Fall Classics: How To Make Chicken Pot Pie Easier
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Beautiful Soul, There’s a certain point every fall when dinner starts asking for something different.
Something warm. Something comforting. Something that makes the whole kitchen smell like you’ve been cooking all day… even when you haven’t!
That’s when I start thinking about chicken pot pie. Creamy chicken and tender vegetables tucked beneath a golden crust. It isn’t fancy or trendy. It’s simply the kind of dinner that makes everybody happy to see what’s coming out of the oven.
But here’s the part I don’t think we need to romanticize: Comfort food doesn’t have to take all day to be comforting.
There are places where you can simplify chicken pot pie without sacrificing the things that make it worth making in the first place. And, Beautiful Soul, you know what that means…
I’ve already thought this through so you don’t have to.™
Today’s Fall Classic: chicken pot pie
What actually matters in a good chicken pot pie? I narrow it down to four things:
Creamy filling. Tender chicken. Vegetables that aren’t mushy. And a beautiful golden crust.
Everything else is where we have room to make life easier.
❤️ Why I make it this way
I love traditional Southern cooking, but I don’t believe difficulty is what gives a recipe its soul.
Chicken pot pie is supposed to feel comforting when you eat it—not exhausting while you’re making it.
So when I make mine, I’m looking for the places where convenience doesn’t cost us quality. If I can shorten the road between “What’s for dinner?” and a bubbling chicken pot pie coming out of the oven while keeping the creamy filling and golden crust everybody wants? I’m taking the shortcut!
That’s not cheating the classic. That’s making sure the classic still works in the kitchen I actually live in.
💡 I’ve already thought this through: what can you simplify?
Here’s my rule: save your effort for the things you’ll actually notice on the plate.
- You don’t have to make every component from scratch simply because chicken pot pie is an old-fashioned comfort food.
- Start with cooked chicken when that makes sense.
- Use convenient vegetables when they give you the texture you need.
- Take the shortcut on the crust when you’d rather spend your time somewhere else.
- What I wouldn’t shortcut is the balance of the filling. You still want it creamy enough to feel luxurious without becoming soupy, flavorful enough to season every bite, and substantial enough to hold up underneath that crust.
Simplify the work. Keep the payoff. That’s the goal.
👩🏾🍳 Make-It-Your-Way
Depending on the night, you can make the filling from scratch and simplify the crust—or take a few shortcuts with the filling, too.
- Use leftover or already-cooked chicken to eliminate an entire cooking step.
- Reach for frozen or canned vegetables instead of prepping every vegetable individually.
- Use a store-bought, ready-to-bake pie crust for that golden, flaky finish without making dough from scratch.
- Or make more of it from scratch when you have the time and want the kitchen project.
The best version isn’t necessarily the one that required the most work. It’s the one that gets made!
What should you serve with chicken pot pie?
Chicken pot pie already gives you chicken, vegetables, a creamy sauce, and crust, so I wouldn’t build another heavy meal around it. I’d choose a Southern side that complements it instead:
Collard greens — Savory, seasoned greens give the creamy pot pie some welcome contrast.
Black Folks cabbage — Tender, flavorful cabbage works beautifully when you want another vegetable on the plate.
Candied yams — A little buttery, warmly spiced sweetness against the savory filling.
Southern cornbread — Yes, chicken pot pie already has a crust. And yes, I will still understand if cornbread somehow finds its way onto your plate!
Explore the Fall Classics
Fall Classics is my collection of timeless Black Southern and soul food recipes worth knowing, making, and saving. The dishes that don’t need a trend to make them relevant.
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