Spring Chicken Pot Pie

Spring Chicken Pot Pie mains One pan spring veggie loaded pot pie with a crispy phyllo pastry topping pot pies, chicken pot pies Spring Chicken Pot Pie chicken, pies, one pot meals

This delicious one-pan spring chicken pot pie with spinach, peas, asparagus, leeks and herbs is quick to make and is topped with crispy buttery phyllo pastry instead of puff pastry for a lighter finish. Perfect for when you want a hearty meal with all the fresh flavours of spring.

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

What Is Chicken Pot Pie?

A pot pie is a savoury pie filled with meat and veggies in a thick creamy gravy-like sauce. Classic pot pies are traditionally made with a buttery pie crust and topping or sometimes with just the topping usually a puff pastry topping or buttery pie crust topping. This time we switched things up with a phyllo pasty topping in this recipe. Pot pies are fabulous for using up or re-purposing leftover chicken, turkey and ham and also versatile when it comes to the veggies you want to throw in.

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

Spring Chicken Pot Pie Ingredients

  • Phyllo Pastry: 5-10 sheets of frozen and thawed phyllo or filo pastry - (feel free to roll out puff pastry sheet on top, brush with egg wash and cut a couple of slits in the middle for vents if you prefer a more traditional topping)
  • Chicken: Use shredded cooked chicken from a rotisserie chicken or leftover roasted chicken or cook your own chicken breasts. You will need 4 cups of chopped chicken or two large cooked chicken breasts
  • Butter & Flour: These make the roux or base for the gravy sauce and the butter adds so much flavour
  • Veggies: For this spring version I used Leeks, Mushrooms, Spinach, Asparagus & Green Peas. Feel free to add in your own variations of veggies if desired like adding celery or carrots. If you don’t have leeks you can use a bunch of green onions or one yellow onion
  • Aromatics: Garlic,Thyme and Parsley – fresh and simple aromatics along with salt and pepper are all you need for this pot pie but feel free to switch things up or add in more herbs - like fresh tarragon or even some fresh dill. I also add dijon mustard and lemon zest for some extra flavour but those are optional
  • Chicken Stock/ Chicken Broth & Heavy Cream or Crème Fraiche: for the creamy gravy sauce, the creme fraiche will give the gravy a slight tangy fresh filling if you prefer that otherwise stick with heavy cream
  • Variations: Feel free to switch up the veggies, herbs and even the topping if you wish for even more of a flavour base you can start by sautéing some bacon or pancetta followed by the veggies

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

The puff pastry and the phyllo are perfect for pot pies and great for a quick tart or quick pies both savory and sweet. Another great hack is grocery store rotisserie chicken - not a week goes by that someone in my family doesnt pick one up on the way home. Leftovers from it make a great addition to this dish but also if you batch grill or roast chicken for the week like I know many of you amazing meal preppers do - you can use leftovers from that to make quick meals in general along with this fab chicken pot pie. It really saves you loads of time and you can easily make dishes like this one in no time along with my Chicken Enchiladas, Green Chicken Chili, Chicken Tortilla Soup, Creamy Chicken And Wild Rice Soup or Creamy Chicken Tetrazzini

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

How to make a chicken pot pie quickly?

This recipe like a lot of my recipes is all about some very useful kitchen hacks. This is a dish you can throw together fast especially if you are like me and have some basics always stocked in your fridge or freezer. I always stock frozen peas and spinach and you will always find some puff pastry and phyllo in there too. They all come in handy. I love to add spinach to a lots of dishes I make especially curries and soups along with frozen peas so they are great to have to add some more nutrition, colour and protein to dishes. I also always add fresh or frozen spinach to my smoothies.

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

How to make spring chicken pot pie?

A homemade hearty Spring Chicken Pot Pie is easier than you think to make especially with this simple phyllo pastry version. We use a shallow large dutch oven but a large 10-12 inch skillet will work too for this recipe.

