Vegetarian White Bean Pot Pie Recipe

Pies come in so many different types and varieties from around the world, both sweet and savory, but all of them have one thing in common; they are the ultimate comfort food. Whether they are topped with pastry or potatoes, served hot from the oven, or cold and fresh from the fridge, a good pie is hard to turn down.

This recipe for vegetarian white bean pot pies, created by recipe developer Jennine Rye, is delicious whether you choose to follow a vegetarian diet or not. The delicate and flavorful white bean stew is packed full of veggies such as carrots and kale, with white wine, stock, and fresh herbs giving it a refined savory taste. The buttery, flaky puff pastry is the ideal topping for these pies, adding wonderful texture and a bit of crispy goodness. These pot pies make a light-yet-filling main option that can be served alone or with sides and make a great dinner choice that can be on the table in under an hour. Read on to find out how you can make these vegetarian white bean pot pies at home.

To begin this vegetarian white bean pot pie recipe, first you will need to gather the ingredients. For the pie filling, you will want olive oil, an onion, carrots, kale, flour, white wine, vegetable stock, thyme, parsley, white beans, and salt and pepper. To create the pastry top you will additionally want ready-rolled puff pastry, an egg, and some milk.

Preheat the oven to 375 F.

Over medium heat, add the oil and the chopped onion and carrots to a large pan.

Sauté until the onion is soft and translucent.

Add the kale to the pan and sauté along with the other vegetables for a few minutes.

Add the flour and mix it in.

Add the white wine and the vegetable stock, and the fresh thyme and parsley to the pan and mix well.

Once the mixture is simmering, add the white beans to the pan and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Allow everything to simmer gently for 5 minutes.

Remove the kale and white bean mixture from the heat and divide it between four individual casserole pots.

Roll out the puff pastry and then cut out pastry lids to fit on the top of the casserole pots.

Cut a small cross in the top of each lid to let out steam and place one on each pot.

Whisk the egg with the milk using a fork.

Use a pastry brush to gently brush the mixture onto the top of the puff pastry lids.

Bake the pot pies in the oven for 20 minutes until the pastry lids are golden and the stew is bubbling. Leave to stand for 5 minutes before serving.

This white bean pot pie is a wonderful and different way to celebrate food without needing to lean on meat as the star of the show. Vegetables and beans can make for a super-flavorful and satisfying meal option, and this pie is a great way to showcase that.

However, this pie is also easily adaptable, and if you happen to have some leftover meat in the fridge and want a way to use it up, or you simply can't fathom eating a pie that doesn't contain meat, this recipe can easily be bulked up with a bit more protein. For this pie, we recommend sticking to lighter meats so they don't overwhelm the delicate flavors of the beans, vegetables, and herbs. Chicken or turkey would make ideal meat-based additions to this pie, and, as long as they are already cooked, can simply be added to the stew mixture at the same time as the white beans. We recommend adding about 1 cup of chopped or shredded meat.

When it comes to savory pies, there are two main pie topping options; pastry or potatoes. Both are worthy choices, and each adds something a little different to their corresponding dishes. This white bean pot pie recipe uses puff pastry to create lids for the pies; a delicious and classic ingredient that pairs really well with the light stew beneath. If you are unable to source pre-made puff pastry and don't fancy having a go at making your own, it is perfectly possible to substitute shortcrust pastry instead.

If you prefer to avoid using pastry altogether, for example, if you follow a gluten-free diet, it is also possible to swap the puff pastry for a potato topping. If you choose this, we recommend going with a layer of thinly sliced potatoes brushed with butter, much like a Lancashire hotpot-style topping. This will form a lovely lid and provide the pie with some texture. We don't recommend using mashed potatoes, as the stew beneath is too liquid to properly support the mash, and it will likely just sink into the stew instead of forming a delicious crust.

This vegetarian white bean pot pie is perfect when served fresh from the oven, as the puff pastry topping will be crisp and golden and the stew will be hot and bubbling away beneath. Ideally, we recommend making this pie in individual pots, which will make it easier to cook only as much as is needed. Any leftover white bean stew can be stored in the fridge in an airtight container and then topped with a pastry lid and cooked whenever you want more pie.

However, it is possible to make this recipe as one large pie in a single pie dish, and this way may result in leftovers that need to be stored and reheated. The leftovers should be stored in an airtight container in the fridge and can be kept for up to 4 days. Reheating the pot pie should be carefully done using an oven rather than the microwave; this will help to restore the delicious crispness to the pastry topping. Preheat your oven to 350 F and allow the pie to heat through until the stew is bubbling and the puff pastry is crisp.