Chicken Pot Pie
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Take your comfort food to the next level with these elegant chicken pot pies. Made with rotisserie chicken and store-bought puff pastry, they’re as simple to make as they are delicious.
There’s something so comforting about chicken pot pie—the flaky crust, creamy sauce, and hearty filling make it the perfect all-in-one meal. But between the chicken, the sauce, and the crust, a traditional pot pie can easily take up an entire day in the kitchen. For this version, I wanted to streamline the process without sacrificing flavor. After many trials, I found that using a rotisserie chicken for the filling and good-quality store-bought puff pastry for the crust were both game-changing shortcuts. With those solved, I tackled the usual problem with chicken pot pies: the bland, goopy white sauce. I thinned the sauce to a chowder-like consistency and added splash of Cognac for that extra depth of flavor that takes these pot pies to the next level.
“My husband, who has never craved chicken pot pie, said this might be the best thing I’ve ever made and is already asking when I’ll make it again.”
What You’ll Need To Make Chicken Pot Pie
- Frozen puff pastry: Provides the flaky, buttery topping. I recommend Dufour all-butter puff pastry if you can find it (it’s sold at Whole Foods), but Pepperidge Farm, which is readily available in the freezer section of most supermarkets, is very good too.
- Butter: For sautéing the vegetables and enriching the filling.
- Onion and garlic: These aromatics form the flavor foundation for the filling.
- Celery, pearl onions, carrots, and peas: These vegetables add texture, flavor, and nutrition to the filling.
- All-purpose flour: Thickens the sauce; also used for rolling the pastry.
- Chicken broth: Creates the savory base of the filling.
- Cognac: Enhances depth of flavor.
- Heavy cream: Contributes to the creamy texture of the filling.
- Fresh thyme: Provides aromatic herbal notes.
- Shredded cooked chicken: The main protein component.
- Egg: Beaten for an egg wash to give the pastry a golden finish.
- Jump to the printable recipe for precise measurements
Step-By-Step Instructions
To begin, dust a clean, dry work surface with flour and place the puff pastry over top.
Sprinkle the pastry with flour and roll to about 1/8-inch thick, smoothing the creases with the rolling pin at the same time. Using a sharp knife, kitchen shears, or a pizza cutter, cut out 4 circles about 2 inches larger than the circumference of your soup bowls. Place the dough rounds on a foil-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.
Next, make the filling. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter, Add the yellow onion, garlic, celery, pearl onions, and carrots.
Sauté for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the carrots are just cooked.
Add the flour.
Cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes.
Add the broth, cognac, salt, and white pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon to incorporate the flour.
Simmer until thickened, a few minutes. Off the heat, stir in the heavy cream, herbs, chicken, and frozen peas.
Ladle the filling into oven-safe ramekins or soup bowls (be sure they are oven proof up to 425°F). The filling should come up no more than three-quarters of the way to the top of the bowls. If you have extra, make another bowl.
Brush the outside edges of each bowl with an egg wash.
Place the cold dough rounds over the soup bowls, pressing firmly around the edges so that the dough adheres, and then brush the top of the dough with the egg wash.
Using a sharp knife, make a ½-inch slit in the top of each pie. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is a rich golden brown.
Let cool for about 10 minutes, then use a wide spatula to carefully transfer the hot ramekins to serving plates. Sprinkle a few fresh thyme sprigs over top of the bowls and serve.
Frequently Asked Questions
While it’s possible to bake pot pies in a single pie dish, serving can be a bit challenging due to the soupy nature of the filling. Using individual ramekins helps contain the filling, making the pies easier to serve without the filling spilling out.
You’ll need oven-safe (up to 425°F) soup bowls. To make four servings, use bowls with an 18 to 20-oz capacity. To make six servings, use bowls with a 12 to 14-oz capacity.
Yes, it’s a great make-ahead dish. You can prepare the filling and even assemble the pie up to a day in advance. Keep it refrigerated, covered, until you’re ready to bake. You may need to add a few extra minutes to the baking time if it’s going straight from the fridge to the oven.
Yes, the unbaked chicken pot pies and can be frozen for up to 3 months. Wrap the pies tightly in plastic wrap and then foil, and freeze. When you’re ready to enjoy it, you can bake it straight from the freezer; just be sure to allow about 10 minutes extra baking time and cover if the pastry starts to get too brown.
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Video Tutorial
Chicken Pot Pie
Take your comfort food to the next level with these elegant chicken pot pies. Made with rotisserie chicken and store-bought puff pastry, they’re as simple to make as they are delicious.
