Tessa’s Recipe Rundown
Taste: The filling is SO flavorful. Each bite explodes with flavor from the fresh herbs and seasonings. The potatoes make this pot pie ultra cozy and hearty. The buttermilk biscuits on top are ultra comforting and delicious.
Texture: The pot pie filling sauce is thick and creamy, not soupy like a frozen pot pie at all. The biscuit is perfectly light, fluffy, buttery, and flavorful.
Ease: Not the easiest recipe in the world as it does require some prep time, but the extra effort is SO worth it.
Pros: Perfect for serving to friends and family. And for using up leftover chicken or turkey!
Cons: None.
Would I make this again? Absolutely.
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There’s no meal quite as comforting as a Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits on top. It’s the ideal meal for a cozy fall day… or just when you’re craving comfort.
This Chicken Pot Pie recipe is made with delicious, flaky buttermilk biscuits on top. The pot pie filling is loaded with fresh veggies, fresh herbs, and seasonings, for the most flavorful filling the whole family will love.
Homemade chicken pot pie is sure to be a hit with your friends or family. Make it for a cozy Sunday night dinner or even for a dinner party where you want to impress with the best comfort food.
I love that this Biscuit Pot Pie is perfect for using up leftover Thanksgiving turkey or a rotisserie chicken.
I think you’ll love this easy Chicken Pot Pie recipe. This is a dinner your friends and family will request over and over. You’ll never go back to the store-bought pot pies once you get one taste of this recipe!
How to Make Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits
What is Pot Pie? What are Chicken Pot Pies made of?
Pot pie is a savory dish, typically made with chicken, vegetables, and a creamy sauce, covered with a layer of flaky pie crust or puff pastry. Unlike British-style meat pies, there is no crust on the bottom, which makes it simpler and easier to make! It is also made in a skillet or casserole dish, so there’s enough to easily feed a crowd. For this recipe, we’re swapping the pastry top for my buttery, flaky Buttermilk Biscuits. The biscuits are quick and easy and make for such a cozy, beautiful, and utterly delicious meal.
What Pan Should I Bake This Pot Pie in?
I used a 12-inch cast iron skillet to sauté the vegetables, make the sauce, and then everything gets mixed into the skillet, topped with the biscuits, and then goes straight into the oven for baking. I love this method because it makes for a quicker and easier clean up, and cast iron skillets carry and conduct heat so well. I don’t recommend using a skillet smaller than 12-inches, unless you leave out some of the filling (we don’t want it to overflow!) Alternatively, you can use a 9×13-inch baking dish or casserole dish if you don’t have a cast iron skillet this size!
What Meat Can I Use for Chicken Pot Pie Filling?
Feel free to use any type of chicken or turkey you like. This is a perfect use for chicken breast or turkey leftovers, or grab an easy rotisserie chicken from the supermarket!
Can I Customize the Vegetables?
This Chicken Pot Pie uses a classic mix of potatoes, onion, carrots, celery, and peas. You can alter the mix a little if you like, but keep the total volume/weight about the same. Boil the potatoes until fork tender. Chop the onion, carrots and celery into nice small pieces, and sauté. I recommend using frozen peas for ease and flavor, but canned will work just fine.
Can I Customize the Herbs and Spices? Do I Have to Use Fresh Herbs?
- Fresh herbs are preferred and highly recommended for this Chicken Pot Pie, because they add so much collective flavor and depth to the dish.
- I have added dried herb quantities in the recipe, to be added in with the cream and all the dry spices, in case that’s all you have.
- Again, this part is a little customizable, so adjust to your preferences.
- Feel free to also adjust the seasonings and spices as you like, but I love this particular balance of flavor this combination brings to this dish!
Can I Make This Pot Pie Vegetarian?
Yes! Just omit the shredded chicken/turkey, and use veggie broth instead of chicken broth. I’d recommend adding another vegetable (or bumping up the quantities of the other veggies) to replace the meat. Corn or par-boiled sweet potatoes or squash might be nice!
Tips for Making Buttermilk Biscuits:
- Be sure to measure your flour correctly! If you add too much flour, you may end up with hard, dense biscuits instead of light, flaky biscuits.
