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Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Our skillet chicken pot pie makes use of a few handy shortcuts, including puff pastry from the freezer, to cut down on prep time while still delivering a homey comforting classic

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puff pastry chicken pot pie with vegetables made in a skillet

The Epic Comfort of Chicken Pot Pie, Any Night of the Week.

As hearty as the most labor-intensive of Sunday suppers, this super fast skillet chicken pot pie recipe is all bang, no buck. Because this skillet pot pie recipe relies on whole milk instead of cream, and is loaded with lean chicken breast and vegetables like carrots, celery and peas, it definitely counts as a balanced meal. Sure, there’s some butter in there—OK, a fair amount of butter—so it’s not as light as a rice bowl or dinner salad, but it’s a filling supper you can feel good about feeding your family. Especially on a dark and stormy night, when all you want is to fill those bellies with warmth and comfort.

ingredients laid out for Skillet Chicken Pot Pie carrots, onions, chicken stock, milk, celery, peas, butter, flour

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butter, carrots, onion and celery sautéed in a cast iron skillet
butter, carrots, onion and celery sautéed in a cast iron skillet with flour and seasoning.
butter, carrots, onion and celery sautéed in a cast iron skillet with flour and seasoning and a wooden spoon.
butter, carrots, onion and celery sautéed in a cast iron skillet with chicken stock and milk added

A Classic Chicken Pot Pie Filling That’s Ready Fast.

We’re not trying to break the mold with this easy chicken pot pie recipe. Quite the opposite. We wanted to craft a homey, classic, comforting pot pie that you can make in no time flat. With a store-bought pot pie crust—we just use store-bought frozen puff pastry—all you’ll need to do is make a filling. But, even the pot pie filling relies on some simple shortcuts to make your life just that much easier. Here’s what you’ll need:

  • Chicken! Save yourself major time by using one of those already-cooked rotisserie chickens from the grocery store.
  • Vegetables! Carrots, celery, frozen peas and onions.
  • Seasoning! Celery seed and garlic powder—a perfectly retro combo and just right in this skillet pot pie. Salt and pepper, of course. If you’d like to add it, a sprinkling of fresh thyme is nice, too.
  • Liquid! Broth and milk are thickened with a little flour to make a creamy chicken pot pie sauce.
chicken and frozen peas being added a homemade chicken pot pie in a cast iron skillet
Skillet Chicken Pot Pie filling in a cast iron pan
puff pastry topped chicken pot pie being brushed with and egg wash
golden brown homemade Chicken Pot Pie in a cast iron pan

How To Make Chicken Pot Pie

This skillet chicken pot pie is easy as...well...pie. It’s a one pot meal that utilizes some pro quick dinner tips and results in a beautiful and homey dish that the whole family can be really excited about. We like to the assembly as a four-step process:

  1. Make a super-flavorful roux! Onion is cooked in butter until it's really fragrant, and then you make sort of a seasoned paste by adding flour, salt, pepper, celery seed, garlic powder and thyme. Voila! You made a roux! Roux just means a fat-flour mixture that serves as the base for making a creamy sauce.
  2. Make a sauce! Milk and then stock are added slowly to the roux. As you add the milk and stock, the roux will become a creamy sauce. Stir the chicken and vegetables into the sauce to finish the filling—you can add the peas frozen! No need to pre-cook them.
  3. Crust time! Grab your puff pastry—slightly defrosted so that you can work with it—and you can create a lattice top if you're feeling fancy, or just place one large pastry sheet on top of the skillet full of pot pie filling. If you choose to use just one sheet of pastry for the top, be sure to cut a few slits into it for the steam to escape while baking. Here, we even cut the pastry into squares and overlapped them.
  4. Bake! No explanation necessary, right?
golden brown homemade Chicken Pot Pie in a cast iron pan

Tools You’ll Need:

Other Easy Weeknight, One-Pan Chicken Recipes:

One-pan, easy chicken dinners are kind of our thing (if you hadn’t noticed.) Here are a few of our very favorites:

golden brown homemade Chicken Pot Pie in a cast iron pan with a scoop taken out with a spoon.

Homemade Chicken Pot Pie—Easier Than You Thought?

There are certain dishes that have gained a reputation as fussy or a lot of work, and pot pie is one of them. We’re hoping this easy recipe changes that a little bit, and makes homemade chicken pot pie something that feels within your reach now! Let us know how yours turned out! Snap a photo of your skillet chicken pot pie, and maybe even a video of the beautiful people you feed it to. Tag us on Instagram using @themodernproper and #themodernproper. Happy eating!