Ingredients
- 1 to 2 packages frozen puff pastry, best quality such as Dufour or Pepperidge Farm, thawed (see note)
- 4 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 3 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 3 stalks celery, diced
- 1 cup frozen pearl onions (no need to defrost)
- 3 carrots, sliced into ¼-inch rounds
- ⅓ cup all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling the pastry
- 2½ cups low-sodium chicken broth
- ⅓ cup Cognac or brandy (okay to replace with more chicken broth if avoiding alcohol)
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon white pepper
- ½ cup heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme (or a combination thyme, rosemary and sage), plus a few thyme springs for serving
- 3-4 cups shredded cooked chicken, from 1 rotisserie chicken
- 1 cup frozen peas (no need to defrost)
- 1 egg
Instructions
- NOTE: For this recipe, you'll need 4 to 6 oven-safe (to 425°F) soup bowls. For larger portions, use bowls with an 18 to 20-oz capacity; for smaller portions, use bowls with a 12 to 14-oz capacity. If making 4 servings, one (14-oz) package of puff pastry will suffice. However, if making 6 servings, you'll need another package.
- Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil for easy clean-up.
- Dust a clean, dry work surface with flour and place the puff pastry over top. Sprinkle the pastry with flour and roll to about ⅛-inch thick, smoothing the creases with the rolling pin at the same time. (Depending on the brand of puff pastry you buy, you may not need to roll it out that much.) Using a sharp knife, kitchen shears, or a pizza cutter, cut out 4 circles about 2 inches larger than the diameter of your soup bowls. (Alternatively, cut out 6 circles if making smaller portions.) Place the dough rounds on the foil-lined baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.
- Preheat the oven to 425°F and set an oven rack to the center position.
- To make the filling: In a large sauté pan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the yellow onion, garlic, celery, pearl onions, and carrots. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the carrots are just cooked, 8 to 10 minutes. Add the flour and cook, stirring constantly, for about 2 minutes. Add the broth, cognac, salt, and white pepper. Bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon and scraping the bottom and corners of the pan to incorporate the flour. Simmer until thickened, a few minutes. Off the heat, stir in the heavy cream, thyme, chicken, and peas. Taste and adjust seasoning, if necessary. (Note that the broth will taste a little boozy at this point. That's okay - the cognac will cook off in the oven.)
- Ladle the filling into 4 large or 6 small oven-safe soup bowls. The filling should come up no more than three-quarters of the way to the top of the bowls. Do not overfill.
- Beat the egg with 1 tablespoon of water.
- Remove the pastry rounds from the refrigerator. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash.
- Place the cold dough rounds over the bowls, pressing firmly around the edges so that the dough adheres. Transfer the bowls to the foil-lined baking sheet. Brush the dough with the egg wash. Using a sharp knife, make a ½-inch slit in the top of each pie. Place the bowls on the foil-lined baking sheet and bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the pastry is a rich golden brown. Let cool for about 10 minutes, then use a wide spatula to carefully transfer the hot bowls to serving plates. Sprinkle a few fresh thyme sprigs over top of the bowls and serve.
- MAKE AHEAD: The pies may be assembled and refrigerated up to a day ahead of time. Brush the top of the dough with egg wash before baking.
- Note: Nutritional information calculated using 1 package of puff pastry and 3 ½ cups of chicken.
Pair with
Nutrition Information
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- Per serving (5 servings)
- Calories: 747
- Fat: 45 g
- Saturated fat: 18 g
- Carbohydrates: 42 g
- Sugar: 6 g
- Fiber: 4 g
- Protein: 35 g
- Sodium: 678 mg
- Cholesterol: 163 mg
This website is written and produced for informational purposes only. I am not a certified nutritionist and the nutritional data on this site has not been evaluated or approved by a nutritionist or the Food and Drug Administration. Nutritional information is offered as a courtesy and should not be construed as a guarantee. The data is calculated through an online nutritional calculator, Edamam.com. Although I do my best to provide accurate nutritional information, these figures should be considered estimates only. Varying factors such as product types or brands purchased, natural fluctuations in fresh produce, and the way ingredients are processed change the effective nutritional information in any given recipe. Furthermore, different online calculators provide different results depending on their own nutrition fact sources and algorithms. To obtain the most accurate nutritional information in a given recipe, you should calculate the nutritional information with the actual ingredients used in your recipe, using your preferred nutrition calculator.
