Sourdough Chicken Broccoli Hot Pockets: Delicious and Nutritious
Hot pockets are a delicious and convenient food that works as both a snack and a meal. The simplicity of popping a hot pocket into the toaster, then walking away while you eat is wonderful. But we know they aren’t healthy. So I decided to take more of a whole foods, clean eating approach and make some from scratch! And bonus- the crust is made from sourdough. Your family will love these Sourdough Chicken Broccoli Hot Pockets!
Ingredients
- 1 sourdough pie crust
- 1 Cup shredded, cooked chicken
- 1 Cup cooked, mashed broccoli
- 1 Cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 Cup sour cream
- 1 teaspoon each salt, pepper, garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon each optional additional herbs (sage, thyme, rosemary, oregano, etc. Pick you favorite)
- 1 egg and water for egg wash
Sourdough isn’t complicated! Just prep
You can make this a quick and easy meal to put together by using a rotisserie chicken. I like to make a whole chicken early in the week in my instant pot so I have both shredded chicken and chicken broth available for recipes. It also helps if the shredded chicken is already chilled, so it’s nice to have it prepped and in the fridge before you start making your hot pockets.
If you want the flavor and benefits of sourdough, you’ll need to make your pastry dough/pie crust at least an hour ahead of time. An overnight ferment add a depth of flavor to this recipe that you won’t believe! Either way, prep the crust first and let it rest in the fridge while you make your filling.
The broccoli for your hot pockets must be completely cooked through so it’s easy to smash up. No one wants a bite of crunchy broccoli in his hot pocket. The broccoli is not the star of the show, so mash it well. It may feel like you’ve overcooked it, but trust me on this one. The broccoli should be complimentary to the chicken and cheese, not overpower it.
Pick a cheese for your family
My family really enjoys sharp cheddar. The tanginess of it really lends itself to adding another layer of flavor to the sourdough pastry, savory chicken, and bitter broccoli. If you don’t enjoy sharp cheddar, we’ve also made this recipe with Colby jack and it turned out great. The sourdough hot pocket will have a wonderful flavor profile anyway, so don’t get hung up on the details of the filling.
Mix all of the ingredients together in a mixing bowl. This may take a good bit of stirring because it’s not a very wet sauce. There is only a small amount of sour cream. The mixture needs to be dry so it doesn’t leak out of your hot pocket dough while baking. Get everything stirred well, then add your herbs and spices and mix well again.
The herbs and spices are easy to change and adapt to your family’s taster. We all like salt and pepper, garlic powder, and some sage. This recipe is also delicious with some rosemary or tarragon. We tried it with thyme, and only half of us liked it. Just play around and find what everyone in your home enjoys in their sourdough hot pockets!
Once your filling is well mixed, get your pastry dough ready to roll out. Lightly flour the counter and being to roll the dough into a large rectangle. I usually aim for a rectangle about 8″ by 12″. Then you can cut this rectangle into 4 long, skinny rectangle. These will each be filled, folded in half, and crimped to create the sourdough hot pockets.
Assemble your hot pockets in sourdough crust
Each hot pocket will hold about 2-4 tablespoons of filling. I like to use a cookie dough scoop to evenly portion the filling into each hot pocket. Brush the edges of the dough with your egg wash to hold the seal. Then fold the empty side of the crust over the top of the filling. Align all of the edges. Us ea fork or your fingers to crimp the two layers together.
Place all of your sourdough hot pockets onto a parchment lined sheet pan. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, until golden brown. Allow them to cool before serving.
Make ahead and Freeze sourdough hot pockets
These sourdough hot pockets freeze very well pre-baked. You could make a bunch of them in bulk. Do not apply the egg wash. Freeze them flat on a sheet pan, then store them in a gallon size zip lock bag. When you’re ready to cook them, just brush with egg wash and bake as normal. You may need to add 5 minutes or so to the cook time to allow for them to thaw.
Well rounded sourdough hot pocket meal
We really like to add a lot of nutrition to our meals, especially with something that feels like junk food. Even though the sourdough hot pockets are loaded with nutrition, we add several other delicious and nutritious items to our plates to make this a complete meal. I like to make rice with the chicken broth that was a by product of cooking my whole chicken. The rice is incredibly delicious this way and adds healing properties to the meal.
A nice fresh salad is an easy side to throw together. Fresh lettuce can be cut or torn apart, and you’ve already had to grate the cheese for the hot pocket recipe, so it’s no additional work or dishes. Whip up some homemade ranch with raw milk and cayenne pepper for some antibacterial benefits. And of course, you can’t forget a healthy helping of sauerkraut for those probiotics.
benefits of sourdough
If you’re searching for this recipe, you probably already understand the benefits of using sourdough to ferment your flour recipes. But I want to remind you of a few ways to benefits from sourdough, and to increase the nutrients in this meal. Sourdough works great with whole grains- try making the pastry dough with half all purpose flour and half whole wheat. Bonus points if you grind it fresh!
Sourdough is a traditional food, which means it can help you avoid the commercial processed foods that our modern grocery stores offer. In addition, being a traditional food requires that it doesn’t need refrigeration and you can create it yourself, unlike commercial yeasts. One amazing benefit of learning sourdough is that in an emergency situation or a scenario where the stores don’t have yeast, you can get a starter going in a week and prepare sourdough products. As long as you’ve got some flour or wheat stored, you can be prepared for all sorts of things and not be totally reliant on the supply chain.
Sourdough Chicken Broccoli Hot Pockets
Equipment
- 1 sheet pan lined with parchment
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 pastry brush
- 1 Rolling Pin
- 1 knife/pizza cutter
Ingredients
Sourdough Pie Crust
- 2 Cup flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 Cup coconut sugar
- 1 Cup cold butter, cubed or grated
- 1 Cup sourdough starter
Hot Pocket Filling
- 1 Cup shredded chicken
- 1 Cup cooked, mashed broccoli
- 1 Cup grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 1/2 Cup sour cream
- 1 tsp salt, pepper, garlic powder, favorite herbs
Egg Wash
- 1 egg
- 1-2 tsp water
Instructions
Make the sourdough pie crust
- Whisk together flour, salt and sugar.
- Cut in the butter until well incorporated with flour. I prefer to cut the butter until it is smaller than pea size, but you can follow the traditional recommendation to make the butter pea sized.
- Stir in the starter until the dough comes together. Knead 5-10 times to form a ball. If there is still dry flour, add cold water 1 tsp at a time until all flour is kneaded into dough ball.
- Cover with plastic wrap or a wet tea towel. Leave to ferment on the counter. We leave our overnight, but you could also leave this in the fridge for several days.
Make the filling
- In a large mixing bowl, combine all filling ingredients welll.
Roll our pastry dough
- Lightly flour your work surface. Cut your pastry dough in half. Roll one half out into a large rectangle. Trim the edges to create flat sides.
- Cut the large rectangle into 4 long, skinny rectangles. Each pastry should measure about 4" x 8" .
- Add 2-4 Tbs of filling to each rectangle of dough.
- Brush edges with egg wash, then fold the empty side over the filling. Align all edges and crimp with a fork.
- Repeat on other half of pastry dough.
Bake the hot pockets
- Place all of your hot pockets on a parchment lined baking sheet. Brush the tops with egg wash. Bake at 350℉ for about 25 minutes or until the pastry is puffed and golden brown.
