The Genius Store-Bought Hack For Making Chicken Pot Pie In A Snap

If you want a warm dish that will fill you up, you can always turn to some Southern comfort food. Even if you're far away from a Southern restaurant, we've created a list of Southern comfort food for you to bring the deliciousness and homey atmosphere into your own kitchen. But cooking comfort food from scratch can take some time and prep, especially if you're frying your chicken or making biscuits from scratch.

Thankfully, there are a lot of shortcuts to a hot dinner on the table. Looking to make a chicken pot pie that will get you through the week? This 30-minute chicken pot pie recipe is already fairly straightforward since it uses frozen vegetables and pre-made puff pastry, but if you're hoping to whip something up even faster, the answer might be in your pantry.

While heating up a can of chicken soup makes for a simple lunch, there's a lot more you can do with a can of soup than eat it as is. For example, many copycat recipes for Cracker Barrel's Hashbrown Casserole use a can of condensed chicken soup, but if you prefer pie to hash browns, then try using canned soup as a filling for chicken pot pie.

To make a chicken pot pie without all the extra chopping and prep, you'll need a can of chicken soup, preferably with some vegetables in it. Use a creamy type of chicken soup or even a chicken pot pie soup. For a texture that's more similar to chicken pot pie, it's best to get a chunkier soup.

Once you get your can of soup, you will need to thicken it, unless you prefer a runnier filling. You can thicken your soup by heating it up on the stove and making a cornstarch slurry or flour roux (though a roux takes more time) or even adding some cheese to your pot pie filling. French chef Jacques Pépin uses potato flakes to thicken soup, so instant mashed potatoes will also work. After thickening, pour it into a baking pan and add a pie crust or biscuits on top. If you're also putting a pie crust on the bottom of the dish, it should be baked alone before adding the soupy filling so your pie isn't too soggy.

Wondering what else you can do with those cans of soup sitting in the back of your pantry? We've rounded up surprising recipes that use a can of soup, from using condensed cheddar cheese soup to make breakfast potatoes to adding tomato soup to a spice cake.