This isnโt the usual sweet dessert pie you see on this website, but itโs certainly worthy of attention. Today weโre making pot pie in a skillet โ where leftover veggies and chicken or turkey meat come together in an ovenproof skillet. Topped with a buttery pie crust, this easy skillet pot pie is everything youโd want and expect from a one-pan meal.
I often find that comfort is born out of familiarity, especially when it comes to our favorite recipes. Here, I combine leftover chicken or turkey with nutritious vegetables and simmer them in a generously seasoned and creamy stock. Once cooked, the rich, delicious filling is foiled in buttery pie pastry.
I used my traditional chicken pot pie recipe as the base but made a few key adjustments to save time. These few tricks actually cut the work in half! Try them for yourself:
- Prepare everything in 1 pan
- Use leftover veggies and turkey or chicken
- Cover with homemade or store-bought frozen pie crust
I highly recommend you stock your refrigerator or freezer with pie crust NOW. Simply shape pie dough into discs, wrap each in plastic wrap, and store them in the freezer. I can produce 6 pie crusts in 30 minutes. I always have crust on hand for, you know, pie-mergencies. Obviously.
Tell Me About This Skillet Pot Pie
- Texture: Tender bites of chicken or turkey, hearty vegetables, and flaky, buttery pastry make a winning combination. Trust me, this pot pie will put a smile on your face.
- Flavor: You need the carrots + celery + onion as the base, but you can have a little fun with the extra veggies: peas, bell peppers, mushrooms, broccoli, cauliflower, leeks, corn, etc. I used mushrooms + frozen peas + leftover rotisserie chicken. This recipe is perfect for using up the extra meat and veggies lingering in the refrigerator, including leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
- Ease: This is a relatively easy homemade dinner recipe. It’s customizable based on ingredients you have/love. You also don’t have to mess with a bottom pie crust and the entire recipe cooks in just 1 pan. Let the filling cool for at least 10 minutes before topping it with the pie crust. Donโt worry too much about perfecting the pie topping: you want it to look rustic, but more to the point, it will lose its integrity once itโs cut and served.
Overview: How to Make Skillet Pot Pie
The full printable recipe is below, but letโs walk through it so you understand each step before you get started.
- Prepare the pie crust. You can use your favorite recipe for pie dough or use a store-bought crust. We use and recommend this homemade pie crust recipe. The recipe yields enough for 2 crusts and you just need 1 here, so I recommend using the 2nd pie crust for another single crust pie or keeping it in the freezer for another time you make this skillet pot pie meal.
- Cook down the vegetables. Grab your skillet, cook down some carrots + celery + garlic + onion. Add seasonings + flour to soak up the liquid. The flour will also help thicken the pot pie filling.
- Add remaining ingredients. This when youโll add the chicken broth, milk, vegetables, and cooked chicken or turkey. Set it aside for at least 10 minutes to cool down. The gravy gets wonderfully thick and we didnโt even use cream.
- Roll out the dough. Roll out the pie dough a little larger than the diameter of your pan. Cut slits in the top to form steam vents, crimp or flute the edges to seal, and lightly brush the top of the pie dough with an egg wash.
- Bake. Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
If pie crust isn’t your thing, feel free to top with biscuits just as we do when making this biscuit vegetable pot pie.
A Kitchen Essential: The Ovenproof Skillet
If you havenโt invested in a cast-iron or ovenproof skillet yet, get one now! You can make everything from crispy honey skillet cornbread and cornbread chili casserole to flaky biscuits, frittata, or a fruit-studded blackberry peach skillet cornmeal cake. Add a hearty skillet pot pie to the equation and youโll wonder how you lived so long without one. This pot pie is the ultimate comfort food: as cozy as flannel jammies and (almost) as delicious as grandmaโs version. All you need is one pan and youโre all set for dinner.
If you don’t have a skillet, you can follow the assembly and baking instructions for this turkey pot pie.
Do you see all those beautiful chunks and swirls of butter in the pie crust below? Thatโs a good thing. This is an odd thing to shout but YOU WANT CHUNKS! Visible chunks of butter mean (1) you didnโt overwork the dough and (2) more flakes. If you overwork the dough, youโre breaking the butter down too much and will miss out on a flaky crust. So… do less work.
More Favorite Dinner Recipes
- Honey Teriyaki Chicken
- Slow Cooker Chicken Chili
- Crab Cakes
- Creamy Chicken Noodle Soup
- Pumpkin Chili
- Baked Chicken Meatballs
- Vegetarian Shepherdโs Pie
Skillet Pot Pie
- Prep Time: 3 hours
- Cook Time: 55 minutes
- Total Time: 4 hours
- Yield: serves 8
- Category: Dinner
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Description
This easy skillet pot pie is a delicious one pan dinner for your family. It’s hearty and satisfying and you can use chicken or leftover Thanksgiving turkey!
