Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
Looking for a comforting meal? Try our easy Chicken Pot Pie recipe, where you pressure cook your chicken and potato filling and finish with an easy pie crust (storebought or homemade).
Why You’ll Love This Recipe: You can use this all-in-one recipe to make a shortcut weeknight meal or make a homemade pie crust when you have time to make a full Sunday Supper. Either way, you’ll get your food on the table faster than you would using the stovetop.
One of my favorite things about pressure cooking is that I can turn a classic meal like chicken pot pie into a quick and easy weeknight dinner.
Now you can have the ultimate comfort food on your table whenever the craving strikes!
Why Make Chicken Pot Pie in an Instant Pot or Electric Pressure Cooker?
Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie is so quick and easy to make in your pressure cooker. This homemade recipe will work in any brand of electric pressure cooker, including the Instant Pot, Ninja Foodi, or Power Pressure Cooker XL.
Our original recipe I grew up eating uses cooked, diced chicken. (We usually had to remember to cook chicken earlier in the week to make the pot pie.)
With this pressure cooker recipe, you cook the chicken, potatoes, and vegetables all at the same time! No need to plan ahead!
What gives chicken pot pie its flavor?
The creamy, buttery pie filling, seasoned with thyme, is the secret to a good chicken pot pie. Traditional recipes start with a roux—that flavorful mix of cooked butter and flour that thickens sauces.
⛔ However, you can’t pressure cook a roux. The flour will settle on the bottom of the cooking pot and keep the pot from coming to pressure.
So how do you get an awesome stovetop roux taste with a pressure cooker? Make a reverse roux!
Rather than starting the pot pie filling with a roux, cook the filling using a little extra liquid. Then, finish the gravy by adding a butter-flour mixture after pressure cooking.
The result is the exact same creamy sauce that you’d get from a stovetop recipe.
You get the convenience and speed of pressure cooking without sacrificing flavor in this homemade Chicken Pot Pie.
Choosing a Pie Crust for Chicken Pot Pie
The nice thing about this recipe is that you can customize the crust to your family’s tastes and the time you have.
Using a Store-bought Pie Crust
When I make this with my family on weeknights, we use Pillsbury refrigerated pie crusts and bake the pie crust separately in our Breville toaster oven. (not sponsored)
The kids use cookie cutters to cut their own crust shapes. Cooking the crust separately helps get dinner on the table faster, since I can have the crust baked and ready to eat at the same time as the filling.
Bonus: I like baking the crust separately because it stays crispy all through, and if someone doesn’t eat their crust—more for me!
Homemade Pie Crust recipe for Chicken Pot Pie
We have included our favorite recipe for a homemade pie crust in the notes section of our recipe.
When I make a from-scratch pie crust, I always follow Barbara’s Perfect Pie Crust Tutorial. It has a step-by-step photo guide that walks you through making your own golden brown and flaky pie crust.
You can make the crust as fancy or as simple as you like. Double crust? Egg wash? Fun little cut outs on top? Knock yourself out!
(We often serve this one for St. Patrick’s Day with shamrock cut-outs and for Halloween with Jack-o-lantern faces cut out of the crust.)
Customize this Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie recipe
This is a fairly forgiving recipe, so feel free to make it your own.
- Want more potatoes? Dice them up and have a thicker pot pie!
- Hate peas? Skip ’em or swap them for corn or more carrots.
- Missing your favorite herbs, garlic, or spices? Add them in!
- Have a rotisserie chicken? Shred the meat, then add the chicken after you pressure cook the potatoes. (You will need to add at least another 1/4 cup broth to the cooking pot before pressure cooking to make up for the liquid that the raw chicken would have released.)
💡 Tip: I like to use frozen vegetables for the filling, which saves a little time slicing and dicing. Simply toss them in after cooking the filling, straight from the freezer!
Store leftover pot pie filling in the fridge, tightly covered, for up to 4 days. If possible, I like to store the pie crust separately. I’ll warm the crust up with my air fryer or toaster oven and warm the filling separately in the microwave on 50% power.
Do you LOVE this recipe?
Leave us a review below to tell us why!
