Comfort Food Archives | The Good Hearted Woman

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup (Copycat Recipe)

Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup is an all-time favorite at our house! This rich, delicious, spot-on copycat recipe is easy and economical to make, and takes just one pot and 30 minutes, stove to table.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

The other night, Mr B slipped his arm around me, leaned in and whispered, “It’s really beginning to get chilly these days. You can start sending soup with me in my lunch again.”

So romantic.

He’s right though: it’s soup season, and this spot-on copycat recipe for Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup is an all-time favorite at our house!

Easy and economical to make, this rich, thick, mildly spicy one-pot soup is easy to make and ready to serve in just 30 minutes.

Be sure to check the Ingredient Notes following the recipe card for tips and substitutions.

Recipe Updated November 16, 2020 (Originally published November 5, 2013)

5 from 1 vote

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup (Copycat Recipe)

Prep Time30 mins

Total Time30 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Soup

Cuisine: Tex-Mex

Servings: cups

Calories: 277kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

10-inch Enameled Cast Iron Dutch Oven
(or Large, Heavy Stock Pot)

Ingredients

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion chopped; about 1 cup
2-3 cloves garlic minced
3 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock
15 ounces canned tomatoes
1 ½ cups mild enchilada sauce
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon chili powder
8 ounces processed American Cheese cut into ½ inch cubes
1 ½ ounces pepper-jack cheese about ½ cup
1 cup masa harina
2 cups cold water
8 ounces shredded or chopped roasted chicken about 2 cups
1 ½ cup frozen corn OPTIONAL; about 6 ounces (See Pan-Fried Corn in Ingredient Notes.)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Heat Dutch oven or heavy soup to over medium heat.
Add olive oil.
Add chopped onion and sauté until it starts to turn golden brown, about 5 minutes.
Add garlic and sauté one minute more.
Reduce heat to medium-low.
To the sautéed onion mixture, add chicken stock, diced tomatoes, enchilada sauce, cumin, and chili powder.
Simmer for 5 minutes.
OPTIONAL: For a smoother soup, use an immersion blender to puree larger chunks, until it reaches the desired consistency.
In a larger measuring cup, whisk together masa harina and water.
It is important incorporate in the masa harina into the water completely before adding it to the soup mixture. Adding it without fully mixing it into the water can result in lumpy soup.
Whisk masa mixture to soup, adding slowly and whisking thoroughly.
Simmer soup an additional 5 minutes.
If the soup is thicker than you would prefer, simply add a little extra chicken stock or water at this time.
Add American and Jack cheeses, and stir until they have completely melted into the soup.
Stir in chicken and (optional) corn.
Simmer an additional minute more to get everything up to heat.
Garnish with tortilla strips, grated cheese, cilantro, peppers, etc.

Nutrition

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Ingredient Notes

Enchilada Sauce: This recipe can be made with canned enchilada sauce; however, if you want to raise the bar a notch, make a batch of our easy to make Slow Cooker Enchilada Sauce. It’s absolutely the best, and brings an extra layer of flavor to any enchilada dish.

Chicken Stock: Like the enchilada sauce, you can used canned stock, but I prefer to use homemade: it’s just so easy to make, plus it freezes well, so you can always have some on hand. If you’ve never made homemade chicken stock, be sure check out our super-easy step-by-step tutorial.

Chicken: Enchilada soup is a great option for using up holiday leftover turkey! Just sub in chopped or shredded turkey for the chicken.

Pan-fried Corn: Corn isn’t part of the original recipe, but I almost always add it; I enjoy the slightly sweet bite and texture it adds to the soup. (It’s delicious in Chicken Pot Pie, too!)

To pan-fry frozen corn, simply heat a small skillet over medium-high heat. Melt one tablespoon of butter, and then add frozen corn to hot butter and pan-fry, stirring constantly, until corn begin to turn golden brown. (About 5-7 minutes.)

Canned Tomatoes: You can use any store-bought or home-canned tomatoes. Personally, I use S&W Petite-cut Tomatoes, Diced With Sweet Onion & Roasted Garlic. (These are my absolute favorite canned tomatoes for cooking!)

Processed American Cheese: I am not a big fan of processed food. Not only is it filled with ingredients I don’t like to put in my body, but it usually tastes like Box. However, after a lot of experimenting, I’ve come to accept that processed cheese has its place.

When I make this enchilada soup, I use original Velveeta, which I had found (after much trial and error) is the best thing to use to achieve the flavor and consistency we love so about the original Chili’s Enchilada Soup.

Masa Harina: Masa harina, the traditional flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and many other Mexican dishes, is the thickening agent in this enchilada soup. Masa harina is made from field corn, which is dried and treated with a mixture of lime and water, loosening the hulls and softening the corn. The soaked corn (i.e., hominy) is then washed and ground into a dough, called masa. In a final step, the masa is dried and powdered, and resulting powder is masa harina.

You can find masa harina in any Mercado, or in the Mexican foods aisle of your local grocery store.

PRO TIP: Masa harina is one of the secrets to making tender, crispy, no-grit Fried Green Tomatoes, too!

How to Make Chili’s Enchilada Soup Vegetarian-Friendly

Despite the “chicken” element in this enchilada soup, it really couldn’t be any easier to make it vegetarian-friendly.

Substitute vegetable stock for chicken stock.
Serve the soup in bowls, and offer warm shredded chicken on the side for those who want it.

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Fried Green Tomatoes

November 1 By Renée 4 Comments

Learn the recipe secrets to making classic Fried Green Tomatoes that are both tender and crisp; with all the traditional corn flavor, but without the grit!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

With all my Southern roots, it’s hard to believe that there was a time in my life when the only fried green tomatoes I knew of were the ones at the Whistle Stop Cafe.

Then late one summer shortly after Mr B and I got hitched, we went over to his Mom’s for dinner, and she served up a plate of what looked like thick, green-tinged dollar-pancakes as part of a big family feast.

Mom’s Fried Green Tomatoes are as simple as they come. Dipped in pancake batter and pan-fried to a golden brown, they were delicious in a way I never expected.

Ever since that first plate of fried green tomatoes years ago, I’ve made it a point to sample every fried green tomato I run across. My ultimate goal: to develop a batter recipe that results in fried tomatoes that are both tender and crisp; with the traditional corn flavor and crunchy bite, but without the grit.

**The Secret Isn’t in the Sauce (It’s in the Breading)**

Like Southern fried chicken, fried green tomatoes are traditionally breaded in three steps: a flour dredge, a wet dip, and a final dry breading coating.

What I learned, sampling fried green tomatoes over the years is, the breading makes or breaks the recipe.

Not enough seasoning and they fall flat; too much, and you lose that smooth green-tomato punch. Too much cornmeal and you’re crunching driveway gravel; not enough and both flavor and crunch are sacrificed.

Lacking a living Southern granny, it probably took me a little more trial and error than it should have, but I finally cracked the code on the perfect crispy, crunchy, tender fried green tomato breading.

Recipe Secrets to Crispy, Grit-free Fried Green Tomatoes

Let’s start with the obvious: cornmeal.

Cornmeal is a constant in nearly every Fried Green Tomato recipe you’ll find. In the South, fine white cornmeal is most often used. However, it is difficult to find fine white cornmeal on store shelves here in the Pacific Northwest, so I usually use fine yellow cornmeal.

The other night when I was working on this recipe (yet again), I discovered I was out of fine yellow cornmeal. In the world we currently live in, I don’t run to the store for just one or two items, so I made do and used masa harina instead.

(Stay with me on this.)

1. Sub in Masa Harina for Cornmeal (Really!)

Masa harina is the traditional flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and other Mexican dishes. (I used to think it was just very finely ground cornmeal, but I was way off there.)

I learned that masa harina is made from field corn, which is dried and treated with a mixture of lime and water, loosening the hulls and softening the corn. The soaked corn (i.e., hominy) is then washed and ground into a dough, called masa. In a final step, the masa is dried and powdered, and resulting powder is masa harina.

Recipes often warn against using masa harina in place of cornmeal, because the two products are made from different kinds of corn and produce different results. Generally, I follow this guidance, but I was in a pinch.

Goodbye Grit!

I was also curious to learn how the substitution of masa harina would affect the texture and the flavor of the fried green tomatoes. The texture of yellow cornmeal grit in fried green tomato batter is the one thing I don’t like. Even finely ground yellow cornmeal results in a gravelly texture that I’m not so excited about.

Masa harina overcomes this issue – no more grit! After sampling the results of the final recipe multiple times, Mr B and I agree, like fine white cornmeal, masa harina lends a subtle corn flavor to the batter, while making for a smooth, pleasant mouthfeel.

Moreover, the masa harina seems to enhance the crisp-factor, even more so than does the fine white cornmeal.

It makes sense that masa harina, essentially pre-cooked corn flour, would contribute to the batter crispiness of fried foods. Interestingly, other two major breading components in this fried green tomato recipe – Wondra flour and Panko crumbs – are also both “pre-cooked.”

2. Substitute Wondra for All-purpose Flour

As with the process for making masa harina, Wondra is finely ground flour that has been pre-cooked and dried. Ultra-light, Wondra is lower in protein and gluten than all-purpose flour, which all translates into a light and crispy crust for fried foods.

Often called instant flour, Wondra dissolves more quickly than all-purpose flour, and mixes into both hot and cold liquids easily. This makes it particularly useful for making smooth, creamy, lump-free sauces and gravies as well.

You can use all-purpose flour in place of the Wondra in this recipe, but your results may not be as crispy.

3. Use Panko Breadcrumbs

Panko crumbs are the third and final “pre-cooked” addition to the breading mix. The texture of panko makes it especially suited for fried food because it absorbs less oil than regular breadcrumbs, keeping food more crisp and crunchy.

How to Pick a Green Tomato

When making fried green tomatoes, you want to look for large, mature tomatoes that are still green, but would ripen if you put them on your windowsill for a week or two.

Immature tomatoes (i.e., those that would not ripen under any circumstances) can be tough and too acidic, at least for my tastes.

One way to tell a mature green tomato from an immature green tomato is by the seeds. If the seeds are flat and white, the tomato is not mature. If the seeds are full and look mature, the tomato is a perfect candidate for frying. Mature green tomatoes will result in the sweetest, most tender fried green tomatoes.

[If you need more direction in choosing your tomatoes, I found this video about how to pick a green tomato for frying quite helpful.]