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

  • Serves: 8
  • Prep Time:  15 min
  • Cook Time:  45 min
  • Calories: 457

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup butter (1 stick)
  • 2 cups carrots, 1/4 inch sliced
  • 1 cup celery, 1/4 inch sliced
  • 1 cup onion, chopped
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1/2 tsp celery seed
  • 1 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme, minced (optional)
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • 2 cups chicken stock
  • 2 cups peas, frozen
  • 4 cups cooked chicken (3 chicken breasts, pre cooked or rotisserie)
  • 1 package frozen puff pastry, slightly thawed
  • 1 egg (for pastry wash)

Method

  1. Heat oven to 425°F.
  2. Melt the butter in a 12” inch cast iron (or other oven proof) skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, celery, carrots to the butter and sauté for 5 minutes, until the onions are tender and translucent.
  3. Add the flour, salt, pepper, celery seed, garlic powder and thyme to the butter and vegetables creating a thick paste. Sauté for 2 minutes.
  4. Slowly add the milk. Once the milk is fully incorporated, slowly add the chicken stock. Simmer, whisking continuously until mixture has slightly thickened.
  5. Add the peas and chicken to the sauce.
  6. Roll out one pastry sheet into a 16-inch square on a lightly floured surface. Cut into 26 (3-inch) squares. Place the squares, slightly overlapping on top of the chicken mixture.
  7. In a small bowl, whisk the egg with 1 tbsp water. Brush the egg wash over the puff pastry. Place in the oven for 25 minutes until pastry is golden brown and filling is bubbling. If it is browning too quickly, cover with foil after it gets as dark as you'd like.

Nutrition Info

  • Per Serving
  • Amount
  • Calories457
  • Protein19 g
  • Carbohydrates32 g
  • Total Fat25 g
  • Dietary Fiber4 g
  • Cholesterol117 mg
  • sodium526 mg
  • Total Sugars6 g

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Questions & Reviews

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  • Jace

    Why does the cook time (in the number of servings block above the ingredients list) state to cook 45 min while in step 7 of the directions (below the ingredients list) it states to cook for 25 min? Does it matter?

    THe total cook time (45) includes saute time , bake time etc... The 25 minutes in step 7 is just the baking time. Hope you enjoy!

  • Nicole

    What’s the best way to make this without the rotisserie chicken? They’re not available at my store. Should I sauté some breasts or thighs? Or just roast the chicken separately in the oven first?

    Yes, you can just cook chicken breast in the oven first. You an check out our "shredded chicken" recipe and use that one if you'd like to. Hope you enjoy!

  • dede

    do you not have to let the filling cool before topping with the puff pastry?

    Nope! no need to cool. Hope you enjoy Dede!

  • Jen

    Can I sub 1% milk for the whole milk if that’s what I have on hand?

    It might not get as thick as it needs to be with the 1%.

  • Jeana

    What would you recommendation be for reheating in the oven? Cover in foil? At a certain temp, for how long? Thanks!

    350F, covered in foil for about 30 minutes or until hot all the way through. Hope you enjoy!

  • Al

    I used my own filling recipe but wanted to try this because of the puff pastry topping. Came out picture perfect! I baked mine for 30 min at 400F. Found it to be just right. Looks like something out of the magazine. Thank you for the recipe.

    Thanks, we are so happy you loved it!

  • Suze

    This is the best chicken pot pie I’ve ever had. I added a bit of sage because I love sage and used six personal-sized cast iron pans. I will be making this again and again. Thanks for a great recipe!

    Thanks Suze, we are so glad you loved it!

  • Lea

    An excellent pot pie! The best recipe I've found on the internet so far and so simple. I made mine with a standard, butter pie crust (250g flour, 1/2 cup melted butter, 1 egg yolk, 50ml of water- mix it up, roll it out, can't go wrong!) and used turnips instead of celery. Modern proper is becoming my go-to for simple but super tasty and very reliable recipes.

    Thanks, so glad you loved it! It's so exciting to hear we are becoming your go to!!

  • Sanders

    Great recipe! I substituted the fresh vegetables for canned mixed veggies but kept the recipe the same. Only thing I did differently was to let the roux start with my cooked chicken drippings and onion and then added veggies when it was already thickening a bit. So so good! Thank you!

    Thanks, so happy you loved it!

  • Courtney

    Made this tonight and it was amazing! Perfect meal for a cold rainy day.

    Thanks Courtney, glad you loved it!