The Boozy Secret To The Pioneer Woman's Chicken Pot Pie

Chicken pot pie can be a real labor of love. You have to be committed to the process if you are going to make this dish from scratch. From the filling to the pie crust to putting the two together, it takes time. So, if you are going to make it, you might want to borrow Ree Drummond's boozy, secret ingredient that will fundamentally change your chicken pot pie's flavor. Per her website, the Pioneer Woman adds white wine along with her chicken broth and heavy cream to create a tasty gravy that is rich and complex. 

There are plenty of mistakes people make with chicken pot pie, but adding wine to the gravy is not one of them. This savory, viscous, wine-spiked bath for your shredded chicken, diced carrots, peas, chopped celery, minced onions and garlic, and whatever other veggies you like to add will bring both fruity and earthy notes to your homemade chicken pot pie. It will also add an acidic element that both brightens the overall taste of the gravy and cuts through its fatty nature. But before you start drizzling or pouring this libation into your pot pie filling, there are a few things to consider.

First, try and use a wine that you like to drink. It doesn't take a lot of this booze to taste its effects in your pot pie gravy, and if you don't like the way the wine tastes when you are sipping on it, chances are you won't like what it adds to your pot pie. You also want to select a wine that complements the other flavors you are working with. What's the best type of white wine for cooking? A dry white wine, like a Chardonnay, will be thick and have a pronounced taste that works with a creamy chicken sauce or gravy.

However, if you are going to follow in Ree Drummond's footsteps and add some vino, mind the acidity. It needs to be balanced. For this reason, you may want to reduce the wine before blending it with the cream and chicken stock to avoid this issue altogether. How much wine should you add? Drummond goes for a splash, but a good rule of thumb is to use a ratio of about 3 tablespoons of wine per 1 cup of gravy. When you dig your spoon or fork into that first bite of chicken pot pie, your taste buds should not be hit with a strong taste of wine, but rather the taste should be well blended with the other ingredients.