Classic Chicken Pot Pie is an easy comfort food dinner made with cubed chicken, carrots, celery and peas in a rich spiced cream sauce. Because puff pastry tops each crock and bakes in twenty minutes, this quick recipe suits weeknight dinners, Sunday supper or a cozy fall family meal.
The oven has to be fully at 425 before the crocks go in, since puff pastry rises on steam from its cold butter layers. Slide it into a cooler oven and the butter melts out, so the pastry flattens instead of puffing.
This version comes from a Michigan restaurant and layers sage, allspice, nutmeg, dry mustard and cayenne into the sauce. Puff pastry replaces the usual pie crust too, so the lid shatters instead of going soft against the filling.
Classic Chicken Pot Pie
Course: DinnerCuisine: AmericanDifficulty: Easy4
servings20
minutes45
minutes740
kcalOnion, celery and carrot soften in butter before flour, broth and half-and-half cook into a thick, well spiced sauce. Cooked chicken and peas go in, then the filling is divided into crocks and capped with puff pastry.
Ingredients
1 cup diced onion
1 cup diced celery
1 cup diced carrot
½ stick butter
1 clove garlic, crushed
1 cup chicken broth
1½ cups half-and-half
½ teaspoon sea salt
⅓ teaspoon sage
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
⅛ teaspoon ground allspice
⅛ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch dry mustard
Pinch cayenne pepper
1 pound cooked chicken breast, cubed
¼ cup sweet peas
Store-bought puff pastry sheets, for topping
Directions
- Heat the oven:Preheat to 425°F.
- Soften the vegetables:In a heavy-duty pot, cook the onion, celery and carrot with the butter over medium high heat until soft. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, taking care not to burn it.
- Build the sauce:Stir in the flour and cook until a paste forms. Reduce to low heat and add the chicken broth, half-and-half, sea salt, sage, pepper, allspice, nutmeg, dry mustard and cayenne. Cook until thickened, stirring periodically.
- Finish the filling:Remove from the heat and stir in the chicken and peas. The filling can be made a day ahead and chilled, or used right away.
- Assemble:Portion the filling into 4 small oven-safe crocks or baking dishes, at least 1 cup per dish. Cut the puff pastry to fit the top of each one.
- Bake: Bake until the puff pastry is golden brown and risen, 15 to 20 minutes. Serve immediately.
FAQs
Why allspice and nutmeg in a chicken pot pie?
Both spices are warm rather than sweet in small amounts, and an eighth of a teaspoon reads as depth rather than flavor. Nutmeg is standard in cream sauces across Europe, since it rounds out the dairy the way pepper rounds out stock. Measure carefully, because doubling either one tips the whole filling toward tasting like a pumpkin pie.
Should the filling be cool before you lay the pastry on top?
Cool filling is better, because steam rising off a hot sauce softens the underside of the pastry almost immediately. The recipe already suggests making the filling a day ahead, and that chilled start gives the crispest lid. If you are working same day, let the pot sit off the heat for at least fifteen minutes before portioning.
Can you bake this in one large dish instead of individual crocks?
A single nine by thirteen dish works well, though the pastry needs an extra ten minutes to cook through. Cut two or three vents in the middle of the sheet, so trapped steam escapes rather than lifting the crust. The crocks look better on the table, but a single dish is far simpler when you are feeding a crowd.
What can you use instead of puff pastry?
Refrigerated pie crust gives you the traditional look, though it bakes flatter and needs closer to thirty minutes. Canned biscuits pressed over the top turn this into more of a cobbler, which plenty of people actually prefer. Phyllo brushed with butter works well as a lighter option, so use six or seven layers per crock.
Can you use rotisserie chicken?
Rotisserie chicken is the fastest route here, since the recipe already calls for cooked chicken rather than raw meat. One bird gives you roughly the pound you need, and the dark meat adds flavor that breast alone lacks. Cut back the sea salt slightly, because store-bought rotisserie birds are already seasoned pretty heavily.
