How can I make a chicken pie vegan/vegetarian friendly but just as delish and homey?

Thanks so much for all of your suggestions! I have never tried seitan, tempeh, or any of the gardein products. I am not a vegetarian or a vegan but I eat more veggies, fruits, grains than I do meat, for good health. I try to make as many recipes as I can without meat and this is one that I thought would be perfect to make vegetarian. I'll let you know how it turns out! Thanks again. :)

The most chicken-like meat substitute is seitan. I used it in this Greek rice pie I made for the holidays. Very delish.

http://verdantkitchen.wordpress.com/2011/01/20/holiday-recap-greek-rice-seitan-pie/

If you are subbing seitan for chicken in a recipe, don't do the do-ahead cooking like you would with the chicken. Just mix the raw seitan into whatever you are using to fill the pie (gravy, veggies, etc) and bake. That will be plenty of cooking for it. If you overcook seitan it has the texture of rubber. But cooked properly it is the same consistency as chicken.

I don't eat a whole lot of seitan or tofu, I try to stick to vegetable, legume and whole grain based entrees, but it is such a great "gateway drug" for non-vegans, so I love to use it when I cook for non-vegans or people who are new to it. Total crowd pleaser.

Everyone above has great ideas for veggies! The one thing I'll add is that you can use gardein brand "chicken" if you feel the need to have chicken-like texture and flavor in addition to the vegetables and also want to boost the protein content.

Vegetarian or vegan? I agree with Antonia as well. I have a vegetarian version but the crust has butter and I make the sauce with butter and cream. For vegetarian I use potatoes, carrots, green beans, asparagus, white corn, mushrooms and onion. I par-boil the potatoes (cut in cubes), blanch (and cool in an ice bath) the green beans, carrots and asparagus and saute the onion and mushrooms with a healthy dose thyme and rosemary (I would also agree adding some madeira or brandy wouldn't hurt). Once all of that is done I heat some butter add in some flour (about 2 tbsps) and then add in (warm) veggie stock, let it cook down and add in the cream, whisking all the time! All of this is then mixed with the veggies. I pre-bake the bottom crust (just a little) add the filling and the pastry lid. I realize this isn't very specific, but the rosemary is key to a tasty pie. I actually have recorded (in writing) a salmon pot pie - so if pescatarian is OK and you would like that recipe let me know I can send that to you.

If you want a protein component to replace the chicken, try tempeh. Cut it into cubes, brown in oil, then add to the other ingredients.

Use lots of mushrooms (and a variety of them), lots of roasted vegetables (I'd use carrots, parsnips, rutabagas, potatoes, and perhaps a small kohlrabi), the richest vegetable stock you can make (made with roasted vegetables, including roasted onions), and a good splash of Madeira while making the sauce. Season with a good organic tamari. ;o)