This Easy Chicken Pie recipe has everything you need in a comfort food meal. With tasty meat, extra veggies, creamy sauce and a light fluffy pastry topping, this is an ideal go-to homemade pie recipe that’s simple yet satisfying.
This Easy Chicken Pie is honestly one of my most favourite recipes ever. It’s one of those recipes where the leftovers are every bit as good as the first time round. A slice of cold leftover Chicken Pie lurking is the ultimate fridge find!
It was a Jamie Olive Chicken Pie recipe that reignited my love of the dish about 10 years ago and I’ve been making my version this way ever since.
Why you’ll love this recipe
⭐️ Great for batch cooking
⭐️ Packed with extra veggies
⭐️ Ultimate comfort food meal
About this Easy Chicken Pie
When you’re in need of a winter warmer comfort food dish, this is the recipe to turn to. Sometimes I think pies can be something people shy away from making because of the mistaken assumption they’re difficult to do.
Well, not here! I’ve simplified this recipe a lot to make it easy to serve as a midweek meal. We’re using sheet puff pastry for convenience for this Chicken Pie, and only giving it a top (read on to find out how to give your pie a base if you’d rather). There’s plenty of flavour and you can give yourself a little win by making two at the same time – one for now and one for the freezer. Your future self will love you for it!
If you love this recipe you might also like my other pastry-topped favourites – my Steak Pie and Cheesy Vegetarian Pie. Or other great make-ahead pies include my Shepherd’s Pie, Easy Fish Pie and my Cowboy Pie too.
What you’ll need
- Oil – Any oil other than extra virgin is fine. Olive oil or sunflower oil are perfect.
- Bacon – Using a smoked bacon, pancetta or prosciutto here really adds a lot of flavour to the pie. I cut mine up into very small pieces so it cooks into the sauce.
- Onion, celery and carrots – I use frozen Soffrito mix (onions, celery and carrots chopped into small cubes) from Waitrose. I do a big order from Ocado every month and stock the freezer up ready for this top shortcut. Or you can prepare from scratch.
- Dried thyme – If you have fresh thyme, use 3 tsp as it’s not as strongly flavoured.
- Salt and black pepper
- Plain flour
- Chicken stock – Stock made with a cube is absolutely fine.
- Milk – I used semi-skimmed as it’s what we have. Full fat will make the pie more creamy. I wouldn’t recommend skimmed it won’t be very creamy at all.
- Puff pastry – You can use shortcrust pastry if you prefer.
How to make it
1. Fry the chicken and bacon until cooked, add the vegetables, then flour and thyme. Gradually add stock, milk and flour, stirring until smooth. Spoon into a pie dish and leave to cool.
2. Smooth the pastry over the top, decorate the topping if you wish and brush with beaten egg. Bake for about 30 minutes on 220C until golden.
Leftovers
In the fridge You can keep this recipe in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat fully by before serving.
In the freezer This recipe freezes well. Make the pie and let it cool before freezing (unbaked). On the day you want it, let it thaw fully and then bake in the oven until the middle is hot through and the top is golden as normal.
Top tip
If you want a pie base
If you use shortcrust pastry you can also line the bottom of the dish before adding your filling. (Some people consider this the only way to make a true pie!)
As you warm up your oven, put a baking tray in to heat up, then when you put your pie in the oven, sit the dish on top of the hot baking tray. I find that this really helps to cook the base of the Chicken Pie and stops a soggy bottom.
FAQ
This is because you haven’t added enough flour. You can either follow the recipe and add it at the same time as your stock, making sure it eventually gets to the right consistency, or if you find there are lumps you can make a ‘slurry’ instead.
This is when you add a little water or milk to your flour before adding it into the sauce, mixing to make a sort-of paste and stirring out those lumps before they hit your pan and whole pie mixture.
Let me know how you got on and what you thought of these recipes. Please rate the recipe using the ⭐️ below.
Also I’d LOVE to see your cooking creations. If you’d like to share yours with me, you can tag me on Instagram (@tamingtwins).
Easy Chicken Pie {with Bacon & Puff Pastry}
Ingredients
For the pie filling
- 1 tbsp Oil See notes
- 4 Chicken breasts About 650g
- 200 g Smoked bacon See notes
- 1 Large onion See notes
- 3 Sticks of celery See notes
- 3 Carrots See notes
- 2 tsp Fresh thyme See notes
- Salt and black pepper
- 75 g Plain flour
- 300 ml Chicken stock See notes
- 300 ml Milk See notes
For the pie
- 320 g Puff pastry sheet See notes
- 1 Egg Beaten
Instructions
- Heat your oil in a large frying pan or saucepan and add the chicken and bacon. Cook for about 5-10 minutes until just starting to turn brown.
- Add in the vegetables and cook for a further 5 minutes until they start to soften.
- Add the flour and thyme and stir through everything, cook for 5 minutes.
