Everybody will fall in love with this easy Chicken Pot Pie!! With a creamy chicken and vegetable filling lightly infused with herbs, this Chicken Pot Pie made with puff pastry lids can be served in individual pots or made as one big pie.
This Chicken Pot Pie recipe is made by poaching uncooked chicken in stock and milk which is then used as the broth for the creamy filling. Or speed things up by using cooked chicken!
Chicken Pot Pie
Chicken Pot Pie was a staple in my 20’s. When I was an ambitious lass in the corporate world juggling university in the evenings, Chicken Pot Pie was a handy one-dish freezer-friendly meal that I could cram loads of extra veggies into.
So while fellow uni students were living on instant ramen and cheap sausages, I was making Chicken Pot Pie.
How very homely of me…. Some might even say daggy! 😂
I like to make Chicken Pot Pie in POTS – for maximum pastry to filling ratio!
What goes in Chicken Pot Pie
Here’s what goes in Chicken Pot Pie. Nothing unusual here – but just a couple of comments on some of the ingredients:
Stock powder – this adds more flavour in the creamy white sauce. I like to use Vegeta which is a vegetable stock powder, but any stock powder will do – vegetable or chicken;
Parmesan adds umami (which means savouriness and depth of flavour) rather than cheesiness into the sauce. If you don’t have parmesan, use about 1 1/2 cups of your favourite cheese (cheddar, Colby, Monterey Jack, tasty); and
Peas are missing! 🙂
There’s no definitive way to make Chicken Pot Pie. While some choose to make it like a traditional pie with a pastry base and shortcrust topping in a pie dish, I have always – and will always – make Chicken Pot Pies in POTS with puff pastry lids.
Let me emphasise that in case you missed it – I make Chicken POT Pie in POTS. 😜
Truthfully though, the way I make it has nothing to do with the name. I make it in pots because it’s quicker and easier, and I love draping the pots generously with puff pastry so that the golden flaky lid is fitted tightly on top and around the pots, rather than just a round piece floating on top.
How to make Chicken Pot Pie
There’s nothing really ground breaking in this Chicken Pot Pie recipe, but there are two little things I do that is a bit different to the usual:
Poach chicken and use poaching liquid to make the creamy filling. Most recipes bake the chicken. I prefer poaching so I can use the poaching liquid which becomes infused with extra flavour from the chicken; and
Parmesan in the creamy filling. Not for parmesan or cheesy flavour, for seasoning. If you’re a regular reader, you’ll know that I use parmesan cheese regularly in recipes. It’s because it adds salt as well as umami to recipes, just giving dishes an extra something-something that makes it so good!
Tips for making Chicken Pot Pie
This is a pretty straight forward recipe, especially when made you make individual Chicken Pot Pies like I’ve done. I only have 2 tips to ensure you nail The Pot every single time:
Thicken filling to desired consistency before putting it in the pots. The sauce won’t thicken at all once the lid is on. So keep cooking until the sauce is a nice creamy consistency and not watery. Nobody likes a watery pie filling!
Cool filling before topping with puff pastry. Hot filling = melts butter in pastry that creates layers = less puff.
That moment with this Chicken Pot Pie comes out of the oven, all golden and puffed up, and you know that under that buttery lid the creamy filling is bubbling away with the tender chicken and the vegetables and it just smells so amazing…
….and THEN you crack through that almost impossibly flaky crispy puff pastry to reveal the piping hot creamy filling, and you blow furiously on it, trying to cool it down as quickly as you can so you can shovel a huge spoonful in your mouth without giving yourself 2nd degree burns….
I shouldn’t even joke about that. I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve burned my mouth with Chicken Pot Pie. 😂 – Nagi x
More Cosy Pies
Cottage Pie (beef)
Shepherd’s Pie (lamb – because Shepherd’s herd sheep!)
Browse all cosy Winter Warmers
And more cosy Chicken recipes
Slow Cooked Chicken Stew and a faster Chicken Stew (Casserole) – on the table in under an hour!
