By Alison Roman
- Total Time
- About 1½ hours
- Rating
- 5(2,620)
- Notes
- Read community notes
Using store-bought puff pastry instead of homemade pie crust for a chicken potpie might seem like cheating, but rest assured it’s for the best, adding shatteringly flaky layers that even the best pie crust lacks. This recipe calls for bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs, so that the chicken fat rendered from searing can serve as the base of the gravy. But for a weeknight-friendly version, shredded rotisserie chicken can be used instead. Just use a tablespoon or two of butter to replace the fat. (A note about store-bought puff pastry: No two brands are the same size, but know that all you need is to cover the surface of the skillet. If it’s larger than expected, feel free to trim or crimp the edges like a pie, and if it seems too small or is a strange shape, simply roll the pastry on a lightly floured surface to increase its dimensions.)
or to save this recipe.
Print Options
Include recipe photo
Advertisem*nt
Ingredients
Yield:4 to 6 servings
- 2pounds bone-in, skin-on chicken breasts or thighs (smaller work better here)
- Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
- 2tablespoons olive oil
- 3small carrots, thinly sliced (about 6 ounces)
- 3celery stalks, thinly sliced (about 6 ounces)
- 2garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1medium onion, finely chopped
- 1tablespoon thyme leaves, coarsely chopped
- ⅓cup all-purpose flour
- 3cups low-sodium chicken broth or stock
- 1cup frozen peas, thawed
- ¼cup finely chopped parsley
- 1(12-or 14-ounce) sheet (or 2 8½-ounce sheets pressed together at the edges) frozen puff pastry, thawed, rolled into a 12-inch circle
- 1large egg, beaten
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (6 servings)
424 calories; 22 grams fat; 6 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 11 grams monounsaturated fat; 4 grams polyunsaturated fat; 18 grams carbohydrates; 3 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 38 grams protein; 925 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered by
Preparation
Step
1
Heat oven to 425 degrees. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper and set aside.
Step
2
Season chicken with salt and pepper. Heat oil in a 10-inch cast-iron skillet (or other heavy bottom skillet) over medium heat. Sear chicken, skin-side down, until deeply golden brown and some of the fat has begun to render out, 5 to 8 minutes. Rotate chicken and continue to cook on all sides until evenly browned and cooked through, an additional 8 to 10 minutes. Remove chicken, keeping all the drippings in the skillet, and let cool slightly on a plate.
Step
3
To the drippings, add carrots, celery, garlic, onion and thyme. Season with salt and pepper and cook, stirring occasionally until vegetables are tender and just cooked through, about 5 to 8 minutes. Add flour and stir to coat all the vegetables. Cook, stirring constantly, until the flour has started to turn a light golden brown with no white, floury bits left, about 3 minutes.
Step
4
Slowly add the chicken broth or stock ½ cup at a time, using a wooden spoon to blend and scrape up any browned bits on the bottom of the skillet. Once all the broth or stock is added, bring to a simmer and remove from heat.
Step
5
Remove the bones and skin from the chicken and shred the meat and skin (discard any skin that is too thick or rubbery) into bite-size pieces or, alternatively, cut it with a knife and fork into bite-size pieces. (If you discover at this stage any pieces of chicken that are not completely cooked through, don’t worry; they will finish cooking in the oven.) Add the peas, parsley and chicken and season once more with salt and pepper.
Step
6
Carefully unfold the puff pastry and working quickly, place it on top of the skillet (do not worry about it being a perfect circle), letting some of the dough hang off the sides (this will keep it from shrinking too much).
Step
7
Whisk the egg with 1 teaspoon of water and brush onto the top of the puff pastry. Cut three 2½-inch slits, about 1-inch apart and place the skillet on top of the sheet pan to catch any drips in the oven.
Step
8
Bake until puff pastry is golden brown on top and filling is starting to bubble up, 20 to 25 minutes. Reduce temperature to 375 degrees and continue to cook until puff pastry is baked through all the way and filling has thickened considerably, another 15 to 20 minutes.
Step
9
Remove from heat and let cool slightly before eating.
Ratings
5
out of 5
2,620
user ratings
Your rating
or to rate this recipe.
Have you cooked this?
or to mark this recipe as cooked.
Private Notes
Leave a Private Note on this recipe and see it here.
Cooking Notes
Erin
What is the parchment paper lined sheet pan for?
Elizabeth McFadden
This was terrific!Made this tonight. Some minor substitutions ... used bacon fat instead of olive oil, shallot instead of onion, and a mix of boneless skinless breasts and thighs. But general process was as written, save this ... I could NOT work 3 cups of stock into it! It was getting discernibly watery at 2 cups, so I stopped there. It thickened while cooking but only to a normal pot-pie consistency.That said, this was easy, delicious, and used things I *ALWAYS* have on hand.
Patricia
For a dinner party I used boneless, skinless thighs and added 8 oz. mushrooms and used 1 1/2 c. peas. I cooked the thighs in homemade broth, added most of the veg, and cooled everything overnight, adding the peas and parsley right before baking. For elegance and serving ease, rewarmed it in a 13 x 9 dish, and pre-baked the pastry, cut into portions, on a baking sheet. I served the filling in a wide soup bowl with the pastry on top. It worked well as a delicious do-ahead with the Canlis salad.
Tulio Treviño
We made this for the Super Bowl. The pie was very tasty, but it did not deliver a win for our team, the 49ers. In fact, it may be responsible for them blowing a 10 point lead in the fourth quarter. I sincerely hope the writer can fix this in other sports friendly recipes or at least include some ingredients or steps to ensure positive outcomes in the future.
