Dad's Pies - Chicken and Basil Pesto product reviews

I knew I would love the chicken pesto pies that Dad's Pies had provided for me to review. I had already had several of their other pies and really enjoyed them. I heated this pie for my lunch and when I sat down at the table with it the kids looked at it and said, "What is that on the pie? Is it grass?" There was actually a line of basil flakes. Obviously my kids are not their target market.

When I removed the lid and they saw inside they gave me a funny look as if to say, "Do you really want to eat that?" Yay, I thought. Now I don't have the kids begging for my lunch. Inside big chunks of chicken were surrounded by a creamy pesto. There were flecks of red capsicum and the lovely taste of parmesan cheese. I hadn't expected the cheese or capsicum so it was a pleasant surprise.

I loved this pie. It was different from any pie I had ever tried before. It certainly makes a good change from mince in a dozen different variety of pie. I would happily buy this pie but with Dad's Pies you are spoilt for choice.

I was excited when taking this pie out of the freezer to try as I felt like something a little different. I enjoy a nice basil pesto. I quite often make a chicken and pesto pasta so thought that the taste of this was going to be great. I thawed and heated it for 20mins in the oven, keeping the bag on as per instructions. I found from previous pies that this keeps the pie from drying out.

I cut the pie in half and was surprised to find large chunks of chicken in amongst a vibrant green sauce. This was pleasing to the eye as quite often basil can turn a dreadful colour when cooked. The aroma was brilliant. I took one bite and thought that this definitely had all the flavours I was hoping for. On the second bite however I got rather confused. The flavours were there, the colour and aroma was right, sauce was an ok texture. It was really hard to work out what was not right with this pie. By the fourth mouthful I had had enough.

I don't know whether it was the creaminess of the sauce but I really found this pie to be overpowering in flavour. It needed to be toned back just a little. Maybe it would have tasted better if I had served it with mash and vegetables rather than having it on its own. This is one pie that I am still unsure about but am willing to give it another go, just served a little different.

I introduced this pie and a few others to some extended family (yes just a little taste each!) and this was the flavour that I had the others begging to try as it appealed most. I cooked it in the bag in the oven and it did take slightly longer than it stated, but probably because it hadn't fully defrosted first.

There was a noticeable layer of pesto and some good chunks of chicken in here, however cutting it up to share around probably wasn't the best idea as it became more noticeable that the chicken was a bit sparse compared to the filling. However the overall sauce, pesto, and chicken combined made for a good sized pie filling which generously filled the pastry casing.

It was noted that the pesto was perhaps a bit disappointing as it didn't have much zing to it and was more of a subtle flavour. In fact this was the pie that we were most disappointed with, perhaps partly brought on by the fact that it sounded so appealing. The pastry though was delicious and left no greasy after taste like some pies can do. I personally wouldn't buy this pie again and have marked it down on taste due to all of us liking this pie the least, but this is no reflection on Dad's pies in general.

At first I was a bit unsure about this pie, as I have had the taste of Basil present in some of my meals before, and I wasn't entirely sure about what a "Pesto" was, or how it would go with the chicken; the results were rather interesting, however. First off, I would like to mention that the pie was very easy to cook, it only needed about 2 and a half minutes in our microwave (the cooking time is different for other microwaves, or course).

The bag enhanced the cooking process as it acted a bit like a steam oven, holding on to most of the steam created by the microwave process and cooking the pie evenly and properly. When I cut open the pie, I was taken back by the appearance of the fillings, which if I am to be honest looked a little bit like escargot, and knowing what escargot is made the fillings look a little unappealing. After I got past this, however, I found that the fillings were actually quite pleasant, having a combined herb, cheese, and chicken flavour.

