Homemade Chicken Pot Pie Recipe (Buttermilk Crust)
- Preparation 40 min
- Refrigeration 45 min
- Cooking 45 min
- Servings 6 to 8
- Freezing Absolutely
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🥧 A chicken pot pie that finally tastes like something!
This pie takes me straight back to Christmas at my grandparents’ house. Their chicken pies were creamy, well salted and full of flavor, with a crust that shattered into flakes the second you cut in. I loved that crust so much I’d finish whatever everybody else left on their plates! This one is all of that. The sauce tastes like something, the chicken tastes like something, and the buttermilk crust leaves crumbs all over the table. Best part: build the whole pie, freeze it unbaked, and it’s waiting for you the night you want it.
🧈 A buttermilk crust that bakes up in flaky layers
The secret is the rolling pin. Instead of cutting the butter into small bits, you flatten it into thin sheets right on the counter. In the oven, every sheet of butter turns to steam and lifts the dough into layers. That’s what gives you a flaky crust that crackles under the fork. Fifteen minutes in the freezer, ice-cold buttermilk, half an hour in the fridge, and you’re ready to roll. No food processor, no special tools: a bowl and your two hands.
🍗 Seared chicken thighs, not boiled chicken
I season raw chicken thighs with smoked paprika and Italian seasoning and sear them over high heat before they ever touch the sauce. Thighs carry about three times the fat of breasts, so they stay juicy even after 45 minutes in the oven. The sauce simmers until it’s VERY thick, and that’s what keeps the bottom crust crisp. After a ten-minute rest, the slice still runs a little on the plate. That’s what a real creamy pot pie is supposed to do.
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🧊 Everything stays cold until it hits the oven
Very cold butter, very cold buttermilk, and those fifteen minutes in the freezer aren’t optional. It’s the butter that’s still solid that turns to steam in the oven, and it’s the steam that makes the flakes. If you feel the butter going soft under the rolling pin, put everything back in the freezer for a few minutes and keep going. Dough that got warm gives you a flat crust, not one that shatters.
🥄 Flour with a spoon, sauce with a whisk
When the flour hits the vegetables, I stir it with a spoon, not a whisk, and let it cook for a minute. That minute is what gets rid of the raw flour taste. The broth and cream only come in after, and that’s when I grab the whisk to smooth out the lumps. Careful, over medium-high heat the sauce thickens fast: drop to medium-low and stop when it’s very thick, somewhere between two and five minutes. Then salt and pepper generously. That’s the moment your sauce starts tasting like something.
⏱️ Twenty minutes of rest for the filling
Never pour a scalding filling into the crust. Let it cool off the heat for twenty minutes, while the oven preheats. A filling that’s too hot softens the bottom dough before it even gets into the oven. With a properly thick sauce and that rest, my bottom crust came out crisp without any blind baking.
🔥 No baking sheet under the dish
The reflex is to set the pie on a baking sheet to catch drips. I don’t: the sheet blocks the heat from below, and the bottom is exactly what needs it. I slide a sheet of foil onto the rack underneath instead. And if the edges of your crust brown too fast, cover them with a strip of foil. I didn’t need it, but keep it handy just in case.
🍗 Chopped, not shredded
Once the chicken is cooked, I chop it coarsely on the board. Shredded, it disappears into the sauce. In pieces, you taste it in every bite, browned edges and all. To be sure it’s done, look for 165°F in the center of a piece, and keep my meat and fish cooking temperature guide close by.
📅 Getting ahead
This pie comes together in pieces, and that’s what makes it easy to serve to company. Both discs of dough can be made the day before and wait in the fridge, well wrapped. The onion, carrots, celery and garlic can be cut the night before too, in labeled containers. You can even make the whole filling and keep it cold: a cold filling is even better for the bottom crust. What waits until the last minute is the assembly and the egg wash, otherwise the sauce starts soaking the dough. Assemble, slide it in, and by the time your people walk in, the whole house smells like chicken pot pie.
🫙 Frozen in slices for school lunches
I freeze leftovers in slices in a plastic container and pull them out for my kids’ lunches. It might not be the prettiest version, the crust loses a bit of its crunch, but it’s every bit as good. My kids never notice the difference. In the fridge, the baked pie keeps three to four days.
✅ What to serve with my homemade chicken pot pie?
A pot pie wants something sharp next to it. My homemade pickled beets and my homemade fruit ketchup were made for it: the acidity cuts through the cream and the salt of the sauce. For something fresh, a white balsamic arugula salad does the job nicely. And if you want to go all out, my maple glazed carrots bring a sweet note that works great against a sauce this savory.
