Chicken Hot Pot Pie

by Christa Upton
(South Dakota)

Recipe 25 in the Solar Hot Pot

Chicken Hot Pot Pie

All right, it’s another experiment! (Hey, it’s supper and school all in one! LOL)

1:00 pm—5 T. butter: cut into pieces, put in Solar Hot Pot, cover, set up facing the sun, set timer for 30 minutes.

Then prep:

4-5 mushrooms (slice thinly)
1/2 onion or small bunch of green onions (chop finely)
2 carrots (chop finely)
1 stalk celery (chop finely)
3 T flour (sprinkle on veggies)
1 t. curry powder OR 1/2 t. thyme (sprinkle on veggies)
1/8 t. or more cayenne (sprinkle on veggies)
salt (and pepper) to taste (sprinkle on veggies)


1:30 pm—veggies, flour, and seasonings: add, quickly stir into butter, cover, set timer for 30 minutes.

Then prep biscuit dough by mixing:

3/4 c. unbleached white flour
1/2 c. whole wheat pastry flour
1/4 t. salt
3/4 t. cream of tartar
3/8 t. baking soda

Drizzle in:

honey (about 1/2 t.)

Gently stir in, just until flour mixture is moistened:

1/4 c. olive oil
1/3 c. sliced green onions or chives, optional
1/4 c. water, or enough to make a soft dough

Pat out very thin (1/8 ”) “biscuits.” Brush top of each “biscuit” with butter or oil.

This made enough for the Chicken Pie plus some extra dough for the kids to snitch. They love the dough. (smile)

2:00 pm—

1/2 c. canned drained peas (or frozen peas and THAWED before use)
1/2 c. canned drained green beans,
1 can chicken (13 oz., fully cooked, UNdrained)
1/2 c. cream:

Add all and quickly stir a turn or two. Quickly place biscuits on top.


(Never add frozen vegetables to Hot Pot because that will cool down the Pot too much and make cooking time take too long. This could jeopardize food safety.)

Of course you could use cooked, chopped chicken with a little broth instead of canned.

Set baking rack on top and thermometer through baking rack into food. Cover, adjust to sun, set timer for 90 minutes.

3:30 pm—check temperature (should be 150 degrees Fahrenheit at least by 4:00 pm. If not, find a way to get the heat up quickly for food safety!)

If it’s 150 or over, look to see if biscuits look done (without opening lid if possible). If biscuits are not done, keep checking every 15 minutes or so. (Adjust to sun if needed.)

We noticed an interesting thing this time—as the sun gets lower, the front of the Hot Pot itself makes a slight shadow on the front food. So, the biscuits in the back were browning more than the front. Around 4:30, we turned the Pot (the Pot ONLY) in the reflector around 180 degrees, and that way the front biscuits got a little more browning. Then we actually let it coast all the way until 5:45.

It turned out amazing! The “sauce” is quite thin, but the flavor is good, the veggies are lovely, and the biscuits are flaky.

We’re probably around the peak of optimal solar cooking (with the sun so high in the sky these days), but still—I seriously had no idea that the sun could cook food as good as this, browning the biscuits and everything.

Hey, you could so make this with no chicken—would be a great veggie pot pie! Increase all the veggies and/or add more varieties of veggies. How about some nice eggplant chunks?