Somehow, despite these flavours being combined within the pie, they also had a distinct separation between them, so they sort of tasted like 3 separate things, but they also worked together so well that it gave the illusion of having a single flavour, if you know what I mean. The Basil was the flavour that stood out the most, it had a very distinct taste that I was familiar with and it did indeed work well with the chicken. The Chicken itself was nice, it had a decent amount of flavour, but it was a bit dry if I am to be honest. Despite there supposedly being red peppers in the mix, I don't remember there being much spice to this pie, so if anything the peppers only subtly enhanced the flavour.

The pastry was very nice, it added some sweetness to the mix, and it was nice and firm so that as soon as I picked up the pie it didn't just go floppy and pill it's contents everywhere. It wasn't TOO firm, either, it was soft enough for my teeth to go through it easily, but firm enough to hold it's shape well enough. Overall, I have to say that this is a very nice pie, it has good flavour, reasonably healthy fillings, and it is quite affordable with these aspects under consideration. I am quite impressed.

With the miserable weather that we are having at the moment I decided to take the opportunity to cook up the last of my 2 pies I have for review to have for lunch, the Butter Chicken and the Chicken & Basil Pesto. I quite enjoy the taste of basil pesto but was uncertain about how it would stack up when mixed through a pie with a bit of chicken.

I placed my pie into the oven in its handy little bag and 20 minutes later I had a fresh, crispy pie which looked good enough to eat, the first thing I noticed as I removed the pie from the bag was that it had a line of sprinkled dry basil down the middle of it, this added a nice element to the pie, but did give me the impression that it was perhaps going to be a rather basil loaded pie!

Cutting through the pie you could certainly see that this was a Basil Pesto flavoured pie as the green sauce oozed out from it! One thing very noticeable was that the sauce was a lot thinner than that of the other Dad's Pies I had tried, not that this was necessarily a bad thing! The sauce had a really nice flavour to it and I was really enjoying it, especially when id land my fork on a nice big chunk of chicken, near the end however the taste of the sauce did get a bit to much so I ended up scooping part of it out and just eating the chicken and the pastry. There was a good balance of Parmesan cheese throughout which helped to bring the flavours alive, I didn't really pick up on the taste of the red peppers however!

This was a really tasty pie and id definetely encourage basil pesto fans to try it, I would possibly buy it again in the future although I do have my own favourite flavours in the range.

I love a good basil pesto but I wasn't too sure about it being wrapped up in a pie so this was one of the last pies that I tried. There was a nice line of, what I assume was basil, on the top of the pie and as with the others in this brand they all present well and look good, and most of the bag is full of pie unlike some where it seems only half is pie. Thirty minutes in the oven resulted in a piping hot pie that I was kind of looking forward to eating.

Cutting into the pie I would have to say that it looked the most unappealing of the pies and so I wasn't too keen to actually try it. There were visible pieces of capsicum but they didn't look appealing so I wasn't excited about that but I bit into it. My first thought was that there was a thick sauce and I could taste the key ingredients in the pesto but I couldn't detect much of the chicken, it seemed like the chicken had been shredded and mixed through yet there just wasn't much in the pie at all and this felt like a big let down.

This pie was OK but if I had a choice in what I was eating I wouldn't pick this pie.

I was having a lazy dinner day so thought to warm up this pie , my daughter asked if she could try but when I told her it would probably have a strong flavour she decided that she would give it a miss. Not sure why since I have done all the pies in the microwave but I found the pastry was tough and chewy, the flavour was seriously strong but I noticed that there was only two or three pieces of chicken and the rest was sauce which was nice but a little strong.

I would buy this pie again, it is a great flavour but might try cooking in the oven as the pastry wasn't enjoyable and see what the kids thoughts on this pie. It would be nice to have a bit more chicken in the pie and as usual the cheese was lacking. The lid of the pie was interesting with the line of herbs on top.As I am writing this review I have had some serious gas pains and heaps of burping which I never got from any of the other pies I tried so on second thought I would be better off leaving this pie in the freezer of the shop which is a pity as it has potential

I was looking forward to this pie because I love basil pesto. I was not entirely sure what it would be like, but I figured as long as they got the flavour of the pesto spot on, it would be a winner with me. So I baked the pie at 180 degrees for 30 minutes. I cut it in half to share it, though I didn't really want to and hubby and I had a try.

