Dr. Gourmet's Food Reviews

Amy’s Broccoli Pot Pie

Vegetable Pot Pie and Broccoli Pot Pie

The Amy's Vegetable Pot Pie we reviewed over ten years ago was pretty bland. As we said at the time, "Just a little pinch of herb, any herb, might help the sauce." We do like to revisit things we've reviewed from time to time, especially if they weren't very good - hope springs eternal here at Dr. Gourmet. The bad news is that the version we reviewed so long ago was described as having 30% less fat than their "regular" pot pie, and we couldn't find that version to re-review today. We did, however, find the "regular" version.

The good news is that today's version (with the label boasting The Original "Vegetable" Pot Pie)(What, are those not really vegetables?) is better than the one we reviewed before. Much better.

After four minutes in the microwave the crust of this pot pie isn't crisp, but it's not mushy, either. It has a savory whole-wheat flavor with a touch of sweetness and a firm bite. Even the bottom crust is pretty good. Even better, the filling is redolent of rosemary and sage with a soft butteriness. The peas and carrots have a gentle crunch and the potatoes are cooked enough to be soft without becoming mushy. Your kids will easily mistake the small bits of tofu for chicken. Overall, this is a little bigger meal than I like to see for lunch at 430 calories, but its 590 milligrams of sodium is more than acceptable at a calorie to sodium ratio of 0.7. A whopping 6 grams of fiber makes this a good dinner - just add a side salad.

I'm not sure how we missed reviewing Amy's Broccoli Pot Pie before. It's described as coming "with cheddar cheese sauce," which as every parent knows is a nearly infallible way to feed broccoli to kids.

You'll be successful feeding broccoli to your kids using this pot pie, too. The same buttery whole-wheat crust and the same potatoes and carrots are here in a cheddary sauce that's light but still substantially flavorful. This version does taste saltier than the Vegetable Pot Pie but only has 40 milligrams more sodium (total: 630mg) in 460 calories.That's not unexpected with a cheddar sauce - cheddar tends to be fairly salty.

The drawback that we found is that there's not enough broccoli to fairly call it "Broccoli Pot Pie," in our opinion. There's about the same amount of broccoli as there were peas in the Vegetable Pot Pie. Not a deal-breaker, to be sure, but of the two, we'd recommend the Vegetable Pot Pie over the Broccoli Pot Pie. Both get a thumbs up, but the "original" is better.

First posted: January 16, 2015