Slow Roasted Chicken Pot Pie Recipe

Prep and roast chicken

Preheat the oven to 300°F (150°C). Pat the chicken thighs dry with paper towels. Rub each piece with olive oil and season evenly on all sides with kosher salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and dried thyme.

Place a large ovenproof sauté pan or roasting pan over medium-high heat. Add a small drizzle of oil if needed and sear the chicken thighs skin-side down, 3–4 minutes, until the skin is golden brown. Flip and brown the other side 1–2 minutes. Transfer the chicken to a plate.

In the same pan, roughly chop the yellow onion, carrots, and celery. Add to the pan and sauté 4–5 minutes until softened and lightly browned, scraping up browned bits. Pour in 2 cups chicken stock and add the bay leaf. Nestle the seared chicken back into the pan, skin side up. Cover tightly with foil or a lid.

Slow-roast in the oven until the meat is very tender and easily pulls from the bone, 1 hour 45 minutes to 2 hours. Check once at 1 hour 15 minutes; if liquid has almost evaporated, add up to 1/2 cup more stock. Remove from oven and let cool slightly, then transfer chicken to a cutting board. Reserve the pan juices and vegetables for the filling (strain if there are large solids). Remove and discard bay leaf.

When cool enough to handle, remove skin and bones from chicken and shred or dice the meat into bite-sized pieces. Reserve 3 cups of shredded/diced chicken for the pie; any extra can be used elsewhere.

Measure out the reserved pan juices and enough of the roasted vegetables to equal approximately 1 to 1 1/4 cups combined (finely chop larger pieces). If you have less than 1 cup of pan liquid, top up with up to 1 cup additional chicken stock to reach 1 to 1 1/4 cups total liquid.

Make the roux and sauce

In a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat, melt the butter. Add the reserved pan vegetables and sauté 2–3 minutes to reheat. Sprinkle in the 1/2 cup flour and cook, stirring constantly, 2 minutes to form a blond roux. Gradually whisk in 1 cup chicken stock and 1 cup whole milk until smooth. Bring to a gentle simmer; the sauce will thicken. Stir in the 1/2 cup heavy cream and simmer 2–3 minutes until slightly thicker. If sauce is too thick, thin with up to 1/4 cup additional stock or milk.

Stir in the shredded chicken, frozen peas, frozen corn, frozen pearl onions (or diced fresh onion if using), fresh thyme, and chopped parsley. Season with 3/4 tsp salt and 1/2 tsp black pepper, tasting and adjusting. Keep the filling warm over very low heat while you prepare the crust.

Preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Lightly flour a work surface and roll out the pie crust or puff pastry if needed to fit your pie dish (9-inch round or similar). Spoon the warm filling into a 9-inch pie dish or baking dish, smoothing the top and leaving a 1/2-inch gap at the rim for the top crust.

Brush the rim of the dish with a little beaten egg wash (beat the egg with 1 tsp cold water). Drape the top crust or pastry over the filling, trimming excess and crimping edges to seal. Cut a few steam vents in the top. Brush the top with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle the coarse salt lightly over the crust.

Place the assembled pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any spills. Bake in the preheated oven for 30–35 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling at the vents. If the crust browns too quickly, tent loosely with foil after 20 minutes.

Remove the pie from the oven and let rest 15–20 minutes to set. Serve warm. Note: bones were removed in the shredding step; if you prefer, keep one or two bone-in pieces for presentation before shredding the rest, but always warn diners if bones are present.