Comfort food goes mini with these Mini Chicken Pot Pies! Puff pastry shells are filled with a creamy chicken, vegetable and gravy mixture for a dinner idea everyone loves.
Mini sized food is fun! Want to try more? Check out this Cheesy Mini Meatloaf or these Mini Kentucky Hot Brown Sandwiches.
Why is it that everything is just better when it’s mini? Don’t get me wrong – I love a regular chicken pot pie. But these Mini Chicken Pot Pies? The perfect dinner recipe.
These Mini Chicken Pot Pies are not only easy (no homemade crust to fuss with) but I love that they are easy to serve because they are already portioned out. Frozen puff pastry becomes your best friend as it gets transformed into the crusts for these delicious dinner pies. Chicken, vegetables and an easy gravy all go into the pie for a dinner that is easy enough for a weeknight.
The chicken does take a bit of time to cook, but this can easily be done ahead of time. You can cook your chicken earlier, or rely on some cooked shredded chicken that you may already have on hand.
These are also easily customizable to add or take out what you want for your family.
These Mini Chicken Pot Pies are definitely a fun way to eat dinner!
Ingredients in these Mini Chicken Pot Pies
The ingredient list might look a little long, but you probably already have many of these ingredients on hand.
- Boneless, skinless chicken breasts – You can cut these into smaller pieces if you want them to cook faster!
- Onion – half of the onion gets used to cook the chicken, the other half goes into the filling.
- Bay Leaf – I always just have dried on hand, but you can use a fresh bay leaf if that is what you have.
- Extra Virgin Olive Oil – you can sub this with butter if you need to.
- Mushrooms – technically, you could use canned mushrooms here, but I don’t care for them. So I always suggest fresh mushrooms! You can use regular white or criminis.
- Celery – you only need one rib, so hopefully you have this on hand already.
- Frozen Peas and Carrots – you can use fresh, but this saves you tons of effort and time! If you forget to thaw them ahead of time, just throw them in frozen and they should thaw out.
- Butter – use real butter here, not margarine.
- Flour – this will thicken up your gravy.
- Chicken Broth – this brings great flavor to your filling.
- Cream – I have not tried subbing out for half and half or milk. It might work, your filling just might not be as thick and creamy.
- Dijon mustard – you can use grainy or smooth.
- Fresh thyme and dill – I definitely prefer the fresh herbs, but if you want to sub in dried, use 1 teaspoon of each.
- Puff Pastry – you can find this in the frozen section at your grocery store, usually by the frozen pies and cool whip. Make sure you remember to set this out for about 30 minutes before you need it.
- Egg – this helps to shine up the pastry, as well as helping it to brown.
How to make Mini Chicken Pot Pies with Puff Pastry
- Start by cooking the chicken. Place the chicken in a pot along with half of the onion and the bay leaf. Add enough water to cover the chicken. Place over medium heat and cook until the chicken is cooked through. Once cooked, remove the chicken and allow it to cool slightly before shredding or dicing the chicken. Shortcut – if you already have cooked, shredded chicken on hand you can use it here. Or if you want to pick up a rotisserie chicken, that works as well!
- Preheat the oven and spray 8 muffin cups with nonstick cooking spray. Make sure to spray them generously so that the puff pastry doesn’t stick.
- Heat the olive oil in a large skillet, then add the mushrooms and cook until they are softened. Dice the other half of the onion and add it in with the mushrooms. Also add the celery. Cook until softened, then add in the carrots and peas. Cook a couple more minutes, then remove the vegetables from the heat and add them to a bowl with the chicken.
- Return the skillet to the heat and add the butter. Once the butter is melted, whisk in the flour and let it cook for a couple minutes. Whisk in the chicken broth, then the cream, mustard, thyme, and dill and season with salt and pepper. Once thickened, pour into the bowl with the chicken and vegetables.
- Lightly flour a work surface and roll the puff pastry out until you have a rectangle about 16-inches by 10-inches. Cut this into 8 equal pieces, (they will be a rectangle), and place the pieces into the prepared muffin tin.
- Add the filling to each cup – they will be super full. Fold the points of the dough over the top of the filling.
- Lightly whisk the egg with a splash of water and brush it over the pastry.
- Bake until golden brown!
What to serve with Mini Chicken Pot Pies
- Sesame Green Beans
- A simple side salad
- Golden Potato Mash
- Tomato and Black Bean Quinoa Salad
- Lemon Butter Broccoli
- Cheesy Crescent Rolls
More Chicken Dinner Recipes
Crispy Ranch Chicken Strips with Ranch BBQ Dipping Sauce
Chicken a la King
Chicken and Biscuits
Garlic Paprika Instant Pot Chicken Thighs
Easy Chicken Divan Recipe
Stuffed Poblano Peppers with Chicken and Corn
California Club Chicken Wrap
Tools Used to Make These Mini Chicken Pot Pies
You will need a muffin tin to make these pot pies. I use a 12-cup muffin tin and just use 8 of those.