Weeknight Chicken Pot Pie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon unsalted butter divided
- 1/2 cup diced onion
- 1 rib celery chopped
- 1/2 cup reduced-sodium chicken broth
- 2 large boneless skinless chicken breasts (about 12 ounces each), diced into bite-size pieces
- 1 to 2 large russet potatoes cut into 1-inch cubes
- 1/4 teaspoon dried thyme
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup frozen diced peas and carrots***
- 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 cup milk plus more as needed
- 1 storebought or homemade pie crust recipe below
Instructions
Prepare the Pie Crust
- If you are cooking the pie crust separately, preheat the oven to the temperature specified on the package directions. Line a baking sheet with foil. Remove the pie crust from the package and unroll. Allow to rest and flatten. Assemble the items you will use to cut the crust. Set aside
- If you are cooking the pie crust on top of the pot pie filling, preheat the oven to 425°F. Spray a deep-dish pie plate or 9×13 glass pan with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
Prepare the Pot Pie Filling
- Select Sauté to preheat the pressure cooking pot. Melt 1 tablespoon butter. Add the onion and celery and sauté for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables are tender.
- Stir in the chicken broth, diced chicken, potatoes, thyme, salt, and pepper.
- Lock the lid in place. Select High Pressure and 3 minutes cook time. When the pressure cook time ends, use a quick pressure release.
Cut the Pie Crust
- While the filling is coming to pressure, prepare the pie crust. If you are cooking the pie crust separately, cut the crust into strips or use the cookie cutters to cut out shapes. Bake according to the package directions.
- If you are cooking the pie crust on top of the pot pie filling: Transfer the pie crust to a lightly floured work surface and roll it into a circle that’s at least 1-inch larger than the prepared baking dish.
Prepare the Roux
- In a small saucepan over medium heat, melt the remaining 1/3 cup butter. Whisk in the flour. Cook for 2 to 3 minutes, stirring constantly, until smooth and bubbly.
- Gradually add the milk, stirring constantly for 2 more minutes, until the sauce is thick and creamy. Remove from heat.
Finish the Filling
- Add the roux to the cooking pot and stir until well combined. Add more milk, if needed, to achieve your desired consistency.
- Stir in the peas and carrots.
Assemble and Serve the Pot Pie
- If you have cooked the crust separately: Spoon the filling into individual bowls. Top with a few pieces of pie crust. Serve immediately.
- If you wish to cook the pie crust on top of the filling: Pour the pot pie filling into the prepared pie plate. Top with the pie crust (if you have not cut shapes in the crust, be sure to poke some holes in the top to vent the crust while it bakes). Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden-brown and the filling is hot. Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 3 to 5 minutes before serving.
Video
Notes
- Combine the flour and salt in a mixing bowl.
- Use a pastry cutter to cut the butter and shortening into the flour mixture until it resembles a very coarse meal. Gradually add water until the dough just sticks together into a ball.
- Form the dough into a round disc and wrap in plastic. Chill for 30 minutes.
For the homemade pie crust, you get the flakiness from the shortening and the great taste from the butter. I prefer to use both in my homemade pie crust.
The prep time will increase by at least 10 minutes if you’re preparing a homemade pie crust, plus another 30 minutes of chill time. If you plan to make the pie crust earlier in the day, remove the chilled disc from the refrigerator when you preheat your oven.
While we tend to skip a bottom pie crust because it doesn’t get as crisp as the top crust, you certainly can add one. Just make a double batch of pie crust, prick the bottom crust with a fork, and bake for 20 to 30 minutes to ensure the bottom crust is fully cooked.
**You can make the roux in the pressure cooking pot before pressure cooking the chicken. Select Sauté adjusted to low to preheat the cooking pot, and add the roux ingredients as instructed. After cooking, remove the roux to a bowl and cover to keep warm. Since some of the flour may stick to the bottom of the pot, you will likely need to wash the cooking pot before you pressure cook the filling.
***You can substitute 2 fresh carrots, cut into 1/4 inch slices for the frozen carrots.
This was REALLY GOOD, and really easy. My husband can’t have wheat, so i affectionately called it Chicken Pot (no pie).
Just in case it helps anyone else, because it wasn’t going to cook extra at all, I increased the pressure cook time to 6 minutes. After it finished, I switched back to Saute on medium and stirred in the peas and carrots. While it came back to a simmer, I made a cornstarch slurry with 3 1/2 tablespoons.
The flavor is AMAZING. Thanks for a recipe that was easy, and easy for me to sub to dietary needs!
