Homemade Turkey Pot Pie made from Thanksgiving leftovers and the flakiest pie crust is everyone's favorite comfort food recipe.
My two favorite things to make with leftover turkey is this classic turkey pot pie recipe or to make a big batch of Turkey Soup. You can even add homemade Dumpling Noodles for something that's extra special.
If it's not Thanksgiving and you don't have leftovers on hand, no sweat. You can use this recipe to make a chicken pot pie. Anytime I have leftover roast chicken or turkey, I use the leftovers to make one of these easy dinner recipes.
Let's get started!
Ingredients You'll Need to Make Homemade Pot Pie
- Leftover turkey (or chicken). You'll want 2 to 3 cups of leftover roast turkey meat. Chop the turkey into bite-sized pieces.
- Turkey Stock (or chicken stock). Homemade or buy a low salt variety. Use the leftover turkey bones to make rich turkey stock. I'll talk you through the steps for making bone broth.
- Veggies. Onions, peas, carrots, and green beans. Frozen veggies are fine here.
- Pie Crust. I usually make extra pie dough when I'm making Thanksgiving pumpkin and pecan pies to have leftovers. Pie crust freezes well, so why not keep some around at all times? You can also make this turkey pot pie with puff pastry.
How to Make Turkey Pot Pie
Start With Leftover Turkey
Pull the leftover turkey meat off of the turkey bones and then chop it into bite-sized pieces. You'll want 2 to 3 cups of meat.
If you don't have enough meat leftover, you can always roast another turkey breast or a boneless turkey breast roast.
Turkey Stock
For an easy turkey, pot pie recipe buy a quality brand of low sodium or unsalted turkey stock. You'll need two and a half cups.
Make Homemade Turkey Stock
Check out the Complete Guide to Making Bone Broth if you have any questions on how to make stock from poultry.
- Place the leftover turkey bones into a large stockpot.
- Add one onion (cut in half), a few stalks of celery, and a few carrots.
- Add enough water to cover everything and then bring the pot to a boil.
- Reduce the heat and let the stock simmer for an hour or so.
- Taste the turkey stock to make sure it has a good flavor and then strain off all of the veggies and bones.
- Strain again using a fine sieve over a large bowl. Pour the turkey stock through it.
Turkey pot pie filling
- In a Dutch oven, melt the butter and add the diced carrots, celery, and onion. Sauté for 4 to 5 minutes until the veggies are tender.
- Add 3 tablespoons of flour to the veggies and toss everything together. Then add the turkey stock to the veggies and bring the mixture to a boil. Cook and stir so that the stock and the flour combine to create a turkey gravy.
- Add the frozen peas and carrots and let them cook until they are warm.
- Stir in the turkey. Add salt and pepper to taste. Remove the filling from the heat.
- Make sure that the filling is 100% cool before you add it to the pie crust.
How to assemble a turkey pot pie
You can use a pie plate, a casserole dish, or even small ramekins to make individual mini pot pies.
I baked the pot pie in these pictures in a Lodge 12-inch cast-iron skillet.
How to Bake a Pot Pie
Bake the pot pie at 350℉ for 50 minutes or up to an hour. Oven temperature varies so you'll want to watch the pie crust. The pie crust should be a deep golden brown and the edges of the pie will pull away from the sides of the pie dish.
This recipe for turkey pot pie used a double crust and is baked in either a pie pan or a cast-iron skillet.
Recipe Variations
There are a few different ways to make a pot pie recipe. You can pick whichever one you like best. I'm using the double crust method in this recipe, which uses both a top and bottom crust.
- Double pie crust pot pie: For this version, you will make a double batch of pie dough. Preheat the oven. Roll out 2 pie crusts and add the first one to the pie dish. Fill it with the turkey mixture, then top it off with the second pie crust. Vent the top dough and bake for 40 minutes.
- Single pie crust pot pie: Add the turkey pot pie filling to the bottom of a pie dish. Add the top pie crust, vent the crust, and bake for about 20 minutes.
- Turkey pot pie with puff pastry sheets: Add the pot pie filling to a pie dish, or to individual ramekins to make mini pot pies. Top with a sheet of puff pastry. Bake according to the puff pastry directions.
- Turkey shepherd's pie: This option is perfect if you have leftover mashed potatoes. Plus, it's a good alternative if you're trying to avoid saturated fat. Top this one off with some freshly ground black pepper!
- Turkey pot pie with biscuits: A batch of biscuits makes a great topping for pot pie.
FAQs and Expert Tips
To make mini turkey pot pies, use 4-ounce ramekins. Add a half cup of pot pie filling to each ramekin. Then top with pie crust or puff pastry.
