Chicken Pot Pie
This traditional Chicken Pot Pie uses convenient ingredients to make a luscious, flavorful gravy filling inside a buttery, crisp crust! This easy pot pie recipe is classic comfort food at its best!
Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
Classic recipes become classic for a reason, and Chicken Pot Pie has plenty of reasons! The original versions can be traced back to the Greeks and Romans, but it’s a dish that can easily adjust to multiple tastes and preferences. It’s a comfort food that family and friends will love. You can easily gift one to new parents, sick family, or busy friends for a traditional, homemade meal that will make everyone feel better!
What you’ll love about this recipe:
Chicken Pot Pie Ingredients
Here’s a quick overview of what you’ll need for this recipe. For exact measurements, keep scrolling down to the printable recipe card.
- Butter, Yellow onion, Flour (all-purpose), Garlic powder, Salt, Black pepper – These make a flavorful roux that ensures your pie filling will be thick, creamy, and absolutely delicious. You could swap out the onion for a shallot or white onion if you prefer.
- Chicken broth (low sodium), Half n half – You can use homemade or store-bought chicken broth, or swap it out for a good quality chicken stock. Half and half makes it creamy and thick. If you don’t have half n half, you can mix together 1 part whole milk with 1 part heavy cream. If you only have whole milk, you can use that instead (you might want to allow it to reduce a bit longer to prevent it from being runny).
- Frozen mixed vegetables (thawed) – I used a bag of veggies that included corn, green beans, green peas, and carrots. These should be thawed before tossing into the pot, or it will take longer and you run the risk of overcooking the other ingredients. You could use a canned mix as well if that’s more available.
- Cooked chicken (diced or shredded) – This could be a store-bought rotisserie or any grilled, roasted, air fried, or Instant Pot chicken you meal prep. Most of the time you’ll find diced chicken in a chicken pot pie, but shredded chicken works fine as well if that’s what you have on hand. You could swap this out for leftover turkey, too!
- Pie crusts – We like using the roll-out refrigerated pie crusts from the store because they’re so convenient! You could use this gluten free pie crust if you’d like to make one from scratch!
- Egg + Cold water – This mixture gets brushed over the top crust for the beautiful, crisp, golden brown color you want on every chicken pot pie! This is optional and can be omitted if you prefer.
How to Make Chicken Pot Pie
This classic chicken pot pie has several steps, but I’ve documented the process so you can recreate it on your own!
Sauté onion
While the oven is preheating and the pie crusts are softening, heat the butter in a large pan over medium heat. Add the onion and sauté until translucent.
Create a roux
Add flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Stir continuously for about 30 seconds, toasting the flour. Slowly (while continuing to stir) add in the broth and half n half, whisking until there are no clumps of flour left. Cook until thickened (usually about 5 minutes).
Add chicken and veggies
Pour the thawed vegetables and cooked chicken into the pot, and stir to coat. Allow the mixture to continue cooking until heated all the way through and remove from heat.
Assemble with pie crusts
Grease a pie pan and set aside. Roll out both pie crusts, carefully pressing one crust into the prepared pie pan. Pour the chicken filling into the pan, and top with the second pie crust. Press the edges to seal and trim off any excess dough. Cut four small slits in the top pie crust to allow steam to escape.
Brush & Bake
Whisk an egg with cold water, and brush carefully over the top pie crust. Bake for 40-45 minutes or until the center is bubbly and the crust is a lovely golden brown. Allow the pie to sit for at least 5 minutes to set before slicing and serving.
Note: During the last 10 minutes or so of baking, you may want to protect the edges of the pie crust from overcooking. You can wrap strips of foil over the edges to cover and protect it from becoming too browned or dry. You may not need to do this, it’s optional.
What to serve with Chicken Pot Pie?
A Chicken Pot Pie has everything you need in a meal, so you can easily serve this without side dishes if you’d like! However, sometimes you need to stretch a meal further, so try starting the meal with an Easy Wedge Salad or a Simple Arugula Salad with Parmesan.
Consider classic side dishes like Mom’s Mashed Potatoes or Mashed Cauliflower if you’re wanting to lower the carbs. These Keto Dinner Rolls work great, or you could serve the BEST Cheesy Cornbread you’ve ever had! Roasted or air fried vegetables (like this Cheesy Roasted Asparagus or Air Fryer Broccoli) are also simple and delicious with a traditional pot pie.
Store
This Chicken Pot Pie will last up to 4 days in the fridge, but the earlier it’s eaten, the better the crust is. Allow the pie to completely cool before placing in an airtight container. Any residual heat will turn into moisture, causing the crust to become soggy.
Freeze
You can freeze chicken pot pie before or after baking, so consider making an extra one for later! To freeze it before baking, start by lining the pie plate with two layers of plastic or foil (this will help you pop it out of the pan after the initial freeze). Make the chicken filling, then assemble the pie in the lined pan. Instead of placing the pie in a preheated oven, place it in the freezer for 4+ hours.
