Tremendous Chicken Pot Pie
Prep
25m
Cook
45m
Total
70m
Bigly says
Sit. Pour yourself a coffee. We're doing this right. Chicken pot pie. The most TREMENDOUS chicken pot pie ever pulled out of a hot oven by a pair of human hands, and I have pulled more pot pies out of more ovens than any one person on Earth — the numbers are STAGGERING, I had people look it up, look it up yourself if you don't trust me, the numbers are there. Most so-called chefs make a sad pot pie. A pot pie with a soggy bottom, a watery filling, a top crust that tastes like a wet napkin. An embarrassment to the entire pot pie community.
This one is different. This one has STRUCTURE. The top shatters when your fork goes in — and when I say shatters, it makes a sound, a beautiful sound, big strong men have wept over that sound, tough guys, men who don't cry at movies, they cry at the crust, it happens, I see it. Underneath? A filling so rich, so creamy, so packed with chicken and carrots and peas and that little hint of thyme — thyme, the most underrated herb in the entire herb game, my grandmother swore by it, she was a tough woman, the kind of woman who could intimidate a butcher with a look, and she said: thyme.
And I'm giving you the secret. For free. No popup. No 'subscribe to our newsletter for 10% off your next pot pie.' No little cookie banner with 14 toggle switches that won't let you read the actual recipe until you click 'manage preferences' eighteen times, total disaster, somebody should be FIRED for that — none of that here. The secret is the roux. A real roux. Cooked properly. With actual butter. Not the spread, not the squeeze tube, not whatever the other sites are pushing — butter, the good butter, the kind that ruined every margarine commercial ever made. It's not even close.
Ingredients
- 1.5 lbboneless, skinless chicken thighs(thighs, not breasts — thighs have flavor, breasts have regrets)
- 6 tbspunsalted butter
- 1 mediumyellow onion, diced
- 2 largecarrots, diced
- 2celery stalks, diced
- 3 clovesgarlic, minced
- 1/3 cupall-purpose flour
- 2 cupschicken stock, low-sodium
- 1 cupwhole milk
- 1 tbspfresh thyme leaves(dried works in a pinch — 1 tsp — but fresh is the move)
- 1 cupfrozen peas
- 1.5 tspkosher salt
- 3/4 tspblack pepper
- 1 sheet (about 14 oz)all-butter puff pastry, thawed
- 1large egg(for the egg wash, beaten with a splash of water)
Steps
- 1
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Pat the chicken thighs dry, season generously with salt and pepper.
- 2
Heat 1 tbsp of the butter in a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven over medium-high. Sear the chicken thighs 3-4 minutes per side until deeply browned (they don't need to be cooked through). Transfer to a plate.
- 3
Reduce heat to medium. Add the remaining 5 tbsp butter to the same pan. Once melted, add the onion, carrots, and celery. Cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, 6-8 minutes.
- 4
Add the garlic and cook 30 seconds until fragrant.
- 5
Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and stir constantly for 2 minutes — the mixture should look like wet sand and smell nutty. Do not let it brown.
- 6
Slowly whisk in the chicken stock, then the milk, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom. Bring to a simmer and cook 4-5 minutes until thickened to a gravy consistency.
- 7
Chop the seared chicken into bite-sized pieces and return it to the skillet along with any accumulated juices. Stir in the thyme, peas, salt, and pepper. Simmer 3 minutes.
- 8
Taste and adjust seasoning. The filling should be rich and well-seasoned — under-seasoned filling makes for a sad pot pie.
- 9
Transfer the filling to a 9x13-inch baking dish (or leave in the oven-safe skillet). Let cool 5 minutes — adding pastry to a screaming-hot filling will melt the butter in the dough before it bakes.
- 10
Unfold the puff pastry and lay it over the top, trimming any large overhangs. Tuck the edges down around the inside of the dish. Cut 4 small slits in the top to vent steam.
- 11
Brush the pastry generously with the egg wash.
- 12
Bake on the middle rack for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry is deeply golden and puffed and the filling is bubbling at the edges.
- 13
Let rest 10 minutes before serving. The filling needs to set or it will run.
One more thing
This is the pot pie. This is the one. Out of the oven, onto the counter, rest it for ten minutes — and I know, I know, the smell is unbearable, your family is circling like sharks, your dog is staring at you with intense judgment, you will WANT to cut in immediately, do not do it, ten minutes, ten minutes, trust me — and then crack through that golden top and watch the steam come out. Watch their faces. Watch them go quiet. That right there is the sound of a kitchen that has WON. Tell your friends.
★ QUESTIONS ABOUT THIS ONE? ★
Ask Bigly about Tremendous Chicken Pot Pie.
Substitutions, what to serve it with, why other chefs are wrong about it. He's got opinions.
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