Ingredients
Filling
Crust & Finish
Enjoy your meal!
Instructions
Melt the butter in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add the onion, celery and carrots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds.
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for 1-2 minutes, until the mixture looks sandy and smells lightly nutty. Do not let it brown — the flour must cook through so the sauce does not taste raw.
Whisk in the chicken broth a splash at a time, making sure each addition is fully absorbed before adding more, then whisk in the milk. Simmer, whisking often, until the sauce is thick like gravy, 3-4 minutes.
Stir in the chicken cubes, thyme, salt and pepper. Simmer gently, stirring occasionally, for 8-10 minutes, until the chicken reaches 165°F (74°C) — the USDA safe temperature for poultry. Off the heat, stir in the peas and cream, then let the filling cool for 10 minutes.
Heat the oven to 425°F (220°C). Fit one crust round into a 9-inch pie dish and brush it with some of the egg wash. Pile in the cooled filling and drape the second round on top. Trim, seal and flute the edges, brush with the remaining egg wash, and cut 3 wide vents near the center.
Bake on the lower-middle rack for 35-40 minutes, until the crust is deep golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents, shielding the edges with foil if they brown too fast. Rest 10 minutes before cutting — the sauce needs to set before it slices.
Personal Tips
- Cool the filling before assembly. Hot filling melts the fat in the crust before it has a chance to bake — that is exactly how a soggy bottom happens. Ten minutes on the counter is enough; the filling should be warm, not steaming, when it meets the crust.
- Take the roux to sandy and nutty, never brown. In my early attempts I rushed the flour stage and got a faint raw-paste taste that no amount of baking fixed. Ninety seconds of constant stirring is the whole secret.
- Add the broth a splash at a time. Dumping it all in at once gives you lumps I once had to strain out. A gradual pour keeps the sauce perfectly smooth.
- Cut the vents near the center. Steam needs to escape over the thickest part of the filling — three wide slits in the middle do that. Vent only at the edge and the top crust balloons, then collapses into a hollow dome.
- Rest the pie 10 minutes before cutting. Straight from the oven the sauce is lava-hot and floods the plate. Resting sets the filling so each wedge slices clean and holds its shape.
Nutrition (per serving)
Nutrition (per serving): 1 of 6 wedges | USDA FoodData Central, calculated estimates
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you thicken chicken pot pie filling?
Can you make chicken pot pie ahead of time?
Why is my chicken pot pie runny?
Can you use rotisserie chicken?
How do you keep the bottom crust from getting soggy?
Dietary Restrictions
Allergens
Not Suitable For
- Vegans and vegetarians (contains chicken, butter, milk and cream)
- People avoiding gluten or following a low-carb diet (wheat crust and flour-thickened sauce)
- People with dairy allergies or lactose intolerance
Modifications
- For a gluten-free version, use a gluten-free pie crust and swap the ⅓ cup of flour for a 1:1 gluten-free blend, or thicken with 3 tbsp of cornstarch mixed into the cold broth. For dairy-free, replace the butter with olive oil and use an unsweetened plant-based milk and cream. For a vegetarian pie, replace the chicken with 2 cups of sliced mushrooms plus extra carrots and peas, and use vegetable broth.