To store leftover turkey pot pie, cover the pie dish with foil and store it in the fridge. Alternatively, I like to portion out individual servings in oven-proof dishes so that I can reheat each serving one at a time.
In the oven: Preheat the oven to 325℉. Place the pot pie into the oven and heat for 20 minutes.
1. Flaky pie crust is just one option. You can use premade pie crust or homemade pie crust. The other question is double crust or crust on top only?
2. Puff pastry. Frozen puff pastry dough, like the Dufour brand, is another option for pot pie crust.
3. Biscuits. Topping the turkey pot pie with biscuits is another classic way to serve pot pie. Bisquick may just have created the perfect recipe for this easy pot pie topping.
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What to serve with Turkey Pot Pie
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Turkey Pot Pie Recipe
Equipment
Ingredients
Turkey Pot Pie Filling
- 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 3 medium carrots peeled and diced [note 1]
- 3 stalks celery diced
- ½ medium sweet onion diced
- 3 tablespoons all purpose flour [note 2]
- 2 ½ cups turkey stock
- 2 to 3 cups leftover Thanksgiving turkey meat cut into bite-sized pieces [note 3]
- 3 cups mixed vegetables frozen or fresh [note 4]
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 teaspoon thyme
- ½ teaspoon poultry seasoning
Pie Crust (Double Crust)
- 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter extra cold, cubed
- 3 tablespoons ice water
Egg Wash
- 1 egg beaten
- ¼ cup water
Instructions
Turkey Pot Pie Crust
- Add the flour, sugar, salt, and the cubed butter to a food processer. Pulse until the flour is the consistency of course sand. Slowly add the water 1 tablespoon at a time until the dough comes together.
- Dump the pie dough onto a work surface and press it together by kneading it a few times. (don't overwork the dough)
- Divide the pie dough into 2 pieces, shape them into fat round discs and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate the dough for a few hours or up 3 days ahead.
- PRO-TIP: I make extra pie dough when I make my Thanksgiving pies so that I already have it in the fridge when we are ready to make pot pie.
Turkey Pot Pie Filling
- In a large dutch oven or saucepan melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the carrots, celery, and onion. (Mirepoix). Sauté until soft about 5-10 minutes. [note 1]
- Sprinkle the flour over the vegetables and toss to coat.
- Add the thyme and poultry seasoning. Add 1 cup of the turkey stock to the vegetables and bring the liquid to a boil. Stir the sauce as it is heating. The sauce will start to thicken.
- Add the remaining stock to the saucepan and bring to a boil.
- Add the vegetables. Heat them until they are warm.
- Season to taste with salt and pepper.
- Stir in the turkey meat.
- Adjust the consistency of the filling by adding additional broth if needed.
- Allow the turkey pot pie filling to cool completely before adding it to the pie dough.
Assembling the Pot Pie
- Roll out the pie dough and place the first half into you pie dish.
- Add the cold pot pie filling.
- Add the top layer of pie dough. Crimp the edges to seal.
- Vent the top of the pie dough with a small knife.
- Brush the top of the pie crust with an egg wash before baking.
- Place the assembled pot pie back into the refrigerator to chill. [note 5]
Baking the pot pie
- Preheat the oven to 425℉. [note 6]
- Place the pot pie into the oven and set a timer for 10 minutes.
- After 10 minutes reduce the temperatuire of the oven to 350℉
- Bake for an additional 50 minutes. Make sure the pie dough is a deep golden brown and that it is pulling away from the edges.
Laura's Tips + Notes
- Omit these carrots if you are using a bag of mixed frozen vegetables that have carrots already in the mix. You can sauté only the celery and onions in this step.
- The flour will combine with the butter to make a roux that thickens the turkey pot pie filling. A cornstarch slurry can be used as an alternative or in addition to the flour if you find that your filling is not as thick as you would like.
- If you don't have enough turkey meat, you can buy a small boneless turkey roast to use. This recipe also works with leftover rotisserie or roasted chicken.
- I buy a bag of frozen vegetables that has corn, peas, green beans, and lima beans in the mix.
- Rechilling the pie dough allows the butter to get cold again. This step is essential for the flakiest pie crust.
- Heating the oven to 425℉ initially creates a more dramatic steam reaction because the hotter oven forces the water out of the butter creating steam pockets that create flakiness in the pie crust.
Brad
This recipe is making my mouth water, the best part of Thanksgiving Turkey is leftovers. Plus I love pot pie, so this is the perfect combination!
Laura Reigel
Thanks, Brad, I hope you enjoy this pot pie recipe. Let me know how it turns out.