If you’re craving comfort food, homemade chicken pot pie is your answer! This completely from scratch recipe is simple to prepare, features a double crust, and nourishes the soul. For step-by-step photos, scroll to the bottom of this page.
When I’m craving a meal that’s truly comforting, this double crust chicken pot pie recipe hits the spot. It satisfies the soul—and, is surprisingly simple to throw together. We’ll use my favorite homemade pie crust recipe (it’s not just for Thanksgiving pies after all!) for a sturdy crust on the bottom and a golden brown, flaky cloak on top. In between the pie crust layers is a mixture of chicken and veggies topped with a creamy, rich white gravy that is flavored with a little cooked onion, salt, pepper, and thyme. Let’s get started!
This Homemade Chicken Pot Pie Is:
- Satisfying + comforting
- 100% homemade
- Simple to prepare
- Perfect for when you have veggies and meat to use up
- A delicious make-ahead recipe
- Customizable—use your favorite meats and vegetables
Overview: How to Make Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie
For the full recipe and lots of step-by-step photos to walk you through the process, scroll to the bottom of this page.
- Prepare the pie crust and let it chill for at least 2 hours.
- Boil the chicken, carrots, and celery.
- Make the gravy. Cook down the onion with butter and garlic. Whisk in the flour, salt, black pepper, thyme, chicken broth, and half-and-half.
- Divide the pie dough in half. Roll out one half into a 12 inch circle. Carefully place into your pie dish.
- Fill the crust-lined pie dish with the chicken and vegetable mixture. Add the peas, then pour the gravy over the top.
- Roll out the second half of pie dough into a 12 inch circle. Use this pie dough to cover the pie. Seal and crimp the edges, then slice a few small slits in the top crust.
- Brush the top and edges with a beaten egg.
- Bake until golden brown.
Craving a different variation? This biscuit vegetable pot pie isn’t your typical classic pot pie recipe, but it’s quicker and easier. Or for a single crust variation try this turkey pot pie recipe.
Chicken Pot Pie Variations
- Pie Crust: I love using my homemade pie crust recipe for today’s chicken pot pie. Using a combination of butter and shortening yields the flakiest, most tender and buttery crust. For a pie crust made without shortening, try my all butter pie crust. Store bought pie crust or even puff pastry also work!
- Meats: Turkey works wonderfully instead of chicken. If using precooked meat, simply skip the boiling and cook the carrots and celery with the onion and butter.
- Vegetables: Try adding corn (frozen or fresh) when you add the peas. Feel free to add 1 diced Yukon gold potato; cook until soft with the onion and butter. You can also throw in a cup of sliced mushrooms—add them when you cook the onion and butter. I wouldn’t add ALL of these veggies, though, as there isn’t enough gravy for it all. Stick to 2 cups of veggies + 1 potato or less. (Onion doesn’t count!)
- Spices: Taste and season this pot pie how you like! Try adding fresh chopped parsley, a pinch of celery seed, or even a little rosemary (my favorite). As long as there is salt and pepper (definitely thyme too), the extra seasoning in the pot pie is up to you.
Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie
- Prep Time: 2 hours, 50 minutes
- Cook Time: 35 minutes
- Total Time: 3 hours, 25 minutes
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This double crust chicken pot pie is perfect when you’re looking for comfort food and don’t have all the time and energy in the world to whip it up! Make sure you check out the step-by-step photos at the bottom of the page, as well as my notes at the end of this recipe.
Ingredients
- 1 recipe homemade pie crust*
- 1 pound skinless boneless chicken breast, cubed
- 1 cup (about 130g) sliced carrots (about 2 carrots)
- 1/2 cup (about 40g) sliced celery (about 1 stalk)
- 1/3 cup unsalted butter
- 1/3 cup chopped onion
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1 and 3/4 cups chicken broth (I recommend reduced sodium)
- 2/3 cup half-and-half*
- 1 cup frozen peas
- 1 large egg, beaten
- optional: sprigs of fresh thyme for garnish
Instructions
- Prepare the pie crust as directed in my pie crust recipe, including chilling for at least 2 hours. I usually make the crust the night before. The pie crust recipe makes 2 crusts and you’ll be using both crusts.
- In a large saucepan, combine chicken, carrots, and celery. Add water to cover and boil for 12 minutes. Remove from heat, drain, and set aside.
- In a large skillet, cook the butter, onions, and garlic over medium heat, stirring occasionally. Cook until the onions are translucent and the butter is lightly browning. Whisk in the flour, salt, black pepper, thyme, chicken broth, and half-and-half. Cook and whisk until no flour lumps remain, then simmer over medium-low heat until thick. I simmer mine for 10 minutes. You want it to be a very thick gravy; simmer longer if necessary. Taste and add more seasonings if you prefer. Sometimes I add more thyme. Remove from heat and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 425°F (218°C).
