Homemade Chicken Pot Pie is pure comfort food, and one of my family’s favorite chicken dinners. This recipe walks you through how to make a cozy pot pie with creamy chicken and veggies baked inside a buttery pie crust.
Love classic chicken pot pies like this one? Wait until you try my hands-free Crock Pot Chicken Pot Pie, too!
A Cozy and Classic Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
I am ALWAYS looking for comfort food recipes, especially with chicken, because I usually have plenty stocked in my fridge and freezer. I’m talking Cheesy Chicken Casseroles and Chicken Chili to name a few. Throw in Air Fryer Biscuits and I am in cozy heaven!. One of my all-time most favorite cozy-food recipes is this homemade chicken pot pie. If there’s one chicken dinner to get you through the colder months, this is it! It’s a classic and I happen to have perfected the recipe!
What To Expect:
A flaky, buttery crust filled with thick, creamy chicken filling.
My pot pie recipe is the perfect consistency. Some pot pie fillings are too runny and soupy in my opinion. That’s not my thing. It makes the crust soggy, and it’s hard to slice! This pot pie recipe has the perfect filling consistency! Not too thick, but not too thin!
The perfect make-ahead dinner recipe. Great to freeze too!
Easy, everyday ingredients. You can use a pre-made pie crust, or go the extra mile and use my all butter pie dough recipe…it’s incredible!
What You’ll Need
Below is an overview of the ingredients needed to make this homemade chicken pot pie. The beauty of homestyle recipes is that you don’t need anything fancy! Be sure to scroll to the recipe card for the full recipe details.
Frozen Vegetables: Pick up a package of diced, frozen mixed veggies from your local freezer aisle. The most common combo is diced carrots, peas, corn, and green beans.
Celery and Onion: Aromatics sautéd with butter form the flavor base for the creamy chicken pot pie filling.
Flour: Adding flour to the buttery base creates a “roux” that thickens the sauce. All-purpose flour is best.
Seasonings: I season my savory pot pie filling with onion powder and thyme, plus salt and pepper to taste.
Chicken Broth: Or stock. Using low-sodium broth is best, as you’re less likely to wind up with a filling that’s overly salty. If you have the time, make your own using my recipe for Homemade Chicken Stock.
Milk: Whole milk or 2% milk enhances the creaminess of the sauce. If you’re after even more richness, you can go all out with heavy cream.
Chicken: You’ll need about 3 cups of cooked chicken, cut into cubes or shredded. A store-bought rotisserie chicken is super convenient, or you can use any cooked or leftover chicken you have on hand.
Pie Crust: You can use a homemade or store-bought pastry crust for this chicken pot pie. I have an easy recipe for an All Butter Pie Crust that I often use. It will need to be made for a double-crust pie and should fit inside a 9” deep dish pie plate.
How to Make Chicken Pot Pie
Making a perfect chicken pot pie from scratch is WAY easier than you’d think. If you’ve ever looked at a freshly baked, golden-crusted pot pie in a deli window and thought “How!?”, you’re probably not alone. But it’s so simple, and I’m here to walk you through it:
Making the Filling
Let’s begin by whipping up a quick and easy pot pie filling. It’s amazing how much flavor you can pack into so little cooking time! The creamy chicken filling for this pie takes less than 20 minutes on the stovetop:
Cook the Frozen Vegetables: To start, you’ll want to take the chill off the mixed frozen vegetables. Bring the veggies to a boil in a shallow pot with water. After a couple of minutes, drain the water and leave the vegetables aside for now.
Sauté: Next, add the celery and onion to a large Dutch oven with butter. Sauté the aromatics to soften them up, then add in the flour and seasonings. Give everything a whisk, and you should see a paste, or roux, begin to form.
Add Broth and Simmer: Slowly stir in the chicken broth, followed by the milk, and bring the sauce to a simmer. Continue to whisk as the sauce cooks and thickens (this takes a few minutes).
Add Chicken and Veggies: Now, take the cream sauce off the heat. Stir in the drained mixed vegetables along with the shredded chicken until the filling is fully combined. Here, you can taste and add more seasoning as needed.
Assembling the Pot Pie
When your filling is ready to go, it’s time to pull together your pot pie:
Fill the Pie Crust: With your pastry dough rolled out to 11”-12” in diameter, tuck the first crust into the bottom of a 9” deep dish pie plate. Add the chicken pot pie filling, and then cover the dish with the second pie pastry. Pinch the edges of the pie dough together to seal, and score the top of the pie so that steam can escape while it bakes. Don’t skip this part!
