This double crust chicken pot pie is like no other you’ve tasted! Instead of a cream-based filling, it has a tomato base with raisins and olives. This is a Cuban version of chicken pot pie called pastelón de pollo. You can usually find pastelón de pollo at Cuban bakeries and some Cuban restaurants. In fact, this Cuban recipe is from the famous Versailles Restaurant on Calle Ocho in Little Havana.
Why is the Versailles Restaurant so famous? Because it’s where every politician courting the Cuban vote goes to have their photo op! It’s also where Cubans gather whenever anything happens. Of course, it’s not the only place, but certainly one of the most popular restaurants for Cubans to hang out.
The restaurant is a Cuban landmark, established in 1971 in Little Havana and still thriving today. I love to go there whenever I’m in the neighborhood. The Cuban food is delicious and feels so much like home. ?
I recently gifted myself a copy of The Versailles Restaurant Cookbook affiliate link, and this chicken pot pie is one of the Cuban recipes that really caught my eye. While I love pastelón de pollo, it’s not something I had ever made at home. So, of course, I had to give this recipe a try!
What Makes This Chicken Pot Pie So Good
This pie is packed with chicken, and it’s very savory! American-style chicken pot pie is like a chunky, creamy soup in a pastry. This double-crust chicken pot pie is not soupy at all. It’s more of a meat pie. It tastes a lot like chicken fricassee, which is a fantastic Cuban chicken stew. And just like the stew, it’s so delicious the second day!
Ingredients For This Double-Crust Chicken Pot Pie
The ingredients for this Cuban chicken pot pie are very simple. You need:
- Chicken Breast
- Onions, Peppers, Garlic
- Tomato Sauce
- Raisins and Olives
- Cooking Wine
- Oregano, Bay Leaf, and Cumin
- Refrigerated Pie Crust
Except for the pie crust, these are the usual ingredients you find in most Cuban dishes. While this double-crust chicken pot pie recipe calls for chicken breast, I would prefer it with a mix of chicken thighs and breasts. I find chicken breast to be a bit dry. But I have to say the final dish, made with the chicken breast, was very moist and flavorful. The reason for this is that you cook the chicken in the delicious sauce for forty-five minutes before you bake it in the oven.
This chicken pot pie would be a good potluck dish to make for your next get together. It can served as an appetizer or a main dish. It’s good at room temperature too. I sometimes even eat it cold, but that’s just me. My kids think I’m weird that way.?
A Word About The Crust In this Chicken Pot Pie
My one beef about this recipe is that it calls for refrigerated pie crust. But traditional pastelón de pollo uses a different type of dough. Unfortunately, the Versailles Restaurant Cookbook affiliate link did not provide their dough recipe. They explained that the process was too labor-intensive for a home kitchen. So, while it was good with the refrigerated crust, it would have been even better with the traditional crust. Perhaps The Versailles Restaurant didn’t want to part with their secret recipe? I’ll forgive them for that since the recipe they did provide was so tasty!
What are some other recipes to try from this cookbook?
I love the The Versailles Restaurant Cookbook affiliate link! The recipes are very authentic and traditional, similar to what I grew up eating. Their ropa vieja, picadillo, and chicken fricassee were just like my mom used to make.
The cookbook had a comprehensive mix of appetizers, soups, main dishes, and desserts and covers most Cuban menu items. If you’re looking for an all-around good Cuban cookbook, I highly recommend this one! Some popular Cuban recipes to try include croquettes, which come in ham, chicken, and codfish varieties. And you’ve got to try the desserts! They, of course, have all the traditional Cuban desserts like flan, arroz con leche and bread pudding. But another one that’s worth the effort is the tres leches. Yup, you can expect a few more Versailles recipes soon, including the tres leches!
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Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie Cuban Style Is The Best
- Prep Time: 30 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 hours
- Total Time: 2 hours 30 minutes
- Yield: 8 1x
- Category: dinner
- Method: baking
- Cuisine: Cuban
Description
This double crust chicken pot pie is like no other you’ve tasted! Instead of a cream-based filling, it has a tomato base with raisins and olives. This is a Cuban version of chicken pot pie called pastelón de pollo.
Ingredients
¼ cup olive oil
½ cup chopped yellow onion
4 garlic cloves finely minced
½ cup chopped red bell pepper
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon onion powder
½ teaspoon dried oregano
½ teaspoon ground cumin
1 ½ teaspoons salt, or to taste
1 whole skinless, boneless chicken breast (about 1 ½ – 2 pounds), coarsely chopped
¾ cups tomato puree
¼ cup cooking wine
¼ cup golden raisins
¼ cup chopped green olives
2 refrigerated pie crust
1 beaten egg with 2 teaspoons sugar (sugar is optional, but it adds a bit of sweetness to the crust)
Instructions
Prep
Chop the chicken breast and set aside.
Chop the onion and pepper and mince or crush the garlic cloves.
Cook:
Heat ¼ cup of olive oil in a pan and sauté the onion, garlic and pepper until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the spices and half the salt and cook for 30 seconds. Add the chicken and cook about 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add the wine, tomato puree, raisins, and olives. Add the remaining salt, if needed. Reduce heat, cover and cook for about 1 ½ hours.
While the chicken is cooking, preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Lightly grease a pie pan and place one of the pie dough discs in the pan and gently mold. The recipe calls for trimming the pie crust to fit the pie pan, but I found that some of the dough shrinks a bit, so I did not trim. With the tines of a fork, poke a few holes on the bottom and sides of the pie dough. Bake in the oven for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and let it cool.
Once the chicken mixture is done, let it come to room temperature. Mash any large bits of chicken with the back of a spoon to make sure all the pieces are very small.
You can also make the chicken mix the day before. If you decide to make the chicken the day before, don’t precook the bottom dough until you’re ready to bake the chicken pot pie.
Bake:
Preheat the oven to 350. Place the cooled chicken mixture in the pie plate and cover with the second pie dough. The recipe calls for folding the edges down and over the bottom dough, but you can crimp the edges the way you would a regular pie, if that’s easier.
The recipe calls for baking for about 20 – 25 minutes, but I ended needing to cook the dough for about Bake in the oven for about 35 minutes to get the crust golden. And I use a gas oven.
Once you take it out of the oven, let it rest for 10 minutes before serving. May be served hot or at room temperature.
Equipment
The Versailles Restaurant Cookbook
Buy Now →Notes
This recipe makes 6-8 lunch or dinner portions or 16 appetizer portions.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 slice
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