My initial thoughts were that the pie was really green in colour. Not just inside, but also on top where there was a sprinkled strip of basil too. This was a nice presentation touch! The green-ness of the pie was off-putting for the kids and they would not agree to trying it at all. I was not put off though as I was expecting it to look like that. Also the beautiful smell of basil pesto was ringing the dinner bell in my mouth. So I dived right in.

The flavouring of the pie filling was excellent. It was everything I expected it to be. The pesto was a good familiar flavour and packed the right amount of punch for me. Hubby enjoyed his piece though maybe not as much as others in the range. I would have happily eaten the whole pie by myself though, as it was that nice. Mind you, I would sit with a pot of pesto and crackers quite happily too.

This one is a pie I would definitely put on my shopping list again. It tastes great, the pastry is excellent as with all the pies I tried from Dad's Pies. The filling was really excellent too. I can imagine this would work really well for dinners when I'm the only adult about. I'd just need a couple for the deep freeze, and I'd be sorted.

This one has me really conflicted - I really want to love it, but I also feel that it wasn't the best designed pie in the range I have tried so far.

As with all the other Dad's Pies I have tried so far, the pastry was excellent and handled being cooked in the microwave beautifully. Leaving it in the bag helps retain the moisture, but I have also been experimenting and find that if I cook it from thawed, and start with 90 seconds on 50% power with the pie upside down, then flip it over and give it another 60-90 seconds at 50% with one end of the bag torn open, I get a pastry that still isn't as crisp and flakey as oven-cooked, but something closer than if I leave the bag closed and nuke it hard-out.

The big sticking point for me was the filling. Fully expected the colour - basil pesto is green, after all - but what I wasn't expecting was that the filling was really quite liquid. I was hoping for more of a 'chicken chunks and a thick basil and white sauce' but instead I found it was a lot wetter than hoped for, and of course, as Murphy would demand, this was the pie I ate with my hands, wasn't it.

Overall, the pie was tasty - there's no denying that. If it's flavour you are after, and you plan to eat it as the 'meat' component of a meal, say with mashed spud and some garlic steamed veges, then you have a very good one here. If you are after a pie to snack on as you walk or wait for the bus... just keep in mind that a cold soak and scrub will get the green stains out of your shirt better than a hot wash.

I cannot resist any product that contains basil - it is one of my favourite herbs. I have been known to make a sandwich consisting simply of bread and butter with fresh basil leaves! So when I went to try Dad's Pies Chicken & Basil Pesto flavour, I was interested to see if this product would live up to the taste test.

I have to report that it certainly met my expectations. The basil flavour was predominant, and when I checked the list of ingredients I found that basil pesto was the second item listed (preceded only by chicken). Not that the meat was sparse; quite the opposite. There were plenty of chicken pieces, and they were tender and full of flavour, although they did seem to be unevenly distributed through the pie. I was sharing it so had cut it in half, and I got the half with only one piece of chicken. The other half, on the other hand, was packed full of meat. Clearly I gave myself the wrong half!

The sauce was rich and had an appetising appearance so even before I tasted it I could tell from the smell and the consistency that it was going to be a culinary treat. The basil had coloured it green so that it resembled the commercial basil pesto that you can buy in pottles to use as dips etc. As New Zealand becomes more and more cosmopolitan, the variety of herbs in use has increased dramatically. A few years ago basil pesto was unheard of; now It is readily available and a key ingredient in a variety of recipes.

Visually, this pie was most attractive. It had a strip of herbs across the outside of the pie; little touches like this add to the appeal. I think this recipe would adapt quite well to the vegetarian market if the chicken were to be replaced by tofu or a similar product. Having this sort of choice would add to the profile.