Look for meaty tomatoes with very little jelly around the seeds, like those from Beefsteak or Heirloom varieties. Very juicy tomatoes (i.e., Romas, etc.) are not as well suited for frying.

sliced green tomatoes ready to be battered

Generally, tomatoes used for fried green tomatoes should be firm, with no hint of color. That said, I find that a slight pink tinge in the tomato’s center works just fine.

When slicing green tomatoes for frying, you’ll want them to be about a quarter of an inch thick. If you like your fried tomatoes more crispy, slice them just a little thinner. If you like them more meaty, slice them a little thicker.

Post Updated November 1 2020 (Originally published August 29, 2013)

5 from 4 votes

Fried Green Tomatoes

Classic Fried Green Tomatoes that are both tender and crisp; with all the traditional corn flavor, but without the grit!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time6 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Dish, Side Dish or Appetizer

Cuisine: Southern

Keyword: tomatoes

Servings:

Calories: 250kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Electric Skillet (or Cast Iron Skillet)

Ingredients

4 large firm green tomatoes about 1 pound after slicing
¼ cup Canola Oil for frying

BOWL 1: Dredge

⅓ cup Wondra
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon garlic salt

BOWL 2: Wet Wash

2 eggs
¾ cup buttermilk

BOWL 3: Breading

½ cup Wondra
½ cup Masa Harina
½ cup Panko crumbs
1 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon white pepper
½ teaspoon paprika

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Slice green tomatoes 1/4 inch thick.
If you prefer your fried green tomatoes super-crispy, slice them a little thinner.

Breading Tomatoes

Prepare three bowls (or pie plates) as follows:
Bowl 1: Mix Wondra, paprika, and garlic salt.
Bowl 2: Whisk together eggs and buttermilk.
Bowl 3: Mix Wondra, masa harina, panko crumbs, kosher salt, white pepper, and paprika.
Dip each tomato slice first into the flour mixture in Bowl 1, coating both sides.
Then dip into Bowl 2, and finally into bowl 3.
Gently shake off any excess breading mixture, and place the coated tomato on a plate.
Continue breading tomato slices until all are coated. Place on plate or cooling rack until all tomatoes have been breaded.
DO NOT Stack or overlap breaded tomatoes before your fry them.

Frying Tomatoes

Carefully prepare the area before you begin frying the battered tomatoes. Always make sure that the work surface you are frying on is stable.
Add oil to skillet until it is ⅛-¼ inch deep. Preheat oil in skillet to 340° [171°C].
For crisp frying, oil must maintain a temperature of 325-340F° [162°-171°C] throughout the cooking process.
I usually set the temperature of my electric skillet to 350F° [177°C] when it’s heating up, and drop it down a few degrees to about 335° when the tomatoes are actively frying.
Using a fork, gently slide each breaded tomato into oil.
Fry the breaded tomatoes for about 3 minutes, or until golden brown on one side.
Using tongs or a fork, carefully flip and fry for another 3 minutes, or until dark golden brown.
Remove from hot oil and allow to cool on a wire rack.
Sprinkle with kosher salt to taste.

Notes

Paprika choice can dramatically influence the flavor of your tomatoes. I prefer using a mild smoked paprika. If you want a little more heat, use a hotter paprika.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

Ways to Serve Fried Green Tomatoes

One of the extra great things about fried green tomatoes is that they are equally tasty and satisfying when they are hot, warm, or even cold out of the fridge at midnight.

We think the best way to serve up fried green tomatoes is warm, stacked on a heaping plate, accompanied by the dipping sauce of your choice. In the South, fried green tomatoes are often served with Comeback Sauce or a remoulade, but we’ve enjoyed them with everything from tzatziki to jalapeño jam.

dipping fried green tomato slice sriracha mayo

Mr B loves fried green tomatoes with Sriracha-Mayo!

Fried green tomatoes make an excellent side dish for any meal; and especially those with Southern roots, so be sure to check out our Nashville Hot Chicken, or our Naked Kentucky Fried Chicken recipes.

Something Completely Different

A fews back, Mr. B and I stopped in at the Montana Rib & Chop House in Billings, Montana. When we opened the menu, right there between the Calamari and the Chicken Fingers were some crazy sounding Fried Green Tomatoes – with blue cheese, crab and a balsamic reduction.

I know, I know – somewhere in the South, someone just died a little inside. (Mr B’s Granny would roll over in her grave!) But I kid you not, the flavor combination is amazing!

Southern Surprise

Fried green tomatoes are as synonymous with Southern cooking as black-eyed peas and pecan pie, so it surprised me to learn that “fried green tomatoes are not a Southern dish, but originated in the Midwest and northeast, possibly linked to the cuisine of Jewish immigrants.”

Crazy, huh?!? According to research done by food writer and culinary historian Robert F. Moss [Charleston, South Carolina], the earliest recipe found appear in the 1889 edition of “Aunt Babette’s Cook Book”. Moreover, Moss found eleven fried green tomato recipes published in newspapers between 1900 and 1919 – all in Midwestern and northern cities. None were published in Southern newspapers.

Electric Skillet versus Cast Iron

I’ve made fried green tomatoes multiple times in both my cast iron and electric skillet. While both work fine, I much prefer my electric skillet for this recipe, as it allows me to maintain a far more consistent temperature for heating the oil.

I suggest using a combination of canola and soybean oil (or straight canola oil) for frying.

Carefully prepare the area before you begin frying the battered tomatoes. Always make sure that the work surface you are frying on is stable.

When Frying, Consistent Oil Temperature is Key

The oil needs to maintain an optimal temperature of 325-340F°. I usually set the temperature of my electric skillet to 350F° when it’s heating up, and drop it down a few degrees to 335° when the tomatoes are actively frying.

If the temperature of the oil rises above about 340°, the tomatoes will cook too quickly. When fried at the correct temperature, the tomatoes will come out golden brown, having absorbed very little oil.

If you don’t have an electric skillet or a kitchen thermometer, the easiest and safest method of determining whether your oil is ready to fry is to stick the end of a wooden spoon in it.

If you see many bubbles form around the wood, the oil is ready for frying. If it is aggressively bubbling, reduce the heat and let it cool off a bit.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Classic Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (from Scratch)

October 19 By Renée 6 Comments

Classic Homemade Chicken Pot Pie is the ultimate comfort food! Start with a rotisserie chicken for easy prep (or roast your own); then add savory roasted vegetables and our easy homemade chicken stock, then top it all off with a tender, flaky herbed pie crust. Perfection!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

Making Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (from scratch) is a labor of love. The ultimate of comfort foods, it is a meal made for cozy Sunday suppers and close family gatherings.

This classic Chicken Pot Pie is one of my all-time favorite recipes, developed over decades of trial and error.

Making chicken pot pie isn’t difficult work: it just takes time and attention. You must first make a pastry crust, oven roast the vegetables, and boil down the (homemade) chicken stock to reduce it. Then you assemble the pie and babysit it (just a little) while it bakes. And it is ALL totally worth it!

The Four Elements of a Perfect Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
(Including Substitutions & Faster Prep Tips)

Making an old-fashioned, homemade chicken pot pie is much easier than it looks. This recipe is made up of four basic elements; chicken, stock, vegetables, and crust; and each of these four pot pie components can be made ahead of time.

[1] Chicken

Recipe Suggests: Seasoned Rotisserie Chicken
Substitutions: Home-roasted chicken; the equivalent in leftover chicken

You will be using the entire chicken to make this pot pie: the meat goes into the pot pie filling; and the bones, skin, and other bits are used to make the chicken stock.

Start with a good chicken. The most important thing is that the chicken you use have lots of flavorful bits and juices. If you use a plain, unseasoned chicken, your resulting stock will require a ton of extra seasoning.

This pot pie recipe is also a great way to use Thanksgiving leftovers: simply substitute turkey for the chicken, and 1 to 2 cups of water plus 2 cups of turkey gravy for the chicken stock portion.

[2] Hearty Homemade Chicken Stock

Recipe Suggests: Homemade Hearty Homemade Chicken Stock is what sets this pot pie recipe apart: notice how much denser it is than store-bought chicken stocks. Don’t buy flavored water when you can easily make this rich, flavorful stock for just pennies.
Substitutions:There is no substitute for homemade chicken stock; however, if you need to speed things up, you can use 8 cups (2 quarts) of good quality store-bought stock and reduce it by half.

[3] Roasted Vegetables

Recipe Suggests: Potatoes, carrots, onions, and corn. Note that potatoes vary in texture, depending on type. I prefer to use Yukon Golds, but russet potatoes also work.
Substitutions: Use the vegetables of your choice. Root vegetables should always be roasted first. You can also use frozen vegetable: while not my first choice, they will definitely speed up the process.

Why are there No Peas in this Pot Pie Recipe?

You may notice that this chicken pot pie recipe doesn’t specify any “peas” on the ingredient list. While peas are traditionally included in most pot pie recipes, I make no secret about my disdain for cooked peas (with the exception of Split Pea Soup, which is delicious).

Instead, I’ve substituted pan-fried corn, which lends a sweet pop of flavor and some nice texture to the filling mix; however, if you want to sub in peas, that works, too!

NOTE: Pan-fried corn is one of my favorite add-ins for soups, casseroles, etc. (Check it out in this Sweet Skillet Cornbread {with Pan-fried Maple Corn}!

[4] Herbed Pie Crust

Recipe Suggests: Our savory Herb Pie Crust recipe works perfectly with this pot pie recipe.
Substitutions: You can use any standard pie crust for this pot pie; homemade, refrigerated, or frozen.

Post Updated October 19, 2020 (Originally published November 14, 2012)

baked chicken pot pie with herb pastry crust

5 from 5 votes

Classic Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (from Scratch)

Start with a rotisserie chicken for easy prep (or roast your own); then add savory roasted vegetables and our easy homemade chicken stock, then top it all off with a tender, flaky herbed pie crust. Perfection!

