What to serve with chicken pie
Chicken pie is rich, so the best sides are sharp or green: a dressed leaf salad, buttered peas, steamed greens with lemon, or braised red cabbage. Add mashed potato only when the pie has no pastry base; two starches under one gravy is a lot.
By the chickenpie.net test kitchen · Published 7 July 2026
The one rule
Match the side to what the pie already is: pastry, cream, and chicken. That means fat, starch, and mild savoriness are covered. What the plate lacks is acid, bitterness, and freshness, so the side's job is to supply them.
Reliable pairings
- Leaf salad with a mustardy vinaigrette, the single best all-rounder
- Buttered peas or petits pois with mint
- Steamed or charred greens: broccoli, green beans, cavolo nero, with lemon
- Braised red cabbage, especially with the cider pie
- Roasted carrots with a splash of vinegar in the pan
- Quick-pickled cucumber or slaw when the pie is a rich double-crust
When mash makes sense
A lid-only pot pie has no pastry base, so mashed potato under or beside it works the way it does with a stew. With a full double-crust pie, mash doubles the starch and flattens the meal; choose greens instead.
Gravy on the side belongs with bakery-style pies eaten in the North of England and with any pie that has traveled a day in the fridge and needs loosening.
By season
| Season | Sides that work |
|---|---|
| Spring | Peas, asparagus, butter lettuce salad |
| Summer | Tomato salad, slaw, green beans |
| Autumn | Roasted roots, braised cabbage, kale |
| Winter | Red cabbage, sprouts with bacon, bitter leaves |