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?? 😂)
Oh, I can tell this is a winner even before I make it. This will be on my table this week for sure!
I hope you love it Brian!
Made this for dinner tonight- four individual bowls typically used for French Onion Soup. The size was perfect. I topped them with Pillsbury Crescent Roll Dough to save some calories and fat. The crust was OK, but I’m sure nowhere near as good as the puff pastry. The pie filling, however, was excellent. It’s definitely a keeper! I’ve tried several chicken pot pie recipes over the years and none of them come close to this one! So glad I found your site! Thanks Nagi!
Wahoo!!!!
Excellent. RecipeTin is my goto.
Woot! Thanks so much Ryan!
Hi Nagi. I want to cook this recipe as I have leftover chicken from your ‘Chicken Noodle Soup’. (Amazing may I add). To cook pies from step 4 as you have already commented is fine but, Step 8 requires half on the poaching liquid. What do we use instead? Thank you my sweet.
Hi Christine, You need half the poaching liquid – so use 1 cup of milk, 1/2 cup stock and 1 tsp vegeta ☺️
I have leftover cooked chicken I want to use. Do I still need to let it simmer for 15 minutes? Is it necessary to thicken the broth? How do I proceed with chicken that is already cooked?
Thanks for your attention xxx
Hi Mimi, if your chicken is already cooked, start from step 4 and proceed – I hope you love it!
Wow. This recipe knocked it out of the park. Normally I never change or vary a recipe for the first time. I did not check pantry in advance and when I looked for the puff pastry it was noware to be found. So I opted to make savory dumplings. You really recipe made those dumplings shine
Oh great idea Bill, I’ll have to give it a go! Thanks for the feedback!
This was absolutely delicious! I made it exactly as written, except I had to substitute tarragon for the thyme in the filling because that was what I had. Hubby loved it, so this is definitely going in the “make again” file. Thank you!
Hello, this sounds DELICIOUS, I was just wondering if the white wine is optional what else can you replace it with?
Hi Ann, Just substitute with chicken broth. N x
Almost like my mom’s but poaching the chicken and that made it even better(shhh don’t tell my mom!). We like mini biscuits of top of ours. Excellent!
7. STORAGE: To freeze or refrigerate uncooked, cool filling completely. Then top with pastry, egg wash, cut slit. Freeze 3 months or refrigerate up to 2 days. Thaw overnight (if frozen) then bake per recipe. Note: Thawed then refrozen puff pastry as well as thawed then refrigerated puff pastry does not puff up quite as much but the difference isn’t significant.
Cooked Chicken Pot Pies will keep in the fridge for up to 4 days. Best reheated in the oven covered in foil so the pastry can crisp up slightly, 20 minutes at 180C/350F.
Nagi:
My problem with freezing and cooking is that the gravy is always thick and pasty rather that smooth and flowing. Any suggestions?
Also and idea… If you freeze the contents of the pie, and put the pastry on just before cooking, you get a nice is great.
Hi Charlie – have you tried it with my recipe? I have honestly never had that problem. The filling bubbles away when it cooks so it’s essentially remixing itself under the pastry. But yes, the alternative would be to freeze the filling, thaw then give it a good mix, then top with pastry and cook! N x
I haven’t yet but I’m going too!
Thanks Nagi, you’re the best!
Just made this tonight and it is divine. I am obsessed with your page and recipes. There has not been one (of the many) I’ve tried that have not been amazing. Please don’t ever stop cooking!!! Thank you so much for posting your delicious creations! Xoxoxox did not change a single thing to the recipe besides I used chicken tender strips because my grocery store only had 2 lb chicken breasts and my freezer is too full to add to it.
I can’t remember if I reviewed this or not. But I don’t care… It’s worth reviewing again! OMG, this was so good. I was a little skeptical about adding the white wine but wow… It really gave it that distinction. So good!
I used puff pastry on the bottom and the top in a 9 inch round baking dish. I used vegetable stock cubes, dried thyme, and almond milk in place of milk. This came out absolutely beautiful. The taste was divine. Great comfort food!
My only question is… I had some leftover filling and decided to make a second pie and freeze it. But I wasn’t sure if I should bake the bottom puff pastry/crust for 10 minutes before filling it up (like you mention in your instructions). I wasn’t sure what “freezing” would do to an already cooked puff pastry. So, I opted not to and decided I would cook it through when I was ready to defrost and bake it (haven’t done that yet).