Prep Time1 hr

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr 45 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Main Dish

Cuisine: Comfort Food, Home Cooking

Keyword: chicken

Servings: servings

Calories: 388kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Cast Iron Skillet (10-Inch)

Ingredients

1 whole rotisserie chicken or oven roasted
1 batch Herb Pastry Crust or your favorite pastry crust

Roasted Vegetables

1 pound carrots peeled and cut into 1-inch pieces
1 pound Baby Yukon Gold Potatoes quartered; or similar potatoes, cut into 1" cubes
1 medium yellow onion peeled and thickly sliced root to stem
1½ teaspoons kosher salt
2 tablespoons olive oil

Pan-fried Corn [Optional]

1 tablespoon butter
1 cup frozen corn

Sauce

5 tablespoons butter
5 tablespoons Wondra or all-purpose flour
4 cups Hearty Chicken Stock
1 cup half-and-half or milk
salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence * or ½ tsp. dried sage + ½ tsp. dried thyme; or 1 teaspoon dried herbs of your choice [See NOTE)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Ingredient Prep

Debone the Chicken.
For the purposes of this recipe, deboning means, "Get the meat off the bones." It doesn't need to be pretty: no one else is going to see it.
Put separated chicken meat into a medium bowl and set aside.
Put the the bones, skin, and any cooking juices into a large stock pot and set aside.
Prep the potatoes, carrots, and onions for oven roasting. (I don't peel the baby potatoes when I use them.)
Put all of the peeled, cut vegetables into a medium bowl.
Put all of the onion and and carrot trimmings, as well as 2 stalks of chopped celery, into the stock pot with the chicken bones, etc.
NOTE: There is no celery in the pot pie filling.
Follow the directions for making Hearty Homemade Chicken Stock, seasoning as directed.
[Alternately, reduce 8 cups of high-quality store-bought chicken stock down to 4 cups.]
Set aside.
*NOTE: The Herbs de Provence used in the chicken stock are critical to the flavor profile of this Chicken pot pie.
If you are using reduced store-bought (or other) stock, add 1 to 1½ teaspoons of Herbs de Provence to the stock before you reduce it. (OR ½ tsp. dried sage + ½ tsp. dried thyme; or 1 teaspoon dried herbs of your choice.)

Oven Roasted Vegetables

Preheat oven to 450°F [230°C].
Toss the vegetables in the bowl generously with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper.
Pour seasoned vegetables onto a baking sheet and roast uncovered in oven for 20 minutes, or just until tender.

Pan-fried Corn (Optional Step)

Heat a small skillet over medium-high heat.
Melt one tablespoon of butter.
Add frozen corn to hot butter and pan-fry for 5-7 minutes, stirring constantly, until corn begin to turn golden brown.

Chicken Stock Pan Sauce

Melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium-low heat in a large (10 or 12-inch) cast iron skillet.
Add 5 tablespoons of flour.
NOTE: You can use regular flour if that's what you have, but I always use "instant flour" for this. I use Wondra, but there are other brands. Instant flour is low-protein, finely ground wheat flour that has been pre-cooked and dried. Wondra instantly dissolves in liquids and won’t form lumps in your sauces.
Immediately whisk in the flour, and stirring constantly for even cooking.
In 3 to 5 minutes, you'll have a light roux that puffs slightly and smells a bit nutty.
Stir in 4 cups of hearty chicken stock all at once, continuing to whisk the sauce as it thickens.
When the sauce has thickened, add 1 cup of half-and-half (or milk).
The sauce should be thin, but thick enough to coat a spoon.
The sauce will thicken considerably while cooking as it absorbs into the other filling ingredients.
Season liberally with salt and pepper to taste.

Assembling the Pot Pie

Preheat oven temperature to 425°F | 220°C.
Add the chicken meat, roasted vegetables, and pan-fried corn to the pan sauce.
Gently mix to combine.
To use premade filling: Reheat filling on stovetop or in oven until until it reaches a consistent internal temperature of 95-100° [35-37°C] before adding crust.
Roll out pie crust about 2-3 inched larger than the top of the cast iron skillet you are using.
Top the chicken filling with pie crust, turn the edge under to fit skillet edge, press against the sides to seal, and flute the edges.
You can also brush the pastry dough with an egg wash if you would like.
I used 1 egg and 2 tablespoons of water for the egg wash on the pot pie pictured here.

Baking Chicken Pot Pie

Put cast iron skillet in center of oven and bake at 425°F | 220°C for 40-50 minutes.
Check Chicken Pot Pie after 30 minutes.
If the top seems to be browning too quickly, gently lay a piece of aluminum foil over the top of the entire pie. Do not form or crimp it - just lay it over the top.
Remove chicken pot pie from oven when it is golden brown on top and crust is fully cooked.
Allow pot pie to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving.

Notes

Chicken Pot Pie Filling can be made up to 3 days ahead of time.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup.
Check it out for more great recipes!

Looking for more pot pie ideas? Check out this delicious Pot Pie round-up!

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of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Savory Herb Pie Crust

October 13 By Renée Leave a Comment

Our tender, flaky Herb Pie Crust is the perfect wrapping for all your savory pies and pastries, and the herbs can easily be customized to complement any dish.

Classic Homemade Chicken Pot Pie, topped with our tender, flaky Herbed Pie Crust.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

The foods we prepare for the people we love stays with them long after we are gone. My mother will always be remembered for her fruit pies and her spaghetti sauce and her chili mac. Simple, dependable, and delicious. When I remember Mr B’s Great-Granny (who I first met when we were 15), I always think of her homemade egg noodles; and the smell of fried bologna always reminds me of my Grandma Lucy.

So what will you be remembered for? For me, my classic Italian lasagna is for sure in the running, as is Mr B’s personal favorite; my Shepherd’s Pie. (I have a few fans.) But just as likely, I will be remembered for my Chicken Pot Pie, made with homemade chicken stock and oven roasted vegetables. (Recipe coming next week!)

The crowning touch on this most ultimate of comfort foods is a tender, flaky, golden crust infused with herbs specially chosen to complement the savory, creamy chicken filling.

A Tender, Flaky, Golden Crust Infused with Herbs

This tender, flaky Herb Pie Crust is the perfect wrapping for all your savory pies and pastries, and the herbs can easily be customized to complement any dish.

There are plenty of tips and tricks out there to help you achieve that perfect pie crust; however, in my experience, following these three basic rules will keep you on the road to tender, flaky, pie perfection every time!

Secrets to Perfect Pie Crust

Mom taught me three simple rules for making pie crust.

Keep everything COLD. – The colder you can keep things, the more successful your crust will be. Refrigerate or freeze everything you are using to make your pastry dough, including your mixing bowl! If your dough starts feeling melty or too soft to work with, immediately put everything back in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. You will never ruin your crust by taking some extra chill time.
Incorporate fats by hand. – One of the leading causes of tough crust is that bits of fat in it are too small. (This is why I avoid using a food processor for making pastry crust.) I do, however, often coarsely grate my butter. (I usually chill it, along with the shortening, for at least an hour.) I find that this allows me to distribute it quicker, therein keeping everything colder.
Do not overmix. – Gluten formation in pastry dough results a tough, chewy crust, and is to be avoided whenever possible. Gluten strands are formed the more you mix the dough. This is why you want to avoid over-mixing or kneading pastry dough once the liquid has been added.

Use Two Pieces of Parchment Paper to Make Rolling Easier

This dough can be rolled out on a floured surface; however, I find that sandwiching dough between two parchment sheets allows me to roll it out smoothly without adding too much additional flour while dusting. It also allows me to turn it over easily to roll the opposite side.

To do this:

Place your refrigerated dough disk between two sheets of parchment, dusting both sides lightly with flour before placing the top sheet. (Wax paper also works.)
Beginning in the center of the disk, roll away from you, then spin the dough about a quarter turn.
Repeat this motion, rolling from the center and turning a quarter turn, applying pressure evenly as you go.
Flip the entire thing over and repeat on the opposite side, rolling until you achieve the desired thickness.
Chill the dough for a few minutes if it becomes too soft or sticky.

Post Updated October 13, 2020 (Originally published November 1, 2012)

Savory Herb Pie Crust

This easy pie crust recipe can be made plain, or seasoned with dry herbs to complement any savory filling. Makes enough for one standard double-crust pie, two standard single-crust pies, or ten 6-inch hand-pies.

Prep Time15 mins

Chilling Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

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Course: Basic

Cuisine: American, Comfort Food

Keyword: baking, pastry

Servings: standard double-crust pie

Calories: 3363kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening chilled for one hour
1/2 cup butter chilled for one hour; coarsely grated or cut into 1/4" pieces
3 cups all-purpose flour or more, as needed
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence or ½ tsp. dried sage + ½ tsp. dried thyme; or 1 teaspoon dried herbs of your choice
¼ cup ice water
¼ cup vodka* [Optional: If omitted, use an additional ¼ cup ice water.]
½ teaspoon table salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, dried herbs, and salt together with a fork.
Using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers (my personal choice) work the cold shortening into the flour mixture until the texture resembles that of strudel crumble.
Add coarsely grated (or cut) ice-cold butter to flour mixture.
Work butter in using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers.
It's OK to leave large pieces of butter (balls up to the size of a lima bean): this is what makes your pie crust flakey!
[Optional] Cool flour mixture in freezer 5 minutes before proceeding.
[Optional] If you are using vodka, mix ice water and vodka together.
Sprinkle ½ cup ice cold liquid (ice water, or ice water+vodka) over the top of the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a ball begins to form.
IMPORTANT: Do not pour liquid onto flour mixture: sprinkle it.
Turn dough out onto counter.
Press together into a large ball or disk.
Divide dough in half. (This will make it easier to work with later.)
Press each half into a disk. (Do not overwork the dough. Just press it together.)
Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap.
Refrigerate prepared dough for at least one hour, and up to two days.
Roll out and bake according to directions for whatever you are making.
TIP: I like to roll pastry dough out between sheets of parchment. It allows me to flip the dough easily, and place it without concerns over tearing.

Notes

Standard Pastry Baking Times

Single Crust Pie [Filled] • 400 - 425 °F [205-218 °C] • 35-55 minutes
Pie Shell Only [Unfilled] • 450 °F [232 °C] • 12-15 minutes
Double-Crust [Uncooked Filling] • 400 - 425 °F [205-218 °C] • 45-55 minutes
Double-Crust [Cooked Filling] • 425 - 450 °F [205-232 °C] • 30-45 minutes

Nutrition

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This herb pie crust is super-tasty with our Tuna Hand Pies! (For Herbs, use 1/2 teaspoon dried dill and 1/2 teaspoon onion powder.)

Did You Know? Every Brand of Flour Hydrates Differently!

Different types and brands of flour have fundamental differences between them, hydration being one of the most critical. That’s why water measurements in a pie ingredient list are often listed as estimates (i.e., add more as needed.) If you’re unsure if you need to add a bit more flour, allow the dough to rest in the fridge for an hour to give the flour a chance to absorb some of the liquid. If the dough still too soft, dust it with some extra flour as you roll it out.

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Our Sweet & Easy Homemade Pie Crust is perfect for all your sweet baking. Try it with our Classic Blueberry Pie for the freshest, most delicious blueberry pie you’ve ever made!

