My classic chicken pot pie has a creamy, veggie-packed filling. Make it entirely from-scratch, or keep it easy with premade crust and rotisserie chicken. Recipe includes a how-to video!
Classic Chicken Pot Pie
When I think comfort food, I think chicken pot pie. One of my personal all-time favorite meals, it’s hearty and satisfying and perfect cold-weather food that’ll warm you to your toes. My version is packed with veggies, is super flavorful, and is not at all dry inside (my pet peeve with pot pie!). I grew up with my grandmother making chicken pot pie as a special Sunday dinner so this recipe has a significant nostalgia factor for me, too.
Lately I’ve been enjoying this with my sourdough pie crust, but my classic pie crust also works perfectly and is so tasty! Of course you can always use a store-bought crust, if you’re in a rush, I will do my best not to judge 😜. I include a few other shortcuts too, so you could easily modify this to be a simple weeknight dinner if you wanted to (lots of make-ahead tips!).
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
- Classic chicken pot pie taste and technique with a double crust and creamy, flavorful filling. I intentionally make my filling “juicer” than most, as that’s how I like my pot pie!
- Customizable for your preferences and dietary needs. I talk more about this below.
- Can be made ahead or frozen. I also have recipes for meat sauce, vegetable soup, and beef stew, all of which are great for making ahead too!
- A bit of a labor of love–especially if you make your own crust–but it is well worth the end result. This is the coziest of comfort food, and it’s my absolute favorite thing to eat for dinner on a chilly night!
Ingredients
Pie crust and chicken and plenty of veggies… and more! Let’s talk ingredients (and substitutes!). As you’ll see, I start with raw chicken breast, but leftover roasted chicken would work perfectly!
- Pie crust. You will need two, as this pot pie recipe has both a top and bottom crust. You can use store-bought or homemade pie crust (or my new favorite sourdough pie crust!).
- Chicken. I use raw chicken (you can use breasts, thighs, or a combo! ) and cook it in the pan with the potatoes, but you could use 3-4 cups of pre-cooked chicken instead. A picked rotisserie chicken or my crockpot shredded chicken would work nicely. I provide instructions for using both raw and pre-cooked chicken in the recipe below.
- Cream. Heavy cream makes for the richest pot pie filling and is my favorite, but really most dairy or non-dairy options will work. I’ve used half and half, milk, and even nut milks.
- Veggies. Including onion, carrots, potatoes, and frozen mixed veggies. Feel free to mix these up a bit depending on your preferences, though I do recommend keeping the onion and carrots as they provide a flavorful base.
- Spices. Like smoked paprika (one you don’t see in many pot-pies, but a favorite from my chicken and rice soup that adds incredible depth!), ground mustard, and black pepper. We’ll also add some fresh thyme (or ¼ teaspoon of dried thyme).
SAM’S TIP: Use gold potatoes! Their skin is so thin that they don’t need to be peeled (do make sure to wash them well though!). Of course, if you don’t have them, almost any potato will work (just remove the skins if you only have a thicker-skinned variety like russet).
Remember, this is just an overview of the ingredients I used and why. For the full recipe please scroll down to the bottom of the post!
How to Make Chicken Pot Pie
- Saute the carrots and onion in melted butter over medium heat until they’re nice and tender.
- Sprinkle the flour and spices overtop and stir until absorbed. Adding the spices at this point lets us toast them and create even more flavor, and the flour helps us create something of a roux, which thickens the filling and gives it a hearty texture.
- Drizzle in the chicken broth, scraping the pan as you go to get any of those brown bits (flavor!) off the bottom and into the sauce. Add the cream and cook until the mixture thickens slightly.
- Add the potatoes, thyme, and chicken (if you’re using cooked chicken, add after the potatoes finish cooking instead, that way it doesn’t get over-cooked). Once the potatoes are tender and the chicken is cooked through, shred the chicken and return to the pot. Stir in the frozen veggies, then set aside while you prepare your crusts.
- Roll out your first pie crust and layer it into your pie plate. To make sure you’ve rolled your pie crust big enough, place your pie plate upside down over the crust. Your crust should be just a bit larger than your pie plate.
- Pour the filling over your bottom crust (if you can let it cool down a bit first, that’s even better).
- Roll out your second crust and layer it over the filling. Seal the edges with your favorite technique (I demonstrate mine in the video below, but you could just crimp the crust together with a fork), then vent the top. Brush egg wash over the entire crust for a golden brown finish (if you can’t “do” eggs, skip this entirely or just brush with some heavy cream, the crust just won’t get as dark).
- Bake until golden brown. I recommend placing your pot-pie on a rimmed foil or parchment lined baking sheet, just in case any of that filling wants to bubble out into your stove (I use this same method with my easy apple pie, as tossing the foil or parchment after baking is much easier than scrubbing out a stove, trust me!). Don’t cut into it right away–let it cool for 10-15 minutes before slicing.
SAM’S TIP: This pot pie can be messy while it’s still warm, but that’s also when it tastes the best! I recommend waiting about 15 minutes before you cut into it, that way it has some time to re-solidify a bit but will still be plenty warm.
Make This Recipe Work for You!
- Get fancy with a lattice pie crust! You can do this with homemade or store-bought pie dough.