Watch how to make it
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Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
Chicken & broth:
- 600 g/1.2lb chicken breast (or boneless thighs)
- 2 cups milk , any fat % (Note 1)
- 1 cup chicken broth (stock)
- 2 tsp chicken or vegetable stock powder (Note 2)
- 2 sprigs thyme , optional
Chicken Pot Pie:
- 1 large onion , chopped
- 2 large carrots (3 small). chopped
- 3 celery ribs , chopped
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 50g / 3 tbsp butter
- 1 tsp dried thyme
- 1/3 cup white wine (sub more chicken stock)
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1/2 cup grated parmesan
- 1/2 tsp black pepper
- 1 cup frozen peas , no need to thaw
- 2 sheets puff pastry (enough to cover pots, with drape)
- 1 egg , lightly whisked
Instructions
Chicken:
- Place milk, broth and stock powder in a large saucepan. Bring to a very gentle simmer over medium heat, add chicken and thyme.
- Place lid on, simmer gently on medium low for 15 minutes (do not boil, can make milk split).
- Remove chicken, shred or dice (don’t worry if inside a bit uncooked). Cover pot and set poaching liquid aside.
Chicken Pot Pie:
- Melt butter in a large pot over medium high heat. Add garlic and onion, cook for 2 minutes. Add thyme, carrot and celery, cook for 3 minutes or until carrot is softened.
- Add wine. Stir, scraping the bottom of the pot, and cook for 1 1/2 minutes or until wine is mostly evaporated.
- Add flour and stir for 1 minute.
- Add about half the reserved poaching liquid and stir until all flour is incorporated – it will be a thick sludge.
- Add remaining milk broth, parmesan, pepper. Stir.
- Add chicken and peas, stir.
- Once mixture is heated (you’ll see steam), cook for 3 minutes to thicken the sauce, stirring regularly. (Note 3)
- Remove from heat. Spoon into oven proof pots – 4 large or 6 small (Note 4). Cool in fridge at least 30 minutes. (Note 5)
Assembly & Baking:
- Meanwhile, remove puff pastry from freezer to partially thaw. Then use a bowl as a guide to cut rounds from the pastry about 2.5cm / 1″ wider (all the way around) than the pots – be generous!
- Preheat oven to 180C/350F.
- Brush edge of pots with egg. Top with puff pastry, folding down the edges.
- Brush pastry with egg. Cut a 2cm / 2/3″ slide in the middle with a small knife.
- Bake 35 – 40 minutes until deep golden.
- Serve immediately!
Recipe Notes:
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Few snaps from Dozer’s weekend away with my besties! Clockwise from top left: Smiling happily at the sight of his weekend bag, on the road, enjoying the beach and assuming the best position at the dinner table…. (and I think he fell asleep waiting for food to drop?? 😂)
Leonie says
Wow! Yum! The whole family enjoyed this even fussy kids. Will definitely become a regular. Quick, easy and simply delicious
Cynthia says
I’ve made this twice now and both times I ended up with twice the amount of filling. The first time this happened, I got an extra pkg of puff pastry, followed your instructions, and froze it (unbaked except for the bottom crust which I baked 10 mins). But this second time, I put the extra filled pie in the oven before freezing. So my question is… is it okay to freeze this even though I’ve baked it through? I think you mentioned the issue with doing it this way is that the pastry won’t puff up as much since it was baked, frozen, and baked again. No big deal. But I just want to make sure this is okay to do – bake/freeze/bake. Thanks!
Raana says
Just bought some homemade puff pastry and what better way to bake than yours! Tomorrow night family dinner, pot pie shall have the table with salad followed by bread and butter pudding…. Your recipe! 😁 😁 Thank you for making life so easy. Your recipes are smashing! Thank you. And a huge hug for Dozer.
Mika says
Hi Nagi. What to do if you do happen to split the broth? Cheers,
Nagi says
Hi Mika, make a cornflour slurry with 1 teaspoon of cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water. Add this to the sauce and bring to a gentle simmer – you should be able to bring the sauce back together 🙂 N x
Krystal says
Hoping to make this recipe but instead of individual size make it in a pie pan. Could I use puff pastry on the top and bottom? Any advice to avoid and overly soggy bottom? Any other parts I should change to accommodate? Thanks!
Josh says
Can you substitute chicken for leftover roast pork?
Nagi says
Yes 100% Josh! N x
Mel says
Is there a substitute for the wine? Thanks.