Classic Blueberry Pie with easy pie dough roses.

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

How to Make Hearty Homemade Chicken Stock (Bone Broth)

October 1 By Renée 5 Comments

Delicious, healthy, Homemade Chicken Stock for all your soups and sauces. Make it for just pennies with a leftover rotisserie chicken carcass and vegetable scraps.

Homemade chicken stock is easily concentrated; ready for cooking, freezing, or canning.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

Soups are a personal specialty of mine, but I never would have learned to make delicious soups if I hadn’t first learned to make a good soup stock. Canned broths and stocks just don’t cut it.

Homemade chicken stock can be made entirely from scraps: leftover chicken bones, carrot peelings, onion peels and ends, celery tops and roots. The things many people throw away are the source of some of the best soup stock you can make!

Homemade chicken stock will raise your recipes to a whole new level, giving depth and rich flavor to soups, sauces, braises, curries, stir-frys, gravies, casseroles, and anything else for which you normally use chicken broth.

Homemade chicken stock couldn’t be easier to make, and the results are always amazing. It’s nearly foolproof. (One time, I fell asleep while the stockpot was simmering and it boiled down too far because I slept an hour and half past when I was supposed to take it off the heat; but as long as you stay awake, it’s foolproof.)

I prefer a more “rustic” chicken stock; however, if you don’t want any little bits in your stock, you can also strain it through a fine-mesh sieve.

Three Key Ingredients for Perfect Homemade Chicken Stock

Homemade chicken stock has three basic ingredients: water, chicken and/or chicken bones, and aromatics. (Salt is optional.)

This chicken stock recipe gives you ample leeway to tweak your ingredient list to fit your needs.

Water: Be aware, if your water is treated and has an overpowering taste because of it, that flavor may taint your chicken stock, which will in turn negatively flavor whatever you make with it.
Chicken: I prefer to use a rotisserie chicken carcass for my stock, but you can use chicken bones from any cooked chicken.
Aromatics: Aromatics are a combination of vegetables and herbs release and impart deep, rich flavors into the dish as it is cooking.

The veggies you use to flavor your stock are completely up to you. I tend to stick with the basic onion-carrot-celery combo for most stock – it’s perfect for my homemade chicken pot pie. However, if I’m making a soup that needs to be garlicky, I’ll add garlic. If I’m making something with an Asian flare, I may throw in additional celery and some ginger. I’ve even thrown an orange peel in my stock on occasion if I’m planning to make something like our Cranberry Orange Pearl Couscous. Use your imagination.

As far as herbs are concerned, Herbs de Provence is my go-to herb mix when making homemade chicken stock; however, you can use whatever makes you happy: sage and thyme are good choices.

Salt: I also usually add some salt to my stock, but it’s personal choice; much like stocking salted versus unsalted butter. I’ve included it as an optional ingredient in the recipe.

Post Updated October 1, 2020 (Originally published October 31, 2012)

5 from 5 votes

Homemade Chicken Stock

Delicious, healthy, homemade chicken stock for your soups and sauces. Make it for just pennies with a leftover rotisserie chicken carcass and vegetable scraps.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time2 hrs

Standing Time and/or Reduction Time1 hr

Total Time3 hrs 15 mins

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Course: Basic, Soup

Cuisine: Comfort Food

Keyword: soup

Servings: quart (concentrated)

Calories: 184kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Medium Stockpot (6-10 quarts)
Colander

Ingredients

1 rotisserie chicken carcass including skin & juices
1 pound trimmings from onions, celery, and carrots give or take
1 teaspoon Herbes de Provence or ½ tsp. dried sage + ½ tsp. dried thyme
2 teaspoons kosher salt OPTIONAL
water

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Debone chicken. Set chicken meat aside to use for another purpose.
If you are not using vegetable scraps to make your stock, roughly chop vegetables. (i.e., onions, carrots, celery. SEE NOTES)
Put the chicken carcass, skin and all the juices from the rotisserie chicken into a medium stockpot.
Add the chopped vegetables or vegetable scraps.
Add enough water so that it comes to about an inch above the chicken and vegetables.
Season with Herbs de Provence and (optional) salt.
Cover and bring to a boil over medium-high heat.
Reduce heat to low, and simmer for 2-3 hours.
When stock has simmered for about two hours, remove from heat and let stand for 30-60 minutes.
To speed up the process, reduce the simmering time to one hour.
The longer you simmer it (up to 3 hours) the deeper in color and flavor the stock will be.
Strain through metal colander to remove bones and vegetables.
If you’d like to remove the fat from the stock, let your stock cool until the fat settles at the top; or, allow it to chill in the fridge for about an hour, and then skim the fat off the top.
Personally, I prefer a more "rustic" stock; however, if you don't want any little bits in your stock, you can also strain it through a fine-mesh sieve.
At this point, you should have about 2 quarts of chicken stock, give or take.
For a more robust, concentrated chicken stock, return the strained stock to the stockpot.
Bring to a boil over medium high heat, and continue to boil uncovered for an additional 30 minutes to one hour, or until it has reduced by half (or more, depending on your preference).
Concentrated Homemade chicken stock, ready for cooking, freezing or canning.

Notes

This recipe will make 2-3 quarts of light stock, or one quart of concentrated stock.

To use as a recipe ingredient, dilute with water as needed to achieve the desired stock strength.

If you don't have vegetable scraps, you can use:

1 yellow onion, roughly chopped
2 stalks of celery, roughly chopped
2 or 3 carrots, roughly chopped

No need to peel anything: just chop them up and throw them in.

Nutrition

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What is the difference between Chicken Stock and Chicken Broth?

While they can be used interchangeably in most recipes, there is a difference between broth and stock.

That stuff you buy in the can – that’s broth. It’s very thin: nearly water. Chicken Broth is made from chicken meat, simmered for a shorter period of time. (You can make it at home, too, but this isn’t it.)

Stock is usually made from bones that have been cooked or roasted, and simmered for a long time, which yields deeper, richer results.

Okay, so what is Bone Broth then?

Some years ago, my hometown was abuzz with a new health drink trend – Bone Broth. It was everywhere: you could even take class in the Sellwood District on how to make it. When I first saw it being touted as a health drink, I thought I must have something extra or different that set it apart from regular soup stock. But no.

The truth is, Bone Broth is really just traditional stock – richer and thicker than broth by virtue of the collagen that drains out of the bones and joints during the long simmering process. You can make bone broth using bones from just about any animal; wild, domestic, mammal, fish, or fowl.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Classic Fresh Blueberry Pie

August 6 By Renée 8 Comments

Our simple, classic fresh blueberry pie recipe lets the blueberry flavors shine! Made with our homemade sweet pie crust (or store-bought crust) and fresh (or frozen) berries, this delicious pie pairs perfectly with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and a hot summer night.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

There really isn’t anything quite like a slice of fresh blueberry pie with a scoop of cold vanilla ice cream on a hot summer evening.

Our blueberry bushes yielded a bumper crop this year, and I’ve been freezing and baking up berries – including blueberry pies of all shapes and sizes – for a few weeks now. I’d forgotten how much I love baking with fresh blueberries!

As I was developing this blueberry pie recipe, I compared the results against my memories of the best blueberry pie I’ve ever eaten; decades ago at a little boat-in family restaurant called Harmony Falls on the shore of Spirit Lake, at the foot of Mount St. Helens. (Needless to say, it’s been awhile.)

We couldn’t be more pleased with the outcome of this pie recipe! The filling is sweet, tart, juicy blueberry bliss; and the flaky, tender, slightly sweetened crust adds the perfect finishing touch.

Whether it’s been decades or days since you last ate a slice, this fresh blueberry pie will bring back memories of pies-gone-by like they happened yesterday. You are going to love it!

How many blueberries do I need for this pie?

Reality: This is how I measure berries for a pie.

For the purposes of this post, I weighed the berries I used so I could give an exact measurement in the recipe. (About 42 ounces for a deep dish, and 21 ounces for a standard single pie.)

However, if you fill you pie pan(s) so that the top rounds up just a bit, you will have the exact right amount for your pie. The rest of the ingredient amounts are based making filling for one deep dish blueberry pie (as pictured here) or two standard 9-inch pies.

IMPORTANT: Blueberries used for filling must be room temperature. DO NOT use chilled berries, or your filling will take too long to cook and your pie shell will burn before the filling is done.

Why is it so important to rinse blueberries before baking with them?

As you may know, you should never rinse blueberries until you are ready to use them. Rinsing removes the “bloom,” which is the waxy, silvery-white coating that appears on blueberries, grapes, and some plums. Bloom acts as a barrier against insects and bacteria, and helps to seal in the fruits’ moisture. Rinsing breaks down this protection, ultimately allowing the berries to cook more efficiently.

For the purposes of this recipe, rinsing also adds just enough liquid to the mixture to allow the tapioca to begin working its magic before the berries begin to burst during baking. Do not skip this step, or your filling may not cook correctly.

What about the pie crust?

You can use any pie crust you want for this pie. However, if you want to make your own dough (and I strongly encourage you to do so), my favorite, go-to sweet pie dough recipe is tender, flaky, and easy to make. (And if you follow the directions, it’s next to foolproof!)

Follow these three easy rules for successful pie crust:

Keep everything crust-related ICE COLD! That means; if you aren’t using it, it should be chilling. This includes your pie dish. (DO NOT chill filling ingredients.)
Mix in the fats by hand, and leave pea to peanut-size pieces in the dough.
Do not overmix your dough. Overworking encourages the formation of gluten, which makes pastry dough tough. Pastry dough should never be a uniform color: don’t try to make it so.

One more important Pie-Making Tip:

I have one more tip for successful pie making, blueberry or otherwise: invest in a good 9½-inch rimmed glass pie dish. Get a deep dish or standard pie dish depending on your preference, or both!

I prefer a glass pie dish over metal or ceramic for a couple of reasons; most notably, I can see through glass to check the color of my bottom crust, which is a primary determinate for whether the pie is done or not.

Do I have to make the pie crust all fancy like this pie?

Nope. You can top it with a well-vented solid crust; or better yet, make a simple lattice crust.

Want to fancy it up? Vary the size of your lattice strips, and add a few super simple pie dough roses like I did! [How-to post coming next week.]

If you decide to go with a solid top crust, be sure to cut some large vents, or better yet, use a small cookie cutter to open up the top to allow all that steam to escape while the berries are cooking.