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Buttermilk crust
- 2 ½ cups (625 ml / 350 g) all-purpose flour
- 1 tbsp (15 ml) sugar
- 1 tsp (5 ml) sea salt
- 1 cup (250 ml) very cold unsalted butter, cubed
- ½ cup (125 ml) very cold buttermilk
- 1 to 2 tbsp (15 to 30 ml) ice water, as needed
Chicken
- 1 ½ lb (680 g) boneless chicken thighs, cut into cubes
- 2 tbsp (30 ml) olive oil
- 1 tsp (5 ml) sea salt
- 1 tsp (5 ml) Italian seasoning
- 1 tsp (5 ml) mild smoked paprika
- ½ tsp (2 ml) ground black pepper
- ½ tsp (2 ml) onion powder
- ½ tsp (2 ml) garlic powder
Filling
- 3 tbsp (45 ml) olive oil
- 1 small yellow onion, finely chopped
- 2 medium carrots, sliced
- 1 celery stalk, sliced
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped
- ⅓ cup (80 ml) all-purpose flour
- 1 ¾ cups (430 ml) chicken broth
- ½ cup (125 ml) 35% cream
- ½ tsp (2 ml) dried thyme
- ½ tsp (2 ml) dried parsley
- ½ tsp (2 ml) ground black pepper
- 1 cup (250 ml) frozen peas
For the egg wash
- 1 large egg, beaten
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Preparation
- For the crust, whisk the flour, sugar and salt together in a large bowl. Add the butter cubes and toss to coat them well. Tip everything onto the counter and flatten the butter into thin sheets in the flour with a rolling pin, until the mixture looks flaky. Return it to the bowl and freeze for 15 minutes.
- Pour in the buttermilk, stir with a spoon, then press with your hands until it comes together into a ball. Add 1 to 2 tbsp of ice water if it’s too dry. Divide in two, shape into two flat discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. (Don’t feel like making dough? Two store-bought pie crusts will do the job: skip straight to step 3.)
- In a bowl, toss the chicken with the olive oil, salt, Italian seasoning, smoked paprika, pepper, onion powder and garlic powder. Heat a large skillet over high heat and cook the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, until browned and cooked through. Remove from the heat, chop coarsely and set aside on a plate.
- In a skillet, heat the 3 tbsp of olive oil over medium-high heat. Sweat the onion, carrots, celery and garlic until tender. Add the flour, stir with a spoon and cook for 1 minute.
- Add the broth, cream, thyme, parsley and pepper, and whisk well. Lower the heat to medium-low and simmer for 2 to 5 minutes, until the sauce is very thick. Season generously with salt and pepper.
- Remove from the heat. Add the chicken and peas, break up any clumps of peas and mix well. Let it cool for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C), set a rack in the middle and slide a sheet of foil onto the rack below to catch any drips.
- Roll out both discs of dough. Line a 9-inch pie dish with the first crust, trim the excess, then pour in the filling. Cover with the second crust, pinch the edges to seal, cut a few slits in the top and brush with the beaten egg.
- Bake for about 45 minutes on the middle rack, until the crust is deep golden and crisp. If the edges brown too fast, cover them with a strip of foil. Let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing.
For me, it’s seasoning the chicken itself. Most recipes stir already-cooked chicken into the sauce, so the chicken tastes like nothing. I toss raw thighs with smoked paprika, Italian seasoning, onion and garlic powder, then sear them hard. Add a sauce with real cream that you salt generously, and you have a pot pie that finally tastes like something.
Chicken, onion, carrots, celery, garlic and peas in a thick, creamy sauce. Frozen peas are perfect, that’s actually what I recommend. Frozen mixed vegetables, I’d skip: you can use them, but they release water into the sauce, and a watery sauce means a soggy bottom crust. Use fresh carrots and celery. Canned peas? Never. They’re awful.
Two things. First, a very thick sauce: if it’s runny in the skillet, it’ll be runny in the crust. Second, let the filling cool for twenty minutes before you pour it in, because a scalding filling softens the bottom dough before it has time to bake. With those two rules, my bottom crust came out crisp. And don’t bake the pie on a baking sheet: it blocks the heat from below.
Yes, absolutely. Cut it into pieces, skip the skillet step and stir it into the sauce with the peas. Your pie will be good. But seasoned chicken thighs seared over high heat make an even better one: they’re juicier, and they taste like smoked paprika and spices instead of plain chicken.
Yes, and it works great. If you don’t feel like making dough, grab two store-bought pie crusts and go straight to the chicken. Frozen or refrigerated, it doesn’t matter: I tested both and it was delicious every time. The buttermilk crust is worth it when you have the time, but the filling is the star of this pie either way.
Absolutely, two ways. Assemble the whole pie in its dish, unbaked, wrap it tight and freeze it. Or freeze just the filling in a container, then thaw it in the fridge and build your pie when you’re ready. For the assembled pie, thaw it in the fridge overnight, then bake it as usual. In the fridge, a baked pie keeps three to four days.
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