Don’t you love it when you decide on what to make for dinner and you just so happen to have everything you need right in your very own kitchen? It’s rare, but it happened to me when I had a craving for chicken pot pie.
I started rummaging through my fridge, pantry, and freezer, and was amazed to find that I could pull this together without even running to the store. I found puff pastry leftover from my Peach Tarts, heavy cream from my Salted Caramel Oat Bars, and fresh thyme from my Slow Cooker Pot Roast.
Unheard of!
My Walmart lady and I are so tight, she whispers price matches to me when I forget to check the ads. She thinks my boys are cute and “so well-behaved”, which makes me wonder what kid-shenanigens she witnesses on a daily basis. Because my boys are sweet, but we have our moments.
Like the time I was trying to decide whether I should buy regular or center cut bacon, and I looked down to see my three-year-old poking holes with his finger into the Saran wrapped raw ground beef!
Being a mom is exceedingly and abundantly a very humbling experience.
And that’s why I’m so thrilled when I can make dinner with what I already have. What I love about this recipe, is that it offers three shortcuts to make things easier.
First of all, I used puff pastry instead of making pie crust. Second, I used a pre-cooked rotisserie chicken from the grocery store instead of cooking my own. And lastly, I used a chicken base called “Better Than Bullion” instead of homemade or canned chicken stock. So very handy to have in the fridge all ready to go.
This Chicken Pot Pie has become one of my most popular recipes, and I think my mom is it’s number one fan! She makes this recipe a lot when she has company over. It pairs really well with a nice green salad, and that fancy lattice crust makes dinner guests feel extra special.
Don’t worry if you’ve never made one before, it’s really not too difficult. Make sure you are working with very cold strips of puff pastry. If they get too warm and soft they will be harder to work with, so you can pop them back into the freezer for a few minutes if needed.
This is the best lattice crust tutorial I’ve ever seen, and it’s super helpful to have that visual if you’ve never made one before.
Once you give this a try, you’ll be so happy to have it in your recipe box! Enjoy!
Disclaimer: the links in this post for the Better than Bullion chicken base are Amazon affiliate links.
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Chicken Pot Pie
- Prep Time: 45 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 1 hour 20 minutes
- Yield: 4 1x
- Category: Main Dish
- Method: Bake
- Cuisine: American
Description
My favorite chicken pot pie recipe with three easy shortcuts to make dinner prep simple.
Ingredients
- 1 sheet frozen puff pastry
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1/4 cup chopped onion
- 1/4 cup chopped celery
- 1/4 cup chopped carrot
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 2 cups milk
- 1/2 cup heavy cream
- 1 teaspoon “Better Than Bullion” chicken base
- 2 cups cooked chicken, chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 1/2 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, plus more for garnish if desired
- 1 egg, beaten slightly with a fork
Instructions
- Allow puff pastry to thaw at room temperature and then gently unfold.
- In a large pot, melt butter over medium high heat.
- Add onion, celery, carrot, and salt and sauté until onions are translucent and vegetables start to get tender.
- Sprinkle flour over vegetables and cook for 1-2 minutes.
- Gradually whisk in milk, heavy cream and and Better Than Bullion, and bring to a slow boil.
- Simmer gently over medium heat until sauce begins to thicken (5 minutes).
- Turn heat to low, and add chicken, peas and thyme.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
- Pour chicken mixture into a 9 x 9 baking dish.
- Cut puff pastry into 12 equal strips, using fold lines as a guide.
- Lay puff pastry strips over chicken mixture, weaving it together to form a lattice pattern.
- Using a pastry brush, brush egg onto the top of the puff pastry.
- Bake at 400 degrees for 30-35 minutes. The top of the puff pastry will be a deep golden brown color.
- Cool for 5 minutes before serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 1 Serving
- Calories: 732
- Sugar: 4.3g
- Sodium: 583mg
- Fat: 52g
- Saturated Fat: 21g
- Unsaturated Fat: 27g
- Trans Fat: 0.8g
- Carbohydrates: 37g
- Fiber: 2.3g
- Protein: 29g
- Cholesterol: 186mg
jasmine says
miam miam it’s delicious. thanks julie
fahime says
Tanx for this lovely idea..I will try to cook it .
Julie says
Hope you enjoy!
Celine says
I made this for dinner last week and it was SO delicious that the next day I made 4 more and froze them! I did use half and half instead of cream (because that’s what I had) and I froze them into pie shells and used the puff pastry for the top. I cooked it and then froze it. We had it for dinner tonight (the frozen one) and it was just as delicious as unfrozen. Thanks so much for the delicious recipe – even my picky 2 year old loves it. Success!
Judy says
This is the BEST Pot pie recipe!!!!! My husband requests it a lot. Great job!
Julia says
i just made this with turkey instead of chicken and it was amazing!!!
And I did put the other pastry dough Sheehan the bottom, it got a bit soggy but overall I’m glad I put it there-helped the scooping out while serving!
Thank you for a wonderful recipe!! I will be making this again many times, my husband loved it.
Julie says
You’re very welcome. Glad it was enjoyed!
Ashley says
I made this last night and it was amazing! I doubled the recipe and just use bouillon cubes (I couldn’t find Better Than Bouillon brand). I will definitely be making this again, thank you!!
Julie says
Good tip Ashley! I’m so glad you like this recipe. Thanks for saying hi!
Marie Andrews says
I just had to let you know how much I enjoyed your chicken pot pie. I had never made it before, but when I found your recipe I decided to try it. Thank you! I have made it 3 times now and it was terrific each time, my husband also loves it. Thanks again. Marie
Julie says
I’m so glad you all like it! Thanks for letting me know.
georgie says
Hi I am planning on making this for a big family meal for this Wednesday. I was wondering if you can prepare and cook it then freeze it? If o, how long would you recommend to cook it for and would I have to defrost it before cooking again?