Bake: I recommend placing the pie plate onto a baking sheet, as it makes it much easier to transport to and from the oven! Bake the chicken pot pie at 425ºF for 35 minutes or so, until the pastry crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling. After your pot pie is baked, leave it to sit on the counter for 10 minutes before serving (it’s piping hot when fresh out of the oven!).
Can I Make Chicken Pot Pie Ahead of Time?
Absolutely! You can prepare and refrigerate the unbaked chicken pot pie, covered, for up to 3-4 days.
Freezing the unbaked chicken pot pie is also a great make-ahead option. Simply assemble the pie according to the recipe, right up until it’s ready to bake. Then, wrap the pie plate tightly in plastic wrap, plus a layer of foil, and freeze your pot pie for up to 3 months.
Whenever you’re ready to eat it, thaw the chicken pot pie in the fridge before baking as directed. You can also bake the pie directly from frozen. Note that you’ll need to increase the baking time if the pie is frozen or chilled.
Tips for Success
What’s the secret to the best chicken pot pie? Here are my tips to help yours come out perfect:
Use a mixer to shred the chicken. I make a lot of recipes with shredded chicken, from BBQ Pulled Chicken, to Crack Chicken, to Chicken Chili, and I swear by this kitchen hack. You’ll have shredded chicken in seconds with hardly any clean-up!
Check the pie halfway through the baking time. If you notice that the pastry crust is browning faster than the pie is baking, cover the edges loosely in foil. You can also use a crust shield if you have one handy.
How to keep a chicken pot pie crust from getting soggy: I haven’t had an issue with the crust becoming too soggy with this recipe. However, if you’re concerned about it, you can always pre-bake the bottom crust before you fill it. This can be extra insurance against a soggy crust!
Serving Suggestions
This homemade chicken pot pie is the first thing to pop into my head when someone mentions “comfort food.” The creamy flavors, tender chicken, and buttery crust are perfectly suited to cozy winter dinners with a side of Mashed Potatoes and flaky Parker House Rolls.
Here are even more easy side dishes to serve with chicken pot pie:
How to Store and Reheat Leftovers
Store your leftover chicken pot pie airtight in the fridge for up to 3 days. You can reheat the pie whole in the oven at 350ºF, or in portions. A microwave also helps to speed up the reheating process, though the crust won’t crisp up as nicely.
Can I Freeze Chicken Pot Pie?
Yes! You can freeze a chicken pot pie before or after it’s baked. See the make-ahead section earlier on for how to freeze an unbaked pie.
To freeze a baked chicken pot pie, let it cool completely and then wrap it, or store any leftovers airtight. Cooked chicken pot pie can be reheated right from the freezer. I recommend reheating it in the oven at 350ºF, until warmed through, for best results.
Homemade Chicken Pot Pie is the ultimate comfort food, with creamy chicken and veggies baked inside a buttery pastry pie crust. You’re going to love how simple it is to make!
3 cups frozen mixed vegetables
1/2 cup butter
3/4 cup sliced celery, small diced
1/2 cup diced onion, small diced
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/2 teaspoon onion powder
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
1 1/3 cups chicken broth
1 cup milk
3 cups cubed/shredded chicken
1 pie crust for a double crust pie (store-bought or homemade, like my All Butter Pie Crust), rolled out 11-12 inches in diameter to fit in a 9-inch deep dish pie plate
Preheat the oven to 425°F. Set aside a 9-inch deep dish pie plate.
Place the frozen vegetables in a small saucepan over medium heat. Add enough water to cover. Bring to a boil for 2 minutes. Remove the saucepan from the heat, drain and set aside.
In a 5- quart saucepan or Dutch oven melt the butter over medium heat. Add in the celery and onion and celery and cook until softened, 7-8 minutes. Add in the flour, salt, pepper, onion powder, and thyme and whisk until it forms a paste, about 1 minute. Slowly whisk in chicken broth and the milk until incorporated; bring to a simmer and cook, whisking constantly, until the sauce thickens, 3 to 5 minutes.
Remove thickened sauce from the heat and add the drained vegetables and chicken and stir until the filling is well combined. Adjust seasoning if desired.
Fit one pie pastry dough into the bottom of the pie dish. Spoon the pot pie filling into the dish, then lay the remaining pie pastry on top. Pinch and roll the top and bottom pastries together at the edges to seal. Use a sharp knife to cut several small slits in each top dough to allow steam to release while cooking.
Place the pie plate on a baking sheet and bake for 35 – 40 minutes until browned and bubbly, checking halfway through baking to make sure the crust isn’t browning too fast. *If so, cover the crust loosely with foil or a crust shield.
Remove from the oven and cool for 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
Store airtight in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
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