Dairy Free Turkey Pot Pie

If you love chicken pot pie, then you will love this dairy free turkey pot pie! It is an especially tasty way to use up leftover turkey from Thanksgiving.

I love everything about Thanksgiving, from the autumn foliage to the holiday spread. I look forward to it year-round and start planning for it shortly after the 4th of July.

However, as soon as Thanksgiving is over, I find myself with leftovers I have to find creative ways to repurpose. In my family, food going to waste is a grave sin.

This dairy free turkey pot pie is one of my favorite ways to give new life to leftover turkey!

History of Pot Pie

Pot pie is believed to have originated in ancient Greece.  The Greeks cooked meats mixed with other ingredients in open pastry shells called Artocreas. 

Later, the Romans supposedly took this recipe and added a top to the pastry crust, making it a fully enclosed meat pie like we serve today. These pies were served at banquets.

Then, during the Renaissance, the English gentry revived not only classical art, but the ancient meat pie. Meat pies became very popular, and pies made with pork, lamb, venison, and poultry were common.

In fact, they were so common, that a nursery rhyme incorporates it.

Sing a song of sixpence, 
A pocket full of rye. 
Four and twenty blackbirds, 
Baked in a pie. 
When the pie was opened 
The birds began to sing; 
Wasn't that a dainty dish, 
To set before the king.

Notice how the pie was set before the king.  This isn't just being playful.  Pot pies were considered a delicacy. 

Pot pies were served at the wedding of Marie de' Medici and Henry IV of France. 

However, the pies served were actually a form of amusement because when their guests sat to eat, songbirds flew out just like in the rhyme.  

For at least a couple hundreds of years, this was a popular form of entertainment adopted from the ancient Romans. Cookbooks even had recipes on how to do this.

Eventually, pot pie became accessible to the commoner. 

There is one pot pie named "Sea Pie" because it was made aboard ships where they used whatever meat they had available. It typically included pigeons, turkey, veal, and mutton.

Pot pie eventually made its way to America with settlers who brought their recipes with them and it spread as they moved west. 

Then, within the last century, chicken became the most popular meat used in the States, making chicken pot pie a widely popular American dish.

In recent decades, turkey pot pie became a popular dish to repurpose Thanksgiving leftovers.

STOCK VS. BROTH 

Broth is usually thinner and made from meat, while stock is made from simmering bones for a long time. 

Stock is usually thicker and has a richer mouth feel from the gelatin releases from the long-simmered bones.

Adding onions, carrots, celery, bay leaves, and other herbs add to the flavor of the stock.

WHAT ABOUT STORE-BOUGHT STOCKS AND BROTHS? 

Commercial brands tend to use the terms "stock" and "broth" interchangeably, and store-bought stocks and broths are usually more both then stock.

They tend to be lightly flavored, lack the body of a homemade stock, and they result in a less flavorful dish.

HOW STOCKS AND BROTHS ARE MADE 

Broths and stocks are also made differently.

Stocks are typically made from meaty raw bones, leftover carcasses, and meat and vegetable scraps. In the case of vegetable stock, only vegetables are used.

Stocks are simmered for several hours (unless you make pressure cooker stocks) to extract as much of the flavor from the ingredients as possible. This also extracts collagen from the bones and cartilage, which adds body and silkiness to the stock.

Broths are usually much lighter and have less body than stocks. 

They're most often made from poaching meat, vegetables, and seasonings in water for as long as it takes for the meat to cook or the broth to pick up some flavor.

HOW STOCKS AND BROTHS ARE USED 

In classic French cuisine, stocks are considered to be an ingredient that's used to make other things. 

Also, they're typically left unseasoned or only minimally seasoned so that they can be used in as wide a variety of ways as possible.

Stocks can be used to make soup, reduced into a sauce or a glaze, or as an ingredient in many recipes.

Broths, on the other hand, have been salted, which restricts the ways they can be used. 

For the most part, broths are consumed on its own or used as a base for soups like chicken soup.

This definition of stocks as an ingredient and broths as a food product is the way classically trained chefs tend to think about such things in their restaurant kitchens.

What's the difference between a pot pie and a regular pie?

A pot pie is a savory dish with meats, vegetables, and a creamy sauce. A regular pie, on the other hand, is often sweet and is filled with fillings such as fruit, custard, or chocolate.

Is turkey pot pie dairy?

Yes, turkey pot pie contains dairy because it is typically made with milk or heavy cream and both the filling and crust contain butter. This recipe uses dairy free milk and oil.

Which dairy free milk should I use?

Honestly, it's whatever you have on hand or prefer.

My go-to is a neutral flavored full fat oat milk because I find that they are the most similar to regular full fat milk.

Almond milk works well here, too. I personally like using an unsweetened barista almond milk because it is more similar to regular full fat milk, but whatever you have will work.

You can also use coconut milk, though it may have a subtle coconut flavor if you do. Coconut milk has more fat and is similar to using a light cream, but it won't make a noticeable difference.

I've never used soy milk, so I don't have any opinions on it, but you can use that as well.

HOW TO STORE TURKEY

Place cooled turkey in an airtight container or wrap in heavy-duty aluminum foil or plastic wrap.  Store in the fridge for up to 4 days.

HOW TO FREEZE TURKEY

Freeze leftovers within 3-4 days.  Place cooled turkey in an airtight container or resealable freezer bag. 

Freeze for up to 4-6 months.  After that, it is still safe to eat, but the quality begins to degrade.

Other Recipes You May Like:

• Dairy Free Chicken Pot Pie
• Dairy Free Shepherds Pie
• Pressure Cooker Turkey Stock
• Dairy Free Turkey Baste
• Dairy Free Turkey Gravy