Chicken Potpie
This delicious chicken potpie recipe from award-winning Boston pastry chef Joanne Chang folds white-meat chicken, peas, carrots, and potatoes into flaky pie dough. It’s the perfect winter comfort dish!
By Yankee Magazine|Feb 25 2022|
Coffee By Design | Portland, Maine
Photo Credit : Katherine KeenanAward-winning Boston pastry chef Joanne Chang credits her former executive chef, Corey Johnson, with this chicken potpie recipe. “He made this as a dinner special one cold blustery December week, and it sold so quickly that it became a staple on our dinner menu,” she says. Starting with good chicken stock, preferably homemade, the pie folds white-meat chicken, peas, carrots, and potatoes into Chang’s signature pie dough. You can assemble this pie and freeze it, then bake it right from the freezer (just add 10 to 15 minutes of baking time).
From “Winter Baking with Joanne Chang,” January/February 2020
Yield:
8 servingsIngredients
1 recipe Extra-Flaky Pastry
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 medium onion, peeled and diced
1 celery stalk, sliced
1 large carrot, peeled and sliced thin
1 small russet potato, scrubbed clean, unpeeled, diced
1 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into 1- or 2-inch dice
5 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 ½ cups chicken stock
1 cup fresh or frozen peas
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 ½ teaspoons kosher salt
½ teaspoon ground black pepper
2 tablespoons heavy cream
1 egg, for egg wash
Instructions
Make the Extra-Flaky Pastry and chill for 1 hour. Remove it from the fridge about 15 minutes before using.
On a well-floured work surface, roll out ²⁄3 of the pastry dough into a circle about 12 inches in diameter and 1⁄8 inch thick. (Reserve the remaining dough for the top.) Roll the dough circle around the pin and then unfurl it on top of a deep-dish 9-inch pie dish. Press the dough gently into the bottom and sides of the pan, leaving a ¼-inch lip to allow for shrinkage in the oven. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Preheat the oven to 350° and place a rack in the center. Line the pie shell with parchment, fill with pie weights, and bake until light brown, 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from the oven; leave the oven set at 350°. Remove the weights and the parchment.
Meanwhile, in a large saucepan, heat the butter over medium-high heat until it foams. Add the diced onion and cook until it softens up a bit, 2 to 3 minutes. Add celery, carrot, and potato. Stir until the vegetables start to soften, about 4 minutes, then add the diced chicken. Continue to stir over medium-high heat for another 2 to 3 minutes, until the chicken pieces start to turn white. Stir in the flour, mix to coat all of the meat and vegetables, and cook for about 2 to 3 more minutes. By this time it will start to look a bit sludgy, and there should be a brown film forming on the bottom of the pan. Add the chicken stock, and bring to a simmer. Add the peas, thyme, salt, pepper, and heavy cream and stir well. Simmer for about 5 minutes until the filling thickens, scraping up the stuff on the bottom of the pan. Remove from heat and spoon filling into prebaked pie shell.
Roll out the remaining dough into a circle about 10 inches in diameter and ¹⁄8 inch thick. Roll the dough circle around the pin and then unfurl it over the filled pie shell, with the edge of the circle overhanging the edge of the pan by ¼ to ½ inch (you will trim off this excess once the pie is baked). Brush the top crust evenly with a beaten egg and poke a hole in the center to let steam escape. Place the pie on a baking sheet to catch any overflow. Bake for about 30 minutes or until the entire top crust is golden brown. Let cool on a wire rack for about 30 minutes before serving and trim any excess pie crust with a small paring knife.
I make these pies with only a top crust to cut the calories and fat. It’s a bit messy to serve but still delicious!
Sounds delicious, but anything with a crust is not PotPie. It is chicken Pie.
Whose rule is this?
A pot pie is a type of meat pie with a top pie crust consisting of flaky pastry. The term is used in North America.
Can you freeze this? If so, freeze before baking?
Yes, as it stated in the very beginning of the recipe
I have created a chicken pie that is simply awesome. My fried is a chef and we have made a sauce that is not what you find in regular pies. We sell them and much repeat business. Laurel
Where is the Flaky crust recipe ?
Hi there. Joanne Chang’s Extra-Flaky Pastry recipe is hyperlinked in both the ingredients list and directions. You can also find it here: https://newengland.com/today/food/desserts/pies-pastries/joanne-chang-extra-flaky-pastry-pate-brisee/
Would frozen puff pastry work if used in the same way?
CAN USE COOKED CHICKEN
I don’t know what my “pot pie” recipe should actually be called, but I really enjoy biscuits for topping the dish. I pat out the dough to the shape of my dish then cut it into serving size “biscuits”. Biscuits allow more topping per bite to soak up the sauce.
I am sorry to say that I bake Chicken Pot pies using a self developed recipe that will put this recipe to shame. I use home made chicken broth. Chicken thighs for additional flavor rather than breast meat sauce made with broth and a healthy portion of heavy cream. I leave out the potatoes which become mushy but use baby lima beans and portobello mushrooms. It gets glowing reviews from family and friends.
Could a vegetarian version be made? ie: with Tofu?
Funny. Funny. Some of you just have to tell your stories of pot pie. This is Joanne Chang’s. She’s an awesome cook. Learned about her from her extra flaky pie crust. I trust anything she makes or recommends. So glad Corey made it and you have added it to your staples!! Sounds wonderful. Julie
I PUT A LAYER OF SAUSAGE STUFFING IN THE BOTTOM CRUST, THEN THE FILLING AND TOP CRUST. MAKE IT AFTER HOLIDAYS WITH LEFTOVERS.
A pot pie has a crust only on top, while a chicken pie has a top and bottom crust.
My Nana made the best Chicken pie. It’s a family favorite . The secret ingredient is love .
Just to clarify, the bottom crust gets thoroughly baked before putting in the ingredients and adding the top crust? It doesn’t get overcooked when baking for another 30 minutes?
We cook an extra turkey and gravy at Thanksgiving to make pot pies for the freezer, using frozen peas and carrots. We make the filling stirring the veggies and cut up meat into hot gravy, then ladle into individual aluminum small loaf pans with a flaky top crust pastry, and immediate freeze them in ziplock freezer bags. I bake them without defrosting in the toaster oven at 325degF until the pastry is golden, by which time the filling is done but you can always check w a thermometer probe. Homemade cran-orange relish on the side. Great answer to “What’s for supper?” when we haven’t made it to the store yet.