Once it’s frozen through, use the liner to remove the pie from the pan, then double wrap in foil AND plastic if possible (this helps prevent freezer burn). Keep frozen up to 3 months. When ready to cook, don’t bother defrosting… Just bake from frozen and add 15-20 minutes to the normal cooking time.
Can you freeze a chicken pot pie that has already been baked?
To bake and then freeze, I still recommend lining the pan so that you can easily remove the frozen pie from the pan. Bake as called for, but consider pulling it just 2-5 minutes early. This will allow you to reheat it in the oven without worrying about overcooking the crust. Freeze 4+ hours, pop out of pan, wrap in foil and plastic, store in a freezer-safe container, and eat within 6 months.
Reheat
The best way to reheat chicken pot pie is in the oven. This method allows the filling to completely reheat while returning a crisp bite to the crust. Warm the pie in the oven (350 degrees F) covered for 10-15 minutes, then remove cover and allow to finish reheating another 5 minutes. When inside is hot and bubbly, it’s ready to serve.
If you’re reheating a single serving, you can use the microwave. However, the crust likely will be more soggy than the first time. I recommend reheating at 50% power in 30-60 second increments until warmed throughout.
Tips & Tricks
- You can avoid the top browning too quickly by protecting it with foil. The edges will brown before the center, so consider covering the edges with stripes of aluminum foil wrapped around the edges of the pie, covering the dough.
- To test if it’s done, you can use a meat thermometer or simply observe the crust. Ideally you’d like the center to reach 165 degrees F for a thick, bubbly filling, but everything is already cooked in the pie, so not meeting that threshold isn’t a big deal. If your crust is cooked through and is a lovely golden brown, it’s ready!
- Cover the edges of the chicken pot pie with foil or a pie collar to help protect against overcooked, burnt pieces of crust.
If you love this chicken pot pie, you’ll love these chicken dinner recipes!
- Chicken & Wild Rice Casserole – This recipe is another comforting classic; it uses leftover chicken and keeps everybody full and happy!
- One Pan Mexican Chicken & Rice – Everything cooks together in a cast iron skillet, perfect for a busy night when you don’t want to add dishes to your to-do list.
- Barbecue Chicken & Smoked Sausage Skillet – This recipe is so easy, you’ll be amazed at how delicious it is! Great for beginners, doesn’t require multiple dishes, and a great way to add in veggies.
- Chicken Alfredo Zucchini Boats – The tasty sauce and juicy chicken are perfect inside the tender baked zucchini! It’s very easy for weeknights, meal prepping, and busy evenings.
- Chicken Fajita Soup – Packed FULL of veggies and tender chicken, this delicious soup is so healthy and great for you! Your body and brain will be just as happy as your taste buds.
Chicken Pot Pie FAQs
Yes, you can! Simply replace the chicken with an equal amount of chopped potatoes, mushrooms, and/or cauliflower. Add these in the pan to cook about 2 minutes after sautéing the onion. You can also replace the chicken broth with vegetable or mushroom broth.
Absolutely, this recipe is a perfect use for leftover poultry and other meat! If you have leftover turkey from Thanksgiving, a cheap rotisserie chicken from the store, or even extra ham after Easter, you can make the perfect pot pie!
An egg wash helps the pie crust brown to a beautifully golden color, adds a great shine, and crisps up the top. This can help make the chicken pot pie look very professional and traditional. However, this step is not necessary and doesn’t affect the taste. You could skip this and just loose a touch of texture.
Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion diced
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 ½ tsp salt
- ½ tsp black pepper
- 1 ½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 cup half n half
- 12 oz frozen mixed vegetables thawed and drained
- 2 ½ cups cooked chicken diced or shredded
- 2 store-bought pie crusts
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tbsp cold water
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 350° and pull the pie crust from the refrigerator to soften.
- Heat the butter in a large pan over medium heat, then add the onion and saute until translucent.
- Add the flour, garlic powder, salt, and pepper and stir continuously for about 30 seconds, toasting the flour.
- Add the broth and half n half, and whisk until no clumps of flour remain. Cook over medium heat until thickened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the thawed vegetables and cooked chicken and heat through. Remove from heat.
- Roll out the pie crusts and grease a 9-inch pie pan. Transfer one pie crust to the pie pan and pour the chicken filling into it.
- Carefully place the second pie crust over the filling. Seal the edges and trim any excess dough. Cut 4 slits in the top of the pie crust to allow steam to escape.
- Whisk together the egg and 1 tbsp cold water, and brush the mixture over the top of the pie.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 40-45 minutes, or until bubbly in the center and the crust is golden brown. Serve!
Notes
● Whole milk can be used in place of the half n half.
● This would make a great recipe with leftover turkey instead of chicken at Thanksgiving time!
● The egg wash is optional but makes the crust very golden brown. I highly recommend it!
