Mrs. Cad loves pot pies but hates gravy because of the texture (too gelatinous). She wants that sort of sauce that you get with Marie Callendar’s pot pie. My sister-in-law tried it with cream of chicken soup but that was an abhorant mess. I saw a recipe where the gravy was thickened by roasted root vegetables and not flour or corn starch so I’m thinking of trying that. Any other ideas on how to get the texture of Marie Callendar’s pot pie sauce/gravy?
I’ve seen a few pot pie recipes where the sauce was thickened with arrowroot instead of cornstarch or flour - it is supposed to produce a less cloudy/starchy gravy.
Has she tried pot pies with broth, instead of gravy? Pot pies, IMO, don’t actually need gravy, but they do need some sort of liquid.
Thin the cream of chicken soup to the desired consistency with chicken stock.
chicken broth and a blonde roux.
make a blonde roux and then add chicken stock until you get the quantity and desired texture.
Yeah, why not try just using a little less roux to make the gravy a little less thick? Or less of whatever thickener you’re using.
If you want to experiment with something different, I’ve seen pot pies that use cheese instead of gravy as the semi-liquid filling that holds the solid ingredients together.
I don’t know what Marie Callender’s pot pies are like, but when I make lobster and clam pies I just use heavy cream and the starch from the potatoes and the crust does plenty to thicken it up.
I don’t make gravy from scratch for my pot pie…I buy a nice jar of gravy and use that. It’s…well, gravy rather than thick and jelly ish.
Cream of Celery soup works very well.
Clam pie. That sounds wonderful. Have a recipe?
The best use of instant potatoes ever, use them instead of flour for thickening, adds texture without the gluten, should work in a pot pie as well.
Or if you want to sound fancy, call it veloute.
A lot depends on the nature of the recipe you’re using. But a couple of other methods to thicken your sauce would be to cook some diced potatoes in stock, then puree with a bit of cream–this can be added to your cooked aromatics and chicken. Alternatively I’ve found cauliflower works well as long as there isn’t too much liquid, I’ve done this with alfredo sauce before.
Arrowroot or tapioca would be your other two possibilities.
I make pot pie in puff pastry, like a pot pie turnover, so I can’t have the gravy too thin or it runs out and the pie doesn’t stay sealed. I fry about three chicken breasts in about a tablespoon of oil. remove the chicken breasts from the pan, fry my veggies in the same pan (adding more oil only if needed, i.e. a dry pan). dust the veggies with a couple of teaspoons of flour and some herbs, cook for a a couple of minutes then add chicken broth a little at a time until I get a sauce that’s a little thinner than I want (it tightens up over time). This way I get all the chickeny bits off the bottom of the pan and I can get a non-slimy or wet gravy for my pot pit. It just ties all the flavors together.
one of the five mother sauces 
- just remember BETH V.
I love the idea of box potatoes in the pie. I am making some now so I have to try it !
This. Its pretty easy, just cook patiently.
Oh, look at you getting all fancy and Frenchified. Next you’ll be talking about mirapoix and the like. 
I think you can thicken anything with that tasteless instant mashed potato. That is the only reason I have it in my pantry.