Martha Stewart Classic Chicken Potpie Recipe

I know there are easier ways to make a chicken pot pie. Store-bought crust, puff pastry, even biscuit topping. But Martha Stewart’s Classic Chicken Potpie makes the crust from scratch with butter, flour, and ice water, fills it with chicken, carrots, onion, and peas in a thick broth sauce, and bakes at 375 degrees for 45 to 50 minutes until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling up through the vents.

I make this every winter when I want to feel like I actually cooked something real. This Martha Stewart chicken pot pie recipe is one of her best chicken recipes because the homemade pastry crust shatters into the creamy filling and that is something no store-bought crust can do. It takes about 2 hours from start to table, but most of that is the dough chilling and the pie baking while you do nothing. One of those Martha Stewart chicken dishes that people remember.

Try More Dinner Recipes:

• Chicken Pot Pie With Puff Pastry
• Chicken Tetrazzini
• Chicken Divan

Why You Will Love This Classic Chicken Potpie:

• The homemade crust is worth the effort: Five ingredients: flour, sugar, salt, butter, ice water. You pulse it in a food processor, chill it for an hour, and roll it out. It bakes up flaky, buttery, and golden. I have made pot pie with store-bought crust and with this one, and there is no comparison. You will feel the difference the second your fork breaks through it.
• The filling is simple and honest: Chicken, carrots, onion, peas, garlic, parsley, and a flour-thickened broth sauce. No cream, no cheese, nothing fancy. Just vegetables and chicken in a thick, savory sauce that tastes like the pot pies you remember from when you were a kid.
• You can freeze it unbaked: Martha says you can assemble the whole pie and freeze it for up to 4 months before baking. I do this all the time. I make two, bake one, and freeze one. Future me pulls it out of the freezer on a night when I have nothing planned and bakes it straight from frozen.

Classic Chicken Potpie Ingredients

• 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
• 3 to 5 tablespoons ice water
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 medium yellow onion, diced small (1 1/2 cups)
• 4 medium carrots, diced small (2 cups)
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
• 1 cup frozen peas
• Coarse salt and ground pepper
• 3 cups shredded cooked chicken (15 ounces)
• 1/3 cup fresh parsley, chopped

How To Make Martha Stewart Classic Chicken Potpie

1. Make the crust: In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with a few pea-size pieces of butter remaining. Sprinkle with 3 tablespoons of ice water and pulse until the dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed. Add up to 2 more tablespoons of ice water if needed. Do not overmix.
2. Chill the dough: Form the dough into a disk, wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour or overnight.
3. Cook the filling: Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. In a large pot, melt 5 tablespoons of butter over medium-high heat. Add the onion and carrots and cook until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, 30 seconds.
4. Make the sauce: Add the 1/2 cup of flour and stir to coat the vegetables. Slowly add the chicken broth, whisking constantly until the sauce is smooth. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat, and simmer until thickened, 5 to 7 minutes.
5. Add the chicken and peas: Stir in the frozen peas. Season with salt and pepper. Stir in the shredded chicken and parsley. Pour the filling into a 2-quart baking dish.
6. Roll and top: On a floured work surface, roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thickness. Place the dough over the baking dish. Fold the overhang inward, pinching to crimp the edge. Cut vents in the top.
7. Bake: Place the dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling around the edge, 45 to 50 minutes. Let cool for 15 minutes before serving.

Recipe Tips

• Keep the butter cold: The crust is flaky because the cold butter melts in the oven and creates layers. If the butter warms up while you are making the dough, the crust turns out tough and dense. I cut the butter into pieces and put it back in the fridge until the second I need it.
• Do not overmix the dough: Pulse just until the dough holds together when you squeeze it. If you keep processing until it forms a ball, you are overworking the gluten and the crust will be chewy, not flaky. Crumbly is what you want at this stage.
• Let the filling cool slightly before topping: If you pour boiling hot filling into the dish and immediately put cold dough on top, the dough can start to melt and get soggy before it hits the oven. I let the filling sit for 5 to 10 minutes while I roll out the dough.
• Cut the vents: The vents let steam escape during baking. Without them, the steam builds up under the crust and it gets soggy or puffs up unevenly. I cut 4 small slits in the center with a sharp knife.

What Goes Well With This Chicken Potpie

The pot pie is a full meal on its own. Chicken, vegetables, sauce, and crust. But if I want something on the side, a simple caesar salad adds something fresh and crunchy to balance the richness. That is usually all I add.

If you are feeding a crowd and want more on the table, a basket of buttermilk biscuits never hurts. But honestly, most people are too full from the pot pie to touch them.

How To Store Leftovers

Let the pot pie cool completely before covering. Store in the baking dish covered with foil, or transfer portions to airtight containers. Keeps 3 days in the fridge. The crust softens overnight but still tastes good.

I reheat in the oven at 350 degrees covered with foil for about 20 minutes. The microwave works for one serving in a rush but the crust goes soft and does not recover. If you have leftover filling without crust, it reheats perfectly in a saucepan.

FAQs

• Can I use store-bought pie crust instead? You can, and it will save you about an hour. But the homemade all-butter crust is what makes this recipe different from every other pot pie recipe. If you are going to the trouble of making the filling from scratch, the crust is worth the extra step. I promise you will taste the difference.
• Why is my pot pie filling watery? You probably did not simmer the sauce long enough. Martha says 5 to 7 minutes after adding the broth, and the sauce should be noticeably thick before you add the chicken and peas. If it looks thin, keep simmering. I usually go closer to 7 minutes to be safe.
• Can I freeze this before baking? Yes, and Martha recommends it. Assemble the whole pie but do not bake. Freeze for up to 4 months. When you are ready, bake from frozen at 425 degrees for about 1 hour and 15 minutes. I always have one in the freezer for emergencies.
• What chicken works best? Martha says leftover rotisserie chicken, chicken breasts, or whatever you have. I usually shred a rotisserie chicken because it is the fastest. You need 3 cups of shredded chicken, which is about one small rotisserie chicken. Do not cube it, shred it. Shredded chicken holds the sauce better.

More Dinner Recipes:

• Baked Chicken Thighs
• Roast Chicken
• Chicken Marsala

Nutrition Facts

(1 serving, serves 6)

• Calories: 560
• Total Fat: 30g
• Saturated Fat: 16g
• Cholesterol: 120mg
• Sodium: 680mg
• Total Carbohydrates: 40g
• Protein: 30g