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Chicken Pot Pie

The best Chicken Pot Pie recipe that you will make. Filled with chicken, peas, corn and carrots in a white sauce encased in a buttery short crust pastry. Learn how to make your pastry at home in minutes!

Pie season or not, this is a must have recipe. It is a family treat and perfect to share over the dinning table. Yes, you need a little effort to make it from scratch but its just this effort that makes it mouth watering delicious. 

If I had a vote on my favourite pie it would have to be this Chicken Pot Pie. Apart from the fact that it reminds me of my childhood it is one of the most comforting meals you can make and share. I remember these flavors so clearly all thanks to my grandfather, who was a chef down to the bone. He would make the chicken stock from scratch, the pastry with his hands and assemble the entire pie with little effort. The addition of freshly chopped parsley and crushed black pepper made it exceptionally delicious. 

One of the highlights of this recipe has to be the saucy filling. It is packed with flavor with all the aromatic vegetables, shredded chicken, the chicken stock and the spices which add an earthy note to the creamy filling. The creaminess comes from the milk, butter, cream and cheese. This recipe is not for the faint hearted and I ain’t gonna lie to you its not for your waistline either. But serve it with some greens, share it as a meal for a gathering and you will not be sorry. It pairs well with some white wine but honestly you can serve it up with anything you got.

There are three parts to this recipe, The Pastry, The Filling, The Assembly. 

The Pastry – Yes, you can buy your short crust pastry from outside but what good would that be when you can make it at home? Believe me when I say this, homemade is way better than store bought. I make mine in a food processor and it is done in minutes. You could make it without a food processor by rubbing the butter and flour together between your fingers until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, add the liquid and form into a ball. The main aspect of a good pastry dough is ensuring it is chilled at all times. So once the dough is ready, it needs to be chilled in the fridge to firm up, before rolling out. 

Speaking of which, I like to roll out my pastry between two sheets of baking paper as this avoids the excessive usage of flour and it doesn’t stick to the surface. I also blind make my pie crust, this ensures there is no soggy bottom even though the filling is juicy.

The Filling – I start by making the chicken stock, you can use store bought or a cube diluted in water if you like. To make the stock I boil a whole chicken with onions, celery, leeks, carrots, bay leaves, pepper corns, parsley stalks, thyme and cloves. Once the chicken is cooked I remove it out and let it cool before shredding, I continue to boil the stock until it has reduced to half. In a sauce pan I fry up more onions, celery, leeks and carrots. After which I add garlic and a little corn flour. I then add shredded chicken and the boiled veg. Add some stock, milk, cream and cheese. Take it off the heat and allow it to cool. 

The Assembly –

Once the pie crust has been blind baked I take it out of the one, season my filling one last time and assemble my pie. I cover the top with more pastry and brush with cream before baking again. The most important part of baking this pie is to let it cool down once it has been baked. If you cut into it while it is still hot the filling will be runny. 

The leftovers can be stored in the fridge for upto 4 days. I like to cut the pie into pieces and store them in air tight containers before transferring to the freezer. It freezes well for up to 3 weeks. When you want to have a slice, warm it in the microwave for 30 seconds. 

Now that we have covered all the aspects of this Chicken Pot Pie, let us get down to making it. Happy Baking Ninjas!

Chicken Pot Pie

The best Chicken Pot Pie recipe that you will make. Filled with chicken, peas, corn and carrots in a white sauce encased in a buttery short crust pastry. Learn how to make your pastry at home in minutes!
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 2 hours
Cook Time 1 hour
Chill Time 1 hour
Course Brunch, Dinner, Main Course, Party
Cuisine American, French
Servings 8 people

Equipment

  • Food processor
  • Rolling Pin
  • Baking paper
  • Baking dish (9 inch)
  • Knife
  • Chopping board
  • Spatula
  • Stock pot (medium)
  • Saute pan (large)
  • Fork

Ingredients
  

Short Crust Pastry

  • 250 gm Flour
  • 125 gm Butter fridge cold
  • 65 ml Water ice cold
  • Pinch of salt

