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Broccoli Chicken and Cheddar Hand Pies. Flaky puff pastry filled with tender chicken and broccoli, cheddar cheese, and just a hint of spice. Listen. They’re delicious. I mean honestly, you don’t even need the chicken, but to make a full meal out of them, it’s a nice addition.
I love puff pastry. It’s something I’ve never made myself, but I want to try it one day. Laminated dough is intimidating to me, and I’m not sure why. When I watch videos of it on YouTube it doesn’t seem like a very difficult process.
One day! One day I’ll make some puff pastry or croissants from scratch.
Today tho? Today is not that day. We’re using store-bought.
Tid-Bits:
- Omit the chicken for a vegetarian version. You can choose to leave the recipe as is otherwise, or replace the chicken with an appropriate substitute: it’ll come out great either way.
- As always, you can swap out boneless skinless chicken thighs for the breasts if that’s what you have on hand or prefer. You may need to increase the cooking time by a couple of minutes.
- Don’t have dehydrated bell pepper flakes? That’s cool, leave them out or sub one medium fresh red bell pepper (diced).
- I choose not to roll out my puff pastry so it’s puffy as hell. You can roll yours out if you like, especially if you want more pies with less puff pastry.
- I don’t think these are spicy at all, but you’re nervous just omit the cayenne and red pepper flakes.
Love the combination of broccoli, cheddar cheese, and chicken as much as I do? Then you’ll love my Cheesy Baked Chicken & Broccoli Rice or Blackened Chicken & Broccoli Pot Pies.
I hope you’ll come back and let me know what you thought of this Broccoli Chicken and Cheddar Hand Pies recipe by leaving a rating. You can also follow me on Instagram and Twitter for more content.
Broccoli Chicken and Cheddar Hand Pies
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 12 1x
Description
You know the fuckin’ vibes!
Ingredients
- 6 sheets puff pastry, defrosted
- 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breasts, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 3 1/2 C broccoli florets, chopped into bite-sized pieces
- 2 1/2 C sharp cheddar cheese, shredded
- 1/3 C dehydrated red bell pepper flakes
- 1 tsp seasoned salt
- 1/4 tsp dry mustard
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1/2 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp smoked paprika
- 1/4 tsp ground white pepper
- 1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
- 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
- 1/4 tsp cracked black pepper
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1 tsp dried parsley
- 1 tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tbsp olive oil, divided
- 1 tsp water
- 1 large egg + 1 tsp milk
Optional:
- 1/2 tsp cracked black pepper, for garnish
- 1 tsp parsley, minced, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat your oven to 425ºF and line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Set it aside while you prepare the hand pies.
- In a small bowl, combine all of your seasonings except the red pepper flakes and kosher salt. Stir it together to make a blend, and add that to your chicken. Stir well to make sure all the chicken is seasoned. Set that aside too.
- Set a large skillet over medium-high heat and drizzle in a teaspoon or so of oil. Coat the pan, and when the oil is shimmering add the broccoli. Sprinkle with salt and red pepper flakes. Add the butter, then stir to combine everything and allow the butter to melt.
- Once the butter is melted, add 1 tsp of water to the pan and cover with a lid. Reduce the heat to medium-low and steam until the broccoli is tender, stirring ever so often. It’ll take about 5 minutes, give or take a few.
- Once the broccoli is ready, pour it into a large bowl and add the shredded cheese. Set it aside; no need to stir it now but the cheese will be nice and melty when we add the chicken, making it a bit easier to combine things well. Increase the heat back to medium-high. Add the remaining oil to the pan and coat the bottom again.
- When the oil has had a couple of minutes to heat up go ahead and add the chicken to the pan. Allow the chicken to sear on that side for 5 minutes before disturbing. After 5 minutes go ahead and start tossing it around until no more pink remains. That should take about 3-5 more minutes.
- Once the chicken is done, add it to the bowl with the cheese and cooked broccoli. Use a wooden spoon to stir everything together until well combined. Set it aside.
- Unfold the puff pastry sheets on the prepared baking sheet. Place one on top of the other – do this with all 6 sheets – ensuring to line up the edges, then cut them down the middle both vertically and horizontally, leaving 4 squares in each sheet. We’re using 2 per hand pie, giving us 12. I hope. Math is not a strong suit of mine.
- Combine the egg and water to make an egg wash. Use your finger or a pastry brush to brush the edges of the bottom sheets with a light layer of egg wash.
- Add about 1/3 C of filling to the center of each square.
- Arrange the other squares on top of the filling and press down along the edges to seal. Use a fork or spoon to crimp the edges of each pie, sealing them further. We don’t want them to burst open or leak while baking!
- Repeat until all of the hand pies are formed; you may have some filling leftover. Eat it with a spoon.
- Use a knife to slice vents into the top of each pie, then brush the tops with egg wash.
- Sprinkle on the cheddar cheese if you reserved some, then bake for 20 minutes in the oven, until golden brown. Bake in batches if your baking sheets are on the smaller side – no more than 6 at a time.
- Sprinkle some parsley and crack some black pepper over the tops, and enjoy!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45 minutes
3 Comments
Lindsay Bly
August 2, 2020 at 4:35 pmjust made the Broccoli cheddar and chicken hand pies and they are amazing and super simple to make ! I wouldn’t use the red pepper flakes next time but that’s on myself and my family ! I love these recipes !! You go girl
María
August 25, 2020 at 12:56 pmahh i’m so glad y’all enjoyed them! Thank you for coming back to tell me!
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