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    Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

    When does chicken pot pie qualify as a quick and easy, 30-minute dinner? When it's SKILLET chicken pot pie, and you make use of a few handy shortcuts.

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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. Our easy chicken pot pie recipe is ready in 30 minutes, and it’s even kind of healthy! 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 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
    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!

    Related Recipes

    Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

    Originally published: January 2, 2017

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

    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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    • Taylor G

      Hi there- I love this recipe! However, every time I make it the puff pastry kind of sinks and gets soaked in the sauce so it doesn’t get crispy. What am I doing wrong? Thanks I’m advance! :)

      Try thawing it out first. Also make sure you add the liquid super slowly so that the sauce it thick and the pastry doesn't sink into it. Good luck! You can also just cover the whole thing with 1 sheet of puff pastry and cut some slits in the top!

    • Littlepage

      What can I substitute for puff pastry?

      You could use pie crust. Hope you enjoy!

    • Dawn

      If I am lactose intolerant, can I leave out milk or use something else?

      You can try subbing a dairy free milk.

    • Kay Peat

      Can you line the cast iron with puffs pastry as well as on top?

      We haven't tried it but In theory yes but you cook this filling in the cast iron so you'd basically have to cook the filling, take it out wash the pan then grease it and lay down the puff pastry so it would take a lot out of this recipe.

    • Susan Platt

      Can you double this recipe and cook in a 9X13 casserole dish?

      Sure!

    • Lara

      Love the skillet idea! Easy since we always have these ingredients on hand!

      Thanks Lara, glad you loved it!

    • Jane

      Absolutely delicious beyond compare!!

      I find it beneficial to make sure the filling is bubbling hot before putting the puff pastry on, as that seems to help cook the pastry from underneath as well.

      Thank you Jane, we are so happy you love this so much!

    • Susan Hankosky

      I made the chicken pot pie from scratch and it turned out awesome! I’m so happy with my cell and I did quite a bit of substitutions like making my own though and using coffee mate instead of cream.

      So glad you like is Susan and so happy your substitutions worked out!

    • Belsea

      Fab one pot dish. Followed recipe exactly with no substitution. Easy to make, all natural ingredients. Key to the dish is to slowly slowly pour in the milk while whisking to make the gravy, then repeat the slow pour with the chicken broth. I boiled 3 chicken breasts, let them cool then cubed. Five star dinner, while family including preschooler, elementary, middle schooler and parents lived this. Our oldest said it tasted like Thanksgiving!

      Thank you so much Belsea, we are so happy your whole family loved it!

    • Donna Huggins

      Delicious! My hubby found your recipe tonight, I had everything but pastry puff so I used crescent rolls. Very easy to make and was so yummy on a cold night! Thanks!!

      Thanks Donna, we are so happy you enjoyed it!