In summary, I enjoyed this pie immensely. I served it hot but I think it would be quite acceptable served cold as well. I will be looking for it next time I am in the supermarket, and certainly intend to buy it again.

I was quite excited to try this pie as my husband and I both like chicken and we are pesto lovers!

As per the instructions, I heated the pie in the oven. I kept it in its bag as well. When I heated the first pie in the range I had been a little nervous about putting the bag in the oven as well. It has proved the best way to heat the pies and I think it makes the pastry just perfect.

When I took the pie out of the packet, my children both turned their noses up at the fact there was green stuff on top (most likely basil I would imagine). They love veggies but are not so keen on little additions like this. Mr Six asked if we could cut that bit off!

As soon as I cut the pie in half to prepare it to share with our family of four, the children looked at the filling. It was rather green and pesto-like. Neither of them was at all keen on the idea of eating the pie. I did ask then to have a little bit and if they didn't like it, my husband or I could eat it. They both took a tiny nibble and rejected it. So this definitely wasn't a pie for the kids taste buds. My thoughts were more on the fact that there seemed to be very little chicken in the pie, perhaps four or five small chunks. The rest of the filling was made up with the green sauce. I think that the balance wasn't quite right in this pie. The sauce seems like it was filled up with thickeners etc to order to bulk it up. It was a bit on the gluey side.

This is the first pie in the range that I have tried so far that I would not consider buying again. My husband and I did eat the remainder of the kids serving but I think that it is the last we will taste of this pie. I think the main reason for us having an issue with it is that there was not that much chicken and too much sauce. Perhaps if the chicken was in smaller chunks this might not be so noticeable.

I've known Dad's Pies for a while, having worked in a Wild Bean Cafe for 6+ years, and one of the things that I have always liked about the pies is the variety and unique flavours. Chicken & Basil Pesto is clearly a rather different choice in flavour.

One of the first thing I noticed with the single serve packaging is the rather vague heating instructions. While it is reasonably detailed, it is missing certain things that I am used to encountering with other brands. It mentions that the pie can be heated in the bag, but does the bag need to be kept sealed? or does one end need to be opened up? Who knows. Well I decided to open up one end, and heat it up in the microwave. It was good to see varied times given for differing microwave power levels. It tells you that they have actually spent some time checking how best to cook their products.

Now above the heating instructions it mentions that it needs to be defrosted first. A rather important factor that can ruin the timing of a meal if you don't see that line in time. But once you are aware, it isn't an issue. Once defrosted, the product keeps for a full 13 days, which is a great shelf life, so you can have it ready well in advance.

Now that I have covered the packaging and prep, onto the product itself! Once cooked in the microwave, I immediately noticed that the pastry had that rubbery feel that you get with most microwaved pies, but remained soft/brittle enough to be able to cut through it with a fork, and was still strong enough to hold itself together when removing it from the microwave oven and packaging.

Cutting it open, there was little airspace, so the pie was pretty much completely full of pie filling, and cutting it in half, I could see that I was cutting through some rather large chunks of meat. The filling had a few large tender chunks of meat present, but the majority appeared to consist of the basil pesto. The flavour of the chicken was present throughout the entire pie however, even without the presence of a noticeable piece of chicken.

The basil pesto created quite a thick taste, that almost made me feel like I was enjoying a rich pasta dish rather than a pie, with strong garlic, parmesan cheese, and onion flavours lingering long after finishing the meal. There is capsicum in the pie; an ingredient that I am not a fan of. I usually find it an overpowering flavour that ruins a dish, but the quantity was low enough in this product that it changed the flavour slightly in some bites, but never to anything unpleasant.

Overall, I liked the flavour. The basil pesto was very rich and strong in flavour, so I certainly wouldn't eat it too often, nor would I eat two of these small pies in one meal. I also would have liked some more chunks of meat to provide a better texture during consumption, but I would certainly have no aversion to enjoying this pie on an infrequent basis.