For the top crust, you can go as simple as you want; but if you like this design, it’s super-easy to put together. To make it, I sliced a few random strips of pie dough, cut some simple leaves, and made five simple “4-circle” pie-dough roses.

Pie Crust PRO TIP: Cut the bottom crust larger enough so that, after you add the top crust, the bottom edge can be folded up over it and sealed, as shown in the image above. In my experience, this significantly cuts down on pie shell leakage around the edges.

5 from 4 votes

Classic Fresh Blueberry Pie

Our simple, classic fresh blueberry pie recipe lets the blueberry flavors shine! Recipe makes enough filling for one 9-inch deep-dish blueberry Pie, or two standard 9-inch pies.

Prep Time30 mins

Cook Time55 mins

Cooling Time1 hr

Total Time2 hrs 25 mins

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Course: Dessert

Cuisine: American, Comfort Food, Seasonal

Keyword: blueberries, pie

Servings: servings

Calories: 405kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

9½-inch Pie Dish [1 deep dish or 2 standard]

Ingredients

42 ounces fresh blueberries room temperature (Defrost to room temp if using frozen berries)
4 tablespoons instant tapioca
2/3 cup white sugar See Notes below.
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons fresh lemon zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 tablespoon butter cut into small pieces
1 batch Sweet Pie Dough per pie (or your favorite double-crust pie dough)

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400°F [200°C].
Pour fresh berries into your pie dish to measure out proper amount.
PRO TIP: Chill pie plate in refrigerator for 30 minutes before beginning.
Gather and prep all ingredients.
Rinse blueberries in colander. This step is NOT OPTIONAL.
In a large bowl, combine berries, tapioca, sugar, flour, zest, cinnamon and nutmeg.
Gently toss to mix. Sprinkle with lemon juice, toss one more time, and allow to sit for 15 minutes.
While the pie filling is setting out, take the pie plate and one half of your pie dough out of the refrigerator.
Roll out bottom crust and line pie dish. (Continue to chill other half of crust.)
Put rolled bottom crust in freezer for 5 minutes before proceeding.
Fill chilled pie crust with prepared filling.
Sprinkle lemon juice over top of pie. Dot with butter pieces.
Remove dough for top crust from refrigerator. Roll out on lightly floured board. Add top crust to pie as desired. You can simply top it with a solid crust, or make it as fancy as you like.
If you use a solid top crust, be sure to cut a few vents.
If you pie dough seems saggy or too warm when you get done adding the top crust, put the whole thing back in the freezer for 5 minutes.
Baking times will vary somewhat, depending upon your pie dish, oven, and depth of filling. Keep an eye on your pie after the first 30 minutes of baking to avoid burning.
• 9½" Deep Dish Pie: Bake at 400° [200°C] for 45-55 minutes, or until lightly browned.
• Standard 9" Pie: Bake at 400° [200°C] for 40-50 minutes, or until lightly browned.
After the first 30 minutes of baking, gently lay a sheet of plain, flat aluminum foil over the top of the entire pie to avoid over-browning the top. Do not press down or otherwise form the foil: just lay it gently, like a feather.
Pie is done when crust is light golden brown and filling is bubbly.
Allow pie to cool completely before serving.

Notes

You can adjust the amount of sugar based on the tartness of your berries and your personal tastes. Add up to an additional 1/3 cup sugar if your berries are very tart, or if you prefer your pies very sweet.

Nutrition

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The pastry roses on this pie are ridiculously easy to make, and will immediately up your pie-making game!

Why does this blueberry pie recipe include both flour and tapioca as thickeners?

Thickening the natural fruit juices from any berry is tricky, especially when the filling is cooked in the pie. (As opposed to pre-cooking the filling.) Blueberries are particularly pesky, natural pectin-wise, and it seems that some varieties gel better than others.

You want your pie-fruit to be thick enough to sit on a fork, but you don’t want a gummy, gelatinous mess that feels weird on your tongue and totally overwhelms the fresh, natural flavors of the berries. You also need that crust to bake up nice and flaky. It’s a balancing act.

That said, I am not a fan of cornstarch for thickening pies, and I avoid it whenever possible. Sure, thickening with cornstarch is easy, but it often results in what I can only describe as a gloppy, bouncy filling.

For this pie, I use my pie thickener of choice – instant tapioca, plus just a little flour and butter to seal the deal. This combination gives me the most consistent results with my blueberry pie filling, yielding a thick, juicy filling that highlights (instead of hides) all those delicious fresh berry flavors.

Blueberry pies, in particular, thicken a lot when they cool. Don’t be concerned if your filling seems thin when you first take it out of the oven. For best results, allow pies to set up completely before cutting in.

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Sweet & Easy Homemade Pie Crust

July 28 By Renée 10 Comments

Homemade pie crust is easy if you know a few simple secrets! This easy pie crust recipe is slightly sweet, and makes enough for one standard double-crust pie, two standard single-crust pies, or ten 6-inch hand-pies.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

My mother made the best pies: berry pies of all kinds, pumpkin pies, and of course, her famous cherry-rhubarb pie. The secret, she always said, was in the crust.

It was magic, watching Mama make a pie crust, like a dancer on a stage. I can still see her – bending over our shiny yellow Formica kitchen table, dusting the surface with a sweep of her hand and flouring her rolling pin in one graceful motion. Then leaning forward, she would roll out the dough in smooth, perfect strokes.

Mama’s crust was always even and flawless. Once rolled, she turned the pie plate upside-down on the dough and cut a clean circle with her paring knife exactly two inches away from the edge, all the way around. Then, lifting the edge of the pastry circle, she would roll the dough up onto the pin and then gently roll it out again over the righted pie plate, forming it to the dish’s curves; her delicate hands deftly fluting the edges with perfectly practiced pinches.

Look for these recipes, coming soon to GHW: Classic Blueberry Pie, Blueberry Hand-Pies (with precooked pie filling), and Easy Pie Dough Roses.

Three Secrets to a Perfect Pie Crust

Mom taught me three simple rules for making pie crust.

Keep everything COLD. – Refrigerate or freeze everything you are using to make your pastry dough, including your mixing bowl! The colder you can keep things, the more successful your crust will be. If your dough starts feeling melty or too soft to work with, immediately put everything back in the fridge or freezer for a few minutes. You will never ruin your crust by taking some extra chill time.
Incorporate fats by hand. – This allows you to keep the bits of shortening and butter bigger, up to the size of a cooked butter bean. One of the leading causes of tough crust is that bits of fat in it are too small. (This is why I avoid using a food processor for making pastry crust.) I do, however, always grate my butter. (I usually chill it in the freezer for about an hour first.) I find that this allows me to distribute it quicker, therein keeping everything colder.
Do not overmix. – The more you mix the dough, the more gluten strands are formed. Gluten formation in pastry dough results a tough, chewy crust, and is to be avoided whenever possible. DO NOT, under any circumstances, knead your pastry dough.

There are plenty more tips and tricks out there to help you achieve that perfect pie crust, but in my experience, the three guidelines above are the ones that make or break your pastry crust.

This tender, flaky, slightly sweet crust recipe is perfect making pastries like our Classic Fresh Blueberry Pie (pictured below), and holiday favorite Triple-Ginger Pumpkin Pie.

The pastry roses on this pie are ridiculously easy to make, and will immediately up your pie-making game!

How long should I bake pastry dough?

Standard Pastry Baking Times

These are general guidelines only. Please consult the recipe for which you employ the pie dough for specific baking times and temperatures.

Single Crust Pie [Filled] • 400 – 425°F [205-218 °C] • 30-40 minutes
Pie Shell Only [Unfilled] • 400°F [232°C] • 15-17 minutes (blind bake) | 28-30 minutes (fully baked)
Double-Crust [Uncooked Filling] • 400 – 425°F [205-218°C] • 45-55 minutes
Double-Crust [Cooked Filling] • 425 – 450°F [205-232°C] • 30-45 minutes
Turnovers & Hand-Pies [Cooked Filling] • 425 – 450°F [205-232 °C] • 20-22 minutes

5 from 6 votes

Sweet & Easy Homemade Pie Crust

Homemade pie crust is easy if you know a few simple secrets! This easy pie crust recipe is slightly sweet, and makes enough for one standard double-crust pie, two standard single-crust pies, or ten 6-inch hand-pies.

Prep Time15 mins

Chilling Time1 hr

Total Time1 hr 15 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Basic, Dessert

Cuisine: American, Comfort Food

Keyword: baking, pastry

Servings: standard double-crust pie

Calories: 3363kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Ingredients

1/2 cup shortening chilled for one hour
1/2 cup butter chilled & coarsely grated
3 cups all-purpose flour
3 Tablespoons white sugar
¼ cup ice water
¼ cup vodka* [Optional: If omitted, use an additional ¼ cup ice water.]
½ teaspoon table salt

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

In a medium bowl, whisk flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
Using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers (my personal choice) work the cold shortening into the flour mixture until the texture resembles that of strudel crumble.
Add grated or cut ice-cold butter to flour mixture.
Work butter in using a pastry cutter, fork, or your fingers. It's OK to leave large pieces of butter (balls up to the size of a lima bean): this is what makes your pie crust flakey!
[Optional] Cool flour mixture in freezer 5 minutes before proceeding.
[Optional] If you are using vodka, mix ice water and vodka together.
Sprinkle ½ cup ice cold liquid (ice water, or ice water+vodka) over the top of the flour mixture and stir with a wooden spoon until a ball begins to form.
IMPORTANT: Do not pour liquid onto flour mixture: sprinkle it.
Turn dough out onto counter.
Press together into a large ball or disk.
Divide dough in half. (This will make it easier to work with later.)
Press each half into a disk. (Do not overwork the dough. Just press it together.)
Wrap each disk tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate prepared dough for at least one hour, and up to two days.
Roll out and bake according to directions for whatever you are making.
TIP: I like to roll pastry dough out between sheets of parchment. It allows me to flip the dough easily, and place it without concerns over tearing.

Notes

Standard Pastry Baking Times

Single Crust Pie [Filled] • 400 - 425 °F [205-218 °C] • 30-40 minutes
Pie Shell Only [Unfilled] • 450 °F [232 °C] • 12-12 minutes
Double-Crust [Uncooked Filling] • 400 - 425 °F [205-218 °C] • 45-55 minutes
Double-Crust [Cooked Filling] • 425 - 450 °F [205-232 °C] • 30-45 minutes
Turnovers & Hand-Pies [Cooked Filling] • 425 - 450 °F [205-232 °C] • 20-22 minutes

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

Looking for a savory pie crust recipe? Try our delicious Herbed Pie Crust – perfect for pot pies and other savory baked treats!