Ingredients
- Store-bought or homemade pie crustย (myย recipe makes 2 crusts; you can halve the crust recipeย or freeze the 2nd half)
- 2 Tablespoons (28g) unsalted butter
- 1/3ย cup chopped onion
- 2 teaspoons minced garlic
- 1ย cup sliced carrots (about 2 carrots)
- 3/4 cup sliced celery (about 1–2 stalks)
- 1/4 cup (31g) all-purpose flour
- 1 and 1/2 teaspoons dried thyme leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/2ย teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups regular or reduced sodium chicken broth
- 1/2 cup whole milk*
- 2 cups vegetables*
- 2–3 cups cooked shredded or cubed chicken or turkey
- egg wash:ย 1 large egg beaten with 1 Tablespoon (15ml) milk
Instructions
- The crust: Prepare my pie crust recipe through step 5. Do this in advance to save time!
- Heat the butter in a 10โ12-inch oven-safe skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Cook for 5 minutes or until vegetables have softened and released some liquid. Add flour, thyme, salt, and pepper. Stir and cook for 2 minutes as the flour soaks up the liquid.
- Pour in the chicken broth and milk. Bring to a boil, reduce heat to low and allow to simmer for 5 minutes. Gravy will thicken. Stir in the vegetables and chicken/turkey. Cook for 1 more minute. Remove from heat and allow to slightly cool for 10 minutes (and up to 1 dayโcover and store in the refrigerator).
- Preheat oven to 375ยฐF (191ยฐC).
- Roll out the chilled pie dough:ย On a floured work surface, roll out one of theย discsย of chilled dough (you can freeze the 2nd for later use, see note). Turn the dough about a quarter turn after every few rolls until you have a circle 12 inches in diameter. If your skillet is 12 inches, roll out the pie dough to about 13 inches so it fits.ย Carefully lay the dough over the filling. Cut slits in the top to form steam vents.ย Crimp or flute the edges to seal.ย Lightly brush the top of the pie crust with the eggย wash.
- Bake for 35โ40 minutes or until the top of the crust is golden brown. After the first 20 minutes of bake time, I place aย pie crust shieldย on top of the skillet toย prevent the edges of crust from burning.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Leftovers keep well in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 5 days. Reheat as desired.
Notes
- Make Ahead Instructions: Filling canย be preparedย 1 day in advance, cover and chill in the refrigerator as noted in step 3. Continue with the recipe and bakeย the next day as directed. You can also prepare and freeze the filling for up to 3 months. Thaw before covering with crust and baking. The pie crust dough canย 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.
- ย Special Tools (affiliate links):ย 10- to 12-inch Oven-Safe Skillet | Rolling Pin | Pastry Brush | Pie Crust Shield
- Milk: Use whole milk and avoid lower fat milks because the gravy/filling will not thicken as much. Plain unsweetened oat milk works best as a nondairy milk replacement.
- Vegetables: I use 1 cup of frozen peas and 1 cup of sliced mushrooms. Other vegetables that work are chopped fresh or frozen broccoli, cauliflower, zucchini, leeks, bell peppers, kale, and/or corn.
Reader Comments and Reviews
Had smoked turkey left over from Thanksgiving, and I canโt help but think that the smoked flavor only added to the rich flavors. Will DEFINITELY be making this again!
Sounds delicious!
Would this recipe work with your all-butter pie crust?
Hi Elizabeth, absolutely! Our all butter pie crust will work here as well.
I made this and my family loved it! I was wondering how it would work with puff pastry on top?
Definitely!
Why not use a regular pie dish? it would be easier to store in the fridge.
Hi Thomas, we fear that a pie dish could overflow as this recipe is written for a larger skillet. You could use the filling from this double crust chicken pot pie (made in a pie dish) instead!
Would I be able to make this in a 9×13 pan? Unfortunately I only have a 10 in cast iron skillet right now.
Hi Sara, this recipe isn’t large enough to fit in a 9×13 inch pan. Do you have anything slightly smaller?
I have a 2.5 qt circular casserole dish. Or the usual 8×8 pan. Or a 10x10x2 corningware dish.
Delicious! I used 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables, and a bit more chicken. I had a pie crust in the freezer that I made using your recipe. This meal did not last long at all!
Hi Sally,
Love all your recipes, they turn out so good. I want to check if I can use an all clad steel skillet or dutch oven instead of cast iron skillet. I only have a 12″ cast iron skillet which would be a lot for two people.
Hi Mahija, as long as your steel skillet is safe for the oven, that should work just fine. We’d recommend that over the Dutch oven.
Hi
Would it work to make this filling and put it in a glass pie dish and top with a single crust?
Thanks
Hi Wilma! My only fear is that you pie dish could overflow as this recipe is written for a larger skillet. You could use the filling from this double crust chicken pot pie (made in a pie dish) instead!
