Homemade chicken pot pie is comfort food at its finest. This easy-to-make version lets you prep the cake and make the gravy while the chicken is roasting in the oven. Make it even easier on yourself by using frozen veggies, rotisserie chicken, and store-bought puff pastry instead of pie dough.
Growing up, my parents would buy individual chicken pot pies from the freezer section and that had to be the highlight of our grocery shopping.
The cupcakes came in aluminum mini cake pans with ingredient lists taking up the back of the box. They were cheap, practical and kid-friendly.
My passion for chicken pot pie was born. But as I grew up, I realized that the comfort dish I love is actually quite easy to make from scratch. I no longer had to rely on the boxed version. I also found that chicken pot pie doesn’t involve many difficult-to-pronounce ingredients or complicated steps. Now I’m even more of a fan.
What Makes This Chicken Pot Pie Easy?
My commitment to making this an easy chicken pot pie is evolving in stages.
- The chicken: Buy a whole, cut-up chicken, which cooks faster than a whole chicken. You don’t have to fiddle with a whole chicken when it’s already available cut up. Toss and toast the pieces on a tray with oil.
- The vegetable: I use frozen veggies to stir into the stuffing, but give the sauce some pizzazz by dicing onions, garlic, and celery while the chicken roasts.
- The pie crust: Instead of making a scratch cake base, I buy store-bought puff pastry.
- The stock: If you have homemade broth in your fridge, by all means use it, but there’s no shame in saving time with store-bought broth. To find the best boxed supply, check out our product review: Our Favorite Boxed Chicken Broth.
- The time: The finished chicken pot pie only needs 20-25 minutes to bake in the oven. You can add another 30 minutes to roast the whole shredded chicken, but if you’re really pressed for time, just pick up a roast chicken at the store.
Tips and tricks for preparing the perfect pot pie
- What should my roux look like? Your roux, the paste of flour and fat used to thicken the sauce, should be light in color (a pale yellow) and crumbly, but not dry. After you add the flour to the pan, the veggies should look like they’ve been coated in a crumbly, moist batter.
- How do I avoid lumps in my sauce? Gradually add the chicken broth, about 1 cup at a time, stirring constantly, for a smooth sauce. Add more broth only after the previous addition has been stirred until smooth.
- What if my sauce is too thick or too thin? Your sauce should cover the back of the spoon but be thin enough for you to see through.
- If your sauce is thin, whisk together 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour and 1 tablespoon cold water. Stir this flour slurry into the simmering sauce to thicken to the right consistency.
- When your gravy is as thick as puddingWhisk in 2 to 4 tablespoons of chicken broth to thin it out.
Swaps and Substitutions for Chicken Pot Pie
You can make this easy chicken pot pie gluten-free or dairy-free, swap out the veggies, or save this recipe for Thanksgiving and use leftover turkey in place of chicken. I use a simple mixture of peas, carrots, onions, and celery in this chicken pot pie, but feel free to add things like sliced mushrooms, small diced potatoes (sauté them with the onions and celery to soften them), or your favorite root add vegetables.
How to Make a Gluten Free Pot Pie: Replace the all-purpose flour with 1:1 baking flour (or your favorite gluten-free flour). Swap puff pastry for gluten-free cake dough.
To make a dairy-free pot pie: Use your favorite nut milk instead of cow’s milk. Since the milk is used to make the sauce creamier, you can even omit the cow’s milk altogether.
What’s the best way to reheat chicken pot pie?
Once the chicken pot pie has been cut and served, I find the best way to reheat is to cover with aluminum foil and place in the oven for 15 minutes or until heated through.
I usually kept the pot pie in the fridge in the same bowl I baked it in. To avoid breaking my bowl, I put it in a cold oven. I set the oven to 350°F and let the dish warm up along with the oven. This shortens my waiting time and protects my ceramic baking tins. My 15 minute heat up time begins when the oven has reached 350°F.
Make chicken pot pie ahead of time
One thing I love about this recipe is that it’s so well prepared. Prepare the filling the day before and cover it with the dough. Wait until you’re ready to bake the cake to spread the custard on top. The egg milk will dry out and crack as the cake bakes if you apply it too soon.
To freeze this cake Assemble the pot pie, but don’t brush up the egg wash or bake it. Cover the unbaked pot pie with foil and freeze for up to three months.
Thaw the pot pie overnight in the refrigerator. Take the dish out of the fridge 30 minutes before baking to give it time to warm up—remember, broken dishes are broken no bueno. Brush the egg milk onto the batter and bake in a 400°F oven for 30 minutes.
Dinner pie recipes for days!