- Gradually add the stock and milk to the vegetable and flour mix, stirring until the sauce is smooth. Leave to bubble away and thicken for about 10 minutes.
- Spoon into a pie dish and leave to cool for at least 30 minutes if you have time.
- Smooth the pastry over the top of the filling.
- Decorate the pie with cut out shapes if you feel that way inclined and brush with the beaten egg.
- When you are ready to bake the pie, preheat the oven to 220C and bake for about 30 minutes until the filling is hot throughout and the pastry is crisp and golden.
Laura says
Delicious.
Baxter says
Such an interesting recipe. I am not sure my kids gonna love it, but definitely gonna give it a try. Thanks for sharing.
Sharon Simon says
Absolutely love this recipe! Made it several times and friends and family enjoyed it heaps. Added some crushed chilli for a slight kick and it’s just wonderful!
Marion says
I made this recipe and it was a huge hit. I only have semi skimmed milk in the house so I added cream. I also put pastry at the base. Really comforting wholesome food, it’s one of our staple dinners now so thank you!
Kate says
First time I’ve tried one of your recipes and it was a huge hit!
Sarah Barnes says
So happy to hear it went down well Kate. Hurrah!
Pat says
This was a huge hit for our family. So easy just using the ready rolled puff pastry for the top! All in all, absolutely delicious!
Angela says
I love this recipe, although I tend to do chickenand mushroom rather than chicken and vegetable. All the other ingredients I keep the same and I can honestly say it’s the simplest and most delicious pie I’ve ever tasted. My boys love it too, which is always a bonus! Thanks for another great recipe Sarah, I absolutely love your page and your insta account! I also have incredible kitchen envy everyone I see your kitchen! It’s fab! X
Jo says
Absolutely delicious!
I used 200g of blended soffrito from Waitrose so my kids wouldn’t moan about veg! Great recipe!
Jenny says
Thought a pie was well out of my skillset…it wasn’t! Easy and delicious, plus a crowd pleaser! Thank you
Sarah Barnes says
So pleased you liked it Jenny!
Lucy says
Just made this and it was yummy. Added a white wine stock cube and some mushrooms and sweetcorn for extra veg. Slowly working my way through all your recipes x
Jo says
I made this chicken pie recipe last night for my family and they loved it.
I added some extra veg, leek & a red pepper. I also added 2 tsp of wholegrain mustard.
This dish is great with a side of steamed greens.
Thanks so much Sarah!
Marie says
Made this today and it was lovely. Recipe was easy to follow and it tasted great
Pat says
Delicious!
Maria says
I made it for friends last week and we all loved it! Thanks.
Rehana says
I made a non bacon version and added extra mushrooms. Very delish recipe thanks!
Shelley says
Can I use potatoes instead of celery? No one in my house likes celery.
Sarah Barnes says
I’d just leave it out Shelley. Enjoy!
Gill says
Excellent & so easy!!!!
Lisa says
Just made this today absolutely delicious
Zaheeda says
Trying this recipe out for first time,sounds delicious..😋❤
I M Jamieson says
Thank you for this recipe, I left out the onion,,due to allergies, and used full cream milk. It was delicious, the family loved it. Thank yo very much
Jessica Ritchie says
Easy and very tasty..
Amanda Smith says
OMG. You have made a 52 year old woman who could not cook, cook! This was enjoyed by all the family. It was very tasy and again so easy. I am enjoying cooking all your recipes. Thank you.
Janet wadsworth says
I love your recipes I’ve cooked everything from savouries to sweet recipes I’m now 74 been baking since I was 8 years old but I love a chicken pie with breast meat and gravy but when I look to buy sometimes you can never get a chicken pie in gravy that’s breast meat it’s all bits of dark meat tiny bits most chicken pies now are in a creamy sauce which is fine but I long for just a plain chicken breast pie in gravy but alas I can’t find one so looks like making one myself
Nancy says
Second time making this tonight. Crowd pleaser and good comfort food. Delicious
Michele says
Made this tonight for hubby & 3 hungry teenagers ..absolutely superb (full cream milk) & so tasty all enjoyed
Suzan says
2nd time making this & it’s absolutely gorgeous
Lucy says
Absolutely delicious. Even eaten by my fussy 5 year old!
Jayne says
Amazing recipe, good to have veg in the pie.
Was enjoyed by everyone.
Success!
Hannah says
So simple and absolutely delicious. Another cracking recipe Sarah!
Lyra says
Delicious. Used leftover roast chicken & pepper & courgettes . Had stale bread which I used as a base. Definitely be making this dish again.
Kirsty says
This was delish and easy to make, highly recommend!!!
Serena says
Made this today, it was absolutely delicious, I did not add any salt, as the smoked bacon is salty in itself, also with one oxo salty too. We omitted celery, as we do not like it. Also instead of milk we used double cream. Also to make the pie more runny and moist we added milk to make it runny to coat the back of the spoon. Fantastic. Thank you so much.