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Hi Jenn,
I’ve got some chicken tenders in the freezer that I’d like to use for this. How would you suggest cooking them before adding them to the pie mix?
Jim
Hi Jim, You could either poach or bake them. Hope that helps!
Hi Jenn!
I’ve never seen frozen pearl onions here. I’ve only seen them pickled in jars. Would those work? Or would they be too acidic?
Any other substitutes you can recommend?
Thanks! 🙂
Hi Helen, I think you could get away with using the jarred version, but I’d rinse them before incorporting into the recipe. Alternatively, you can omit them or substitute another vegetable – more carrots or peas would be easiest but anything likecorn, cut green beans, etc.would work. If the vegetables are already cooked, add them with the peas. Please LMK how it turns out!
Thank you so much for the tips, Jenn!
If I find the jarred onions, I’d like to give them a try (I love them even as a snack! Hahaha!). If not, I’ll add more veggies. I’ll keep you posted 😀
Hello again!
Almost a year later, I finally got to try these out. It’s hard to work with pastry during hotter, more humid months here in the tropics 😅
I found the jarred onions, and I rinsed them as suggested. But I have to report that their acidity disrupts the harmony of the filling. I think I’ll try substituting them with mushrooms next time.
But the recipe is great! Thank you for yet another winner! 🙂
Glad it came out well, but good to know about the jarred onions. I’m sure other people will appreciate that info!
Hello again!
Almost a year later, I finally got to try these out. It’s hard to work with pastry during hotter, more humid months here in the tropics 😅
I found the jarred onions, and I rinsed them as suggested. But I have to report that their acidity disrupts the I harmony of the filling. I think I’ll try substituting them with mushrooms next time.
But the recipe is great! Thank you for yet another winner! 🙂
Hi Helen, Glad to hear it came out nicely. Good to know that the jarred onions added an acidic flavor; I’m sure other readers will find that helpful!
Just letting you know that my book club was thrilled with the shrimp version of the pot pie recipe! I substituted fresh shrimp and crabmeat for the chicken, made stock with the shrimp shells, and followed your recipe for the rest of the preparation. I cooked the shrimp briefly since the pies were going to be baked after adding the pastry. I couldn’t find pearl onions so I added extra chopped yellow onions and a two small cubed sweet potato just because I thought it would be tasty and pretty. I doubled the recipe, spooned 10 large ramekins with the cooled filling, covered them tightly, and froze them. I defrosted the pot pies in the refrigerator the day before I served them and them proceeded with the rest of the recipe. Next time, I will add a bit of flour to the filling to make it a bit thicker, but it was truly delicious and a big hit with my friends. I served a grapefruit, beet, and feta salad over mixed greens with the pot pie along with your chocolate truffles and a raspberry almond kringle for dessert. It was both beautiful and delicious!
Glad the pot pies were a hit — sounds like a delicious meal!
I made this and it was stunning. I just made it in a Staub cast iron pan instead of individual ramekins. Amazing amazing.
I always follow your recipes just as written the first time since you are the expert. However, this time, I did reduce the amount of chopped onions because it seemed like an awful lot of onions especially since you also called for pearl onions in addition to an entire medium chopped onion. While this recipe was tasty, I still found it to be overwhelmed with onions even though I reduced them. I would omit the pearl onions entirely next time, reduce the chopped onions even further and add in diced potatoes because chicken pot pie needs potatoes (to me anyway 🙂 I loved the idea of the puff pastry crust as opposed to a regular pie crust and will definitely make this again … just using less onions.
I should have commented a while ago. I’ve been using this recipe exactly as written for quite a bit. Such a huge hit whether I’m entertaining or a simple family dinner. Thank you so much!
Just made the filling and it is truly amazing. The brandy added such a beautiful flavor and it was super easy to make. Thank you so much for this recipe!
This looks like a delicious recipe. However, I am confused as to what size dish/soup bowl/ramekin to buy/use. I see the Williams Sonoma ones, but what size? Thanks,
Dianne
Hi Dianne, For larger portions, use bowls with an 18 to 20-oz capacity; for smaller portions, use bowls with a 12 to 14-oz capacity. Hope that helps and that you enjoy!
The recipe was fine but puff pastry will not adhere to dish rim, sinks down to the filling. Maybe better to bake separately and place it on dish before serving if dish bigger than suggested.
You should start your recipe with how much to pre-heat your oven. That would be helpful.
Did you bother to read the recipe before your negative comment? It is clearly stated like everything she does.
Jenn is so amazing on her directions and her generosity and she doesn’t deserve that.