White Chicken Potpie
Updated November 2, 2022
Andrew Scrivani for The New York Times
- Total Time
- 1 hour 45 minutes
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (1 ½ pounds)
Kosher salt
Black pepper
3 cups chicken stock
1 cup white wine
2 garlic cloves, smashed and peeled
1 bay leaf
1 thyme sprig
1 rosemary sprig
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons unsalted butter (18 tablespoons), chilled, additional for greasing pan
2 leeks, thinly sliced, white and light green parts
1 shallot, thinly sliced
3 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 cup heavy cream, more as needed
1 small celery root or 2 small carrots, peeled and diced (1 ¼ cups)
1 medium potato, peeled and diced (1 ¼ cups)
1 cup frozen peas, optional
1 ½ teaspoons finely grated lemon zest (from 1 ½ lemons)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 ½ cups buttermilk
3 tablespoons sliced blanched almonds
Nutritional analysis per serving (8 to 10 servings)
51 grams carbs; 135 milligrams cholesterol; 632 calories; 10 grams monosaturated fat; 2 grams polyunsaturated fat; 19 grams saturated fat; 34 grams fat; 4 grams fiber; 856 milligrams sodium; 26 grams protein; 6 grams sugar
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
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Preparation
- Step 1
Season chicken lightly with salt and pepper. Let rest 15 minutes. In a medium pot over medium heat, combine chicken, stock, wine, garlic, bay leaf, thyme and rosemary. Bring to a simmer and cook chicken gently until no longer pink, 10 to 15 minutes. Transfer meat to a plate to cool completely. Strain and reserve cooking liquid (you should have about 2 ¾ cups). Once chicken is cool, shred into bite-size pieces.
- Step 2
Heat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease a 9-by-13-inch baking pan with butter.
- Step 3
Melt 4 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add leeks and shallot and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Melt in 4 more tablespoons butter. Stir in ½ cup flour and cook, stirring occasionally, 2 minutes. Slowly whisk in the strained stock and the cream. Season with 1 teaspoon salt and ½ teaspoon pepper. Bring mixture to a simmer. Stir in celery root or carrot, and potato; simmer over low heat, stirring frequently, 10 minutes. Stir in chicken, peas if using and lemon zest. Scrape mixture into prepared pan.
- Step 4
In a large bowl, whisk together 3 cups flour, the baking powder and 1 ½ teaspoons salt. Cut the remaining 10 tablespoons butter into cubes; using a pastry cutter or two forks, mix into flour until mixture forms coarse crumbs. Stir in buttermilk. Dollop mixture on top of potpie filling (it’s O.K. if there are spaces between biscuits). Brush tops with cream and sprinkle with almonds.
- Step 5
Transfer casserole to oven; bake until top is golden brown and filling is bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. Let cool 10 minutes before serving.
Private Notes
Comments
I make this without transferring the chicken mixture, leaving the potpie to bake in the cast iron skillet. Simple, easier and everything seems to taste better in cast iron. :-)
Could you make the filling in advance and then add the biscuit topping later? Like the next day for instance....
Exactly as advertised. This is a classic chicken pot pie, and a great one at that. Melissa Clark is one of my favorite NYTimes food writers for a reason.
This was fabulous but it was a LOT of work. I had a friend help and it still took just over 2 hours. Next time I'll do the chicken a day ahead as well as the biscuit dough. But it was worth it. Delicious and the biscuits were divine.
Is there a recipe mixed in here for drop biscuits?
Thank French cuisine for all that butter. Fantastic, satisfying pot pie. Added more thyme directly to sauce to bump the flavor up. Lemon zest was key to the balance.