- After the pie dough has chilled: On a floured work surface, roll out 1 half of the chilled pie dough. Turn the pie crust dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. Carefully place the dough into a 9-inch pie dish. Tuck it in with your fingers, making sure it is smooth. With a small and sharp knife, trim the extra overhang of dough and discard. Place the chicken mixture on top. Top with frozen peas. Pour gravy over top. Roll out 2nd half of pie crust dough just as you did the first. Cover the pie with the 2nd crust and trim the extra overhang off the sides. Seal the edges by crimping with a fork or your fingers. With a small and sharp knife, slice a few small slits in the top crust for steam to escape. Using a pastry brush, brush crust and edges with beaten egg.
- Bake for 32 – 38 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. I use a pie crust shield to protect the edges from browning too much too soon. Cool for 10 minutes before serving. Makes amazing leftovers– the filling is so thick on the next day! Reheat as desired. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days.
Notes
- Make Ahead & Freezing Instructions: Filling and gravy can be prepared 1 day in advance, cover and chill in the refrigerator. Assemble, fill, and bake the next day as directed. The pie crust dough can be made ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator for up to 5 days or in the freezer for up to 3 months. Thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using. The unbaked OR baked pot pie freezes well for up to 2-3 months. Allow to thaw overnight in the refrigerator and bake as directed or bake to warm through.
- Pie Crust: Two 9-inch frozen (and then thawed) store-bought pie crusts are just fine instead of homemade. Puff pastry works too.
- Cream: Heavy cream or whole milk works instead of half-and-half to make an extra rich filling. I wouldn’t use lower fat milks; the gravy will be too thin.
- Filling Variations: This is a wonderful recipe if you have extra meat or leftover veggies to use up. Turkey works wonderfully instead of chicken. You can use precooked meat. Simply skip the boiling and cook the carrots and celery with the onion and butter. Add some corn (frozen or fresh) when you add the peas. Feel free to add 1 Yukon gold potato, diced. You can cook them until soft with the onion and butter. Mushrooms are great too; you can add 1 cup sliced mushrooms when you cook the onion and butter. I wouldn’t add ALL of these veggies though as there isn’t enough gravy for it all. I don’t recommend going over 2 cups of veggies + 1 potato. (Onion doesn’t count!)
- Spices: Feel free to add fresh chopped parsley, a pinch of celery seed, or even a little rosemary. As long as there is salt and pepper (definitely thyme too), the extra seasoning in the pot pie is up to you. Taste and season how you like!
Keywords: chicken pot pie
As directed in the recipe above, place chicken, celery, and carrots into your pot. Fill with water to cover. Boil for 12 minutes.
As directed above, in a skillet or separate pan, cook down the onion with some butter and minced garlic. Whisk in spices, flour, chicken broth, and half-and-half to make a thick white gravy.
As directed above, roll out homemade pie crust to fit into your 9-inch pie dish (a 9-inch square baking pan works too). Fill with the chicken and vegetable mixture, then top with frozen peas. I add the frozen peas at this point because they lose their vibrant green color when cooked with the chicken in the first step.
Top with creamy gravy, then the other rolled out pie crust. Cut holes in the top to release some steam, crimp down the edges, add the egg wash, and bake!
I used precooked chicken but boiled the carrots and celery in the broth which I reserved for use in the sauce – plus I added green chile to make it New Mexican.
I made this on a cold, rainy day. It was absolutely perfect. My family loved it and requested that it be added to the rotation of frequently made dinners. Thank you for the fabulous recipe!
Hi Sally!
I absolutely love your blog! It is sunny and full of fun! I enjoy reading your style of writing and most of all I love your recipes. I tried out this recipe and I absolutely loved it and eager to make it again. Thanks for the inspiration. I have also started my own blog but not so active in it yet. Your posts encourage me. Thanks!!
I was so focused on telling you how amazing this recipe is that I forgot to ask for clarity on freezing the pie. I reviewed some of the other comments but wanted to confirm. I wanted to freeze a pie for friends of ours who are expecting. Is it best to assemble the pie and then freeze? Or bake and then freeze? If I freeze it before baking, then should they defrost the pie prior to baking? Sorry if you have answered these questions before but I want it to turn out great for them. Thanks!
Hi Kayla! It’s easiest to freeze the baked pot pie. Then your friends (so sweet of you to make it for them!) can cook it from frozen in a 375F oven for 30-40 minutes or until warmed through.
I never leave feedback on food blogs but I just had to on this recipe. Absolutely outstanding! I made the pie crust from scratch for the first time ever and it turned out perfectly! The hubby was so impressed, said it was the best chicken pot pie he’s ever had and definitely his favourite recipe that I’ve ever made (he’s my Pinterest guinea pig).
Thank you!
Hi Sally,
I really enjoy visiting your site especially those thorough comments you provided. It helps me to understand a recipe far easily than those in the other sites. One thing, however, really needs your clarification: the temperature of the oven is based on standard oven or a convection one?
Standard
I have ALWAYS failed when making pastry…no idea why…your pastry recipe was awesome!! I don’t use shortening so I used all butter – my husband said it was the best chicken pot pie EVER!! LOVE your website and have “borrowed” many recipes from it. I look forward to your emails every day. Thank you for making great pastry possible for me!!
This is the best chicken pot pie I have made. It is rich, thick and delicious and I have made my share of pot pies. I used your pie crust and it is to die for. Love, love, love it. Thank you for sharing.