- Chicken pot pie
- Vegetable Pot Pie
- Cajun turkey pot pie
- Leftover Pot Pies from Turkey
- Vegetarian shepherd’s pie with carrots and mushrooms
- Tex Mex Shepherd’s Pie
- Easy shepherd’s pie
Easy chicken pot pie
Reduce cooking time to 30 minutes by using store-bought rotisserie chicken instead of roasting a whole cut-up chicken yourself.
ingredients
For the fried chicken:
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3 to 3 1/2 lb cut open whole chicken
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1 1/2 tablespoon olive oil
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1 teaspoon kosher salt
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1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For the potpie filling:
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8th tablespoon (1 double crochet) unsalted buttercut
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1 Middle (1 1/2 cups) White Onionrolled
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3 stems (1 1/4 cups) celeryrolled
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3 cloves Garlic, chopped
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1/2 Cup all purpose flour
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3 cups chicken broth
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1/2 Cup whole milk
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1 1/2 teaspoon fresh rosemaryStems removed and roughly chopped or 3/4 teaspoon dried rosemary
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1 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme Leaves, stems removed or dried 3/4 teaspoon
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1 1/2 teaspoon fresh sage, roughly chopped or dried 3/4 teaspoon
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2 cups (about 8 ounces) frozen peas and carrots puree, thaw and drain excess water
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1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
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1/4 teaspoon black pepper
For the puff pastry topping:
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1 Sheet from puff pastrythawed under refrigeration
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1 big egg yolk
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1 tablespoon cold water
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salt, optional
method
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Roast the chicken:
Preheat oven to 400°F. Arrange the chicken pieces on a baking sheet or baking sheet and brush lightly with olive oil. Sprinkle both sides of the chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
Place the chicken sheet in the oven and roast for 30 to 35 minutes or until the internal temperature of each piece reaches 160°F to 165°F.
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Cool, then shred the chicken:
Remove the roast chicken from the oven and allow the meat to cool at room temperature for 15 minutes. Leave the oven on as you will need it to bake the assembled pot pie.
Once the chicken is cool enough to handle, remove the skin and shred the meat from the bones with your hands or two forks. Don’t shred the chicken too finely, leaving nice chunks of meat for that rustic pot pie filling.
Set the chicken aside while you prepare the rest of the filling. Discard or reserve the skin and bones to make bone broth or broth.
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Fry the flavors and make the roux:
Melt the butter in a Dutch oven over medium heat. Once the butter has melted and started to sizzle, add the white onion, celery, and garlic. Stir with a large spoon and sauté the vegetables for 3 to 4 minutes or until translucent.
Reduce the heat to medium and sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and fat in the saucepan. Stir the flour into the vegetables to create a roux, then cook the mixture for a minute to remove the raw, floury flavor. The roux should be pale yellow in color and leave a thick layer on top of the vegetables.
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Make the sauce:
In a small bowl or large liquid measuring cup, combine the chicken broth and milk. Stir the roux-covered veggies continuously while adding the chicken broth and milk mixture to the veggies, cup at a time. Once all the liquid has been added, let the sauce simmer until thickened, about 5 to 6 minutes. The gravy will go from a thick, paste-like consistency to a smooth gravy that coats the back of your spoon.
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Fold in the shredded chicken and frozen, thawed veggies:
When the sauce has thickened, fold in the previously shredded chicken, peas and carrots, rosemary, thyme and sage. Stir to completely coat the chicken and vegetables in the sauce.
Taste the mixture and adjust the seasoning with salt and pepper if needed. Pour the filling into a 9 x 13 inch baking pan and let cool for 15 minutes.
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Roll out the puff pastry and wash the egg:
On a lightly floured surface, use a rolling pin to roll out the puff pastry into an 11 x 15 inch rectangle, 1/8 inch thick. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and water to make an egg wash.
Place the rolled out puff pastry on the casserole dish. Brush the surface of the pastry with the egg wash and fold excess dough over the top of the dough to form a crust. Crimp the edges as you would for cake batter, then brush the rippled edge with more egg wash. Sprinkle a pinch of salt over the surface of the dough, then use a knife to cut small slits in the surface to act as air holes.
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Bake the Pot Pie:
Place the casserole dish on a larger sheet pan to catch any spills if the filling spills over the edge of the dish. Bake the pot pie at 400°F for 20-25 minutes or until the top is golden brown and the filling is gently bubbling through the openings.
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Allow to cool slightly, then serve:
Once baked, remove the chicken pot pie from the oven and allow to cool for 15 minutes before serving. The filling will get very hot, so be careful when eating it.
| nutritional information (per serving) | |
|---|---|
| 733 | calories |
| 45g | Fat |
| 18g | carbohydrates |
| 61g | protein |
