Vegan Copycat Chicken, Broccoli, & Cheddar Hot Pockets
This is a homemade and vegan copycat recipe of the classic chicken, broccoli, and cheddar hot pockets. Despite these being vegan, they taste incredibly realistic!
Ingredients
Dough
- 3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup vegan butter, cold
- 1 tbsp organic cane sugar
- 2 tsp kosher salt
- 2 tsp instant yeast
- 1 1/2 cups water, ice cold
Filling
- 1 1/2 cups plain vegan chicken, small diced (I use Gardein's lightly seasoned chick'n scallopini)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1/4 tsp vegan poultry seasoning
- 1 1/2 cups broccoli, cut into very small florets
- 1 cup raw cashews, that have been soaking in water for at least 3 hours. Then drain and rinse them off.
- 3/4 cup almond milk, plain, unsweetened
- 2 tbsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp raw apple cider vinegar
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp onion powder
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 2 cups vegan cheddar cheese, shredded
Garlic Butter
- 2 tbsp vegan butter
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1/8 tsp kosher salt
Instructions
Dough
- Add the flour into a large bowl. Break up the cold butter into little chunks and then cut it into the flour until the texture resembles a fine meal.
- Now add in the sugar, salt, and yeast. Stir well and then create a hole in the middle.
- Pour the ice-cold water into the hole, and then with a wooden spoon, stir from the inside out, gradually adding in the outer flour mix.
- Once it has almost formed into a dough, bring it together with your hands to create a ball.
- Flour the counter and knead the dough around 10 times. It should be slightly sticky, tacky, and relatively smooth in the end.
- Grease a large mixing bowl with vegan butter and place the dough inside. Press plastic wrap directly on top and then wrap the bowl with wrap, as well.
- Let the dough rest in a dark and warm place for 1 hour.
- Then, place it in the refrigerator to rest for at least 1 more hour.
Filling
- Season the vegan chicken with the poultry seasoning.
- Place a saute pan over medium-high heat, add the olive oil, and once hot, add the chicken and cook for 3 minutes. Set aside.
- Bring a saucepan of water to a boil and place a steam basket on top.
- Drop broccoli into the steam basket, cover with a lid and cook for 3 minutes.
- Drain and rinse the broccoli under cold water until completely cooled down. Set aside.
- In a high-powered blender, add the cashews, milk, lemon juice, apple cider vinegar, nutritional yeast, garlic powder, onion powder, salt, pepper, and 1 cup of the shredded cheddar. Blend on high until extremely smooth.
- Pour the cheesy sauce into a bowl and add in the other 1 cup of shredded cheddar, the chicken, and the broccoli. Stir well and place into the refrigerator to chill for at least 1 hour to thicken.
Garlic Butter
- Add the ingredients to a small saute pan over low heat and melt. Stir well.
How to Assemble the Hot Pockets
- Heavily flour the countertop. Cut the dough in half. Place one half onto the counter and wrap the other half and place it back into the refrigerator, as it is easier to work with a smaller amount of dough at a time.
- Now, roll the dough into a 1/8th of an inch thick rectangle. ***Measure to make sure it is a 1/8th inch thick!
- Trim off the outer edges to straighten it up and then cut six rectangles that are 6 inches long and 3 1/2 inches wide.
- To fill a hot pocket, lightly wet the outer edges of a rectangle with water and spoon a heavy 1/4 cup of filling all down the center, leaving the outer 1/2 inch of dough clean. Now place another piece of the dough on top, stretch it over the filling gently, as needed, and seal the edges down with your fingers extremely well.
- Trim off the very outer edges to clean it up. The hot pockets should measure about 5 1/2 inches long by 3 inches wide before baking.
- With a toothpick, lightly poke 6 holes into the top of each hot pocket.
- Using a bench scraper, lift the hot pockets onto a parchment paper-lined sheet tray. Set the pan into the freezer to chill for at least 15 minutes.
How to Bake the Hot Pockets
- In the meantime, preheat the oven to 475 degrees Fahrenheit.
- With your fingers, double-check and press on the outer edges of the hot pockets to make sure they didn't unstick and open up in the freezer. *See the tips below the recipe for further information.
- Bake hot pockets for 10 minutes, rotating the pan half-way through.
- Brush the garlic butter on top and bake for another 3-4 minutes.
Tried this recipe?Let me know how it was!