- Make sure your baking soda & baking powder are fresh. Check out my Baking Soda vs. Baking Powder article here to learn about the differences between these two leaveners and how to test for freshness.
- I recommend using real buttermilk here, not substitutions or DIY versions, for best results. Read more about my experiments with buttermilk and buttermilk substitutions here, just in case you cannot locate real buttermilk where you live! Note that using a substitute will affect the final outcome.
- Laminate your dough! This is the best way to ensure tall, flaky biscuits. More on this just below.
How to Laminate Your Biscuits for Tall, Flaky Biscuits!
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and dust the dough with flour. I like to use a powdered sugar shaker to dust the perfect amount of flour without using too much. Gently pat the dough out into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle using your hands. You don’t need to use a rolling pin if you don’t want to!
- Fold the dough into thirds like a letter. Don’t worry if it’s not absolutely perfect. You want to be quick and gentle with the dough and only use as much flour as necessary to prevent it from sticking. Adding too much flour will create dense and tough biscuits. A bench scraper makes easy work of moving the dough without having it stick.
- Repeat this process two more times, rotating the dough 90 degrees before each fold. By the time you’re done, you will have created layers of butter similar to a croissant so the biscuit bakes up perfectly tall and flaky. Perfect for adding to the top of your Chicken Pot Pie!
How to Make Biscuits Ahead of Time
You can make the biscuit dough and refrigerate for up to 24 hours, if covered very well in plastic wrap (so it doesn’t dry out in the fridge). Simply remove from the refrigerator, shape, and place on top of the filling mixture right before the pot pie goes into the oven.
What to Serve with Chicken Pot Pie:
This Chicken Pot Pie recipe is pretty filling on its own, but here are some side ideas that would complement this well:
- Side salad
- Side of roasted vegetables
- Corn on the cob
- Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese
Can I Make This Pot Pie Ahead of Time?
Yes! Make the Chicken Pot Pie filling from start to finish up to 48 hours in advance, and refrigerate in an airtight container. Just above are the instructions for making the biscuits ahead of time. I recommend adding a few minutes to the cooking time if making ahead to account for the chilled filling.
Do I Need to Let the Chicken Pot Pie Rest After Baking?
Yes! Letting the Chicken Pot Pie rest after baking is important, as it lets that intense heat cool off a bit, allowing the sauce to cool and slightly thicken a bit before serving. Trust me, it will make serving this dish much easier once that filling has set up a little!
How Should I Store Biscuit Pot Pie?
This Biscuit Pot Pie will keep in the fridge, covered well with plastic wrap, for up to 3 days. I like to pull the remaining biscuits off and store them wrapped in aluminum foil in the fridge, and store the filling separately in an airtight container. This keeps the biscuits crisp when reheating.
How Should I Reheat the Biscuit Pot Pie?
Reheat the Chicken Pot Pie filling in the microwave until heated through, and warm the biscuits in the oven at 425°F for 10-15 minutes, or until warmed through and re-crisped. This method prevents the biscuits from becoming too soggy as they sit on the pot pie filling in the fridge, and crisps the bottoms up as they reheat, too!
Can you Freeze Biscuit Pot Pie?
We haven’t tested freezing this Pot Pie, but I don’t recommend it.
More Recipes You’ll Love:
- Red Lobster Cheesy Garlic Biscuits
- Copycat Olive Garden Breadsticks
- Ultimate Macaroni & Cheese
- Cheesy Green Bean Casserole with Bacon
- Hawaiian Bread Rolls
Chicken Pot Pie with Biscuits
Ingredients
For the biscuits:
- 2 cups (254 grams) all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
- 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon baking powder
- 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
- 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
- 6 tablespoons (85 grams) very cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 cup (237 ml) buttermilk, chilled
For the filling:
- ½ lb mini Yukon or small red potatoes
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 large yellow onion, diced to ¼ inch
- 1 cup carrots (about 2 large), diced to ¼ inch
- 1 cup celery (about 3 ribs), diced to ¼ inch
- 4 cloves garlic, minced
- 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, divided
- 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- 2 cups (480 ml) chicken stock
- 1 cup (237 ml) heavy cream
- 1 tablespoon fresh sage, minced*
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme, minced*
- 1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, minced*
- 1 tablespoon salt
- 1 1/2 teaspoons black pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/4 teaspoon paprika
- 1/4 teaspoon mustard powder
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 4 cups cooked chicken or turkey meat, shredded
- 1 10 oz bag of frozen peas
- 1/4 cup fresh parsley, chopped*
- Fresh thyme leaves for topping, optional
Instructions
Make the biscuit dough:
- In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Using a food processor or pastry blender, cut the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse meal. The faster you do this the better, you want the butter to remain cold. Stir or pulse in the buttermilk until just combined. DO NOT overmix. The dough will be very sticky.
- Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and dust the dough with flour. Gently pat the dough out into a 1/2-inch thick rectangle. Fold the dough into thirds like a letter. Repeat this two more times, rotating the dough 90 degrees before each fold. Dust lightly with additional flour as needed.
- Pat the dough out into a final 1-inch thickness. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge until ready to use.
Make the filling:
- Preheat your oven to 425°F. If you don’t have a 12-inch cast iron skillet, grease a 9×13-inch casserole dish with butter or cooking spray and set aside.
- Bring a medium pot of water to a boil and season heavily with salt. Par-cook the potatoes for 7-8 minutes, until slightly fork tender. Remove from heat and strain potatoes. Allow to cool, and then cut the potatoes in quarter pieces, or about 1” in diameter. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the olive oil in a large 12-inch cast iron skillet (or any large skillet) over medium-high heat. Add onions, and sauté for 3 minutes until slightly translucent, stirring often. Add the carrots and celery, and continue to cook for another 3 minutes, stirring often. Add the garlic and cook for 1 more minute. Remove the pan from the heat and transfer the veggie mixture to a bowl. Set aside.
- Using the same skillet, heat 4 tablespoons butter over medium to high heat until slightly bubbling. Add the flour and mix well to form a roux. Continue to stir, cooking the roux for 1-2 minutes until nutty in color and aroma. Slowly whisk in the chicken stock and bring to a simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, whisking often, until slightly thickened. Once thickened, whisk in the heavy cream. Then whisk in the fresh sage, thyme & rosemary, as well as the salt, black pepper, garlic powder, paprika, mustard powder, and cayenne pepper. Let simmer for 1 minute. Remove from heat.
Assemble the pot pie:
- Carefully fold the sautéed veggie mixture, shredded turkey/chicken, quartered potatoes, peas, and parsley into your sauce, keeping the filling inside the same skillet. Set aside. Alternatively, if using a casserole dish to bake, spoon the filling into the casserole dish and set aside.
- Remove the chilled biscuit dough from the fridge, and place on a lightly floured surface. Use a sharp 2-inch round metal biscuit cutter to push straight down through the dough to cut out circles, trying not to twist the cutter at all. Dip the biscuit cutter in a bit of flour between each cut to ensure your dough doesn’t stick to the cutter. If you don’t have a sharp cutter, use a knife and cut squares instead. Repeat with any remaining scrap dough, being sure to work with it as little as possible. You should yield about 10-12 biscuits.
- Place the biscuits evenly on top of the filling. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon of butter and brush the tops of the biscuits with a pastry brush.
- Bake at 425°F for 12-15 minutes, or until the biscuits are fully baked and golden brown on top, and the filling is bubbly.
- Remove from the oven and set aside to rest for 5-10 minutes.
- Brush biscuit tops once more with melted butter, and sprinkle with flaky salt, black pepper, and fresh thyme leaves. Serve warm.
Recipe Notes
This recipe was published in 2022 and has been updated with additional recipe tips. Photos by Joanie Simon.
Looks yummy. What do you suggest for modifying this recipe with no meat? Veggie family.
Hi there! Check out the answer to this question in the Tip Box, above the recipe, under the header “Can I Make This Pot Pie Vegetarian?” Let us know what you think once you have given this pot pie a try! 🙂
HI! This looks like the absolute BEST chicken pot pie recipe I have found!!!
One question- can I use premade biscuits like Pillsbury ones in a tube for a quicker prep?
