Chicken Broccoli Cheddar Hand Pies
Perhaps (as I did...) you wasted some of your misspent youth eating Hot Pockets? These chicken broccoli cheddar hand pies are kind of like those, but taken to a whole. other. level. -- and without the weird chemical aftertaste.
Servings 6
Ingredients
- ½ tablespoon olive oil
- ¼ of a medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups fresh broccoli florets, chopped small (about half of the 1 lb pack at ALDI)
- 2 cloves garlic, chopped
- ½ teaspoon crushed red pepper
- 4 oz cream cheese, softened
- 4 oz shredded cheddar cheese
- 1.5 cups cooked shredded chicken
- Sea salt, to taste
- Black pepper, to taste
- ½ teaspoon paprika
- ½ teaspoon thyme
- One box refrigerated pie crust (both crusts)
- One egg
Instructions
- Remove cream cheese from the refrigerator and place it on the counter to soften about 20 minutes before you start cooking.
- When you're ready to begin, preheat the oven to 400 degrees and remove pie crusts from the refrigerator to soften as directed on the box.
- Add olive oil to a large skillet and heat it over medium heat until shimmering. Add onion and cook for two minutes.
- Add broccoli florets, garlic, and crushed red pepper, then saute for about five more minutes, until broccoli is bright green and crisp-tender.
- Meanwhile, combine cream cheese, cheddar cheese, chicken, sea salt, black pepper, paprika, and thyme in a large bowl, then stir in the broccoli once it is cooked.
- Unroll the pie crusts and cut each into 4-8 equal wedges, so that you have 8-16 pieces total between the two crusts.
- Spoon equal amounts of the chicken/broccoli mixture into the center of half of the pie crust wedges, and top each with a second matching wedge.
- Fold the edges over on each and crimp them together so that the filling doesn't leak out, then arrange the hand pies on a rimmed baking sheet.
- Beat one egg with 1 teaspoon water to make an egg wash. Brush each hand pie with the egg wash, and cut a couple of small slits in the top of each to let steam escape.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 400 degrees, or until hand pies are golden brown.
Notes
I cut my pie crusts into quarters, which were big for one person -- I'd suggest going with sixths instead, and therefore am calling this a recipe that serves six. You can also cut the crusts into eighths to make 8 smaller hand pies, especially if you're serving kids.