Thanks again for a timeless classic 🙂
That’s great to hear Cynthia!! It would have been better to bake the base before filling and freezing with top lid uncooked but it will still be fine 🙂 Just cook it through until the top is very very deep golden (to ensure the base cooks 🙂 ) N x
Nagi you have the best recipes and cooking tips online hands down. I almost never comment on recipe sites but I feel I owe you a huge thank you for education me and making me look good with my cooking which is often inspired by you. What I love is how you teach us little facts about what flavors you are trying to achieve by mixing simple ingredients. You always have a simple easy to follow recipe even for what seems to be a complex dish, and the results are always always amazing. Scrolling through Facebook stops when I see your posts. You’re also so down to earth and funny with fun did stories and pictures. Thank you thank you thank you.
Nagi, you rock! I love your tips, they are spot on! I am on vacation in the Caribbean, just rolling through some emails (what’s WRONG with me??!?), but am SO making this when I get home!
P.S. I am really missing our dobey dog back home, so Dozer is filling a sweet spot in my heart these days! 🐶😊
Vacations are for doing what you want – what’s wrong with a few fun emails?? 😉 N x
If I used short crust pastry for the base would I still need to cook it first? Think of doing just a family size pie and it would be nice with a base, have never used puff pastry on a base only on the top.
Hi Sue! Puff will work for base too, I popped directions in the note. Just bake the base first and flatten during baking to eliminate the puff. But if you do want to use short crust then yes cook it first. Best to cover with sheet of baking paper, weight down with pie weights, bake 20 minutes, remove paper and beads, bake 15 minutes or so until golden 🙂 N x
Very good chicken pot pie. The meat eaters in my family liked this very much. I didn’t have quite enough chicken so my mixture was a little too liquidy for my taste, so I added two small potatoes and that worked really well. Other than a big green salad, nothing else is needed for a great dinner. Thanks for another great recipe!
Great to hear you enjoyed this one Vivien! Thanks for letting me know – N x
Tried this today but had a disaster with the chicken. Poached it in the combination of milk and a homemade stock. Chicken poached ok but the milk curdled and left cheesy lumps. Had to throw it out and certainly wouldn’t use it in the filling. What do you think went wrong?
My milk split a bit too. You can always strain the liquid and use it. It’s not dangerous to eat it just looks gross.
Hi Corri – I’m sorry to hear that. There’s 2 things I think could’ve happened: 1) if the milk was BOILING rather than simmering gently, it can make it split a bit – though still not enough to make cheesy lumps you describe. And still useable in the sauce for sure! 2) Any chance the milk was past it’s use by date? That seems to be the more likely scenario. 🙁 N x
No, there was no way the milk was out of date. I may have used more stock than the recipe so maybe the ration was out??
Hi Nagi
Made the Chicken Pot Pie today for the first time. It will not be the last time. Absolutely scrumptious. Poaching the chicken breast fillets is a great idea. Next time will be even easier as the other half is now in the freezer.
Hi Nagi,
Made this pie tonight. It’s soo delish. Looks like we’ll have to eat it through Perth summers too because it’s so yum. Much better than the chicken pie from our local bakery. I didn’t use wine because we don’t drink it and I couldn’t be bothered going to get some. So I added 85ml more chicken stock then thought what the heck and dumped in the rest of the 2 cup carton of stock rather than have leftover stock. Long story short: added extra flour to thicken it and extra vegetable stock and this self styled disaster chef still managed to get it tasting yummo!
I’ve made a few of your recipes now since discovering you via your cornbread muffins and you’re an amazing cook! We could definitely live on a diet of Nagi recipes only. I’ll be attempting your lemon bars soon as mum has always wondered what they are like after seeing a character on The Bold and The Beautiful “making” them all the time 😂
Thank you for what you do 💗. Love the pics of Dozer, he’s just gorgeous!
I made this last night and it was a hit. The kids asked for less carrots and peas next time and to add potatoes. It was so much easier than I expected!
I made this last night for dinner and it was a hit. I’m not the best cook so don’t often get compliments. But my husband said it looked lovely and was so tasty! I loved it too. Even my toddler enjoyed cutting the vegetables although like a typical toddler he didn’t want to eat it once cooked!
I had no celery and don’t like it anyway so used leek instead, it was so good!
No putting yourself down Camille! You are clearly a perfectly capable cook if you nailed The Pot! 🙂 N x