This Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie is a faster way to make pot pie filling and is finished off in the oven with puff pastry.
Ingredients and substitutions
- Butter – substitute for another cooking fat such as bacon grease, coconut oil or cooking oil.
- Yellow onion – white onion or shallots would also work.
- Chicken breasts – swap out for chicken thighs, turkey breasts or turkey thighs.
- Garlic – freshly minced garlic is best but jarred minced garlic will work in a pinch.
- Fresh thyme – substitute for ½ tsp. dried thyme instead.
- Salt & pepper – to taste.
- Yukon gold potato – feel free to use any variety of potato like red potato.
- Chicken broth – vegetable broth is the best substitute here.
- Heavy cream – substitute for ½ cup milk or your favourite dairy-free milk instead.
- Flour – for a gluten-free option, use a gluten-free flour like almond flour.
- Frozen vegetables – use any frozen vegetable blend of your choice. You could also use fresh veggies, but you’ll need to sauté them first.
- Sheet puff pastry – substitute for an alternate crust form like pastry dough, biscuits, phyllo dough or mashed potatoes.
How to make chicken pot pie in the Instant Pot
Step 1: Add everything to the Instant Pot.
Coat the bottom of the Instant Pot with butter, then add the onion, chicken, thyme, garlic, salt, pepper, potatoes, chicken breath, heavy cream and flour in order.
Step 2: Cook on high pressure.
Cook on high pressure for 3 minutes, then do a quick release of the pressure.
Step 3: Stir in the veggies.
Open the lid and stir in the frozen vegetables.
Step 4: Cut the puff pastry.
Preheat the oven and grease the ramekins. Cut out small squares or circles of puff pastry to go on top of the ramekins.
Step 5: Assemble the pot pies.
Divide the pot pie filling amongst the ramekins and then top with a piece of puff pastry.
Step 6: Bake and then serve!
Bake on a baking sheet in the oven until the pastry is golden brown. Serve and enjoy!
Alternate forms of crust
Puff pastry makes for a beautiful, flaky crust on this Instant Pot chicken pot pie. I buy puff pastry sheets, which I slice into squares for an easy crust option.
If you can’t find any puff pastry or you want to try something different, here are a few other options:
- Pastry dough: Try using homemade or store-bought pie crust. Pie crust dough is kept in the refrigerated foods aisle, near the biscuit and crescent roll dough.
- Biscuits: if you want to use biscuits, you will need to bake them separately from the pies. Just before serving, place one baked biscuit on top of each pie.
- Phyllo dough: Use the dough according to the recipe instructions, just as if you were using puff pastry.
- Mashed potatoes: Topping the pies with potatoes makes them similar to shepherd’s pie.
Frequently Asked Questions
Nope! While some Instant Pot chicken pot pie recipes may use precooked chicken or rotisserie chicken, this recipe using fresh chicken breasts that are pressure cooked in the Instant Pot.
This pot pie is an entire meal on its own, but if you’re looking for something to serve on the side, you can serve it with a nice side salad, crusty bread or steamed veggies.
If you find that your Instant Pot pot pie is too liquidy, you either didn’t cook it for long enough or you added too much liquid. Make sure you’re cooking it on high pressure for 3 minutes followed by a quick pressure release, and only add in 1 cup chicken broth and 1/4 cup heavy cream. If you just want your pot pie to be super thick, you can stir in a cornstarch slurry after cooking.
You can try making this recipe with frozen chicken breasts, but you’ll need to increase the cooking time to 20 minutes on high pressure. For best results, I’d recommend letting the chicken defrost in the fridge, then following the recipe instructions as normal.
If you want to have one big pot pie instead of individual ramekins, follow the instructions as normal to make the pot pie filling. Instead of cutting the puff pastry into small squares or circles, you’ll roll it out to cover an entire casserole or pie plate. Put the filling into the baking dish, cover with the puff pastry and bake until the crust is golden.
Storing and reheating
If you have any leftover filling from this chicken pot pie Instant Pot recipe, transfer it to an airtight container and store it in the refrigerator. It will last in the fridge for about 5 days. Reheat in a pot on the stovetop or in the microwave then top with crust and dig in.
Any baked puff pastry may be kept at room temperature for 3 to 4 days. To prevent the puff pastry from becoming stale quickly, store it in a Ziploc bag or an airtight container.
Freezing this recipe
It is nearly impossible to freeze baked puff pastry without a change in the overall texture. Don’t let that keep you from freezing the Instant Pot chicken pot pie filling though! If you have leftover pot pies with puff pastry or another type of crust on top, simply remove the crusts.
Once you’ve removed the crust, transfer the filling from the ramekins into a freezer-safe storage container. The filling may be kept frozen for up to 3 months. Transfer the container to the refrigerator to thaw overnight before reheating.
More Instant Pot comfort food recipes
Meal prep tools for this recipe
- Grab some oven-safe ramekins here.
- Freeze the filling in glass microwave-safe bowls up to 3 months.
- I get all my free-range chicken from Butcher Box, conveniently delivered to me frozen.
Instant Pot Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 yellow onion, diced
- 1/2 lb chicken breasts, diced
- 2 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh thyme or 1/2 tsp dried
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 tsp pepper
- 1 Yukon gold potato, diced
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or 1/2 cup milk
- 1 tbsp flour
- 1 (750g) bag frozen vegetables
- 1/2 sheet puff pastry cut into squares
Instructions
- Spread butter over the bottom of Instant Pot. Add onions, chicken, thyme, garlic, salt & pepper, potato, chicken broth, heavy cream and flour in that order, gently stirring flour overtop of mixture. Place lid on Instant Pot and make sure valve is set to seal.
- Press the pressure cook button and set to high, then cook for 3 minutes. Instant Pot will take about 5-10 minutes to come to pressure then pressure cook for 3 minutes.
- Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 400 F. Grease ramekins with a little bit of cooking spray. Cut out 4 small squares or circles of puff pastry using a pizza roller to fit the tops of the ramekins and set aside.
- Do a quick release of the pressure on the Instant Pot by flicking the switch at the top with a spoon. Open the lid when pressure gauge has dropped and the lid opens easily.
- When filling is done cooking, open lid and stir in veggies, mixing well. Divide filling among ramekins and then add piece of puff pastry. Bake on a baking sheet in the oven for 10 minutes or until pastry is golden brown. Serve and enjoy!