The reverse roux is interesting, but I used a cornstarch slurry instead since it doesn’t have to be cooked separately. And I used cream cheese rather than heavy cream, just a preference. It ended up more souplike than I expected, probably because I used cooked chicken and increased the broth so it wouldn’t burn.
Very tasty! Next time I will increase the spice level, but I’m always cautious the first time until I know how the basic recipe tastes.
I made this recipe tonight and my husband and I loved it. . . after adding more salt. 1/4 teaspoon for a 4-6 serving soup recipe is ridiculous. I put in 2 tsp and my husband added more to his own.
Hi Diane! I’m so glad that you found a way to make this recipe work for your tastes! Sometimes I go a little lighter on the salt because you can always add more to suit your taste, but you can never take it out once it’s in. (I like things much more salty than other members of my family, so I’m probably overcautious.) Thanks for reading!
Is the chicken in this recipe already cooked? I want to make the pot pie with already cooked chicken. Can you please clarify.
The chicken is uncooked. If your chicken is already cooked, stir it in with the peas and carrots in step 5.
I don’t have access to an oven and wondered if filling is thick enough to serve over rice or mashed potatoes?
Thanks, deborah
I think the Pot Pie recipe winds up using a lot more utensils that have to be cleaned up for just a 3 minute pressure cooking ‘convenience’!! If the roux could be made in the pressure cooker it might be more feasible, but otherwise not worth the Mess!
Hi Mo – as noted in the recipe note section, you can make the roux first using the saute function in the inner pot first if you prefer. Just wipe it out well before proceeding with the other steps.
My pie was beautiful and delicious 😋 I will be making it again.
Next time I will use less potatoes and more vegetables. I also added fresh basil leaves on top. Wonderful flavors!
That’s great – thanks Marilyn! Definitely easy to change up to suit your tastes.
Hello! Firstly I’ll start off by saying that this recipe is amazing!! My husband said he would be more than happy to pay for it! So easy and so so delicious!!
My question is, is this recipe suitable to freeze at any point?
Many thanks 🙂
Alix
Thanks Alix – I haven’t tried it, but assume you can cook and cool the filling, then top it with a crust and freeze it. Then bake it until the crust is browned and the filling is bubbly. Let me know if you try it.
Can I do double crust and everything in my Foodie delux, or do I have to use stove / oven. Thank you
Hi Stephanie – I haven’t tried doing a double crust with the Foodi. If you give it a try, let me know how it goes.
Turned out great! Im wondering how to reheat my leftovers now…
Thanks Elisabeth – glad you enjoyed it! It depends on how much is left. You can reheat it in the oven in the pie pan if there’s a lot. If not we typically just microwave individual servings. You won’t want to reheat it in the pressure cooker because the crust will get soggy.
Made this yesterday! It tasted great but my top crust got soggy. Any idea why? I used two pre made Immaculate Bakery pie crusts right next to each other since they were circular and I was using a large rectangular baking dish. I poked probably 10 holes in the crusts.
Hi Diana – I assume you didn’t pressure cook the crusts. Was your oven preheated?
I’ve made this recipe several times and have also made non-instant pot chicken pot pie recipes. It’s an awesome hack to use the instant pot and if you have homemade stock on hand, then it’s really amazing. I absolutely love chicken pot pie in any form, but it is so incredibly labor intensive, that I usually end up eating frozen pot pie. This is a nice way to make it from scratch without slaving for three hours in the chicken (although, it does still take time to chop and do the crust).
My one gripe is that I can’t get the crust to bake in 10 min. I put mine in a 9 x 13. I also put an egg wash so it isn’t so pale. All the other recipes I have seen say to bake for way longer, like 30-40 min., even with the single crust. After baking mine for 20 min., the crust was still raw. Not sure what I’m doing wrong – my oven does run cool, but the timing just seems really off for me. I ended up having to add 1 tbsp more water to my dough as well – it was too crumbly to work with otherwise.
Turned out fantastic!!! We ended up subbing in a couple things instead of butter I used a 1 TBL of olive oil to saute the veggies. For the roux we used 1/4 cup of avocado oil, 1 1/4 cups almond milk, and wheat flour in the roux.
That’s great – thanks Chris!
This is a fantastic recipe! I have made the filling twice, and I am so pleased. First time I did only a top crust, and it was great. Second time I blind baked a bottom crust..oh so good! I love that I can make the filling in a fraction of the time. I actually added a couple of handfuls of frozen hash browns in place of the potato, and it helped thicken the filling really nicely. I also used fresh cut veg, except for the peas.
