Name: Chicken pot pie with puff pastry recipe
Prep time: 25 min
Cook time: 15 min
Total time: 40 min
Yield: Serves: 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 1 leek or onion, thinly sliced; 1 tbsp sunflower oil; ½ tsp dried tarragon; 100ml white wine; 410g can condensed mushroom soup; 250g cooked chicken (leg meat is ideal), shredded; 125g petits pois, or any peas defrosted; 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard; 250g puff pastry; 1 free-range egg, beaten

By Octavia Lillywhite

last updated 21 September 2023

Contributions from

Jessica Ransom

This chicken pot pie with puff pastry is under 500 calories per portion and takes just 40 minutes to prepare and cook.

Joe Wicks chicken pie has a crunchy filo topping but this recipe uses puff pastry for a rich, flaky pie lid. Our pies are filled with leftover chicken and peas but leeks or mushrooms would also work nicely.

Ingredients

1 leek or onion, thinly sliced
1 tbsp sunflower oil
½ tsp dried tarragon
100ml white wine
410g can condensed mushroom soup
250g cooked chicken (leg meat is ideal), shredded
125g petits pois, or any peas defrosted
1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
250g puff pastry
1 free-range egg, beaten

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Method

Heat oven to 200C (180C fan, Gas 6).
In a pan, fry the onion or leek in the oil for 5 minutes until soft but not golden. Add the tarragon and wine then increase heat and cook until reduced by half.
Stir in the soup, chicken, peas and mustard and bring to a simmer. Divide between 4x300ml capacity oven-proof pots or one large pie plate.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out pastry to the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 4 lids, 3cm larger than the pie dishes.
Brush a little egg around the rim of each pot then carefully top with a pastry disc. Lightly press the edges of the pastry to seal and stick to the pie dish.
Brush the pastry liberally with beaten egg and use a sharp knife to cut a steam hole in the centre.
Put the pies on a baking tray and bake for 15-20 minutes until the pastry is deep golden and the filling is piping hot.

Top tips for making chicken pot pie with puff pastry

This is a great 'use it up' recipe. Add in any root vegetables that are lingering at the bottom of your fridge - chopped carrots or parsnip for example. Use any offcuts of the pastry to cut out shapes to decorate the top of your pies. This is an activity kids can help with and will make them excited when it comes to eating their own pie.

What can I put in the filling of a chicken pot pie with puff pastry?

If you don’t like mushroom soup, use a cream of chicken soup instead. Don’t season the filling with salt until the soup is added as you will need to check the seasoning if this before adding more.

Swap the peas for sweetcorn and the tarragon for thyme if you prefer. Dijon mustard will work but you just won’t have the visual flecks of mustard in the filling. You can also use stock instead of wine if you prefer.

Do you have to cook puff pastry before making a pie?

No, in this recipe the puff pastry pie lid will cook in the oven once carefully secured on top of the pie dish. It should take 15 to 20 minutes to turn golden and crisp.

How to cook puff pastry on the bottom of a pie?

You can create a puff pastry slice style pie which has pastry on the top, sides and bottom. Try not to overfill each portion of pastry otherwise it will burst and the bottom won’t be able to puff up and could become soggy.

The best way to assemble a pie in this way is to spread filling on one half of the pastry, brush the edges with some beaten egg then fold over the pastry and press gently to seal. It’s best to do this in the baking tray you want to cook them on as it can be difficult to move once filled.

We’ve ranked the adjustable rolling pin from Joseph Joseph as one of the best kitchen gadgets under £50 because it means you can accurately roll the pastry lids for these pies to the desired thickness.

Once you’ve mastered this recipe, try our chicken and leek pie. You might also like our chicken casserole pot pie or our turkey and mushroom pie is another great option. It’s perfect around Christmas if you have some leftover turkey meat you want to use up.

Octavia Lillywhite is an award-winning food and lifestyle journalist with over 15 years of experience. With a passion for creating beautiful, tasty family meals that don’t use hundreds of ingredients or anything you have to source from obscure websites, she’s a champion of local and seasonal foods, using up leftovers and composting, which, she maintains, is probably the most important thing we all can do to protect the environment.

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