I’ve always loved chicken pot pie but I can see why some people aren’t fans of it, especially if they haven’t had a pie with homemade crust and filing and have only had the frozen food aisle varieties. So, I decided to make this version my way in a cast iron skillet, with only one layer of crust rather than two layers, and with a leftover rotisserie chicken from my local deli. Semi-homemade for the win.

Having leftover pie dough from work that I had frozen after making family meal empanadas a few weeks ago made it simple to execute today, but unfortunately, I can’t share that particular recipe since it’s from my job. However, Angela from The Kitchenista Diaries has an excellent step-by-step method for making amazing pie dough right here.

I honestly recommend making the dough from scratch and if you do, make the dough the day before so it has time to rest and get happy. If you want to cut down on the work, you can easily get some store-bought dough to roll out or you can even use puff pastry (another fantastic option). Whatever you prefer, but if you can, go the homemade route; you won’t regret it. Let’s get cooking!

Skillet Chicken Pot Pie

Serves: 8

Cook time: 1 hour

3 tbsp bacon fat

1/2 cup cubed pancetta

1 cup white button mushrooms, sliced

1 package poultry herb blend (typically contains rosemary, sage, thyme)

4 small celery stalks, thinly sliced

2 large carrots, peeled and sliced into half moons

2 medium yellow onions, diced

1/4 tsp ground marjoram

1 tsp kosher salt

1 tsp black pepper

1/4 tsp crushed red pepper

1 rotisserie chicken, meat broken down and cut into cubes

5 garlic cloves, minced

4 tbsp all-purpose flour

4 cups chicken broth or stock

1 cup heavy cream

1 tbsp unsalted butter

Pie dough or puff pastry, thawed

1 egg, beaten

Preheat your oven to 375ºF.

In a deep 12” cast iron skillet, add the bacon fat and sauté the pancetta over medium-high heat. Render down the fat for about 2 minutes and then add the sliced mushrooms. Stir well, making sure that the mushrooms get coated in the fat. Add one sprig of rosemary, 3 sprigs of thyme, and 3 sage leaves to the pan and stir well.

Stirring occasionally, sauté the mushrooms until they’re golden brown, about 7-10 minutes. Remove from the pan and set aside. Next, add the celery, carrots, and onions. Add the ground marjoram, kosher salt, black pepper, and crushed red pepper. Cook the vegetables until they start to slightly char and the onions become translucent, about 10 minutes. Then, add the minced garlic, stirring well. Once the garlic is fragrant, add the cubed chicken.

Add a cup of the chicken broth or stock to the chicken and vegetables, folding in the chicken and allowing everything to steam up and heat the chicken thoroughly. Next, add the mushrooms and pancetta back into the pan.

After adding the mushrooms and pancetta, sprinkle the flour all over the mixture and stir well, cooking the flour for about 3 minutes to get the raw flour taste. Then, gradually add a cup of chicken broth at a time, making sure to incorporate it well with the chicken and vegetables until you get a gravy-like consistency like below.

Then, fold in the heavy cream and add the butter.

After your filling is all done, turn the heat off and set it aside. Prep out your dough and roll it out on a well-floured surface to the fit the width of the skillet and tuck the edges back into the pan however you like. It doesn’t have to be perfect so don’t fret if it’s not super uniform (like mine, haha!). Cut slits into the center of the skillet and brush the entire top with a quick little egg wash.

Place the skillet on a cookie sheet to catch any drippings that might bubble out and bake your chicken pot pie at 375ºF until the crust is golden brown and the filling is nice and bubbly. Let cool down a bit before serving and enjoy it with a simple green salad or for a solo carb fest.

¡Buen provecho!