Nagi says
Hi Mel, you can just sub with more chicken broth for a non-alcoholic version 🙂 N x
Shannon Russo says
Hi Nagi. I’m making your chicken pot pie recipe this evening but wanted to clarify… in the section “What to put in your chicken pot pie” you note that “Peas are missing!” but yet I see you put frozen peas in towards the end. Did you mean to say “Potatoes are missing!”? Because I would totally expect to see potatoes in a chicken pot pie. But if you don’t include them for a particular reason, I’d love to know why you don’t. Thanks!
Mel says
She means peas are missing from the picture of all the ingredients but they are in the recipe and should be in there.
claire stirling says
Amazing!! I made this with my 8 year old twins and they really enjoyed following the steps that were so nicely written to be easily followed. We added some mushrooms in with the peas but otherwise followed as is and it was delicious! My 14 month old ate a whole bowl full! Thanks!
Elaine T says
Love reading about Dozer! I baked my chicken breasts skin on with olive oil and salt and pepper and then removed skin and shredded chicken. I also added the puff pastry at the bottom and found that the additional crust was just too much. What a comfort meal on a rainy dreary day. Just delicious!
Carrie Sparks says
Hi Nagi! Hi Dozer! I can’t believe I just found you because you make food the way I like to make (and eat) food! Basically full of Umami flavor, all homemade, and your instructions and videos are so thorough and logical and the pics and videos are all about just good information. Not all the fluff of so many other food bloggers. You even take care to talk about things like ‘the sauce will be sludgy at this point’ or ‘don’t worry about defrosting the peas’. Sometimes along the way a recipe can seem like it’s looking weird but you have a knack for reassurance and knowing what an at home chef would worry about.
I’m super into pie crusts right now and used your filling recipe to make a pie. I’ll get into puff pastry at some point but for now I’m working on learning traditional pie crust.
So….I followed your recipe exactly and, as noted, I did substitute some heavy cream for milk, however next time I wouldn’t. The saucy part was a little too stiff and I think it would have been (more) perfect had I just used all of the poaching liquid. I also thought it was slightly too oniony but I think I used too much onion. They are all HUGE at the store right now and I used a whole one. (A yellow)
Well, this filling is SO GOOD! I even got all the extra stuff up from the pan and licked the spatula as I cleaned up.
So rich, so much Umami (that Parmesan…🤪) and just the way I would expect to have a pot pie taste. It has just the right vegetable to sauce ratio.
Thank you!
That vanilla cake you just posted is next on my list…
Tina says
Hi Nagi another winner!!! your chicken hot pot pies are delicious!!! I made.mine in the pie maker and a hit with the family! Thankyou
Skye Fraser says
If you have enough leftovers and you don’t put a label on it and then pull it out of the freezer and heat it up, it makes a great soup too….just sayin
Nagi says
Haha – I’ve done this plenty of times thinking “I’ll remember what that is”…. I never do 😂 N x
Kelli says
Hi Nagi,
May I use frozen vegetables in this recipe?
Thanks,
Kelli
Nagi says
Sure can Kelli, just thaw before using. N x
theona says
Great recipe, used with leftover roast chicken. Add mushrooms to carrots and celery. Delicious! Kids loved it. Thanks Nagi – you’ve saved dinner again 🙂
Adell says
Excellent and very tasty recipe. I like the short videos which help to understand what the recipe looks like at various stages. This is the third Recipetineats I have tried and all have been great.
Davinia says
I still cannot believe how good this was. We changed a little, instead of making the pastry I used canned biscuits. I made mini pot pies and then I emptied the rest into a 9×13 and put the biscuits on top. I ate more than I want to admit. Even the kids finished theirs.
Jacinta says
This was so rich and creamy and yum! I substituted dried thyme with dried oregano, and used white vinegar + apple cider vinegar + water instead of the white wine. It was perfect! Another family favourite, thank you Nagi!
natalie says
Dear Nagi,
Love your recipes always looking for you when I am going to do something new.
Natalie
Ross Burwood says
Made the pies over the weekend.. Turned out delish, using my new piemaker!!
Elsje says
Hi Nagi. I made this for dinner tonight and it was delicious! I made it with cream and it was just plain awesome! Thank you so much for yet another great recipe!
Nagi says
That’s great to hear Elsje! Thanks so much! N x