Turkey Pot Pie with Puff Pastry
Make this no-fuss Turkey Pot Pie with a flaky puff pastry crust to transform leftover turkey into a delicious dinner that feels new. Or, make it with shredded roasted or rotisserie chicken for easy anytime comfort food.
This savory turkey pot pie is easy to make and delicious to eat. The filling is creamy and silky smooth–not overly thick or heavy. Puff pastry is the dream shortcut to a flaky, buttery, light yet crispy top crust. And seasoned turkey and generous pinches of thyme and sage ensure every bite is full of flavor. We won’t tolerate bland pot pie here!
A few simple shortcuts–store-bought puff pastry, frozen veggies–keep this recipe simple without compromising one iota of flavor and taste.
We love to make this after a big holiday meal to use up any leftover turkey (after I’ve made turkey and dumpling soup, of course!). But turkey breast is so easy to make in the oven or in the slow cooker, and makes such a nice Sunday supper, you just might find yourself with some extra turkey throughout the year. Bonus: turkey is often a relatively affordable protein when it’s not Thanksgiving. Supply and demand!
Ingredients & Common Substitutions
Here are a few notes and shopping tips about the ingredients you’ll need to make this, as well as possible substitutions. Full ingredients & amounts are in the recipe card below.
- Shredded Turkey: For this recipe, cooked turkey that is either shredded into long sections or chopped into bite-sized pieces works well. It can be dark meat, light meat, or a mix. And yes, you can use chicken instead–see below.
- White or Yellow Onion.
- Flour: I usually use all-purpose, but really anything will work. It’s purpose is simply to thicken the roux that will form the base of the sauce.
- Sage and Thyme: You can use fresh or dried. If you only have a little bit of fresh, I would recommend adding dried herbs to the filling mixture, and saving your fresh herbs to sprinkle on top for added flavor and a pretty garnish when serving.
- Frozen Mixed Veggies: This is a great shortcut for filling in this pot pie with minimal effort. Use any blend that you like — I typically buy bags from the freezer section with a mix of corn, peas, and carrots. Sometimes chopped green beans are thrown in there, too. Of course if you feel like it you can use chopped fresh veggies — plan on roughly 2 cups, and mix them in shortly after the onion, so they have time to soften, instead of at the end.
- Broth: You can use chicken broth, chicken stock, vegetable broth, or vegetable stock, whatever you prefer and have on hand. Of course, if you have turkey stock, use that! As always, using a low-sodium variety will usually improve the taste and allow you to control the finished salt level to taste.
- Cream: Just a smidge of cream is all it takes to enhance the sauce. You can also use half and half.
- One Egg: This is just to make an egg wash to brush on top of the puff pastry, which is what gives it a pretty golden sheen. This is technically optional, or you can use just a smidge of egg white or yolk if you have a bit leftover from something else. Mix it with water or milk.
- Staples: Butter, salt, pepper.
For how long can I freeze leftover turkey?
Leftover turkey can be safely stored in the freezer for at least three and up to six months. The best way to make it last longer is to pack it tightly into a freezer-safe zip-top bag and press out as much air as possible before freezing. Your goal is to ensure as little air as possible is inside and touching the turkey — it’s air that will lead to freezer burn and compromise the texture and flavor.
Can I use rotisserie chicken instead?
Absolutely! You can use shredded chicken that you cooked yourself, or meat pulled from a rotisserie chicken in this pot pie recipe. Follow everything else exactly as directed.
Can I use regular pie crust instead?
Absolutely! A standard all- or part-butter pie crust, homemade or store-bought, will work just as well in this recipe.
How To Make Turkey Pot Pie
This is an overview with step-by-step photos. Full instructions with timing & temperatures are in the recipe card below.
Step One: Prep! Take your puff pastry out to thaw. It should be pliable and easy to unfold, but still cold. Once it is pliable, keep it in the fridge until you are ready to top the pot pie.
Step Two: Make the sauce. You’ll begin this by melting the butter, cooking the onion in it, then adding the flour, herbs, and liquid ingredients. The mixture may seem lumpy at first, but don’t worry. Just keep it over medium heat and continue whisking; it will even out and be perfect. You’re looking for the consistency of a thin gravy.
Step Three: Stir in turkey and vegetables to finish the pot pie filling. Easy!
Step Four: Top with puff pastry and finish. You can roll out the puff pastry sheet on a lightly-floured work surface to make it a bit larger, but don’t worry if it doesn’t completely reach the edges of your skillet. It should just cover most of the surface. Be sure to cut a couple of slits in the top of the pastry to let air escape. You can do this with a paring knife or with kitchen scissors.
Pro Tip: For a fancier presentation, cut the puff pastry into strips and put a lattice top over the pie instead of covering the whole surface.
Step Five: Bake for about 30 minutes at 400 degrees F. Let it cool very slightly, then dig in!
If your filling and crust comes very, very close to the top of your skillet, place it on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer that to the oven. Any drips as it bubbles will go on the baking sheet instead of burning onto the bottom of your oven.