Donald
Check your 425 degree oven setting. The parchment paper will ignite at 451 degrees. (Thank you Ray Bradbury).
AC
Added leeks, chopped mushrooms, 4 cloves of garlic, dried oregano and used rotisserie chicken. I added 2 tbs of butter to saute the vegetables to compensate for lack of drippings. Make sure to aggressively season w/ salt and pepper throughout cooking. Absolutely amazing! A wonderful winter meal.
Tracey
To catch the drips from the pan while it cooks in the oven. Step 7
Dean
I thank Elizabeth for heading me off on the 3rd cup of stock. The final consistency was perfect for me. REMEMBER puff pastry takes time to defrost - get that going first. Also not sure bone in thighs are worth all the effort. But the dish was delish.
Lois
I have made dozens of pot pie recipes just once because they weren't worth repeating. I will happily make (and eat) this one again. It is not quick, but there is a lot of hands-off cooking time that you can use to clean up your prep, make a salad, or read. One warning: in my oven, the middle rack was too high. The crust started to turn very dark after 15 minutes so I moved everything down a rack. In the last 10 minutes I covered the skillet very loosely with foil. It was very good.
Chef Artemis
It needs white wine or some other kind of acid.
Susan Valentine
Without the puff pastry–or any crust at all–and the addition of baby potatoes, this is an excellent chicken stew recipe.
Helen
Oh and if your puff pastry didn't turn out the way you wanted it to, please don't blame the recipe! YOU just didn't keep it cold enough to rise and flake. You must keep the pastry in the fridge until as late as possible, and always wash with egg or it won't get that lovely golden brown colour.
Susan
Delicious and easy. I agree with Lois: my puff pastry over-browned even with rack set low. I will reduce heat from 425 to 375 for the entire cooking time. (Maybe it’s my oven, although I do have a good oven thermometer!)
Nura
Made this for a weeknight dinner and was very disappointed in how the crust turned out. The filling was just OK. I followed the directions and the crust (I used Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets) overbrowned in the first 10min but then took almost an hour to cook through. The direction to put the egg wash on before placing into the oven is a major pitfall. The egg cooks too quickly and weighs down the puff so it doesn’t rise and get flaky. Next time we’ll put the egg wash in the last 15min.
Julia Olff
I had a roll of Trader Joe's biscuits so I rolled them out and used them instead as a top. Had to lower oven temp to 400 then 375 to 350 to avoid burning biscuit top. Family ate it up! Also used leeks instead of onion.
SAS
I am a huge fan of Alison Roman and this recipe was no exception. I subbed boneless skinless breasts that I shredded in my kitchenaid for the bone in, simply because that's what I had on hand. Also replaced 1c of the stock with whole milk and used 1 shallot and half a small red onion. Otherwise kept the process the same! I might add some white wine next time but will definitely be making it again.
Chris C
I don’t know what was up with the recipe but the ingredients definitely did not fit in my 10inch cast iron skillet. I ended up not using about a quarter of the chicken
Kevin
Cooked it tonight and it was delicious. One question, is the egg wash supposed to go over every inch of the puff pastry or just the top, flat portion? I only applied it to the flat portion but I think next time I will try all over
emily
After reading some of the notes, I adjusted the broth to a little over 2 cups and I also added mushrooms. I could only find premade pie crust (not puff pastry), but it worked great. I went heavier on the salt than I normally do, and it turned out better than I expected. 10/10 will be making again.
ting
This was really good! I’d never made pot pie before. I went with the rotisserie chicken due to time constraints and had two sheets of the dough, so used one to line the bottom of a 9x12 dish and rolled the other one thin enough to lay over the top. It was not super neat-looking, but was quite delicious.
Cascadian
Tip to share: after making this several times, using the skin in thighs is the best so you can use the schmaltz for the veggies. But….before sweating the veg, put the skins back in to make a gribenes appetizer while the pie cooks. Your family will thank you and love you even more than they do now.
TS
This was excellent! Browning the chicken in the pan is key for flavor. I added a glug of cream and used leek instead of onion. Forgot to pick up the frozen puff so made Dorie Greenspans quick puff which was great. Yum!
KSB
Use less broth and a 1/2 cub white wine
Claire
i used shredded rotisserie chicken breast and homemade chicken broth. Everyone loved it, so it is now in the regular menu rotation for winter.
tisa
Made this for a cozy Christmas Eve dinner and loved it. Agree with others that you don’t need all of the stock. Add slowly and stop when you reach a good consistency or it will be too watery.
DrPat
Lovely! Used chicken from an organic rotisserie chicken (thanks, Good Earth, Fairfax, CA), then cooked the bones and skin in packaged chicken bone broth which made a great stock. Followed the recipe. So yummy!
Ted McDonough
This is one of our family’s favourite dinners… I stick close to the recipe but add a 1/2 cup of flour which thickens it to a what I and my family think is a perfect consistency. Try it you’ll like it. Ted McDonough
KJ
This was so yummy! A family favorite. A couple of notes: - the veggies with chicken and broth has a lot of volume (comes to the top of a 10in skillet) and requires stirring. If prepared in the cast iron skillet, it will spill over the sides. We prepped in a large pot and then transferred - we could not get 3 cups of broth in - it was way too runny /soupy and wouldn’t get to a normal pot pie consistency even after the full cooking time. Would recommend max 2 cups of broth A great recipe!
Tessa
I used a 12" skillet and found that was just the right size.
Dee
This was so easy and delicious! Once you get started, you can riff off of the recipe by adding veggies and topping it with your own pie crust. A real winner!
Becka
I needed all three cups of broth. 10 inch pan was a bit too big
Private notes are only visible to you.
