This Crustless Chicken Pot Pie recipe makes chicken pot pie seem easy and achievable for a weeknight. No dough rolling required, but still with a crispy breaded topping, this recipe has all the best creamy, comforting parts without the work.
Chicken Pot Pie without The Crust
I get requests from readers all the time for a chicken pot pie recipe that's also migraine diet friendly. The thing is, I love chicken pot pie. It's warm, cozy, comforting - perfect for cooler weather. But I never make it - why? Cause the idea of making a crust just seems overwhelming. I know that crusts are fairly easy to make overall, but it's the clean up that gets me every time. I already have to do dishes for a pan to cook everything in and now I have to clean up flour everywhere. Enter this crustless chicken pot pie recipe!!
Initially when I had the idea, I knew I had to make this more than just a creamy chicken soup. I nearly always have panko on hand, and I love that it took me two seconds to top these "pies" with a crispy topping. I also loved that if I had a little bit more time or got ambitious, this recipe would easily work with a homemade or store-bought puff pastry crust.
Ingredients
There is actually a really funny story behind the ingredients I chose for these pot pies. I asked my private Facebook group if they cared if celery was in the pot pie or if I could leave it out. This simple question launched into what I now like to refer to as The Great Celery debate. This post reached over 100 comments - some people having more hatred for celery than paying taxes or having to work on Christmas. Others praised celery as the vegetable that has come to save us all.
My personal opinion? It's one less thing! I wanted to make this recipe really approachable and I think part of that is using frozen vegetables that you don't have to worry about going bad. Especially during the fall and winter months.
Dairy Free Chicken Pot Pie
This chicken pot pie is really easy to make dairy-free, which is part of the reason I recipe tested milk instead of cream. Instead of using butter, I'd use a favorite oil.
Oatly oat milk would make a really great milk substitute as you need something nice and creamy and I think oat milk has the best texture. Full fat coconut milk could also be used, although I think that might affect the flavor a bit more.
Gluten Free Option
To make this crustless chicken pot pie gluten free, all you need to do is substitute the flour and panko. Some ideas for the roux (a flour and butter mixture to thicken the sauce) is to use cornstarch, arrowroot powder, or your flavor gluten free flour.
My favorite gluten free pankos are Aleia's and Jeff's Creations.
Other Chicken Recipes
Creamy Rosemary Chicken
Honey Garlic Chicken
Air Fryer Chicken Tenders
Boursin Stuffed Chicken
Chicken and Rice Soup
If you make this recipe, don’t to tag me #thedizzycook or @thedizzycook on Facebook and Instagram. And please leave a review below!
Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
Ingredients
- 1 pound boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tsp olive oil
- kosher salt and pepper
- ¼ cup butter
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 shallots, chopped
- 2 large carrots, chopped (about ¾ cup)
- ½ cup frozen peas
- ½ cup frozen corn
- 1 cup whole milk
- 1 ¼ cups vegetable or chicken broth
- ¼ teaspoon dried thyme
- ½ cup panko
Instructions
- Cut chicken breast into bite sized pieces, season with kosher salt and pepper. Prepare a large, deep pan with a little bit of olive oil (2tsp or so) and cook chicken bites over medium heat for about 3 minutes on each side until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken bites from the pan and set aside.
- In the same pan, add 1 tablespoon of butter, chopped shallots and carrots. Cook over medium-low heat until softened, about 5 minutes. Then add the peas and corn, as well as the rest of the butter. As the butter melts, mix in the 2 tablespoons of flour until all the veggies are coated.
- Add broth and simmer (small bubbles, not a boil) for 1-2 minutes, stirring so the flour gets smooth and not clumpy. Stir in milk as it starts to thicken, then add thyme, and more salt and pepper if desired. Simmer for 8-10 minutes, stirring often, until the sauce is nice and thick, enough to coat a spoon. Add cooked chicken into the mixture.
- Spoon chicken pot pie filling into individual, oven-safe ramekins. Top with panko and broil under high heat for about 1 minute until lightly browned. Serve warm.
Notes
- Oatly oat milk would make a really great milk substitute as you need something nice and creamy and I think oat milk has the best texture. Full fat coconut milk could also be used, although I think that might affect the flavor a bit more.
- For Gluten Free, I like Aleia's or Jeff's Gluten Free Panko, both linked in the post.
- For low sodium and migraine-friendly, I recommend making your own stock from one of my recipes online or in my cookbook.
I'm going to make this tonight, does it freeze well? I like to make large batches to save work for later.
It freezes extremely well! Just wait to put the panko on top till you're done reheating
Definitely a keeper!
Excellent - substituted cornstarch instead of flour for gluten free twist ☺️
We loved it! I used leftover rotisserie chicken and it was even easier
Easy and delicious. I added some celery for extra crunch. I will definitely be making it again. I think next time I might serve it over some (hyh compliant) toasted bread, like a tartine.
I made this for myself and my daughter. with chicken. My husband only eats fish so I made his with tuna. Both delicious. Everyone is begging for more.
This was extremely good. I couldn't do carrots due to an allergy, so I just subbed in cubed potatoes. I used frozen unseasoned rotisserie chicken shreds (tossed in frozen, no defrosting!) and poured mine into a casserole dish since I don't have ramekins. I even used the homemade chicken broth recipe from this site! Turned out wonderfully, I loved it, as did my husband who "doesn't like pot pie". We only had a serving or two left over, which reheated extremely well the next day in the microwave.
I imagine you could easily do this filling with a traditional pot pie crust if you so desire.
Do yourself a favor and just make this recipe. IT IS AWESOME AND EASY. I just used a big casserole dish.
Two Words: Easy and Delicious! The Dizzy Cook knocks it out of the park with this recipe. It is such a comforting recipe and reheats so well for leftovers the next day... if you have any left!
Seriously the most amazing recipe. Everyone was making this in the recipe chat and I knew I had to try. We love it
LOVE this recipe. It's so good, and easy to make, I will definitely make this again, and often.
Such a delicious & comforting meal! I used Bob’s Red Mill 1:1 gluten free flour and it came out great. I don’t have ramekins but a medium casserole dish did the trick. I will be making this again soon!
We just had this for dinner. It was so easy to make and tasted great!
I truly can’t get over how good this is! It’s definitely on my top 3 fav recipes. One time I even made it when my husband was at work so I didn’t have to share! Delicious!!!
We loved this!! So delicious!
Yummy! I added 1/4 cup of flour to make it thicker—-thanks Alicia for sharing it was delicious!