Chicken Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust
This is a delicious and creamy, vegetable packed chicken pot pie topped with a buttery cornbread drop biscuit crust and baked until golden and bubbling.
There are few dinners that feel as comforting as chicken pot pie, but this version might be my favorite. Instead of making a traditional pie crust, I spoon a thick cornbread batter right over the creamy chicken filling. It bakes into a buttery, golden topping with craggy edges that are perfect for soaking up the gravy underneath.
Main Ingredients and Swaps
- Cooked chicken: You can poach and shred chicken breasts specifically for this recipe or use rotisserie chicken to save time.
- Onion, celery, carrots, and peas: I like this pot pie to be heavy on the vegetables. They give the filling plenty of flavor, texture, and color.
- Fresh sage and thyme: Fresh herbs really shine in this recipe, especially against the rich cream sauce. Dried herbs can work when needed, but use a smaller quantity since their flavor is more concentrated.
- Chicken stock and heavy cream: These create the creamy gravy surrounding the chicken and vegetables. The roux helps the sauce thicken without needing a large amount of cream.
- Freshly milled hard white wheat: Hard white wheat has a mild flavor that works beautifully in the cornbread topping. Regular all purpose flour can be substituted if you do not mill your own grain.
- Cornmeal: This gives the topping its classic cornbread flavor and slightly crumbly texture.
- Cane sugar: Use one tablespoon for a more savory crust or two tablespoons if you like your cornbread a little sweeter.
- Buttermilk: Buttermilk adds flavor and tenderness. If you do not have any, you can quickly make a substitute with milk and lemon juice.
Equipment I Use
- A large oven safe skillet or a cast iron braiser allows you to prepare the filling and bake the pot pie in the same pan.
- A grain mill is helpful if you are milling the hard white wheat fresh.
How I Make It
I begin by cooking the onion, celery, and carrots in butter until they start to soften. This creates the flavorful base of the filling and gives the vegetables a head start before the pot pie goes into the oven.
Once the vegetables have softened, I push them to one side of the skillet and add more butter, garlic, sage, and thyme. Letting the herbs and garlic cook directly in the butter for a minute helps bring out their flavor before stirring everything together.
Next, I sprinkle flour over the vegetables and cook it briefly in the butter. This creates a roux that will thicken the stock and cream into a smooth gravy. I slowly stir in the liquids, season the sauce, and let it cook until it begins to thicken.
Add the shredded chicken and frozen peas last. Once everything is hot and the sauce has reached a gravy-like consistency, I stir in a squeeze of fresh lemon juice. It is a small addition, but it brightens the entire filling and brings out the flavors of the herbs and vegetables.
For the topping, I combine the freshly milled flour with cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Chop up the cold butter and incorporate into small pieces that remain throughout the mixture, then gently stir in the buttermilk.
The finished batter should resemble a thick cornbread drop biscuit dough. I spoon it over the filling and gently spread it across the top. It does not need to look perfectly smooth. The uneven, craggy areas become especially golden and delicious in the oven.
Tips and Storage
- Cook the vegetable mixture until it has begun to brown and caramelize. The pot pie only bakes for about 20 minutes, so you do not want to begin with completely raw carrots and celery.
- Use very cold butter for the cornbread crust. Those small pieces of butter help create a tender topping as they melt in the oven.
- Once the buttermilk is added, mix only until the batter comes together. Overworking it can make the cornbread topping dense.
- The batter should be thick enough to scoop but still soft enough to spread gently. If it feels too stiff, add a small splash of buttermilk or milk.
- Use only a true pinch of turmeric. It is there to give the filling a warm golden color, not to add a noticeable turmeric flavor.
- Store leftovers in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days. Reheat individual portions in the microwave, or warm the pot pie in the oven until the filling is hot and the cornbread topping has crisped slightly.
Watch my video below to see me gather fresh herbs from the garden and turn them into this creamy chicken pot pie with its buttery cornbread crust.
Chicken Pot Pie with Cornbread Crust
Ingredients
Notes
- To replace the buttermilk, add 1 tbsp lemon juice to a liquid measuring cup and fill to one cup with milk. Let stand for 10 minutes, then keep in the fridge until ready to use.
- Turmeric is just for a warm color, a true pinch is plenty. Too much will turn the filling greenish-yellow rather than golden.
- A splash of lemon juice stirred in off the heat at the end brightens the whole dish, add it to taste.
- For the cornbread topping, I find that it makes a thick, scoopable batter. I like to drop scoops of the batter all across the chicken mixture, then use my hands to break up the scoops into smaller pieces to cover the dish more evenly. I’m careful not to press the batter down into the chicken filling.
Method
- Preheat to 400°F or 205°C.
- Sauté the vegetables: In a large oven-safe skillet or Dutch oven, melt 2 tbsp of the butter. Add the onion, celery, and carrots, and cook until softened, darkened, and lighting caramelized, about 8-10 minutes.
- Bloom the aromatics: Push the vegetables to one side of the pan. Add the remaining 1.5 tbsp butter to the cleared space, then add the garlic, sage, and thyme. Cook for about a minute, until fragrant.
- Make the roux: Sprinkle in the flour. Stir to coat and cook for a minute to get rid of the raw flour taste; this creates a roux.
- Add stock and cream: Slowly pour in the chicken stock and heavy cream, stirring as you go. Let the sauce come together and start to thicken. Stir in the turmeric, salt, and pepper.
- Add chicken and peas: Add the chicken and peas to the pan. Simmer until the chicken is warmed through and the sauce has thickened to a good gravy-like consistency but still loose, it will thicken more in the oven. Stir in a squeeze of lemon juice.
- Mix the dry ingredients: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, sugar, and salt.
- Cut in the butter: Add the chilled, cubed butter to the dry mixture and work it in with your hands, a pastry cutter, or a potato masher, until the butter is broken into small pieces and coated in flour.
- Add the buttermilk: Pour in the buttermilk and mix just until combined into a thick, scoopable batter. Not too wet, but not too stiff.
- Top the filling: Drop large spoonfuls of the cornbread batter over the filling in the skillet, then gently break it up and spread it out. Don't worry about making it perfectly smooth; a craggy, rustic top is the goal.
- Bake at 400°F until the cornbread topping is golden and cooked through, about 20-25 minutes, and the filling is bubbling at the edges.
Video
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