Turn out individual chicken pot pies, topped with your own homemade version of puff pastry, in this review of an Alton Brown recipe.
📋 What's New In This Post (3/14/25) - Added brand news photos. I updated my tips and instructions.
Is Homemade Puff Pastry Possible?
I had heard that puff pastry is not something you could attempt to make yourself; it's something you have to buy from the frozen section of your local grocery store. However, I then saw an episode of Alton Brown's Good Eats where he made his own puff pastry to put on top of some pot pies. I thought he might have mentioned in an earlier season of the show that it was something you couldn’t make yourself. Maybe he changed his mind?
After finding this recipe, I wanted to try it myself. While I wouldn’t call it easy, it’s worth the satisfaction of pulling the pies from the oven and seeing that perfect puff. I’m sure you’ll be just as satisfied if you give this recipe a try.
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How to Make the Filling
The first step is to make your filling. You can use either white or dark meat for this, or even a combination if you want. The choice is really yours.
I have used leftover chicken that was already cooked in the past if I already had it. It's a great way to use leftovers so no food goes to waste.
💲 Budget Saving Tip - Instead of using chicken breast, opt for chicken thigh. Buy the skin on and bone in chicken thighs. You can easily remove the chicken skin with your hand and then use some kitchen shears to cut out the bone. The skin can be saved to make chicken fat/Schmaltz and the bones are great for making homemade chicken stock.
The recipe calls for cremini mushrooms. These mushrooms are also called baby bella mushrooms. If you don't like mushrooms (like me!) feel free to omit them.
The filling is pretty easy to make. Just make sure you use a wide enough pot, like a cast iron skillet
. Having enough room to stir everything without it flying out of the pan is important here. Be patient. It will take a few minutes for the filling to thicken up. It will look like too much liquid at first, so don't panic.
How to Make the Puff Pastry
Be sure you follow Alton's instructions closely. Making this pastry is not easy.
You need to keep everything as cold as possible. So don't make this right next to a hot stove or a running dish washer. Alton said that if the butter starts to melt you need to stop and place a sheet pan with ice or an ice pack on top of it for 5 minutes. This will chill down the dough. I did this twice with my dough.
Alton used about 12 tablespoons of ice water to get the dough together. I didn't count how many I used, but I know it was more than that. Keep adding a couple tablespoons at a time until your dough comes together.
You think it will never come together, then boom! like magic it suddenly does.
How to Bake the Pies
I don't know the exact size ramekins that Alton used in this recipe, but I went with 4 12-oz ramekins and that ended up being the right amount for the filling. These are the same ramekins I used in my Individual Ramekin Mac & Cheese recipe. I did have some extra dough leftover which I meant to use up for something else but then went on vacation and never got to it.
💲 Budget Saving Tip - Instead of using chicken breast, opt for chicken thigh. Buy the skin on and bone in chicken thighs. You can easily remove the chicken skin with your hand and then use some kitchen shears to cut out the bone. The skin can be saved to make chicken fat/Schmaltz and the bones are great for making homemade chicken stock.
I found my pie cooked a lot quicker than Alton's did. He said bake it for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to 400 and bake another 15-20. I found that I only need about 5 more minutes after I reduced my heat to get to golden brown. It really depends on the size and shape of your ramekins. So don't just go by the time the recipe gives, keep your eye on the pie. When it's golden and the filling is bubbly, take it out.
Alton Brown's Individual Chicken Pot Pie with Puff Pastry
Ingredients
For the filling
- 2 tbsp cooking oil, divided
- 1 ½ lbs chicken thighs and/or breast, skin and bone removed cut into cubes
- 2 ½ tsp kosher salt, divided
- 1 large yellow onion or sweet onion chopped
- 8 oz sliced cremini mushrooms optional
- 2 medium carrots sliced to ¼ inch
- 2 medium celery stalks sliced to ¼ inch
- 2 cloves 2 cloves garlic minced
- ½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
- ½ tsp dried thyme
- ½ tsp dried tarragon
- 2 oz butter salted or unsalted
- 3 oz all-purpose flour
- 2 cups chicken broth or stock
- 1 ½ cups whole milk, room temperature
- 8 oz frozen green peas
- 1 tsp 1 teaspoon freshly chopped thyme
- 1 tsp 1 teaspoon freshly chopped tarragon
For the puff pastry
- 10 oz bread flour
- 2 oz whole wheat flour
- 1 tsp fine salt
- 10 oz butter frozen
- 12 tbsp ice water may need more or less
For the egg wash
- 1 large egg beaten
- 1 tbsp water
Instructions
- Before you get started on the filling, begin by freezing the flour, butter, and salt needed for the puff pastry dough. I cube the butter and measure out the flour.
- Put them into a gallon-sized bag and place it in the freezer until it's time to make the dough.
How to make the filling
- Add 1 tbsp of oil to a cast-iron skillet and place it over high heat.
- Add the chicken and 1 teaspoon of salt. Stir occasionally while cooking the chicken until it’s browned and no longer pink inside. The internal temperature of the chicken should be 165°F for white meat and 175-180°F for dark meat.
- Remove the chicken from the skillet and set it aside.
- Reduce the heat to medium, then immediately add the chopped onion, mushrooms (if using), carrots, celery, garlic, the remaining 1 ½ teaspoons of salt, and black pepper. Stir to combine.
- Cook until all the vegetables have softened, about 5 minutes.
- Add the butter for the filling. Once it's melted, stir in the flour and cook for a minute.
- Add the broth/stock and milk. Bring it to a simmer and gently cook until the filling has thickened. Remove from the heat
- Add the frozen peas (you don't need to thaw them), dried thyme, dried tarragon, and the chicken. Cover and set aside while you work on the dough
Making the dough
- Empty the bag of flour, salt, and butter onto a clean work surface.
- Using a bench scraper, cut the butter into small cubes
- Add ice water 1-2 tablespoons at a time and mix it into the dough. Keep doing this until the dough just barely comes together. It may feel like it’s never going to come together, but suddenly it will, so be patient
- Use your scraper to fold the dough into thirds, like a letter.
- Then, get out a rolling pin and pound the dough until it’s about the size of a piece of paper.
- Then, use your scraper again to fold the dough into thirds, like a letter. Repeat this process two more times after the first one.
- Repeat the process one more time, but this time, just fold the dough over once instead of into thirds like before.
- Wrap the dough in parchment paper and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.
Preparing to bake the pies
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
- Divide the dough in half. Roll out each half into a circle until it's large enough to place two of your ramekins on the dough. Trace around the ramekins with a knife, leaving an extra ½ inch. Do the same with the other half of the dough.
- Now, fill each ramekin equally with the filling. Lay the circle gently on top without pressing down.
- Make your egg wash by combining 1 egg and 1 tbsp of water. Brush evenly over the top of each pie.
- Place the pies onto a parchment-lined sheet pan to catch the drips.
- Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees.
- Lower the temperature to 400 degrees and continue baking until the crust is golden brown and puffy, and the filling starts to bubble. This could take about 15-20 minutes
- Remove the sheet pan with the pies from the oven. Place the pies onto a cooling rack and allow at least 10 minutes to cool before digging in. If the pies are still too hot, allow them to cool longer—you don’t want to burn yourself!
Notes
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