Chicken pot pie with puff pastry croutons
Serves: 4 generously
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
Recipe photograph by Ant Duncan
Chicken pot pie with puff pastry croutons
A patchwork of pastry adds a lovely finish to this chicken pot pie, and is much easier to achieve than a lattice top. We’ve used celeriac in the base veg mix, but parsnips or swede would also work well
Serves: 4 generously
Prep time: 20 minsTotal time: 
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Nutritional information (per serving)
Calories
829Kcal
Fat
50gr
Saturates
22gr
Carbs
42gr
Sugars
10gr
Fibre
8gr
Protein
49gr
Salt
2.5gr
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Sarah Akhurst
Our Food Director Sarah is a food obsessive, and spends most of her time scoping out the latest food trends, experimenting in her own kitchen, or making her family wait to eat while she photographs every dinner she makes for the 'gram! A complete Middle Eastern food junkie, she is never far from a good shawarma marinade, a pinch of Aleppo chilli or a sprig of dill
See more of Sarah Akhurst’s recipes
Ingredients
- 640g skinless chicken thigh fillets
- 640g skinless chicken thigh fillets
- 2 bay leaves
- 5 peppercorns
- 2 tbsp rapeseed oil
- 1 leek, diced
- 2 carrots, diced
- 200g celeriac, peeled and diced
- 125g bacon lardons
- 1 tbsp chopped fresh rosemary (or 1 tsp dried)
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 400ml milk
- 100ml crème fraîche
- 1 tbsp wholegrain mustard
- 1 x 320g sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
- beaten egg (or milk), to glaze
Step by step
Get ahead
Prep to the end of step 4 a day ahead; cool the filling before adding the pastry. The assembled pie can be frozen before cooking; defrost and add an extra 10-15 minutes’ oven time.
- Put the chicken in a pan with the garlic, bay leaves, peppercorns and a pinch of salt. Cover with water and then heat until simmering. Continue to simmer on a low heat for 20 minutes, uncovered, until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken from the water and shred into chunky pieces. Set aside.
- Meanwhile, heat the oil in a cast-iron skillet or similar ovenproof pan and sweat the leek, carrots and celeriac on a low heat for 12-15 minutes, until soft. Add the bacon and rosemary, and continue to cook for 3-4 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and cook out for a couple of minutes. Slowly add the milk, stirring continuously to smooth out any lumps. Bring to a simmer and cook gently for 6-8 minutes, until thickened. Stir through the crème fraîche and mustard, and then mix in the cooked chicken. Leave to cool slightly while you prep the topping. If you don’t have an ovenproof pan, transfer the filling to a suitable pie dish. Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan 180°C, gas 6, or an air fryer to 180°C (make sure your pie dish will fit in your model of air fryer).
- Unroll the pastry and cut into 5cm squares. Lay these over the top of the pie filling, overlapping at random angles. See ‘Get ahead’ above, if preparing the pie in advance.
- Brush the pastry with the beaten egg (or milk) and bake for 35-40 minutes until golden brown; check after 25 minutes if using an air fryer. Remove the pie from the oven and leave to rest for 5 minutes before serving.