Hey! Just made this and my husband and I LOVE it. However with just the 2 of us there are plenty of leftovers. Any tips on the best way to store and reheat leftover pot pie in a skillet? Thanks!
So excited to try this! Iโve had my eye on it for months. Question…if using frozen veggies, do we cook/steam them first or dump them in frozen? Thanks!
Hi Melissa, you’ll sautรฉ the vegetables (right from frozen) in step 2. Would love to know how this recipe turns out for you!
So delicious!!! I used Costco rotisserie chicken, store bought pie crust, and frozen chopped vegetablesโbasically as many convenience foods as possible and it still turned out AMAZING! Next time I think Iโll use a lighter hand on the pepper and thyme for personal preference but there will definitely be many next times!
Delicious!!! My husband would not stop raving about this recipe. I had an older pie dough in the freezer that I needed to use, and it was not my best work. It was Sally’s all butter pie crusts. I don’t believe I added enough water and my butter was too chunky. I thought this rustic pot pie would be the perfect application for my not so perfect crust, and I was right.
I also goofed by breaking rule number one – I didn’t read through the entire recipe before starting. After the filling is prepared, step three the call for it to be cooled for 10 minutes. I didn’t have the 10 minutes so I moved forward with the recipe. Also, because my cast iron skilled was hot I rolled my dough about an inch smaller than the skillet and layed my dough on the hot filling and in the oven it went. It baked up beautifully and was so yummy, and flaky, and delicious, and comforting. I will definitely be making this again soon.
I made this for dinner tonight, substituting olive oil for butter, almond milk for cowโs milk, and a frozen pie crust from Whole Foods instead of a homemade one. There were no fresh carrots, so I used a mixture of frozen peas and carrots. It was delicious!! My husband I both loved it.
Have you ever made it with pie crust on the bottom as well?
Hi Vanessa, This is my recipe for Double Crust Chicken Pot Pie.
I had leftover turkey from Christmas dinner, and a pie crust from Thanksgiving in the freezer, so this was PERFECT!!! So delicious that I want to make another pie crust to have on hand when a pot pie craving sets in.
Thanks Sally for another wonderful dish to use up leftover turkey from our Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a hit!
It was great! I have a larger skillet (maybe 13 inches?) and will be doubling the filling next time as it was a little thin. Love this concept. Also I did 2 cups peas and it was a bit much so I would suggest doing a mix of veggies. Added fresh rosemary and poultry seasoning as well. Thanks!
I’m thinking of topping this with your cheddar biscuits instead…do you think there would be enough room to cook them in a 101/2″ pan or should I go to a 12″? Also cooking time suggestions? Thanks so much Sally…You’re the Greatest!!!
Hi Pattie! The 10.5 inch skillet should be large enough, but just to be safe– I recommend trying the 12 inch skillet. It’s better to have a little more room than have the pot pie overflow.
Absotuley delicious! My husband requested it again in less than a week ๐
This is baking in my oven right now, and I canโt wait to eat it! I snuck a taste of the filling before covering it with the dough and it was delicious! This was a quick and easy pot pie, much simpler than previous recipes Iโve made, and equally delicious if the filling alone is any indication! I also loved the pie crust recipe. Iโve been making homemade pies for almost 10 years, and this was by far the easiest dough to work with thus far. I think this will be my new go-to crust recipe too! Thanks Sally!
Made this last night, but omitted the chicken and increased the veggie count (mushrooms and peas). It was delicious! I think you could definitely use a veggie stock to make it completely vegetarian and the flavor would still be delicious. Used my 12 inch Lodge cast iron so I used both pie dough discs for the top for a thicker crust. This will be a great recipe to rotate different veggies in and it will never get old!
Just made this with my leftover turkey from Thanksgiving! Used mushrooms and green beans as my extra veggies. Absolutely loved itโmy grandma could not stop telling me how good it was! Also loved that it didnโt feel like I was having the same thing over again, but a new meal. I also found it pretty easy since I made the pie crust ahead of time. Thanks for a great recipe, Sally!ย
I just made this with leftover turkey and it was so delicious! My fiance took a quarter of the pan for his second helping, ha! Pot pie is my favorite dinner and I think this is my new go-to recipe. It’s so much easier than my regular one – I love that everything is done in one pot. I also made your pie crust for the first time and that turned out great as well. I really appreciate all the make-ahead and freezer tips, they really help me with planning ahead!
Do you think it would affect the recipe to bake this pot pie at 425 degrees instead of 375? Just looking for ways to cut back on time a bit.
I’m so glad you enjoyed this pot pie. It’s wonderful with leftover meat. Since the filling is already cooked, all you’re really doing is cooking the crust. Which can definitely cook at a higher oven temperature. The time will be less, obviously. Thanks for reporting back!