Chicken Pot Pie

Name: Chicken Pot Pie
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 55 min
Total time: 1 h 45 min
Cuisine: United Kingdom and United States
Ingredients: 800 g (1¾ lb) boneless, skinless chicken thighs; 700 ml (3 cups) chicken stock, Chicken Stock or store-bought; 1 bay leaf; 50 g (3½ tbsp) unsalted butter; 1 leek, sliced; 2 carrots, diced; 2 celery sticks, diced; 200 g (7 oz) mushrooms, quartered; 50 g (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp) all-purpose flour; 100 ml (scant ½ cup) heavy cream or whole milk; 1 tsp Dijon mustard; 2 tsp chopped thyme; 100 g (¾ cup) frozen peas; 2 tbsp chopped parsley; 4 g (⅔ tsp) fine sea salt, to taste; freshly ground black pepper; 320 g (11 oz) all-butter puff pastry, 1 sheet, or the flaky pastry from Shortcrust and Flaky Pastry; 1 egg, beaten with a pinch of salt

Creamy chicken and vegetables under a flaky, golden lid

Serves: 4
Hands-on: 50 min
Total: 1 h 45 min
Level: Some skill

Pot pie is a generous use of a poached chicken: tender meat and vegetables in a velvety sauce made with the stock, under a puff or shortcrust lid that bakes to golden flakes. Poaching the chicken thighs first gives you both the meat and the sauce base.

Ingredients

Filling

800 gboneless, skinless chicken thighs (1¾ lb)
700 mlchicken stock (3 cups)Chicken Stock or store-bought
1bay leaf
50 gunsalted butter (3½ tbsp)
1leeksliced
2carrotsdiced
2celery sticksdiced
200 gmushrooms (7 oz)quartered
50 gall-purpose flour (⅓ cup + 1 tbsp)
100 mlheavy cream or whole milk (scant ½ cup)
1 tspDijon mustard
2 tspchopped thyme
100 gfrozen peas (¾ cup)
2 tbspchopped parsley
4 gfine sea salt (⅔ tsp)to taste
freshly ground black pepper

Lid

320 gall-butter puff pastry (11 oz)1 sheet, or the flaky pastry from Shortcrust and Flaky Pastry
1eggbeaten with a pinch of salt

Allergens: gluten, milk, egg, celery, mustard
Origin: United Kingdom and United States
Season: Autumn, Winter

Method

Put the chicken, stock and bay leaf in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer, then cover and poach very gently until the chicken is just cooked, 74°C (165°F) in the thickest piece, 15–18 minutes. 16 min
Lift out the chicken, cool slightly and tear or cut into bite-sized pieces. Keep the stock (you need about 600 ml).
Melt the butter in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the leek, carrots, celery and mushrooms and cook until soft and the mushrooms have given up their liquid, 10 minutes. 10 min
Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute. Whisk in the warm stock gradually, then the cream. Simmer, stirring, until the sauce is thick enough to coat a spoon heavily, 4–5 minutes. 5 min
Stir in the mustard, thyme, chicken, peas and parsley. Season well with salt and pepper — the pastry needs a well-seasoned filling. Pour into a 2-liter pie dish (about 20 × 25 cm) and cool for at least 20 minutes (hot filling melts pastry). 20 min
Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F). Brush the rim of the dish with egg. Lay the pastry over, press it onto the rim and trim, leaving a little overhang. Brush the top with egg and cut 2 small slits to let steam out.
Bake on a sheet pan until the pastry is puffed and deep golden and the filling bubbles through the slits, 30–35 minutes. The center should reach 74°C (165°F). Rest 10 minutes before serving. 33 min

Why it works

Poaching the chicken in stock seasons the meat and enriches the stock, which then becomes a velouté — a stock-based cousin of Béchamel — thickened with a roux. A thick sauce is essential because the vegetables release moisture in the oven. Cooling the filling before topping keeps the butter layers in the pastry cold, so they puff instead of melting into the filling.

Common mistakes

Boiling the chicken: it toughens. Poach at a bare simmer.
Putting pastry on hot filling, which makes a soggy, flat lid.
A thin sauce that turns watery under the pastry.

Variations

Leftover roast chicken: Use 600 g leftover Roast Chicken meat and 600 ml stock; skip the poaching.
Individual pies: Divide between 4 ovenproof bowls, top each with a pastry round and bake 20–25 minutes.

Make ahead and storage

Make the filling up to 2 days ahead and refrigerate. Top with pastry and bake from cold, adding 10 minutes. The assembled, unbaked pie freezes for 3 months; bake from frozen at 190°C (375°F) for 60 minutes, until 74°C (165°F) in the center.