Does your recipe call for pre-baking or blind baking the crust? Here are some great tips for successful blind baking!

Does vodka in pie crust really make a difference?

I first read about using vodka in a pie crust recipe in a long-forgotten issue of Cook’s Illustrated. The science behind it is that the alcohol in the vodka adds moisture to the dough without encouraging gluten formation, since gluten doesn’t form in alcohol. Also, the vodka evaporates more efficiently than water during the baking process, removing more moisture and resulting in a flakier and crispier crust.

I wanted to know if the theory plays out in real life, so I did a side by side comparison to see if there was any noticeable difference between crust made with vodka and crust made with plain ice water.

The hand-pie below on the left has vodka in the dough; the dough on the right was made with ice-water only. They were baked at the same time on the same baking tray.

I expected there to be a more noticeable distinction, but there really wasn’t any significant differences in taste or texture between the two pastries once they were baked. (You cannot taste any alcohol, of course, because it has all cooks out.)

There were, however, a few differences in the dough before baking. The vodka dough was a bit softer than the all ice-water dough, and while it did require slightly longer chilling time, it was also more supple and easier to roll out.

Final Thoughts: The vodka in this recipe is optional, and using the all ice water method will still result in a delicious, flaky crust as long as you keep everything ice-cold. However, if you have the vodka and want to give it a try, I encourage you to do so; you may find that this is just the trick to raise your pastry making to the next level.

Can I freeze this pie dough?

Absolutely! Pie dough keeps very well in the freezer. Wrap it tightly in freezer-weight plastic wrap and seal it in a freezer bag. (Or do what I do and suck-n-seal it with a FoodSaver.) Tightly-wrapped dough should keep up to six months in the freezer.

For even easier use later, roll the dough out ahead of time and freeze pie crusts in the pan.

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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Cranberry Crumb Sourdough Coffee Cake

April 30 By Renée 3 Comments

In this moist, buttery Cranberry Crumb Sourdough Coffee Cake, fresh cranberries provide a tart contrast to the sweet vanilla pound cake and double layer of rich, walnut-crumb topping. Perfect for a relaxing weekend morning or afternoon snack.

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

If you’ve not yet jumped on the Sourdough Train, this Cranberry Crumb Sourdough Coffee Cake might just be the thing that punches your ticket!

My mom use to mix up a coffee cake on Sunday mornings once or twice a month. It took nearly an hour to bake, and in that time, our house would fill with the scents of roasting walnuts, caramelizing brown sugar, and warm vanilla cake.

There were only two things wrong with Mama’s coffee cake: it took way too long to bake, and there was never enough of that sweet, nutty, crumb topping!

I can’t change the baking time problem – it’s still going to take almost an hour to bake. But I’ve definitely resolved the crumb dilemma! This recipe makes double the amount of crumb traditionally used. (If you prefer your coffee cake with less crumb topping, it’s an easy fix: just make less of the topping.)

This sourdough coffee cake is an excellent way to use up extra sourdough starter, too! It’s easy to make, tastes amazing, and is perfect for any occasion when you want a little something sweet.

You can use a hand mixer if you want, but I prefer mixing this cake entirely by hand. Either way, it will take you about 15 minutes to get it in the oven.

No cranberries? No problem! You can use any berry you want (blueberries work especially well!) or leave the berries out altogether. Any way you make it, it’s going to be delicious!

5 from 2 votes

Cranberry Crumb Sourdough Coffee Cake

In this moist, buttery Cranberry Crumb Sourdough Coffee Cake, fresh cranberries provide a tart contrast to the sweet vanilla pound cake and double-layer of rich, walnut-crumb topping.

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time45 mins

Total Time1 hr

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Breakfast, Brunch, Dessert, Snack

Cuisine: American

Keyword: cake, cranberries, sourdough

Servings: servings

Calories: 339kcal

Author: Renée | The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

9" Square Baking Pan
Wooden Spoon or Hand Mixer
Mixing Bowls

Ingredients

Crumble Topping

2 cups finely chopped walnuts or pecans, or filberts, or almonds
2/3 cup light brown sugar firmly packed
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1½ teaspoons ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
3 tablespoons butter melted

Cake Batter

1/2 cup butter room temperature
1 cup sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup sourdough starter UNFED
1 teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
¼ cup milk room temperature
Zest of 1 orange
1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries room temperature

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Preheat oven to 350°F | 176°C.
Grease a 9" square pan, or spray with cooking spray.

Crumb Topping

Chop walnuts.
I usually chop nuts for recipes by hand, but for this recipe, you want them a little finer. I use a small food processor for this step, processing the nuts a handful at a time, pulsing quickly a few times with each batch. You want most of the walnuts to be finely chopped, but you don't want to make nut butter. It's good to have a few bigger pieces here and there. It gives the Crumb Topping a more interesting texture, too.
Whisk together nuts, brown sugar, 2 tablespoons of flour, cinnamon, and salt in a medium bowl.
Add vanilla and melted butter and mix until thoroughly combined. Set aside.

Cake Batter

In a large mixing bowl, use a wooden spoon to break down butter.
It is critical that the butter be at least 65°F [18.3°C] or it will be too hard to mix the cake. Optimally, butter should be about 70°-72°F.
In a large mixing bowl, use a spatula to combine sugar and butter. It doesn't need to be pretty; just mix it in thoroughly.
Add eggs to butter and sugar mixture one at a time, stirring thoroughly to combine after each addition.
Stir in vanilla and sourdough starter. Set aside.
In a medium bowl, whisk or sift together 2 cups of flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
Add dry ingredients to Starter mixture and stir to combine. Add milk and mix until smooth.
Stir in orange zest and cranberries.
[A] Spread one-half cake batter in the bottom of a prepared pan.
[B] Sprinkle one-half crumble mixture over the top. Press the crumble down very lightly with your hands.
[C] CAREFULLY distribute the rest of the batter on top of the first crumb layer. The idea is to mix in as little of the crumb mixture into the cake batter as possible.
I do this by dropping dollops of batter over the top of the crumb layer, and then carefully spreading it to the edges using a frosting spatula or the back of a spoon.
[D] Sprinkle the second half of the crumble mixture over the top. Press the crumble down very lightly with your hands.
Bake in preheated oven for 35 minutes. Open the oven door and gently cover the cake top with a piece of foil. Basically, just lay the foil over the top.
This will keep the topping from over browning during the final minutes of baking.
Close the oven and continue baking for an additional 10-20 minutes (for a total of 45-55 minutes cooking time), or until a skewer comes out clean.
Remove from oven and cool on rack.

Notes

This coffee cake can be stored at room temperature for several days. It also freezes well.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

Making this Coffee Coffee Cake Recipe: A Closer Look

I usually chop nuts for recipes by hand, but for this recipe, you want them a little finer. I use a small food processor for this step, processing the nuts a handful at a time, pulsing quickly a few times with each batch. You want most of the walnuts to be finely chopped, but you don’t want to make nut butter, and it’s good to have a few bigger pieces here and there. It gives the Crumb Topping a more interesting texture, too.

Assembling the coffee cake is easy, but Step C does takes just a bit of patience.

[A] Spread one-half cake batter in the bottom of a prepared pan.

[B] Sprinkle one-half crumble mixture over the top. Press the crumble down very lightly with your hands.

[C] CAREFULLY distribute the rest of the batter on top of the first crumb layer. The idea is to mix in as little of the crumb mixture into the cake batter as possible.

I do this by dropping dollops of batter over the top of the crumb layer, and then carefully spreading it to the edges using a frosting spatula or the back of a spoon.

[D] Sprinkle the second half of the crumble mixture over the top. Press the crumble down very lightly with your hands.

Stages of a Healthy Sourdough Starter

Use Unfed Starter or Discard for this recipe.

Fed Starter – Fed Starter is active, healthy starter that has been fed within about 2 hours. By hour 2, it will be producing little bubbles on the surface.
Active Starter – Starter is Active about 5 hours after feeding. By hour 5, you should be able to watch large bubbles actively rising through the Starter and making their way to surface.
Ripe Starter – Starter is considered Ripe about 8 hours after feeding. The volume has doubled, and the top is just beginning to show signs of sagging under its own weight.
Unfed Starter – Unfed Starter is healthy, vigorous Starter that has not been fed for 12 hours or more. By hour 12, it collapsed after Ripening, and is ready to be fed again or put in the fridge until next time. (Note that this is NOT neglected Starter that hasn’t been fed in days.)
Discard – Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you get rid of when you do a feeding. It should be healthy and vigorous, with some small bubbling activity.

I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup.
Check it out for more great recipes!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
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Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup with Ham {Slow Cooker}

April 16 By Renée 10 Comments

Easy to make and budget-friendly, this Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup with ham makes a hearty, comforting meal. It’s also an excellent way to use that leftover hambone from your holiday dinner!

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

This Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup recipe is easy, adaptable, and very forgiving. It’s budget- and pantry-friendly, too; to make it, you just need a hambone (and/or leftover ham), a few basic vegetables, and a pound of beans. With that, you can easily feed small crowd with leftovers to spare.

Serve Navy Bean Soup with fresh skillet cornbread, buttermilk biscuits, or a slice of sourdough for a simple, delicious, satisfying meal.

How to Make Old-Fashioned Navy Bean Soup in a Slow Cooker

[Scroll down for printable Recipe Card and step-by-step directions.]

Soak beans overnight, or do a quick soak.

Drain and rinse soaked beans, and combine with diced celery, grated carrot, and chopped onions in your slow cooker.

Using a Hambone in your Navy Bean Soup

If you are using a ham bone, put it in the slow cooker now, too.

When using a hambone (and I HIGHLY recommend that you do) DO NOT add any salt to your Navy Bean Soup until after the first 5 hours of cooking. Ham bones are notoriously salty, and it is easier to know how much salt to add once the ham bone has cooked out into the soup.

Ham Juice = Liquid Gold!

Pan juices (“Ham Juice,” in this case) is the liquid that collects in the bottom of your roasting pan when you are cooking or reheating a roast or other large cut of meat. It is also one of my favorite Secret Ingredients!

If you use pan juices in your soup, it’s best to refrigerate them for at least four hours, until very cold. Then, using a fine mesh sieve, strain the pan juices to filter out any fat solids and other bits you might not want in your soup. Add enough water to the pan juices to make a total of 2 quarts of liquid, and then add all the liquid to the ingredients in the slow cooker.