I love the pie crust! Its perfect for chicken pot pie. The first time I made it, I doubled the recipe and I made 4 Large pot pies and K’OD my small family. Lol. However after a bit of manipulation and using my jumbo muffin pan I have managed to make an ndividual size pot pie. The removal from the pan is tiny bit tricky but 350° for 25 -30 mins. One recipe of your crust makes about 6 mini pies.
This was excellent! We loved it. I have always used all shortening in my pie crust. I gave this crust a try, and I am a convert. My husband said it was the best crust I’ve ever made. I just used a top crust on the pot pie, and it was flakey and crunchy. Delicious!
This is the best chicken pot pie recipe and the crust is wonderful. I really would love for you to make a beef pot pie and share. Best comfort food is a good ole pot pie!!!
Hi Sally:
Whoops! that last one was mine. Using the double crusts for this recipe, how do you make sure the bottom cooks and doesn’t turn out soggy and uncooked. Don’t I need to pre-bake the bottom crust a little before filling it
Nope! The crust bakes through quite nicely. This pot pie is in the oven for quite awhile. You can pre-bake if you’d like a crisp bottom crust. Use pie weights to avoid it from shrinking.
All I can say is wow, and thank you. It was such a simple recipe, and my family loved it
I want to make 6 pies worth of the filling to stock my freezer for after my baby is born. Will it work to freeze filling in ziplock freezer bags and then thaw and place in pie shells as I use it? I don’t have freezer space for whole pies.
Yes, you can freeze the filling for up to 2-3 months in freezer bags.
I followed this recipe for dinner tonight and it was amazing! First time I have made chicken pot pie and I was impressed with myself! Will definitely make again but with homemade crust as the store bought ones were small and my filling over flowed
I just made the chicken pot pie. I’ve only tried to make pie crust once and it didn’t turn out so well. This was outside of my comfort zone. It turned out great! The white gravy was amazing! I think I’m going to make biscuits and gravy with this sauce. The filling was scrumptious! Really creamy and full of veggies and meat. The crust came out good too! I’m pretty impressed with myself! I’ll be making this again for sure!
Hi Sally,
Thanks for another stellar recipe. I made this for the first time in December when some family came over: one harsh critic, one happy-go-lucky guy, and me. Let me just say, everyone raved. We have it when the weather gets cooler to fill the house with delicious smelling heat. I make a lot of pies around the holidays for celebrations and family – this one will be a definite addition. The crust is so versatile – I do tend to leave out the shortening and salt, using a salted butter instead. Have you ever tried using a grater to evenly cut your butter for crusts? My grater is a nightmare or I’d have tried it by now. Thoughts?
Thanks so much, for this and your other recipes!
Michelle
Michelle, I’m so happy this recipe passed the test with your family… even that hard critic! I typically use grated butter when I make scones. It is perfectly fine to use grated butter for this pie crust. Grating butter, no matter what, is always a little bit of a nightmare. Start with frozen butter. This makes it somewhat easier. Try to scrape the grater clean of butter when you are done. Hope this helps!
We just ate this for sunday dinner and it was a huge hit. I smiled the whole entire meal. My husband said this is our go to!!!! Thank you so much
I made this last night for my wife and I and it was out of this world. Best chicken pot pie I’ve ever had – and homemade.
Thanks for the recipe.
This is the best pot pie I have ever eaten! This will be replacing my old recipe, it’s so good! Thank you for sharing this!
I made this for dinner tonight and it was a huge hit with my family of 5. It was so delicious and full of flavor. I used a cut up rotisserie chicken and store bought pie crust which made it super easy. I will definitely be making this again!!
Thank you!
Just made 2 of these- one to eat now and one to freeze! I added 1.5 russet potatoes to each and only used 1/4 t thyme. Otherwise made exact and it was delicious! I saw in another comment how to re- heat after frozen, but can I ask how you freeze yours so they don’t get freezer burn? Thanks Sally! 🙂
Julie, I recommend double wrapping this pot pie if you can. Like a double layer of plastic wrap or aluminum foil, then store in a container or plastic freezer bag. That should help!
Hi I am gonna make the pie and I’m wondering if it would be OK to just use the pie top and not the bottom? I want to make two with just the tops.
That’s just fine! You do not need a bottom crust here.
i made this last night for dinner and i have to say it was my favorite recipe from this blog! i cannot get over how much it tasted like the real thing! thank you so much!
This pie was just diviiiine, the pie crust especially. I could just eat the crust on it’s own. Thank you so much!
I made this last night and it was amazing. I don’t usually use shortening but I had some on hand so I gave it a go, and it was the flakiest crust ever! Thanks for the recipe.
Made this tonight for dinner. It was delicious. Thanks, Sally! I still need to try your homemade crust…. With two little ones, it was store bought crust for me. Thanks again!
Kid and husband approved! It was delicious and we will be using this recipe again. Thanks for sharing!
Thank you so much for this user-friendly recipe! The boyfriend said it was one of the “top five” things I’ve ever made. High praise!
Made this tonight with leftover chicken and it’s incredible. I added other random veggies I had on hand. Perfect base 🙂