The trick to a good pot pie is a good gravy. If you have pan drippings from roasting a bird, that works best. Since I didn't always have that, here's what I do. Once a year, I make roast ducks. They put off a lot of fat. I then clarify the fat and freeze it. I use duck fat to make gravy when I don't have pan drippings. For the gravy, make a basic roux with fat and flour until the roux turns to a paste-like texture. You want to cook it enough to cook off the raw flour taste. Then add chicken stock/broth until you get the consistency of gravy that you like. I like a thicker gravy, but you can control it at this stage. Set the gravy aside.

So, I saute onions, and garlic until translucent. Then add chicken and any flavorings I like (fresh basil is actually quite good). When the chicken is cooked, add frozen veggies to taste (I like mixed carrots and peas, but have often used whatever is in the freezer). Cook until the veggies are thawed. Then add the gravy and heat over low to meld the flavors and ingredients. Make your pie shell, cooking the lower shell, then fill and cover and cook the upper shell. The filling is already cooked, so doesn't need to be cooked.

OP here thank-you previous two pps. I think I will try both of your recipes and report back in a few weeks. Thanks again!

We make turkey pot pie with Thanksgiving leftovers every year. Ever since we first tried it, we've never gone back to turkey soup.

Our recipe came from WaPo, and unfortunately is too old to turn up on their current Recipe Finder.

If you're using leftover, already-cooked turkey or chicken, here's the technique. (Sorry I don't have exact measurements on the ingredients--after years I just eyeball it. You could apply this technique to whatever ingredient list you find, maybe the recipe above.)

Start with a 12" deep skillet or a Dutch Oven. Over medium heat, melt the butter. Cook the celery and carrots till they start to soften, then add the onions, garlic, and pearl onions (if you're using them). Cook all of that until the onions are soft and translucent and the carrots and celery are fully soft. Then sprinkle the flour over the cooked veggies and stir till they're coated and pasty.

Slowly--a half cup at a time or so--add the stock, and keep stirring. It should thicken up nicely and start to look like pot pie filling. When it's all smooth and combined, add the chopped turkey and stir that in. Now adjust the texture: if it's too thick, add some stock. If it's too thin, mash some butter and either flour or cornstarch together in a separate small bowl till smooth (or, dissolve the flour or starch separately in some stock), then add. (Don't add flour or starch thickeners directly; they'll lump up.)

AFTER you've got it the right consistency, add the chopped herbs, and then season to taste with salt and pepper. (Don't season earlier--you'll have to readjust the seasoning after it's all cooked anyway, and it's possible you could end up over-seasoned.)

Last thing, add the frozen peas. Then put it in your pie dish and cover with your puff pastry or pie dough. Bake.

You can use puff pastry with any pot pie recipe, you just want the filling to be hot before you put the pastry on. Also, the puff pastry doesn't reheat as well--it gets kind of tough in the fridge.

I've used it with the Cook's Illustrated chicken pot pie recipe:

1.5 lbs boneless/skinless breasts and/or thighs
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1.5 T vegetable oil
1 medium-large, chopped fine
3 carrots, peel and sliced 1/4 inch thick
2 celery ribs, sliced 1/4 inch
salt and pepper

4T unsalted butter
1/2 cup flour
1.5 cups whole milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme (I use poultry seasoning instead because I don't like thyme)
3 T dry sherry (you can leave it out, but it really does add something)
1 cup frozen peas
3 T minced fresh parsley

preheat oven to 400
put chicken and broth in dutch oven over medium heat. cover and simmer until chicken is just done, 8-10 minutes. transfer chicken to a bowl, reserving the broth in a measuring cup
increase heat to medium high, heat the oil, sauté onion, carrots, and celery until just tender. season with salt and pepper. while vegetables are cooking, shred the chicken into bite sized pieces
transfer the vegetables into the bowl with the chicken
melt butter in the same pan, add flour and cook until golden. whisk in the reserved broth, milk, and thyme. simmer until the sauce fully thickens, about a minute. season with salt and pepper, add sherry
pour sauce over the chicken mixture, stir in peas and parsley, adjust salt and pepper to taste. pour into 9x13 baking dish and top with pie dough/biscuit topping/puff pastry
bake until topping is brown and filling is bubbly, about 30 minutes

you can prepare the filling ahead of time and refrigerate or freeze it, but bring it back to a simmer before putting into the pan for baking.

I bought a Turkey Pot Pie from the fresh aisle of Trader Joe's yesterday and it was pretty good. I really liked that the crust was made from puff pastry as I do not like regular pie crusts. Anyway, I think that I would like to try my hand at making a potpie using puff pastry. I prefer chicken but am open to anything except pork.

TIA