Did you come here expecting a stew of vegetables encased in a thick pastry crust? Are you surprised by the soupiness of this recipe? Our inhouse chef wanted to be authentic to our area and to his own heritage, so he whipped up this recipe to bring Pennsylvania Dutch pot pie to the masses! This one pot meal is sure to fill you up for a long time, though we can’t guarantee any leftovers! Serve this extremely delicious stew as is or sprinkle with a dash of our Pennsylvania Pepper to really get a taste for the state! Don’t be intimidated by making your own noodles, either. It’s a lot easier than you think and practicing a few times will give you perfect pot pie noodles you can replicate over and over, since we know this recipe is going to make it into your regular rotation.

Why Do You Add the Noodles to PA Dutch Pot Pie One at a Time?

You must add the noodles one at a time because if you added them all at once, they would promptly stick together and form one big doughy lump. Letting them get adjusted to the water slowly and one at a time helps to ensure that you have evenly distributed noodles all throughout your soup and fewer large noodle lumps.

What’s the Difference Between PA Dutch Pot Pie and the Southern Pot Pie?

Southern Pot Pie is usually what you will find when you go looking for a pot pie in the frozen section of your grocery store. It’s a crusted pie with a savory center. A Pennsylvania Dutch Pot Pie is not a pie at all, it’s a stew!

What is a Bot Boi?

Bot Boi, or bottboi, is the original name for the Pennsylvania Dutch Pot Pie. This was a German phrase that over time was anglicized to better suit the English speakers of the populations surrounding the Pennsylvania Dutch populations. Our recipe is technically a “bot boi” recipe.

Where Did Southern Pot Pie Originate?

What we think of today as Southern Pot Pie is a dish with ancient origins, likely popularized in the 16th century by Greeks. Meat pies, called pot pies here in the united states, have long been used to thrill and delight dinner guests. Some of the first pot pies contained live animals that were released once the crust of the pie was cut into or removed. Other pies were elaborate meals with more than 2 or 3 different types of meat in a single pie. Today, the southern pot pie we are most familiar with is nearly identical to its predecessor, minus of course, the living animal that would burst forth once the pie was cut into!

Do You Have to Use Meat in This Recipe?

Traditional PA Dutch Pot Pie recipes are meat centric, and usually only include ham or chicken. If you are not a big fan of meat, a vegetable stock would work nicely in place of the chicken stock in this recipe. You could try tofu, seitan, or portabella mushrooms for your meat substitute.

Can I Add Other Vegetables to Pot Pie recipes?

You can! Our chef suggests rutabaga or turnips to add some more texture and vegetal flavor to the soup. Experiment with other root vegetables as well.