Pretzels Are The Ingredient Your Chicken Pot Pie Crust Is Missing

Chicken pot pie is a delicious, family-friendly comfort food that is inexpensive and easy to make. For a fun and tasty variation of this classic dish, try making it with soft pretzels as the top layer instead of a typical pie crust. The saltiness and crispiness of the pretzels add great texture and flavor to the veggie and chicken filling, and it's sure to be a big hit for adults and kids alike.

To use pretzels as your pie crust, after mixing up the ingredients for the filling (like carrots, peas, chicken, onions, celery, broth, and seasonings) and adding them to a deep-dish pie plate, you'll arrange boiled pretzels on top of the mixture and bake until the filling is bubbling and the pretzels are a dark golden brown color. When serving, it's best to use a bowl since the filling may be soupy (depending on how much broth you use) and so that the pretzels, veggies, and chicken blend together into one savory bite.

Making soft pretzels is easier than you might think. There's a learning curve for twisting the dough to form a pretzel shape, but after a few tries you're sure to become a dough-twisting expert. You can use pizza dough for your pretzels, either by making your own from scratch or saving a step and buying pre-made dough. To form your pretzels, roll out the dough on a cutting board coated in flour until it's a couple of feet long for large pretzels or several inches long for smaller pretzels. Keep in mind, the smaller the pretzels the more you will have to make to cover your pot pie filling.

Next, arrange the dough in a U shape, then twist the ends together twice and fold them down towards you so that they stick to the bottom of the curve. You can also dab a small amount of water or milk on the dough to help it stick together. Once your pretzels are formed, lower them into a large pot of boiling water with baking soda which helps create the crispy brown crust of the pretzel. Boil for about 20 to 30 seconds on each side. After arranging the boiled pretzels on top of your pot pie, brush them with an egg wash to help give them a nice golden brown color once baked. Finally, sprinkle with salt and bake for 45 to 50 minutes.