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
farah says
wow! that’s such a good looking pie.
Julie says
Thank you Farah! Hope you get the chance to try it!
Gen says
Do you add puff pastry to the bottom of the pie as well? Or only the top?
Julie says
Hi Gen, this pot pie just has the lattice crust on top, nothing underneath. It is sort of like those chicken and biscuit casseroles, except the woven puff pastry instead of biscuits. So a little different than a true pot pie :0) Hope you get the chance to make it!
Gen says
Thanks for getting back so quick! It’s on the menu for this week! I can’t wait, I’m hungry thinking about it 😊
jan says
maybe you can tell me what I’m doing wrong. when I use puff pastry it will be nice and brown on top but raw dough under. I have tried all I can think of but cant figure out what I’m doing wrong, it just never cooks beyond
the very top browning.
rf says
Hi, new to the site–thanks for the amazing recipes!
Is there a difference in using pie crust vs. puff pastry in terms of taste of presentation?
Additionally, can I use a bullion cube rather than the better than buillion….is there a difference?
Thanks
Julie says
Hello and welcome! Glad you found me :0) You can use either pie crust or puff pastry for this. The puff pastry is a little lighter in texture, and maybe a little more doughy on the underneath, where pie crust is more traditional. A bullion cube should be just fine. Hope you enjoy!
Lisa brannon says
Hands down best chicken pot pie ever! The only thing I did differently was I added more chicken base. My family was not a fan of chicken pot pie until I made this and we eat it all every single time. Thank you for a wonderful recipe!
Julie says
Lisa, I’m so happy to hear this recipe was a hit! Thanks for taking the time to let me know!
Titan Tyler says
I make this except I use cornstarch in place of flour, right after that I add 1/2cup white wine, it really takes it to the next level. I have also made this with topping it with a box of cornbread(made as directed on box) when I have been out of P pastry or premade pie crust) I hate making pie crust from scratch)DONT JUDGE ME. ha
Julie says
No judgement here at all! Love how you made it your own. Happy cooking!
Angie Kimmel says
Hi I made this a few weeks ago and loved it! I wanted to make it again, but double it, and put it in a 9 x 13 pan. Have you done this? Does the cooking time need to be adjusted?
Emily says
Hi! I made this recipe and it was wonderful! I’m a 20 y/o college student teaching myself to cook, and this was the first recipe I’ve ever made that didn’t come out burnt or nasty-tasting in some way. I halved the recipe and cooked it in my mom’s old donabe pot, and my roommates devoured it right away. Thank you!
Julie says
That’s so great Emily! Thanks for letting me know how it turned out for you!
Jann says
Have made this and it was wonderful! I am thinking of making it into a soup… Any thought on doing anything other than just adding more broth and maybe a little low fat milk?
Julie says
I love that idea! I think you are on the right track… you could even add some premade egg noodles found in the frozen food section for a creamy chicken noodle type soup.
Holly says
I LOVE this recipe! It has become one of our favorite meals (making it right now!) I add corn instead of peas and it gives it a great sweetness. I serve it like a thick soup in a puff pastry bowl with mashed potatoes on the bottom. Just wanted to thank you for such a delicious, easy meal!
Julie says
Holly, you had me at puff pastry bowl… is this like those premade puff pastry cups you can buy in the frozen section or something else? I like how you think!
Jessica says
Yummmm. I was looking for an easy and delicious recipe for tonight and I found it. This is awesome. I’m heading to the store right now to get the ingredients. This is a great fall dish to make at the beginning of the week and have it last for a few days so you don’t have to cook every night after a busy day. Love it! Thank you.
Julie says
Enjoy!
Jessica rotoli says
I made it and it’s so so delicious!!
Julie says
Jessica, awesome! So glad you liked it.
Linda says
I’ve made it and all the family loved it will make again lovely
Julie says
Thank you, Linda. I’m so glad your family enjoyed!
Chanra says
I know this is an old post (2013) but I had to come on here and tell you that I came across this recipe a few weeks ago and have been wanting to try it. Last night I finally got around to making this and O M G it was amazing. Now I meant to double the recipe because we wanted left overs but I forgot to double the liquid. 1/4 cup of carrots, celery, and onion didn’t seem like enough of veggies for this dish (when I was chopping and measuring it was not even an entire carrot and the celery was only ONE stalk) SO I used 2 carrots, 2 celery stalks and half an onion. I also used almost the entire chicken (more than 2 cups). I cut up ALL the breast meat and leg meat – didn’t measure how much chicken that was but it was a lot. I did follow the other directions to a T for the sauce and thyme. I was worried that with out doubling the sauce mix, it would come out dry BUT it was PERFECT. I used a 9 x 13 pyrex dish and it all fit perfectly in there. The puff pastry was a bit challenging because it’s so tedious but it was gorgeous once it was all done. This is the best chicken pot pie recipe I have ever had and my family loved it. I brought the left overs to work and had all my coworkers taste it and they LOVED it too and asked for the recipe! Thank you for this! Next time I probably wont weave the puff pastry but I do love the flavors and flakiness of the pastry – absolutely divine!!!!!!!!!
Oh I also wanted to add that I used your advice and put the oven rack closer to the top so the puff pastry would cook nicely and it worked out wonderfully!
Julie says
Thanks so much for your feedback Chanra. I’m so glad it worked out for you!
Sarah says
Just one more person dropping in to say that this is my favorite pot pie recipe! I’m usually indifferent to pot pie, but this recipe is amazing. Thanks for helping me and my family get through a dreary winter! 🙂
Julie says
Can you use canned peas, I have some left over
Julie says
I’m sure those will work just fine. Enjoy!
Nnana says
This is one very simple recipe that even a very tired mother like me could resort to. By the way, is there a substitute for eggs, my daughter is allergic to eggs but i just love this recipe.
Julie says
I think if you leave the egg wash off it will still be fine! Just less shine 🙂
Kate says
I’ve made this a few times now and it’s become a staple in our house! Such a great comfort food meal.
Question though: I’ve been having issues with the filling bubbling up over the puff pastry, so some areas of the pastry don’t puff up and instead seem to sink down into the filling, not a huge deal, but how do I prevent this from happening??
Shawna says
I made this last night for the first time and it was amazing! Only changes I made was I added garlic and mushroom when sautéing the onions. I didn’t do celery because I’m not really a fan. And when adding the chicken I also added diced potatoes and carrots I had boiled. Added some extra seasonings. My lattice actually came out perfect! I was shocked for the first time doing it. Such a good recipe. I will defiantly make this again!
Julie says
I love that you made it your own Shawna. Sounds delicious! Glad your lattice turned out well!
Diana Teague says
Let me just start off by saying I have found a new chicken pot pie recipe. This was AMAZING!!! I didn’t put celery or peas in it because my husband is not a fan but instead used a can of diced potatoes. I also just bought a rotisserie chicken and used both breasts. The puff pastry is so much better than a pie crust. Thank you so much. I can’t wait to make this again.
Julie says
Sounds good Diana! Glad you could make it to your family’s preferences. Thanks for letting me know!
Jennifer says
We have a child with a life threatening egg allergy. Think it would suffer much if I skipped the egg wash?
Julie says
It’ll still be delicious without the egg wash. Enjoy!
Mar says
looks and sounds heavenly – very pretty lattice
Julie says
Thank you- hope you get the chance to try it.