Hi Laura! Glad you enjoyed this pot pie!! We definitely prefer homemade biscuits, but you can definitely use packaged ones to make this faster, if you prefer 🙂
Just recently, I’ve been exploring using biscuits instead of puff pastry in my chicken pot pie recipes and I must admit, using biscuits looks like a great idea.
Your recipe looks amazing and the detailed instructions are definitely a plus!
I am Sooo going to make this recipe very soon!
Since I haven’t made your chicken pot pie with biscuits recipe yet, I didn’t leave a rating, but it sure looks like a 5-star dish!
Bill
Can’t wait to hear what you think of this pot pie, Bill! Let us know how it goes.
I made this awhile back and absolutely loved it. I wanna make it again but unfortunately my oven is broke. So my question is can I cook this by a different method. What would be your suggestion? I have a crockpot, air fryer or pressure cooker?
Hi Jenn! So glad to hear that you have enjoyed this pot pie previously! We haven’t tried baking this pot pie in anything but an oven, but you could certainly try another method if your oven is broken. I’d recommend cooking the filling on the stove a little longer than directed in the recipe, baking the biscuits separately, and simply serving together. As long as the filling is properly cooked and allowed to thicken on the stovetop, the filling shouldn’t need to go in the oven. If you don’t have a toaster oven, I’d recommend trying the biscuits in your air fryer – I can’t recommend a baking time since we haven’t tried this, and it may need a little experimentation, but it should hopefully work well! Let us know how it goes 🙂
Made this tonight and it turned out delicious! The only change I would make would be to bake the biscuits separately and then place them on top of the filling right before I serve the pot pie. My biscuits didn’t cook all the way through even though I added several minutes to the cooking time. I totally forgot the parsley, but sprinkled it on right before it was served and all was OK!
This looks great! Is it possible to bake the filling in a traditional double crust pie pastry?
Hi Fred! We haven’t tried that, but I don’t see why that wouldn’t work – I would just recommend thickening the filling a little more. Let us know how it goes 🙂
Can I use a regular hand mixer for the biscuits if I don’t have a food processor or pastry blender?
Hi Miriam! Don’t use an electric mixer for these biscuits – it’s not needed! You can mix it all by hand and just cut the butter in using a fork, or even just your fingertips, if you don’t have a pastry cutter! You want to handle/mix the dough as little as possible, and maintain cold butter pieces, to achieve flaky biscuits! Check out Tessa’s full Buttermilk Biscuit article and how-to guide here! Happy baking 🙂
Made this tonight and it was AMAZING! It does take a decent amount of time, but such a good comfort meal. I made it exactly as the recipe is listed, except I did half the salt in the sauce. It was perfect! Thanks for the tasty recipe!
As I was making this I kept thinking wow this is a lot of work, and wondering in my head if it would really be worth it, and doubting that it would. But I’m here to tell you it is worth every bit of work and all the dirty dishes. This was so delicious and warm and spicy, like all the best parts of Thanksgiving. The biscuit gives you even more of the bready crust that you would normal get in a pot pie, but also the soft yummy inside of the biscuit. And then the gooey biscuit that sits on the pot pie filling as a bonus element of deliciousness.
Its a lot of work, so start early, earlier than you think you need to. But it will be so worth it!
This turned out perfect except it was so salty. Is it possible the ingredient measurement for the salt was not supposed to be 1 tablespoon? Other than that – it would have been fabulous. I will make again but with half the salt
Hi Stephanie! I’m sorry you found this pot pie too salty! It is supposed to be 1 Tablespoon of salt, but that does not suit all palates! I’m glad that you enjoyed this enough to make it again – and as you said, feel free to reduce the salt by half or more, to suit your preferences!
How do the undersides of the biscuits cook? I made a similar recipe and they were gooey underneath.
Hi Mary! The undersides of the biscuits do cook along with the pie filling, but they don’t get super crisp. If you prefer, you can always bake the biscuits on a baking tray separately, to ensure they crisp up nicely, and simply serve with the pie filling! I hope you give this pot pie a try – it’s seriously SO good!! 🙂
Can I make this with leftover roast beef rather than chicken?
Hi Cori! Yes, you can swap out the meat for the same quantity of any other meat – that should still be delicious! Check out the pink tip box above the recipe for more tips + tricks! Let us know what you think once you have tried this! 🙂