to the bottom of the pan — so don't use a nonstick pan for this job. Once you've built up some fond, scoop the skin away and save it along with the bones for making stock.

After creating fond, you can deglaze the pan and then make your favorite chicken pot pie recipe. Simply make a roux, mix in chicken stock and extra ingredients like frozen peas, and voilà — super flavorful, easy chicken pot pie filling. Just add some store-bought pie crusts — or biscuits, if you want to reduce your pot pie prep time — and the dish will be on the menu any night of the week.