Looking for the best chicken pot pie recipe? You’ve come to the right place! Learn how to create the ultimate homemade chicken pot pie, featuring a golden, flaky butter pie crust. The filling is a creamy, savory masterpiece, loaded with tender chicken and a colorful medley of vegetables, all simmered in a rich, herbed gravy. Perfect for a cozy weeknight dinner or a crowd-pleasing family meal on a chilly night!
*This recipe was orginally published on August 27, 2021, but has since been updated with new images.
We love this recipe because it is hearty, flavored nicely, and easy to double for two pies. You can also freezer a one for later on! See below for everything you need to know about making this comforting pie.
What is Chicken Pot Pie?
Chicken pot pie is a hearty and delicious dish that provides a warm meal for cold weather. But did you know this comforting dish was originally designed as an economical way to use leftover chicken? This savory dish has been around since the early 1800s when it originated in England, but it wasn’t until the 1940s that Americans started making their own version of this popular comfort food. In this blog post, we’ll explore the history of chicken pot pies and share some recipes with you!
Difference Between American and Amish Pot Pie
If you’re an American who’s never had a chicken pot pie, I felt like it is important to note the difference in our chicken pot pie and the also very delicious Amish version. Amish pot pies are different from the typical American version in that they use an enriched dough (flour, butter, milk) instead of pie pastry crust for their crust. This recipe is also more labor intensive than your average American dish because each wedge of the pie must be hand cut and crimped with a fork. Get ready for hours of work!
Ingredients
- Chicken – For this recipe you can use white meat chicken, leftover rotisserie chicken, grilled chicken, or even canned chicken.
- Onion – Yellow onions are all-purpose and most often used in cooking. You can use sweet or yellow if you wish.
- Vegetables – We used fresh celery, carrots, onion, garlic, and canned peas.
- Butter – You will need this to sauté the vegetables.
- Spices – Salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder.
- Flour – This is used to thicken the filling.
- Chicken broth & Heavy cream – Help to make the delicious gravy.
- Pie Crust – You will need 2 discs for the top and bottom. While I do love making my own pie crust, I have no issues with using store-bought crusts which have came a long way in flavor, and texture.
- Egg – to help create a golden-brown, tasty crust.
How to Thicken Chicken Pot Pie
After veggies are fork-tender, add your flour to the mixture, and coat all veggies. Then, whisk in the heavy cream, and broth to create a roux.
You can also use a cornstarch slurry to thicken this filling instead of a flour roux. Simply mix 2 tablespoons of cornstarch with 1/4 cup of water and whisk. Add this in-place of the flour.
If you want to thicken your mixture faster than waiting for some of the liquids to cook off, you can add a cornstarch slurry of 3 tablespoons of water and one tablespoons of cornstarch.
Homemade Butter Pie Crust in a Food Processor
You can find the printable recipe and measurementa for the pie crust below.
Ingredients
- All Purpose Flour – for the crust base.
- Sugar – to add a touch of sweetness.
- Butter – to add the rich flakiness to the crust.
- Salt – to balance the sugar and add flavor.
- Ice water – to hydrate the dough and form the crust
Making Homemade Pie Crust
Add Butter: Add the cold butter cubes and flour to the food processor. Pulse in quick bursts (about 1 second each) until the mix looks like coarse sand with some pea-sized butter bits.
Add Water: Drizzle in the ice water while pulsing. Stop when the dough starts to clump together. Don’t add too much or it will be sticky. To combat this, add a little more flour. If it is too dry, add a little more ice water.
Form & Chill: You want the dough to be nonstick and easy to divide into two ball. Dump the dough balls onto plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Roll: Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface and use it for your pie.
Tips for Making Homemade Chicken Pot Pie
- You can use leftover turkey meat for this pie to make it a turkey pot pie.
- Warming the milk and broth before adding it the vegetables helps to create a lump-free roux if your liquids are cold.
- If you prefer to make your own pie crust without butter, I really like this recipe for lard pie crust. Additionally, you can also use store-bought pie crust.
- This last for up to 5 days in the refrigerator when cover tightly. It will lose its crispiness, but can be toasted in the oven for 10 minutes at 350f. degrees to help crisp it up a bit.
How to Make Chicken Pot Pie Ahead of Time
You can freeze these pies either assembled and raw, or fully baked. Wrap cooked and cooled pie in multiple layers of plastic wrap and foil to prevent freezer burn. To freeze a raw pie(s), place assembled pie on a baking dish in the freezer and allow the pie to fully freeze. Wrap pie in multiple layers of plastic wrap and foil to prevent freezer burn.
These will last for up to 3 months when stored properly in a deep freezer.
To bake from raw, heat oven to 400 degrees F. covered for 30 minutes, and then 30 minutes uncovered or until warmed throughout.
To bake a fully cooked pie, bake at 400 degrees F. for 30 minutes or until warmed throughout.
More Chicken Recipes to Try Today
Creamy Chicken Pot Pie
Equipment
- 12" pie pan
- oven adjusted to the center rack position
- 5-quart stock pot
- large skillet
- wooden spoon
- Measuring cups & spoons
- cutting board & knife
- food processor *for pie crust
Ingredients
- 3 cups cooked chicken cubed
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1½ cups celery chopped
- 1½ cups carrots sliced
- ½ cup yellow onion diced
- ½ teaspoon fresh thyme chopped
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon black pepper divided
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ½ teaspoon onion powder
- ¼ cup all-purpose flour
- 2½ cups chicken stock
- ⅔ cup heavy cream
Flaky Butter Pie Crust
- 2½ cups all-purpose flour
- 1 cup unsalted butter *cold, and cubed
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- ½ cup ice water *might need ¼ cup more
Instructions
Pie Crust
- Add the cold butter cubes and flour to the food processor. Pulse in quick bursts (about 1 second each) until the mix looks like coarse sand with some pea-sized butter bits.
- Drizzle in the ice water while pulsing. Stop when the dough starts to clump together. Don't add too much or it will be sticky. To combat this, add a little more flour. If it is too dry, add a little more ice water.
- You want the dough to be nonstick and easy to divide into two ball. Dump the dough balls onto plastic wrap, press it into a flat disk, and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.
- Roll out the chilled dough on a floured surface and use it for your pie crust once ready.
Chicken Pot Pie
- In a small skillet, heat butter and add the celery, carrots, onions, and garlic.
- Over medium heat, allow the veggies cook while stirring constantly for about 5 minutes.
- After veggies are fork-tender, add your flour to the mixture, and coat all veggies. Then, whisk in the heavy cream, and broth to create a roux. Continue to whisk until there are no lumps.
- Add chicken to the pot, and spices. Simmer for 5-10 minutes on low heat until thickened.
- Heat oven to 425°F. and line a large pie plate with one pie crust-prick holes in the bottom using a fork; set aside.
- Once mixture is ready, add it to the pie, and then cover the top of the pie, and crimp edges. Be sure to add a hole, and slit to allow the pie to vent.
- Bake for 35 minutes or until the pie is a golden brown color.
- Allow pie to rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
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