I use either a large non-stick skillet or a cast iron skillet to make the filling.
Rolling out the puff pastry is much easier with a rolling pin!
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Mini Chicken Pot Pies
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts
- 1 medium onion halved, divided
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 4 oz fresh mushrooms sliced
- 1 rib celery finely chopped
- 1/2 cup frozen peas and carrots thawed
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour plus more for rolling out the dough
- 3/4 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup cream
- 1 tablespoon dijon mustard
- 1 tablespoon fresh thyme chopped
- 1 tablespoon fresh dill chopped
- 1 (8.65 oz) sheet frozen puff pastry dough, defrosted
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Place the chicken in a large pot. Add half of the onion and the bay leaf and fill the pot until the chicken is covered with the water. Place over medium heat and cook until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes.
- Remove the chicken from the water and allow to cool slightly, then shred or dice. Discard the onion and the bay leaf. Place the chicken in a large bowl.
- Preheat the oven to 400ºF. Spray 8 muffin tins very generously with nonstick cooking spray.
- In a large skillet, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook until softened. Dice the remaining onion and add to the skillet along with the celery. Season the vegetables to taste with salt and pepper, and cook until softened. Add in the frozen peas and carrots and cook for 2 more minutes. Remove the vegetables from the skillet and add to the bowl with the chicken.
- Return the skillet the the heat and add the butter. Whisk in the flour and allow it to cook for a minute or two. Slowly whisk in the chicken broth and cook until it is thickened, about 1-2 minutes. Stir in the cream. Add the mustard, thyme, and dill and season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour the gravy over the chicken and vegetables and stir to combine.
- Lightly flour a counter and roll the puff pastry out to a rectangle about 16”x10”. Cut the dough into 8 rectangles. Place each piece of puff pastry in one of the prepared muffin cups and divide the mixture evenly between the 8 cups. They will be very full. Fold the points of the dough over the filling so that they meet in the middle.
- Lightly beat the egg with a splash of water. Brush the egg mixture over the pastry.
- Bake in the preheated oven until they are golden brown, 15-18 minutes. Let the mini pot pies stand for a few minutes before removing from the muffin tin to serve.
sally haverkamp says
Should u prebake the puff pastry in the muffin cups before u fill so the bottoms r done and nut soggy
Deborah says
I have never prefaced them, and haven’t noticed them being soggy. But you could do that if you are worried about sogginess. You’ll just want to make sure the pastry doesn’t overcook once you’ve got the filling in them.
Nosh Cass says
This look mouth-wateringly delicious! Quick question: by “cream” do you mean heavy whipping cream or table cream? Hope to hear from you soon, as I’ll be making these for a small upcoming gathering this weekend!
Deborah says
I use heavy whipping cream. We don’t have table cream, so I can’t say for sure how it would turn out. I’m sure it would work, but the filling will probably just not be as thick.
Karen says
Hi! Any tips on making these in advance and freezing them? How do you suggest heating them from frozen? Thanks!!
Deborah says
Hi Karen, I’m afraid I haven’t tried freezing these, but I’m sure they would freeze well. If you are wanting to bake them completely then freeze, I’d make them and let them cool completely. Then place in a freezer safe container to freeze. To heat from frozen, I’m not sure how long they’d take – I’d try putting them in the oven at 350ºF to bake until thawed. I’m not sure how long it would be, though.
Rob says
I wanted to make something with puff pastries that was a bit on the lighter side…the smaller portions make this a perfect compromise.
Beth says
Can you make these ahead about 30 minutes to an hour and keep them in the warming oven?
Deborah says
I haven’t tried, but I’m sure you could. Just make sure you leave the oven temperature low enough so that they don’t get dried out.
Meeghan Long says
Make them a day before and layer them in parchment paper inside a sealed container/bag. Brush with egg before baking, and keep an eye on the pastry if they are not room temperature when you put them in. I’ve tossed in frozen at 425F, when the pastry puffs and is cooked through it’s done 👍
lisa says
not quite clear on this? Bake them and then place on parchment?? or, Take out of muffin tin and place in bag?? before cooking??
Keith says
These are fantastic!! I added 2 medium finely chopped red potatoes cooked with onions, sauteed. Also I said in a few cloves of garlic. They are easy, great for company even, they were impressed! I think a perfect idea for after Thanksgiving Turkey pot pies!
Sandy says
This looks good and simple. Wondering if you can freeze the puff pastry dough? This would be wonderful for my son in law who loves chicken pot pies.
Deborah says
I haven’t tried freezing them, but I’d guess that they would freeze well. I would try freezing them and then defrosting completely before baking.
Sharonrose says
Love pot pies. Can this be made with pie pastry as well? Thanks for the recipe!
Deborah says
I haven’t tried, but I’d guess that pie pastry would work very well!