Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
A crustless chicken pot pie is the creamy chicken and vegetable filling of a pot pie baked in a dish on its own, with no pastry. The filling is made slightly thicker than usual so it spoons like a stew rather than a soup, and a hot oven blisters the top in place of a crust.
By the chickenpie.net test kitchen · Published 24 August 2026
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 35 min
- Yield
- 4 servings
Ingredients
- 500g skinless chicken thighs, diced
- 1 onion, chopped
- 2 carrots, diced
- 2 celery sticks, sliced
- 35g butter
- 35g plain flour
- 350ml chicken stock
- 100ml double cream
- 100g frozen peas
- 1 tsp chopped thyme
- 20g Parmesan, finely grated
Method
Melt the butter in a wide pan, cook the onion, carrots, and celery for 6 minutes, then add the chicken and thyme and cook for 6 minutes.
Stir in the flour, cook for 1 minute, then gradually add the stock, stirring to a thick sauce.
Stir in the cream and peas, season well, and simmer for 3 minutes. The filling should be thicker than a normal pie filling.
Transfer to a 1.2 litre baking dish and scatter the Parmesan evenly over the top.
Bake at 200C (400F) for 18 to 20 minutes until bubbling at the edges and blistered golden on top.
Rest for 5 minutes and serve in bowls with a spoon.
Worth knowing
- Make the filling thicker than instinct says, without a crust there is nothing to hide a loose sauce.
- The Parmesan is a stand in for the crust, do not skip it, it forms the browned top.
Common questions
Is this gluten free?
Not as written, the roux uses wheat flour. Swap the 35g flour for 2 tablespoons of cornflour mixed with cold water, stirred in after the stock, and check your stock is gluten free.
What do I serve it with?
Mashed potato or crusty bread if carbs are welcome, or steamed greens and cauliflower mash to keep it light. It is essentially a very good chicken stew, so treat it like one.
Can I skip the oven step and serve it from the pan?
Yes, it is fully cooked after the simmer, so ladle it straight into bowls. You lose the browned Parmesan top, which is the main reason the oven step exists.