  1. SAUTEE leeks, mushrooms, thyme and garlic in 6 Tbsps of butter until soft then stir in the chopped spinach
  2. Make roux/gravy - sprinkle veggies with flour then deglaze with wine if using along with the broth, heavy cream or creme fraiche, mustard and lemon zest and SIMMER a couple of minutes until thickened.
  3. SEASON well with salt and pepper
  4. TOP with crinkled sheets of phyllo pastry then BRUSH pastry with melted butter
  5. BAKE until top is deeply golden and filling is bubbling

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

The phyllo gives this dish a lighter topping. It’s fun and it’s crunchy and makes a delicious topping. We served this right out of the pan. Set it on the table and dug right in. I think you will love how simple and delicious this pot pie is. It’s loaded with veggies and you can easily swap some of them out for your fav combo of veggies. It’s much lighter than a regular pot pie but still has the same tasty qualities you love in a classic one.

Spring Chicken Pot Pie

Storage, Make Ahead and Freezing Instructions:

  1. STORAGE: Leftover chicken pot pie will last in the fridge for up to 3-5 days, stored in an airtight container. The phyllo will lose its crispiness and that is why I usually recommend reheating in the oven or toaster oven to get back some of its crispiness - although technically it is totally fine to reheat in the microwave oven too but the phyllo won’t be crispy
  2. MAKE AHEAD: The filling for chicken pot pie can be made 1 day in advance; cover and chill in the refrigerator.
  3. FREEZING: Technically you can refreeze phyllo but I find for a pot pie it doesn’t quite get the same texture when frozen as the layers touching the pot pie really get soaked through. So bottom line you can freeze the unbaked pot pie but I don’t recommend it for best taste and texture. The good news is that crinkling phyllo is the easiest part of the recipe so making the filling ahead is the best option if you are looking to save some time.

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Recipe

Servings: 4-6 portions
Prep Time: 10 min
Cook Time: 30 min
Total time: 40 min

Ingredients

For The Filling

  • 4 cups cooked chicken, chopped or shredded*
  • 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter
  • 2 leeks white and light green parts only, cleaned, sliced in half lengthwise and then sliced thin (or 4-6 green onions or 1 yellow onion)
  • 2-3 cups of chopped fresh spinach
  • 3 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
  • 8 oz white or cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
  • 1/3 cup all purpose flour
  • ¼ cup white wine (optional)
  • 2 cups of chicken stock
  • ½ cup heavy cream or creme fraïche
  • Zest of one lemon
  • ½ tablespoon Dijon mustard (or grainy mustard)
  • 1½ teaspoons salt, or more to taste
  • ½ teaspoon black pepper, or more to taste
  • 1 cup frozen English peas
  • 1 cup chopped asparagus
  • ¼ cup chopped fresh parsley

For The Pastry

  • 5-10 sheets fo phyllo pastry *
  • ¼ cup melted butter or olive oil for brushing

Directions

  1. Pre Heat oven to 400°F.
  2. Melt butter in a large, shallow dutch oven or large deeper skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, mushrooms, garlic and thyme and sauté for 5 mins until soft.
  3. Stir through the chopped spinach and cook until starting to wilt
  4. Sprinkle over the flour and stir constantly for 1 minute. Deglaze the pan starting with the white wine if using then add the chicken stock, heavy cream, mustard and lemon zest while stirring. Bring to a simmer and cook 1-2 minutes or until mixture is a thick gravy like consistency.
  5. Season with salt and pepper adding more if needed to taste
  6. Stir in the shredded chicken, peas and the asparagus and chopped parsley. Stir well to combine then remove from heat and allow to cool slightly while you roll out and prepare the phyllo and melt the butter
  7. Scrunch the phyllo pastry sheets over the mixture, brush with melted butter or oil and bake for 20-30 mins or until phyllo is golden brown and filling is bubbling at the sides
  8. Allow to cool for 10 minutes once out of the oven and then spoon out and serve

Recipe Notes

  • I usually use between 5-10 sheets of phyllo but that can vary depending on the size of your casserole dish you may decide to use less - I would say between 5-10 sheets is plenty. The thicker the layers of sheets the less the bottom ones will cook up and get crisp as they are touching the saucy pot pie. It’s not abnormal for the inside or bottom sheet to be moist because of this reason. Reheating leftovers is possible and tasty but the Phyllo will never be as crisp as it was initially that is why I recommend reheating in toaster oven or oven to get those crispy edges back
  • Use leftover shredded rotisserie chicken (light or dark meat), or cook and shred 2 large chicken breasts to get 4 cups shredded chicken

Adapted from BBC Good Food


Spring Chicken Pot Pie