Chicken Pot Pie Casserole – The Stay At Home Chef

What could be better than a warm, chicken pot pie? This easy, stress-free casserole version! It might just even be better than your classic pot pie with its fluffy biscuit topping. This made-from-scratch pot pie casserole takes comfort food to a whole other level with our homemade, creamy filling, loaded with hearty vegetables and tender chicken. You’ll look forward to eating these leftovers if you manage to have any left!

Looking for more pot pie comfort? Try our Mom’s Chicken Pot Pie or Turkey Pot Pie.

The best part of this pot pie casserole is easily its thick, fluffy, and buttery biscuit topping. You get that perfect, golden brown crust on the outside, with the softness of a biscuit—who needs pie crust? And, our filling is totally made from scratch without any cream of chicken or mayo that you’ll typically find in casseroles. You’ll be surprised by how easy it is to make this creaming filling and our chef tips will help guide you below.

Ingredient Notes

• Chicken: This recipe uses 2 cups of pre-cooked chicken. Rotisserie chicken or leftovers works perfectly. You can always bake and shred chicken breasts as well.
• All-Purpose Flour: Stick with all-purpose for best results. Bread flour also works.
• Baking Powder: Gives that biscuit topping a little lift. Just make sure it isn’t expired.
• Granulated Sugar: Just a touch of sweetness—essential to balance out the flavor of the dough.
• Butter: 2 tablespoons for the filling and 1/2 cup for the topping. Use cold butter for the topping. Grating it with a box grater makes it super easy to mix into the flour. 
• Chicken Broth: Using a low-sodium option allows you to best control the flavor. It’s a great chef tip.
• Onion: White onions have a sharper flavor, but yellow onions also work.
• Carrots: Baby carrots work too, just cut them into smaller pieces for even cooking.
• Frozen Peas: No need to thaw. They’ll heat through quickly while baking.

Chicken Options

Rotisserie Chicken – many American grocery stores sell cooked rotisserie chickens that you can buy and shred. Many stores are also now offering the rotisserie chicken pre-shredded and packaged too!

Frozen Cooked Chicken – check out the freezer section of your grocery store for pre-cooked chicken strips and chunks.

Bake Your Own Chicken – lay chicken breasts out into a lightly greased 9×13 pan. Season with salt and pepper. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 30 minutes until cooked through. Chop into chunks and use right away, or freeze for later use.

Quick Skillet Chicken – heat a large heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add in 1 tablespoon vegetable oil. Place chicken breasts into skillet. Season with salt and pepper. Cook 5 to 7 minutes per side.

Grating Butter vs. Pastry Cutter

Using a cheese grater to add butter to your scone dough is a nifty little trick that can make the process simpler and often more effective than using a pastry cutter. Grating the cold butter produces small, uniform pieces that mix evenly and quickly into the flour, which is key to achieving the perfect flaky texture.

This method can be a real time-saver and is especially handy if you don’t have a pastry cutter. In fact, we like this method even better than using a pastry cutter because it distributes the butter into the flour perfectly for just the right consistency and flakiness.

Making the Filling

If you’ve never made sauce from scratch before, you’ll be surprised at how easy it is. You’ll start with a roux, which is a mixture of 50/50 fat and flour (not to be confused with a slurry or gravy), which you will then add to with your liquid of choice.

Milk is often the liquid of choice but for this recipe, we use chicken broth for the pot pie filling. For this filling mixture, we want a more thick and creamy sauce, which requires more flour than butter. Cooking the onions in the butter before adding the flour and broth gives this sauce great flavor and texture.

Pro tip: make sure you let the butter and flour mixture cook for a full 1-2 minutes before adding in the broth. Raw flour really needs that time to cook for the best flavor. You want this mixture to have a golden color before adding the liquid. Also, don’t rush pouring the chicken broth or milk. Trust us.