Chicken Pot Pie Crumble
This chicken pot pie crumble is unique because it is covered with a toasted-parmesan crumble topping. It is also simple and crazy delicious.
This meal is crazy delicious.
I’ll be honest that chicken pot pie has never been in my must-make-or-die list. It’s good and all but I’ve never craved it. Until now.
This chicken pot pie version is unique because it is covered with a toasted-parmesan crumble topping.
That alone would sway me to add chicken pot pie to my make-immediately list, but combine that with the fact that the chicken is basking in a creamy, vegetable-and-flavor-laden sauce and it just about put me into a chicken pot pie coma.
Calorie free? Heavens no. Delicious and worth every one? Oh yeah.
What to Serve With This
- Steamed broccoli or roasted cauliflower or even corn on the cob
- Fresh fruit
- Green Salad
One Year Ago: Baked Brown Rice
Two Years Ago: Sweet and Sour Meatballs
Three Years Ago: Fabulous BBQ Ribs
Chicken Pot Pie Crumble
Ingredients
Chicken and Sauce:
- 1 ½ pounds chicken, about three medium-size chicken breasts
- 2 cups low-sodium chicken broth
- 1 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 medium onion, chopped fine (about 1 cup)
- 3-4 carrots, peeled and sliced (about 1 cup)
- 2-3 stalks celery, chopped (about ½ cup)
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- 4 tablespoons butter
- ½ cup flour
- 1 cup milk
- ¾ cup frozen peas
Crumble Topping:
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- ¾ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon pepper
- ⅛ teaspoon cayenne pepper
- 6 tablespoons butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes and chilled
- ¾ cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
- 1 cup heavy cream
Instructions
- To prepare the chicken, place the chicken and broth in a large Dutch oven or pot and bring it to a simmer over medium heat. Cook the chicken until it is just done (don’t overcook or it will dry out) – about 10-12 minutes. Alternately, if you are planning in advance, you can place the chicken and broth in a slow cooker and cook on high for 3 hours or low for 5 hours. Transfer the cooked chicken to a medium bowl. Pour the broth through a fine-mesh strainer into a liquid measuring cup and reserve. Return the pot to the stovetop (no need to wash if you used it to cook the chicken).
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne. Sprinkle the chilled butter pieces over the top of the flour. Using your fingers or a pastry cutter, rub the butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in the Parmesan cheese. Add the cream and stir until just combined. Crumble the mixture into irregularly shaped pieces onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake the crumble topping until fragrant and starting to brown, about 15 minutes, tossing halfway through. Set aside.
- For the filling, heat the olive oil in the now-empty pot over medium heat. Add onion, carrots, celery, salt and pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until just tender, about 5 minutes. While the vegetables are cooking, shred the chicken into small bite-size pieces. Transfer the cooked vegetables to the bowl with the chicken; set aside.
- Over medium heat melt the butter in the empty pot. Stir in the flour and cook for one minute, stirring constantly. Slowly whisk in the reserved chicken broth and milk. Bring to a simmer and stir occasionally until the sauce thickens, about 5 minutes, taking care not to burn the bottom. Add 1/2 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper. Remove from the heat and stir the chicken, vegetables and peas into the sauce.
- Pour the mixture into a 9×13 pan. Scatter the crumble topping evenly over the filling. Place the 9X13-inch pan on a rimmed baking sheet and bake at 400 degrees until the topping is well browned, about 15-20 minutes. Let the casserole stand for 10 minutes before serving.
Recommended Products
Recipe Source: adapted from Favorite Family Recipes
Recommendations to sub heavy heavy cream? Thanks!
Whole milk or half and half should work fine.
Delicious and relatively easy. Made the cumble ahead of time. Did not bake it. Just put it into the fridge until assembly. A little hard to sprinkle at that point, but turned out great anyway.
I made this for dinner tonight and it was fantastic! My adult daughter loves Chicken Pot Pie so we had to make this for her. I will definitely make it again. It was a lot of dishes but very worth it.
I’ve made this before and LOVE it and am thinking of making it for March book club but would probably need to double it. Any suggestions on dish size or should I just stick to two 9×13’s? Thank you so much for all the work you do on your website. I’ve been a loyal fan for probably 15 years and you never disappoint!
Hi Chelsea, I would probably stick with two 9X13-inch pans so that they each bake evenly!
Family loved this pot pie. I made a half recipe of chicken and sauce for 4 people but full topping recipe. Did not pre bake the crumble, but used it as a drop biscuit topping for the pot pie and baked it in an 8” square pan for the full time. The biscuits looked a bit pale, so I turned on the broiler for about 3 minutes to brown.
Also made multiple batches for a church dinner for 40 people. There wasn’t even a pea left!
Maybe someone has already asked this or I missed the info somewhere. But if I use a rotisserie chicken, how much chicken broth do you recommend adding to the “gravy”/sauce?
About 2 cups.
Can I freeze this?
Yes
I am a newbie to freezer meals. Do I thaw it before cooking? If so, how long? Cook it covered? Temp/time?
Thanks!!
P.S. I have made this a dozen times. Family favorite for sure. This is my first attempt at doubling it and freezing half!
If you cook it from frozen, keep it covered for the first hour, then uncover and bake until hot and bubbly. Or you can thaw before baking and just follow the baking instructions in the recipe.
I made this for my family a few weeks ago and didn’t have time to prebake the crumble mixture. I just sprinkled it on top of the filling and baked it. Last week I made it again and prebaked the crumble topping and my family actually preferred the not prebaked version. It is less toasty. Either way, it is a new family favorite. Thank you so much!
Hi, I’m asking this too late, but, what kind of chicken breasts? Bone in? I didn’t know so just got boneless 🙁
I usually use boneless, too.
Delicious and so different! Loved the crumbled topping. Used edemame instead of peas. Can we freeze this?
Yep!
I love this recipe! So delicious. I like to add potatoes to it. The crumb topping is so tasty, I am considering making some to snack on. Today I decided to try it with beef instead of chicken since I didn’t have a Costco rotisserie chicken. Oh man!! I love the beef more than the chicken. I cooked a 2.6 lb chuck roast in the slow cooker and then shredded it. I used beef “better than bouillon” instead of chicken broth. I also doubled the sauce because my husband likes extra sauce. Amazing! Thank you Mel for this heavenly recipe. You are the BEST!!!
This is delicious I’m so excited to have my husband try it!!
This was good, but I should have added more seasonings to the gravy. I made this in the morning and cooked it for dinner. The crispy biscuit topping was sooo good! This took longer than twenty minutes to prep for me.
Hey, Mel! Happy summer!
Love your recipes….and you! 🙂 Chicken Pot Pie Crumble last night for dinner….delicious!
Just wondering: Do you have a fave brand of los sodium chick broth?
Thanks!
Hey Terry! I love the Kirkland brand from Costco. Otherwise I usually pick up Swansons Natural Goodness brand.
Delicious!!! My topping was like little puffy biscuits. Yours looks thinner, is that right?
Just more crumbled, I think.
The second time I made this, I didn’t pre-cook the crumble. I just put the raw crumble directly on the filling before baking. (like when you make a fruit crisp)
Put in whatever vegetables your family likes. I used some cabbage and water chestnuts in addition to the vegetables in the recipe. I also added some sage when I made it with turkey. It would be good with fresh rosemary or thyme.
Mel has the best recipe site on the Internet.
You’re the best, Jamie. Thanks for the review…that’s awesome that skipping precooking the crumble still worked!