No oven-safe skillet? No problem! Just transfer the filling to a 9″x9″ square baking pan or casserole dish before covering with the puff pastry and proceeding to bake.
Can I make this in individual portions?
Absolutely! Individual portions are fun to serve, and it’s barely more work. Just divide the prepared filling among the desired number of ramekins or other oven-safe dishes, cover each with a piece of puff pastry cut to fit, and bake as directed. The cooking time is the same.
Make It Ahead
Like many casserole-style dishes, this is a great make-ahead meal. My first choice approach to this would be to prepare the turkey and vegetable filling up to 2 days ahead of time, store in the fridge, then cover with the pastry and bake as directed when desired.
You can also make the entire pot pie ahead of time. Let the baked pie cool until very close to room temperature, then cover it tightly and store in the fridge for 1-2 days. Reheat at 350 degrees F for around 25 minutes, tenting the top with foil so the pastry doesn’t burn.
Serving Suggestions
In my opinion, this is a true one-pot dish — you’ve got the vegetables, protein, and carbohydrate literally all in one blissful package. This aside, it goes really well with some steamed green beans or roasted baby carrots on the side.
It’s also delicious with a side of stuffing, speaking from personal experience. 🙂
Storage & Reheating
Don’t you just love when you have leftovers of the leftovers? Ha! At least this pot pie keeps well. We find it pretty easy to go through with someone eating it as a nice all-in-one lunch for one or two days.
- Storage: Leftovers keep very well for 3-4 days. Store in an airtight container or your favorite prep boxes in the refrigerator.
- Reheating: If you have enough time to warm servings in the oven or toaster oven (estimate about 20 minutes at 250 degrees F), it is nice because the puff pastry will stay somewhat flaky and crisp. Warming in the microwave is obviously quite a lot faster but the puff pastry will become soft. Still delicious, though, we think!
More Cozy Casseroles
If you’re feeling the cozy one-pot dishes right now, you’ll also love my vegetarian pot pie with potatoes and fennel, and vegetarian shepherd’s pie with meatless crumbles. Need the protein? This chicken pot pie with biscuit crumble topping is a bit of work but a dish my husband requests time and again after more than 10 years!
Whether you make this with leftover Thanksgiving turkey, Christmas turkey, or just because you love a good pot pie — can we be good friends!? — I hope you love this meal as much as we do!
If you try this Turkey Pot Pie recipe with puff pastry, don’t forget to rate it and leave a comment below. I love hearing how recipes turn out in your kitchen, and it helps other readers, too.
You can also FOLLOW me on PINTEREST, INSTAGRAM, FACEBOOK, and TWITTER for more great recipes and ideas!
Turkey Pot Pie with Puff Pastry
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium white or yellow onion diced
- 1/3 cup flour
- 1 teaspoon ground sage or about 1 tablespoon fresh
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme or about 1 tablespoon fresh
- kosher salt and black pepper
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 1/4 cup heavy cream or half and half
- 10-12 ounces frozen mixed vegetables no need to defrost
- 2 cups leftover turkey
- 1 sheet puff pastry thawed but still cold
- 1 egg
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Place a medium-large skillet over medium heat and add the butter. After it melts, stir in the chopped onion and cook for 4-5 minutes, until very tender.
- Whisk in the flour, spices, and salt and pepper to taste. (I start with 1/2 teaspoon salt and 15 cranks of pepper.) Cook for about 2 minutes.
- Slowly pour in the broth, then the cream, whisking constantly. The mixture may seem lumpy at first; just keep whisking, and it will even out. Continue to simmer until the mixture bubbles gently, then stir in the turkey and vegetables and cook 2-3 minutes more, until the mixture is slightly thickened.
- Remove skillet from the heat and top with puff pastry. You can roll out the puff pastry sheet on a lightly-floured work surface to make it a bit larger, but don't worry if it doesn't completely reach the edges of your skillet. It should just cover most of the surface.
- Whisk the egg together with about 1 tablespoon of water, and brush the egg mixture lightly across the top of the puff pastry. Cut 2 or 3 slits in the puff pastry to let air escape.
- (Alternatively, you can transfer the turkey mixture to individual ramekins or other oven-proof serving dishes, and top those individually with portions of puff pastry.)
- Bake for 30-35 minutes, until the crust is golden brown and the filling bubbles around the edges.
- Let cool for 10-15 minutes, then slice, serve, and enjoy.
Notes
- Feel free to use fresh veggies instead — plan on roughly 2 cups, and mix them in shortly after the onion, so they have time to soften, instead of at the end. You can use carrot, celery, leek, fennel, you name it. You can also mix and match, using some fresh veggies and adding in 1/2 cup of frozen peas or frozen corn, for example. It’s flexible.
- If your filling and crust come very, very close to the top of your skillet, place it on a rimmed baking sheet and transfer that to the oven. Any drips as it bubbles will go on the baking sheet instead of burning onto the bottom of your oven.
- No oven-safe skillet? No problem! Just transfer the filling to a 9″x9″ square baking pan before covering with the puff pastry and proceeding to bake.