If you DO use pan juices as part of your liquid, hold off on adding any additional seasoning until after the first 5 hours.
If you DO NOT use pan juices as part of your liquid, add the brown sugar and black pepper from the ingredient list at this time.

Just as the type of ham bone you use will determine the underlying flavor profile of your soup (i.e., sweet, smokey, etc.), so too will your pan juices. For example, we usually have a honey-glazed ham for the holidays, and then make either navy bean or split pea soup right after, so our post-holiday soups generally have a slightly sweet undertone.

After you have loaded everything in the slow cooker, give it all a quick stir. Add the crushed chili peppers at this time if you are using them. Set slow cooker to HIGH and cook for 5 hours. I usually stir the soup a couple of times during the cooking time.

After about 5 hours cooking time.

After cooking for 5 hours, the meat on the ham-bone should be falling apart. Reduce the slow cooker to LOW.

Using tongs or an extra-large serving spoon, carefully remove ham bone to a plate and set aside to cool. (Give it some time! I’ve burnt my fingers more than once trying to hurry the process.)

After you have removed the ham bone, taste the soup broth, and then salt and season to taste. Add fresh thyme if desired. (Or any other fresh herbs you choose to use.)

Allow soup to continue to simmer on low while ham bone cools, checking every 30 minutes until the beans are done to your liking. Beans are usually done in 6 to 8 hours.

For a creamier bean soup, when the beans are fully cooked, use an emersion blender to blend some of the beans a bit. (Be sure to do this BEFORE you add any ham back into the soup.)

When the beans are fully cooked and the hambone is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bone. Return the meat to the soup, and discard the ham bone. Add any additional ham to soup, taste again, and adjust the seasonings.

Violà! You’ve made this hearty, delicious Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup for the whole family with only about 20 minutes of hands-on time!

Arugula sprouts are my new favorite micro-green! Use them to garnish your soups to add a little contrast of color, plus a fresh, mildly peppery accent.

As with most soups, Navy Bean Soup is always better the next day, when the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Beans, Beans!

I’ll bet I know what you’re thinking right now! (They are magical, aren’t they?!)

What kind of beans can I use for this recipe?

This recipe is technically for Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup, and thus calls for using dried navy beans. Also known as “Boston beans”, these small, cream-colored oval beans are a standard in American cooking. Navy beans work well as a soup bean because they can be pureed, or cooked to a very soft consistency.

However, there is nothing to stop you from using an “alternative bean.” You could make this recipe into Old-fashioned Calypso Bean Soup, or Old-fashioned Great Northern Bean Soup, or even Old-fashioned West African Brown Bean Soup. All you really need is a pound of any small bean, or combination of beans.

(Note that changing the type of bean may affect the soup’s cooking time.)

To Presoak or Not Presoak

This recipe calls for you to presoak your beans before starting your soup. There are basically three way to do this:

Long Soak (Overnight): Rinse the beans under cool, running water and remove any stones or shriveled beans. Transfer beans to a large bowl, and cover with enough water so that there is 2 inches of water above the beans. Let sit overnight. Drain and rinse thoroughly before cooking.
Quick Soak (Stovetop): In a large saucepan, cover dried beans with triple their volume of cold water. Bring water to a boil and cook beans, uncovered, for 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and soak beans for 1 hour.
Quick Soak (Instant Pot): I’m not a big Instant Pot user; however, when I do presoak my beans in my Instant Pot (and I have a couple of times) these are the directions I follow.

Do I haf’ta presoak the beans?

No.

So, why should I presoak my beans?

There are a couple of good reasons to presoak beans. First, soaking can reduce overall cooking time considerably. Presoaked beans also tend to hold their shape better. On the down-side, dark-skinned beans, speckled beans, and mottled beans will loose color in a presoak; and soaking does leach out some nutrients.

However, reduced cooking time or improved texture is not the primary reason I presoak my beans before cooking them. No, the main reason I soak my beans first is because doing so helps remove some of the indigestible complex sugars in them that cause gas. In fact, if you have a difficult relationship with beans, you may find that presoaking all your beans before cooking changes that relationship noticeably for the better.

Let me translate that into the clearest possible terms: if you presoak your beans and thoroughly drain and rinse them before cooking, you and the people who eat your food will (probably) fart less.

(My mother would be doing somersaults in her grave if she knew I was writing about Gas.)

But it is a totally true, and I have years of anecdotal evidence to back it up. Which is to say, I live with people (not naming any names or anything) who have more trouble than some digesting those aforementioned “indigestible complex sugars.” (In other words, they are very gassy.) I have noticed that, after eating a soup or chili made with thoroughly presoaked beans, the incidence of button dropping (as Mr. B’s Granny used to call it; as in, “Oops! I dropped a button.”) does seem to be less than after eating, say, a bowl of canned chili.

Note that presoaking your beans does not mean an end to button dropping, as it were; rather, it means there will likely be less incidents if you do.

That’s probably all I need to say about that.

Hearty, comforting, easy, economical, and even pantry-friendly! Oh, and it's De-licious, too! There's a lot to love about this Slow Cooker Navy Bean & Ham Soup!

5 from 6 votes

Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup {Slow Cooker}

Easy to make and budget-friendly, this Old-fashioned Navy Bean Soup with Ham makes a hearty, comforting meal. It’s also a great way to use that leftover hambone from your holiday dinner!

Prep Time15 mins

Cook Time6 hrs

Bean Soak (quick)1 hr

Total Time7 hrs 15 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Soup

Cuisine: American

Keyword: beans, budget recipe, slow cooker, soup

Servings: servings

Calories: 179kcal

Author: Renée ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Slow Cooker
Fine Mesh Sieve

Ingredients

1 pound navy beans
1 meaty ham bone
1 cup ham More or less. Use meat from hambone, plus any additional ham you want to add.
1 ½ cups chopped onion about one large onion
1 cup grated carrots or finely diced
1 cup finely diced celery 2 stalks
1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar or honey
1 teaspoon salt or as needed
1/2 teaspoon white pepper or freshly ground black pepper
Pan juices from ham OPTIONAL; 16-24 ounces
2 quarts water* water + pan juices = 1 ½ to 2 quarts of liquid
½ - 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes optional
sprig fresh thyme optional

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Soak beans overnight, or do a quick soak.
Drain and rinse soaked beans.
Combine drained, soaked beans with diced celery, grated carrot, and chopped onions in slow cooker.

Using pan juices in your soup

If you are using pan juices (i.e.,ham juice from the bottom of the roasting pan):
Refrigerate pan juices for at least four hours, until very cold.
Using a fine mesh sieve, strain the pan juices to filter out any fat solids and other bits you might not want in your soup.
Use 16-24 ounces of pan juices in your soup; less if your ham was particularly salty or the juices very thick.
Add enough water to the pan juices to make a total of 1½ to 2 quarts of liquid, depending upon how thick you like your soup. (i.e., more liquid = thinner soup)
Add liquid to the ingredients in the slow cooker.
If you DO use pan juices as part of your liquid: Hold off on adding any additional seasoning until after the first 4 hours.
If you DO NOT use pan juices as part of your liquid: Add the brown sugar and black pepper at this time.
DO NOT add any salt to your Navy Bean Soup at this time. Ham bones are notoriously salty, and it is easier to know how much salt to add once the ham bone has cooked out into the soup.

Cooking the Soup

Give everything in the slow cooker a quick stir. Add the crushed chili peppers at this time if you are using them.
Set slow cooker to HIGH and cook for 5 hours. I usually stir the soup a couple of times during the cooking time.
After cooking for 5 hours, the meat on the ham-bone should be falling apart. Using tongs or an extra-large serving spoon, carefully remove ham bone to a plate and set aside to cool.
Reduce the slow cooker to LOW.
After you have removed the ham bone, taste the soup broth, and then season with salt and pepper to taste.
Add fresh thyme if desired. (Or any other fresh herbs you choose to use.)
Allow soup to continue to simmer on low while ham bone cools, checking every 30 minutes until the beans are done to your liking. Beans are usually done in 6 to 8 hours.
For a creamier bean soup, when the beans are fully cooked, use an emersion blender to blend some of the beans a bit. (Be sure to do this BEFORE you add any ham back into the soup.)
When the ham bone is cool enough to handle, separate the meat from the bone.
Stir ham from bone into soup. Add any additional reserved ham at this time.
Discard the ham bone.
Season to taste.

Notes

Ham bone: The type of ham bone you use will determine the underlying flavor profile of your soup. If you use a honey or glazed ham bone, your soup will be slightly sweeter. If you use a smoked hambone (or ham hock), your soup will taste more smokey.

Three Ways to Presoak Beans

Long Soak (Overnight): Rinse the beans under cool, running water and remove any stones or shriveled beans. Transfer beans to a large bowl, and cover with enough water so that there is 2 inches of water above the beans. Let sit overnight. Drain and rinse thoroughly before cooking.
Quick Soak (Stovetop): In a large saucepan, cover dried beans with triple their volume of cold water. Bring water to a boil and cook beans, uncovered, for 2 minutes over medium heat. Remove pan from heat, cover, and soak beans for 1 hour.
Quick Soak (Instant Pot): I'm not a big Instant Pot user; however, if I were using an Instant Pot to cook my beans, these are the directions I would follow.

As with most soups, Navy Bean Soup is always better the next day, when the flavors have had a chance to meld.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

Cooking Navy Bean Soup in an Instant Pot

While personally, I prefer cooking soups in my slow cooker, I am certain that you can cook this entire soup in an Instant Pot. So, if you successfully make this soup in your Instant Pot, please take a minute to share your settings in the comments below! I know that many of our readers would love to know!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. ? Be sure to PIN this post!

Disclosure: This post may contain affiliate links, including Amazon affiliate links, which means we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something that we have recommended. While clicking these links won’t cost you any extra money, they do help keep this site up and running. As always, all opinions and images are my own. Please check out our disclosure policy for more details. Thank you for your support!

Mom’s Sourdough Hotcakes (Sourdough Pancakes)

April 9 By Renée 12 Comments

This is my Mom’s recipe for Sourdough Hotcakes. Crisp, light, and slightly tangy, these delicious Sourdough Pancakes make an easy breakfast or brunch. (They’re also a great way to use your leftover sourdough starter!)

This post may contain affiliate links, but don’t worry – they won’t bite.

I guess I was around four the first time I remember having sourdough pancakes.

