This chicken pot pie with phyllo dough has a creamy filling of chicken, spinach, mushrooms, and Gruyère cheese beneath a buttery phyllo top. Seven sheets of phyllo are scrunched into loose flowers over the filling, so there’s no bottom crust to make. Start with cooked chicken, and if your phyllo is frozen, thaw it in the fridge overnight before you begin.
The topping looks a little different from a rolled pastry lid, but shaping it is a hands-on job rather than a precise one. You gently gather each sheet into folds and arrange it over the filling. Underneath, whole milk, fresh herbs, and Gruyère bring the chicken and vegetables together in a thick, creamy sauce. All that you love in a pot pie but with a bit of a twist!
Maria Koutsogiannia
Maria is the creator of FoodByMaria and your go-to Greek food expert for cozy, flavor-packed recipes. Inspired by her Mediterranean roots, she brings traditional Greek flavors, feel-good ingredients, and a whole lot of joy to everyday cooking.
Why you’ll love it
- It puts cooked chicken to use. If you have cooked chicken ready, this gives it a whole new dinner: shredded into a creamy filling with spinach, cremini mushrooms, and cheese.
- You get a pastry top without rolling dough. Each buttered phyllo sheet becomes a loose flower. There’s no bottom crust to fit into the dish or pastry lid to trim and seal. It’s pretty but easy!
- There’s more to the filling than chicken and sauce. Mushrooms give you tender bites between the chicken, while thyme, rosemary, and garlic add flavor. The golden phyllo folds give each serving a buttery topping with a crunch.
A creamy chicken filling with spinach and mushrooms
Use cooked, shredded chicken. You’ll need 4 cups, ready to stir into the sauce. This isn’t a recipe where raw chicken cooks in the filling: the chicken goes in after the sauce has thickened and the heat is off. Have it shredded before you start so it’s ready when you reach that point.
That distinction matters when you’re planning dinner. The recipe’s 60-minute total starts with cooked chicken and thawed phyllo. It doesn’t include cooking chicken separately or the overnight refrigerator thaw if your pastry is frozen.
Give the vegetables their time in the pan. The spinach wilts first, then the cremini mushrooms cook until softened, and most of their water is released. Look for that change before moving on to the onion. The vegetables are cooked in stages, rather than all being stirred straight into the milk.
Whole milk and stock paste make the sauce. The flour coats the vegetables before the milk goes in slowly, with whisking to combine. Chicken stock paste adds the stock component without a separate pour of liquid broth. Check that you have paste when you gather your ingredients; the 1½ tablespoons called for here isn’t an equal-volume broth substitution.
Let the sauce thicken on the stovetop before adding the chicken. After it comes to a boil, it needs a simmer with frequent stirring. You’re looking for a thickened sauce before turning off the heat and folding in the chicken and freshly grated Gruyère, rather than relying on the bake to finish that part of the filling.
Keep the butter for the filling and topping separate. The filling uses 4 tablespoons in two stages: half with the olive oil for the vegetables, then half before the flour. The additional 6 tablespoons are for brushing the phyllo. Setting those amounts aside separately makes it easier to follow the recipe without using the topping butter in the skillet.
For a different topping, try Cornbread Chicken Pot Pie, with homemade cheddar-jalapeño cornbread.
How to make the scrunched phyllo topping
Phyllo goes on top of the filling only. The filling goes straight into the greased dish, so you don’t need to line the bottom or make a pastry shell. All seven sheets are used for the topping.
If you’re starting with frozen phyllo, move it to the fridge the night before. It needs to be thawed for this step, when you’ll be unfolding, brushing, and gathering the individual sheets.
Brush one side of a sheet with its share of the melted topping butter. Then, using your hands, gently gather the edges toward the centre. Think of making a loose flower out of the sheet rather than folding it into a flat square or rolling it into a tight bundle. The gathered folds are the shape you’re after; you don’t need to make identical flowers.
Place that flower on the filling and continue with the remaining sheets, arranging all seven to cover the pie. Work with each sheet individually instead of stacking and scrunching them together. There’s no pastry edge to crimp or seal around the dish.
When the pie bakes, look for both parts of the finish: golden-brown phyllo on top and a bubbling filling underneath. Finish with fresh thyme leaves, then serve the folds of pastry along with the creamy chicken filling beneath them.
What to serve with chicken pot pie
Serve the pie with Iceberg Fennel Salad with Lemon Dill Vinaigrette. The crisp iceberg and fennel bring some crunch alongside the creamy filling, and the lemon-dill dressing adds a bright contrast to the buttery pastry.
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Ingredients
For the pot pie
- 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
- 4 tbsp unsalted butter, divided
- 3 cups chopped spinach
- 8 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced
- 1 small yellow onion, diced
- 2 large garlic cloves, minced
- 1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves finely chopped
- ½ tsp fresh minced rosemary
- 1 tsp Diamond Crystal kosher salt
- ½ tsp ground pepper
- 4 tbsp all purpose flour
- 2 cups whole milk
- 1 ½ tbsp chicken stock paste
- 4 cups cooked shredded chicken
- ¾ cup freshly grated gruyere cheese
For the topping
- 6 tbsp unsalted butter, melted
- 7 sheets phyllo pastry, defrosted if frozen
- Garnish: fresh thyme leaves
Instructions
Start Cooking- The night before making your pot pie, make sure to remove your phyllo dough from the freezer. Thaw in the fridge overnight.
- Preheat the oven to 375F. Grease a 11 x 2.3 inch pie dish (or something similar with 2L or 8cup capacity – a 12-inch cast iron pan could work too).
- To a high sided skillet or pot melt 2 tablespoons butter with the olive oil over medium-high heat. When the butter is melted, add the spinach and stir until wilted, about 3-4 minutes. Once the spinach is wilted, add the sliced mushrooms and saute for 5-7 minutes until softened and most of the water is released from the mushrooms.
- Add the diced onion and cook until softened and starting to turn golden, 3-5 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic, fresh thyme leaves, minced rosemary, salt and ground pepper. Stir and cook for 1 minute, until fragrant.
- Add 2 tablespoons of butter and stir until melted. Once melted, add the flour and stir to coat everything in the pan – about 1 minute. Then, slowly pour in the milk, whisking until fully combined. Add the chicken stock paste and whisk to combine.
- Increase the heat to high and bring to a boil, once boiling, turn to medium-low heat and keep at a simmer, stirring often, until thickened, about 6-8 minutes.
- Once the sauce has thickened, turn the heat off and stir in the shredded cooked chicken and freshly grated gruyere cheese until fully combined.
- Transfer the pot pie filling to the greased pie dish.
- Melt 6 tablespoons of butter. Divide the butter between the sheets of phyllo dough, lightly brushing a bit of butter onto one side of each sheet of phyllo. Then, use your hands to gather the edges of each phyllo sheet individually and gently scrunch each piece of buttered phyllo into the centre, to sort of look like a flower. Place each phyllo flower on the top of the pot pie filling and repeat until you’ve used 7 sheets of phyllo dough to cover the pot pie.
- Bake for 22-28 minutes or until the pie is bubbling and the phyllo is golden brown on top. Garnish with fresh thyme leaves and serve.
Notes
- This pie is a great was to use up cooked chicken!
- If you’re looking for something similar to try, our Phyllo-Topped Fish Pie 🐟🥧 is delicious too!
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