The Celebrity Chef Brand That Makes Our Favorite Frozen Pot Pie
What's better than a homemade chicken pot pie? A frozen one that eliminates the job of prepping a creamy filling or making a crust. Having said that, some frozen pot pies with flavorless personalities should be left in the deep freeze forever. Luckily, we performed a taste test to figure out which of these pastry-topped comfort dishes is the best one to stockpile when you don't feel like making a batch of pastry or sauteing veggies. And the winner in our list of 12 frozen chicken pot pie brands, ranked worst to best was the country chicken pot pie from Delicious Eats, a line spearheaded by celebrity chef Kardea Brown that's available at Walmart.
Beating Marie Callender's chicken pot pie to the top spot, Brown's version was abundant with chicken and seasoned well with pepper. It also had a richer and more buttery flavor than the other pies we sampled. Combining chicken, peas, celery, and carrots in a cream sauce, the pie had a wholesome quality, and while it had a jellied feel around the outside after microwaving, we reckon oven-baking it would resolve this problem.
An expert in comforting Southern cookery with Gullah roots, Brown's traditional recipes are known for their cozy quality. We're guessing that the winning flavor of her pot pie can be attributed to her hands-on involvement in the test kitchen where she worked with chefs and tasted potential samples before bringing the dish to market.
Delicious Eats by Kardea Brown has expanded its line of entrees
The host of Delicious Miss Brown on the Food Network, Brown has created other dishes in the Delicious Eats line including sausage & grits and Country Kitchen fried chicken with mashed potatoes and gravy. In fact, in a recent TikTok video she's excitedly shares the launch of three new frozen entrees (chicken and dumplings, smothered chicken and rice, and cajun chicken pasta) that will expand the line, highlighting the success of her previous frozen meal selection.
The worst pot pie in our ranking was Atkins crustless chicken pot pie. The clue as to why it was the loser in our taste test is partially in the name. Devoid of a pastry lid and made of a jumble of chicken, vegetables, butter, and cream, we appreciated the brand's attempt at making a low-carb pot pie. However, it just wasn't anything close to the other options we taste tasted. There was also too much of a broccoli flavor and not enough carrot in the mix of protein, veggies, and sherry cream sauce that was supposed to replicate the flavors of a classic pot pie filling without the puff pastry crust. Plus, the recipe could've been heavier with the seasonings. Having said that, each serving contains only 9g of carbs and 20g of protein, making it a passable low-carb option.