Could you double this in a 6qt instant pot or increase by 50%? I looooove chicken pot pie, but it is so much work the traditional way, so I’m super excited to try this method. Thanks!
Hi Michelle – yes, you could double it or increase it by 50%. If you double it you may want to reduce the cook time to 2 minutes because it will take longer to come to pressure. Enjoy!
Hello! Can this be doubled in the instant pot? I have an 8 quart. Thank you!
Hi Kristen – yes, this is easily doubled in an 8 quart with no change in time. Enjoy!
Made this on Sunday. Used herb seasoned stuffing browned in butter for the topping rather than pie crust. Delicious- thoroughly enjoyed the pot pie! Had to put the food in a 13×9 dish – deep pie dish overflowed!!!
It sounds like a wonderful way to change it up. Thanks for sharing Celia!
In the email for this post you say you’ve included a video. I don’t see a link to it.
Hi Susan – the video is in the post – it just takes a little bit for it to load, so just let the pictures load before you start to scroll. You can also watch it on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/232629216833470/videos/2581735175434050 Enjoy!
Has anyone made this in a gas stove pressure cooker? My Fissler 8 quart pressure cooker requires a full cup of water as a minimum. Does the chicken sweat liquids out?
I see carrots in the photo after ingredients have been added to the instant pot. They are also mentioned in the directions. But I don’t see them in the ingredient list other than the frozen peas and carrots which are added later. I’m assuming one to two carrots, sliced. Is that about right?
Hi Michele – yes, if you prefer, you can use fresh carrots. I would use 2 carrots and add them with the potatoes. I’ve updated the recipe. Thanks!
I made whole recipe in instapot (with rolls on the side, no crust, no baking- so the extra carbs could be optional).
I used cut up chicken tenders & yellow potatoes along with frozen peas & carrots & sauteed onion. I made gravy on the stove then added to pot when it was done & stirred it up. Delicious!! “Kentucky Kernel” is a seasoned flour that makes a easy tasty gravy in minutes!
Thanks for sharing Kelley – I’ve never heard of Kentucky Kernel before.
Recently found your site and am excited to try out this recipe. Im wondering if you have ever made this with a bottom crust as well and how this would change the recipe instructions and cook time? Thank you!
Hi Anita – I have made it with a bottom crust but the bottom crust doesn’t get as crispy as the top, so I don’t enjoy the bottom crust as much and prefer to make it without a bottom crust to save the calories. However, if you want to make it with a bottom crust, you can. Your bake time will increase to about 20 – 30 minutes. You want to give the bottom crust plenty of time to crisp up and wait until the filling is bubbling up through the top crust.
Could the pie crust be cooked with the crisp lid by just placing it on top after pressure cooking.
.Mine is on the way and am so excited. Can’t wait to try it out. Love your website and all your recipes.
I have the crisping lid too. I haven’t tried it yet, but am sure it would work. Hoping to try it this weekend. I read on another site of someone who cooks their top pie crust with the crisper for 10 minutes at 400.
Thanks for sharing Amber – let me know how it goes if you try it.
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OK Jennifer, you and your Mom have convinced me. Every time I make chicken pot pie (which I might be making this week with leftovers from the whole chicken I’m cooking in the pressure cooker today), out of habit, I do it the old fashioned get-out-every-pot-and-pan-in-the-kitchen-and-make-it-look-like-a-bomb-went-off way. I’m going to STOP that nonsense and save myself time using the pressure cooker. I love the idea of making the roux base ahead and adding it to the hot liquid too. This is going to save me lots of dish washing for sure.
I picked up mini pie plates a while back and like making mini pies to tuck in the freezer for one of those busy days that I don’t have the time or inclination to make a meat, potato, vegetable dinner. They really come in handy.
Those cute shamrocks on top of the pie are such fun! And how cute having mini pies for the little ones—what a perfect everything in one dish meal for a toddler. Those pie crust stars seal the deal. 🙂
Carol, this made my day! There’s definitely a place for traditional stovetop pot pie, but I really do love making it in the pressure cooker. We eat it so much more often this way. (Especially since I just cook the crust on a sheet pan these days! For some reason the stars get the boys to eat the meal, which is a big win for us!)