Stock

  • 1 Whole Chicken 1 kg
  • 1 Onion roughly chopped
  • 2 Celery stalks roughly chopped
  • 1 Carrot roughly chopped
  • 1/2 Leek roughly chopped
  • 2 Bay leaves
  • 6 Peppercorns
  • 6 Parsley stalks
  • 3 Cloves
  • Sprig of Thyme
  • 3 liters Water

Filling

  • 2 tbsp Butter
  • 1 Onion diced
  • 2 Celery stalks diced
  • 1 Carrot diced
  • 1/2 Leek diced
  • 4 Garlic cloves minced
  • 1/4 cup Peas frozen
  • 1/4 cup Corn
  • 1 tbsp Mustard
  • 3 tbsp Corn flour
  • 3 cups Chicken shredded
  • 1 tsp Thyme
  • 1 tsp Oregano
  • 2 tsp White wine vinegar
  • 1 cup Chicken stock
  • 1 cup Milk
  • 1/2 cup Cream
  • Salt and Pepper to taste

Garnish

  • Fresh Parsley chopped
  • Crushed black pepper

Instructions
 

To make the chicken stock -

  • Place all the ingredients in a large stock pot and bring to a boil.
  • Reduce the heat and simmer for an hour until the chicken is cooked all the way through, if your chicken is larger it might take longer to cook so be mindful of the time.
  • Remove the chicken and leave to cool before shredding.
  • Reduce the stock until it is half, should take another 20-30 mins. Turn off the heat and strain the stock into a large glass jar. Keep the veggies for the filling.

To make the pastry -

  • In a food processor pulse the flour and cold butter until fine breadcrumbs. Add the water tablespoon at a time and keep pulsing until a dough forms. Divide the dough into two halves. Wrap in cling file and leave to chill for 30 mins in the fridge.
  • Alternatively you can make this with your hands by rubbing the flour and butter together until you achieve the breadcrumb consistency. Add the water as suggested and form a ball. Don’t knead it like you would with bread.
  • Roll out one half of the pastry dough to 1/2 inch thickness.
  • Using the rolling pin transfer the dough into a 11x3 inch rectangle baking tray, ensuring the pastry is coming up on the sides and cut off the excess pastry dough that hangs over the tray.
  • Poke holes into the dough with a fork (docking) and place a large sheet of baking paper on top of the pastry dough, fill with lentils/legumes/baking beans (this is blind baking).
  • Bake in a preheated oven at 180℃ for 20 mins until the pastry has colored lightly and is dry to the touch.
  • Remove the dried legumes/lentils/baking beans and the baking paper, bake again for 5 mins.

To make the filling -

  • In a sauté pan on medium heat add the butter, onions, leeks, carrots and celery. Sweat on low heat until it has softened.
  • Add the mustard, garlic, peas and corn, stirring well.
  • Add the corn flour and stir again.
  • Add the chicken, herbs, and vinegar. Stir everything around, being gentle.
  • At this stage you can mash up the leftover veg from the stock or add it in directly as it will be very mushy they won’t stay chunky in the filling. I like mashing it up a little. This is an optional step.
  • Add the stock and let the mixture bubble a little, reduce the heat and add the milk, cream and cheese. Stir constantly until everything is combined.
  • Season well.

To assemble

  • Roll out the 2nd half of the pastry dough to 1/4 inch thickness.
  • Pour the filling into the blind baked pastry.
  • Cover with the rolled out pastry dough. And seal the edges with your fingers by pressing into the blin baked pastry.
  • Dock with a fork on the top and brush with cream.
  • Bake at 180℃ for 35-40 mins until the top is golden brown.
  • Let it cool for 20 mins before serving.

Notes

  • Dont forget to dock the pastry dough before baking.
  • You can use store bough chicken stock, or the chicken cube as well instead of making the stock.
  • The leftover stock can be used to make soups like this Broccoli soup or my Pumpkin Soup.

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