- Make it dairy-free: swap the butter for non-dairy butter and use a nut milk instead of heavy cream.
- Customize your filling depending on what’s in season: swap the onions for leeks, add your favorite herbs (tarragon is always tasty in the spring!), use turnips instead of potatoes, add mushrooms or spinach, etc.
- Make it easy. Prepare your pie crusts in advance (mine can be made in advance and refrigerated for several days or frozen and then thawed overnight when you need them) so you don’t have to worry about preparing them the day-of. Cut your veggies in advance and store them in an airtight container. Or, follow my instructions in the recipe for preparing the whole dish in advance!
- Don’t forget dessert: serve up some fried apples with vanilla ice cream, slices of coca cola cake, or go with double the pie and make my lemon pie recipe. When my grandmother made this for dinner, we usually had coconut cake or hot milk cake for dessert!
If you’ve tried my chicken pot pie with biscuits, I’d love to hear how you like this classic version!
Enjoy!
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Chicken Pot Pie
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Servings: 8 servings
Calories: 463kcal
Instructions
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You will need 2 unbaked pie crusts for this recipe, you may use storebought or homemade. I like to use homemade, click the link if you’d like to use my recipe and prepare the pie crusts and refrigerate while you make the filling.
2 unbaked pie crusts
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Preheat oven to 425F (220C) and place a 9 ½” pie plate on a foil or parchment lined baking sheet. Set aside.
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Melt butter in a large skillet over medium heat.
5 Tablespoons (70 g) salted butter
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Add onion and carrot and cook until softened (about 5 minutes).
1 (140 g) medium yellow onion, 1 cup chopped carrots
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Sprinkle flour, salt, paprika, ground mustard, and black pepper over the veggies and stir until completely absorbed and smooth.
⅓ cup (38 g) all-purpose flour, ¾ teaspoon table salt, ½ teaspoon smoked paprika, ¼ teaspoon ground mustard, ¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
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Slowly drizzle in chicken broth, scraping the bottom of the pan as you do, then immediately, slowly drizzle in cream or milk. Cook until slightly thickened (about 1-3 minutes).
2 ½ cups (591 ml) chicken broth, ⅓ cup (78 ml) heavy cream
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Add chicken and potatoes and thyme and bring to a boil (make sure the chicken is submerged, cut it into smaller pieces if needed). Stir occasionally until potatoes are fork-tender and chicken is easily shreddable.
1 sprig fresh thyme, 1 lb uncooked chicken breast, thighs, or a mix of both, 1 ½ cups (240 g) small-diced potatoes
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Remove the chicken to a plate, cut or shred with two forks, then return to the pot and stir well.
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Add frozen veggies, stir until combined, and turn off the heat. Set aside while you assemble your pie crusts.
2 cups (260 g) frozen mixed veggies
Assembly
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Roll out one pie crust and layer it into your 9.5” pie plate. Pour or spoon the filling slowly and carefully into prepared pie plate.
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Roll out your second pie dough and arrange over the filling. Crimp or flute the edges to seal. Cut a vent in the top of the crust (an “X” in the center is fine).
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Whisk together egg and water for the egg wash then brush lightly all over the surface of the pie dough.
1 egg, 1 teaspoon water
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Transfer pot pie (on the lined baking sheet – just in case you have any spills this will be much easier to clean!) to the center rack of your 425F (220C) oven and bake for 30 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
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Allow to cool 10-15 minutes before slicing and serving (the warmer it is the messier it is to cut).
Notes
Using pre-cooked chicken
If you’d like to use pre-cooked chicken, you’ll need 3-4 cups (440-585g) cubed or shredded cooked chicken. Don’t add it until after the potatoes are fork tender, then stir the chicken into the mix, cook until warmed through (should only take a few minutes) then proceed with the recipe as written.
Milk
Cream is my preference for a richer pot pie, but half and half, whole milk or even a nut milk could be substituted.
Making in advance
You can prepare and assemble the pot pie up to 2 days before baking and serving. I recommend either storing the filling and crusts separately and then assembling just before baking or letting the filling cool completely before pouring it into the pie crust and adding the second crust/venting. Wait to brush with egg wash until just before baking. Bake according to recipe instructions, but note that you may need longer in the oven (35-50 minutes) for the pie to warm through completely. Keep an eye on the crust, if it begins to over-brown loosely tent it with foil.
Storing
Cover leftovers tightly and store in the refrigerator for up to 3 days. You may also allow the pot pie to cool completely, wrap tightly (or freeze individual servings), and freeze for up to 3 months. To serve, thaw overnight in the refrigerator before reheating. To warm leftovers in the oven, cover with foil and heat in 350F (175C) oven until warmed through (likely over 30 minutes for a whole pie). You can remove the foil for the last 5-10 minutes to help encourage some browning.
Nutrition
Serving: 1serving | Calories: 463kcal | Carbohydrates: 42g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 24g | Saturated Fat: 11g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 9g | Trans Fat: 0.3g | Cholesterol: 88mg | Sodium: 833mg | Potassium: 648mg | Fiber: 5g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 5466IU | Vitamin C: 16mg | Calcium: 53mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutritional information is based on third-party calculations and should be considered an estimate only. Actual nutritional content will vary based upon brands used, measuring methods, cooking method, portion sizes, and more.