Chicken pot pie is comfort food at it’s finest. This chicken pot pie is made from scratch and tastes decadent and delicious. It’s the perfect Sunday meal because it’s perfect for sharing with the family for a sit down dinner.
There is something special about comfort food, it is often closely tied with emotions and feelings. I call it a “love food” meaning it takes love and some time to make it and you only make these kind of meals for those you truly care about. Everyone can feel the time and love that went into a recipe like this when it gets eaten.
Most families have their own variation of chicken pot pie, whether it’s homemade crust and filling like my recipe or made using pre-made biscuits or even if it’s the frozen variety that gets microwaved. It’s totally american comfort food. Which is interesting because the techniques and cooking methods behind making this dish are largely French. You have your French pastry techniques that are used in making a flaky crust and then the base of the filling is a mirepoix, which is the term for celery, onions and carrots.
No matter where this dish is culturally derived, one thing is certain, it is delicious and brings people together and there is nothing better than that.
What you need to make chicken pot pie:
makes one 10 inch pie – serves ~6
For the crust:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup cold salted butter – dice butter
- 1/4 – 1/3 cup ice cold water
- dried beans or baking beans for baking the crust
Filling:
- 3 stalks of celery
- 4 carrots
- 1 small onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoons black pepper
- dash cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
- 14 ounces chicken stock
- 12.5 ounces cooked chicken breast or 1 1/4 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded.
- 1/2 cup cream or milk
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix together the flour, salt and cold butter chunks until mixture has roughly pea sized butter chunks.
- Add cold water to flour mixture until dough forms.
- The dough will be rough and that is what we want to get a flaky crust.
- Divide crust into 2 pieces, one that is rough 2/3rds of the dough and another that is 1/3 of the dough. Place the piece that is 1/3 in the refrigerator until you need it for the top piece.
- Lay down a piece of parchment paper and roll out your dough. I like to add another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough so rolling out the dough goes smoother.
- Once your dough is roughly 2-3 inches larger than your pie pan, remove the top sheet of parchment paper and lay the pie tin open side down on the dough, then slide your hand under the parchment paper on the bottom of your dough and flip the pan over with the dough on top.
- Gently press dough into the pie tin then remove parchment paper from the top of dough.
- Use a knife to cut along the sides of the pie pan.
- Lay parchment paper over the dough again and pour beans or baking beans into crust. This will help the sides of your pie not to shrink during baking.
- Bake for 20 minutes, remove parchment and baking beans and bake another 5 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, dice your onions, carrots and celery so they are all about the same size, this will help them cook evenly.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery to a pot along with olive oil, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
- Saute for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat or until vegetables start to soften and sweat some of their moisture.
- Sprinkle on the flour to the tops of vegetables and stir for about 1 minute.
- Add chicken stock, Italian herbs, cream or milk, cooked chicken breast and frozen peas.
- Cook until mixture starts to thicken to a stew consistency.
- When crust is baked, add mixture to pie crust.
- Roll out your remaining pie dough and place over the top of the pie, cut a few slits for ventilation during cooking. Do you best to press down the raw dough onto the semi-baking dough.
- You can brush top of pie dough with cream for a nice golden color but it isn’t necessary.
- Place pie tin on a cookie sheet in case anything bubbles out during baking and bake pie for 30-40 minutes or until top crust gets golden.
- Allow pie to cool for 15 minutes or so before eating.
Here are a few other comfort food recipe you might love:
- Pumpkin pot pie with cheddar bacon biscuits on top RECIPE HERE
- Sausage and Mushroom Lasagna RECIPE HERE
- Beef and Bacon Stew RECIPE HERE
Chicken Pot Pie
Homemade and decadent chicken pot pie with flaky crust and flavorful filling.
Servings 6 people
Ingredients
- For Pie Crust:
- 3 cups flour
- 2 teaspoons salt
- 1 cup cold salted butter – dice butter
- 1/4- 1/3 cup ice cold water
- dried beans or baking beans for baking the crust
- For Filling:
- 3 stalks of celery
- 4 carrots
- 1 small onion
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
- 1/4 teaspoons black pepper
- dash cayenne pepper
- 3 tablespoons flour
- 1 teaspoon Italian herbs
- 14 ounces chicken stock
- 12.5 ounces Cooked chicken breast or 1 1/4 cups cooked chicken
- 1/2 cup cream or milk
- 1 cup frozen peas
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- Mix together the flour, salt and cold butter chunks until mixture has roughly pea sized butter chunks.
- Add cold water to flour mixture until dough forms.
- The dough will be rough and that is what we want to get a flaky crust.
- Divide crust into 2 pieces, one that is rough 2/3rds of the dough and another that is 1/3 of the dough. Place the piece that is 1/3 in the refrigerator until you need it for the top piece.
- Lay down a piece of parchment paper and roll out your dough. I like to add another piece of parchment paper on top of the dough so rolling out the dough goes smoother.
- Once your dough is roughly 2-3 inches larger than your pie pan, remove the top sheet of parchment paper and lay the pie tin open side down on the dough, then slide your hand under the parchment paper on the bottom of your dough and flip the pan over with the dough on top.
- Gently press dough into the pie tin then remove parchment paper from the top of dough.
- Use a knife to cut along the sides of the pie pan.
- Lay parchment paper over the dough again and pour beans or baking beans into crust. This will help the sides of your pie not to shrink during baking.
- Bake for 20 minutes, remove parchment and baking beans and bake another 5 minutes.
- While the crust is baking, dice your onions, carrots and celery so they are all about the same size, this will help them cook evenly.
- Add the onions, carrots and celery to a pot along with olive oil, salt, black pepper and cayenne pepper.
- Saute for about 5 minutes on medium-high heat or until vegetables start to soften and sweat some of their moisture.
- Sprinkle on the flour to the tops of vegetables and stir for about 1 minute.
- Add chicken stock, Italian herbs, cream or milk, cooked chicken breast and frozen peas.
- Cook until mixture starts to thicken to a stew consistency.
- When crust is baked, add mixture to pie crust.
- Roll out your remaining pie dough and place over the top of the pie, cut a few slits for ventilation during cooking. Do you best to press down the raw dough onto the semi-baking dough.
- You can brush top of pie dough with cream for a nice golden color but it isn’t necessary.
- Place pie tin on a cookie sheet in case anything bubbles out during baking and bake pie for 30-40 minutes or until top crust gets golden.
- Allow pie to cool for 15 minutes or so before eating.