We were staying up at Mister and Missus Houston’s vacation place up on the mountain between Rhododendron and ZigZag. When you stepped into their little cabin, the first thing you saw was the stone fireplace and the main room, about half the size of our living room at home. From the main room, you could go straight through into the kitchen and eating area, and then turn a corner to the Houston’s bedroom, and the extra bedroom beyond, where my parents slept; or you could go left and up the sturdy wooden staircase that led to the loft, where Karen and I stayed.

Karen was the Houston’s daughter. She was about six or eight years older than me, but since I was the only other kid there, we got thrown in together.

If I remember right, the cabin had been in Missus Houston’s family for many years; generations, even. It was old and snug, and I loved being there. Whenever I hear the song Grandma’s Feather Bed, the big feather bed that Karen and I shared up in the loft is the one I think of.

The Houston’s cabin had no electricity or central heat, but Missus Houston had one of those big, old-timey wood cooking stoves, and she kept a fire going in it all the time. She would let it die down at night, and stoke it up in the morning. On crisp mountain mornings, the spot right by the stove was always the warmest place in the cabin.

I can remember smelling the sourdough pancakes long before I tasted them, their scent mingling with maple and sausage and strong black coffee as it wafted up the stairs to us. Karen and I followed the breakfast smells down to find our mothers in the kitchen, pouring pancake batter into a huge cast iron skillet and stacking thick, lace-edged pancakes on a big plate that set on the stove’s sideboard.

When I sat down to the table, and my mom gave me a plate stacked with three thick pancakes the size of my palm. Silver Dollar Hot Cakes, she called them. Then she turned her fork on its side and cut them into neat little triangles for me. Missus Houston asked if I wanted maple syrup or Marion berry, and like any good Oregonian, I chose Marion berry. There was so much to take in: the mountain and breakfast smells, the giant blue-speckled coffee pot percolating on the stove, the sounds of pancakes sizzling in the skillet and my mother laughing with her friend.

My fork speared one of the little pancake triangle stacks and then the next, and I ate silently, pausing between bites only for a swallow of milk to wash it all down.

My mother died recently, and a few weeks ago, while sorting through some of her things, I ran across a stack of hand-written recipes. There are a handful of them that I hope to eventually share with you, but her Sourdough Hotcake recipe comes first. Mostly, because I needed to make them.

Mama standing by the woodstove in her housecoat, spatula in hand, and the smell of sourdough hitting hot oil on cast iron, and the steam rising off the fresh stacks… one bite of these pancakes brings it all back like it was yesterday.

I’ve reduced Mom’s recipe so that it makes about ten 5-inch pancakes instead of twenty. I did this for couple of reasons; mainly, because I rarely have two extra cups of sourdough starter; and also because (these days) we just don’t need to make twenty or so pancakes at one time. However, if you decide to double the recipe, you can add an extra egg if you want to. (Also, if you’re keeping track, there are further directions on the back of the card about adding butter, etc.)

One of the things that often surprises people when they first try sourdough pancakes is how light and fluffy they are. They have a slightly sweet, mildly tangy flavor, and are so worth the effort. Plus, not only are these hotcakes tender and delicious, but they also are a perfect way to use up your sourdough discard!

5 from 5 votes

Sourdough Pancakes

Crisp, light, and slightly tangy, these delicious Sourdough Pancakes make a delicious breakfast or brunch. (They're also an easy, practical way to use your leftover sourdough starter!)

Prep Time10 mins

Cook Time5 mins

Rest Time5 mins

Total Time20 mins

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Course: Breakfast, Breakfast or Brunch

Cuisine: American, Comfort Food

Keyword: pancakes, sourdough, sourdough baking, sourdough starter

Servings: 5" pancakes

Calories: 101kcal

Author: Renée ♥ The Good Hearted Woman

Equipment

Ingredients

1 cup Sourdough Starter [100% Hydration] Discard or Unfed [See Notes]
3/4 cup flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon soda
1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
2 tablespoons melted butter

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Start with leftover starter [Discard] or Unfed Starter. Starter should be healthy, but should not have been fed in the last 12 hours.
This recipe is very forgiving. Use one cup, more or less.
Sift dry ingredients (flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, and baking soda) together into a medium bowl.
Add wet ingredients (e.g., sourdough starter, milk, egg, and melted butter) to dry ingredients.
Whisk to thoroughly combine. The mixture should begin to bubble almost immediately.
Preheat griddle or skillet to 325°-350° F. When griddle is hot, spray it with cooking spray or lightly oil it with a neutral oil. (I use extra light olive oil.)
Pour ¼ cup of pancake batter onto the preheated, oiled griddle or skillet.
Flip pancakes over when the top begins to bubble and the bubbles do not fill in.
Cook pancakes for an additional 1-2 minutes, or until they cooked through.

Nutrition

Tried this recipe?Mention @TheGoodHeartedWoman or tag #thegoodheartedwoman!

What’s the difference between Hotcakes and Pancakes?

Pancakes, by broad definition, include any flat, pan-fried cake that is flipped in order to complete cooking. They are nearly always round (unless you’re into fancy pancake art) and are cooked on an oiled griddle or frying pan. Pancakes may be leavened or unleavened, and can be sweet or savory; a list which includes everything from potato latkes to french crepes.

Hotcakes are a specific type of pancake; however, from what I can tell, what you call your hotcakes depends a lot upon where you’re from. In many parts of the United States, the terms pancakes, flapjacks, griddlecakes, and hotcakes are used interchangeably.

American hotcakes (or breakfast pancakes) usually include milk, eggs, flour, and fat (i.e., butter, oil, etc.), and they also always includes a leavening agent, making them rise and puff up when cooked. In contrast, when I was researching this, I learned that British pancakes are often unleavened and resemble a crêpe.

All that said, my mother was from Missouri, and was particular about things like this. She would tell you that the recipe shared here is for Hot Cakes [two words] and they look and taste nothing like their flat, thin pancake cousins.

Frankly, you can call them whatever you want; because whatever they are called, they’re always delicious!

Stages of a Healthy Sourdough Starter

Use Discard or Unfed Starter for this recipe.

Fed Starter – Fed Starter is active, healthy starter that has been fed within about 2 hours. By hour 2, it will be producing little bubbles on the surface.
Active Starter – Starter is Active about 5 hours after feeding. By hour 5, you should be able to watch large bubbles actively rising through the Starter and making their way to surface.
Ripe Starter – Starter is considered Ripe about 8 hours after feeding. The volume has doubled, and the top is just beginning to show signs of sagging under its own weight.
Unfed Starter – Unfed Starter is healthy, vigorous Starter that has not been fed for 12 hours or more. By hour 12, it collapsed after Ripening, and is ready to be fed again or put in the fridge until next time. (Note that this is NOT neglected Starter that hasn’t been fed in days.)
Discard – Sourdough discard is the portion of your sourdough starter that you get rid of when you do a feeding. It should be healthy and vigorous, with some small bubbling activity.

Sourdough Starter: If you do not yet have a sourdough starter, there are a number of ways to get one; including making a rye sourdough starter [ready to use in 5-7 days] or starting one from dried starter flakes [ready to use in 10+ days].

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Chili’s Chicken Enchilada Soup is an all-time favorite at our house! This rich, delicious, spot-on copycat recipe is easy and economical to make, and takes just one pot and 30 minutes, stove to table.

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Recipe Updated November 16, 2020 (Originally published November 5, 2013)

Chili's Chicken Enchilada Soup (Copycat Recipe)

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Nutrition

Ingredient Notes

How to Make Chili’s Enchilada Soup Vegetarian-Friendly

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Learn the recipe secrets to making classic Fried Green Tomatoes that are both tender and crisp; with all the traditional corn flavor, but without the grit!

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The Secret Isn’t in the Sauce (It’s in the Breading)

Recipe Secrets to Crispy, Grit-free Fried Green Tomatoes

1. Sub in Masa Harina for Cornmeal (Really!)

2. Substitute Wondra for All-purpose Flour

3. Use Panko Breadcrumbs

How to Pick a Green Tomato

Post Updated November 1 2020 (Originally published August 29, 2013)

Fried Green Tomatoes

Equipment

Ingredients

BOWL 1: Dredge

BOWL 2: Wet Wash

BOWL 3: Breading

Instructions

Breading Tomatoes

Frying Tomatoes

Notes

Nutrition

Ways to Serve Fried Green Tomatoes

Southern Surprise

Electric Skillet versus Cast Iron

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Classic Homemade Chicken Pot Pie is the ultimate comfort food! Start with a rotisserie chicken for easy prep (or roast your own); then add savory roasted vegetables and our easy homemade chicken stock, then top it all off with a tender, flaky herbed pie crust. Perfection!

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The Four Elements of a Perfect Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (Including Substitutions & Faster Prep Tips)

[3] Roasted Vegetables

[4] Herbed Pie Crust

Post Updated October 19, 2020 (Originally published November 14, 2012)

Classic Homemade Chicken Pot Pie (from Scratch)

Equipment

Ingredients

Roasted Vegetables

Pan-fried Corn [Optional]

Sauce

Instructions

Ingredient Prep

Oven Roasted Vegetables

Pan-fried Corn (Optional Step)

Chicken Stock Pan Sauce

Assembling the Pot Pie

Baking Chicken Pot Pie

Notes

Nutrition

I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup. Check it out for more great recipes!

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Our tender, flaky Herb Pie Crust is the perfect wrapping for all your savory pies and pastries, and the herbs can easily be customized to complement any dish.

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A Tender, Flaky, Golden Crust Infused with Herbs

Secrets to Perfect Pie Crust

Use Two Pieces of Parchment Paper to Make Rolling Easier

Post Updated October 13, 2020 (Originally published November 1, 2012)

Savory Herb Pie Crust

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

Standard Pastry Baking Times

Nutrition

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Delicious, healthy, Homemade Chicken Stock for all your soups and sauces. Make it for just pennies with a leftover rotisserie chicken carcass and vegetable scraps.

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Three Key Ingredients for Perfect Homemade Chicken Stock

Post Updated October 1, 2020 (Originally published October 31, 2012)

Homemade Chicken Stock

Equipment

Ingredients

Instructions

Notes

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**The Secret Isn’t in the Sauce (It’s in the Breading)**

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The Four Elements of a Perfect Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
(Including Substitutions & Faster Prep Tips)

I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup.
Check it out for more great recipes!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. 🌻 Be sure to PIN this post!

I’m sharing this recipe on the Weekend Potluck Recipe Linkup.
Check it out for more great recipes!

THANK YOU so much for being a faithful reader and supporter
of The Good Hearted Woman. ? Be sure to PIN this post!