Thanks 🙂
Julie says
Georgie, I have not done that before. If you wanted to make just the filling ahead of time and freeze it, then you would just need to thaw, and add the puff pastry top and bake as directed. Hope this helps!
Gabby says
I made this tonight and the filling was delicious but the crust was very gummy even tho it browned nicely. What did I do wrong? Do I need to roll dough out thinner?? I really want to try again!
Julie says
I don’t think you did anything wrong Gabby. The underside of the puff pastry definitely won’t be as crisp as the top. But if you feel like the top is getting too browned before the puff pastry is fully cooked, just cover loosely with foil, or start it out on a lower rack. Hope this helps!
Marcy says
Yum! So Easy and the whole family loved it! I forgot to interweave the puff pastry, it turned out fine, added potatoes and replaced peas with some thin asparagus chopped( put it in raw just before pouring into the baking dish). Thanks so much for a new favorite.
Julie says
Sounds great – Love that you made it your own!
A says
Can I use whole milk as a substitute for the cream?
Julie says
I haven’t tried it that way so I can’t say for sure, but I think if you just use whole milk for the 2 cups of milk that are called for, and then just leave out the heavy cream, you should be okay. Might not be as thick and creamy – if you decide to give it a try let me know what you think.
FrannyD says
I only used milk and it came out beautifully. Added a bit more butter and flour. Huge success! Great recipes.
Julie says
Great Franny! Thanks for letting me know!
Lissa Marie says
Made this for a friend and her family while she was undergoing some cancer treatment. Her husband said it was the best pot pie! It looks so fancy, I could hardly believe how easy it was. However, my pastry got way too dark on top and a little undone on the bottom during the 35 minute cooking time. Is there a tip to prevent this next time? Maybe cover with foil?
Also, I didn’t want to use the better than bullion (too much salt/preservatives but that’s just just a personal preference). I used one of those pre-roasted whole chickens from Costco and it turned out fantastic.
Thanks for such an awesome recipe!
Julie says
How neat that you could help out your friend in this way. You might try covering with foil to give the bottom a chance to get a little more done, but I think because of the white sauce it will always be somewhat less done than the top. Thanks for your comment Lissa!
Dezi says
I made this recipe and it turned out great!! I just had one question, do you dissolve the better than boullion in water when you mix in or do you add as a paste?
Julie says
Hi Dezi, I’m glad you like it! I do not dissolve the bouillon in water before adding it. Thanks for your question!
christina says
Question… I have made this twice…. and followed the recipe to a T, ( at least I thought, lol)… Both times, everything is perfect UNTIL I bake it… when it comes out, the “sauce” has basically curdled …. it’s lumpy and has a cottage cheese consistency… prior to baking it is creamy and seems to be exactly like it should…. what am I doing wrong?? 🙁
Julie says
Christina, how frustrating! I once had that happen to me when I was making scalloped potatoes. I wish I knew exactly why it happened to you. After searching a little, I did find that lower fat content can cause this. Did you by chance use skim milk? Wish I could be more helpful!
christina says
I used whole milk, but thought maybe it was my butter (that I had added a tad too much)
I’m not sure what I am doing wrong but I will keep practicing until it’s perfect. I love the recipe and crave the taste now. Haha. It’s just so delicious. Thanks bunches 🙂
Sarah says
We LOVED your recipe!! Definitely a keeper! The puff pastry looked so pretty and tasted wonderful. There were no leftovers! Thank you for sharing.
Stephanie says
I’m probably the only one who’s ever done this, but I refuse to use heavy whipping cream so I actually substituted plain nonfat greek yogurt and it still tasted amazing. Loved this recipe!
Rory says
Thank you! I have been searching for the elusive perfect chicken pot pie recipe for 20 years. This is it! The filling was perfect and exactly what I wanted but did not know how to achieve. I was a little inept at getting my puff pastry to look as pretty as yours. I did double it and put it in a 9 x 13, but my lattice was not picture-worthy. I may try pie crust next time, but this recipe is definitely going in my menu rotation forever. 🙂
Julie says
That’s great Rory. Don’t worry about the lattice crust. It gets trickier with a 9 by 13 because you have to piece the strips together. So glad you loved it!
Lucy says
I made this recipe once already for a friend who had a baby. Then I made it again and doubled it last night so I could make some for a friend who’s child is going to have surgery. This time I had to freeze it so it is ready for her when they come back from the hospital. I am wondering, how long should I tell her to bake it and what temperature.
I baked it before I froze it so it is fully cooked.
Julie says
I haven’t tried freezing it after it is already baked so I’m not sure. My best guess: Thaw it beforehand, and then cover with foil while baking for 30 minutes at 350. Then uncover and bake for 15 minutes more. Hope this helps!
Jenny says
Hi,
I just wanted to let you know I made this for dinner tonight, and it was delicious! Wayyy better than the recipes that call for cream of chicken soup! I used a boullion cube (a couple of slivers extra too), and it worked fine. I think next time I will try adding a crust/bottom, just because I like crust. 🙂 I definitely will be making this again. We loved it! Thank you for sharing a great recipe!
Jenny
Julie says
Jenny, I’m so glad you liked it! Can’t have too much crust for sure!
Maura says
I just made this recipe for the 4th time- and its just delicious, really hit the spot! I’ve served it to guests at parties and also on cozy nights in. Its one of my go-to recipes. Thanks for sharing.