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Easy Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey pot pie recipe made with tons of veggies and a super easy crispy crust! Healthy, super flavorful and easy!

Do you have any turkey leftover in your freezer from Thanksgiving?  If you do, you are going to want to take it out and make this.  Its delicious!  Tender vegetables, crisp salty pancetta or bacon and hearty turkey enveloped in a light creamy sauce and topped with a piece of flaky puff pastry. 

You can make this in a large casserole dish or in individual servings like we did.  Done individually, they would make a great main course to serve to guests with a green salad.

Why We LOVE This Recipe

  • quick and easy enough for a weeknight dinner (probably not the first time you make it, but after a few tries, you can make this quick!)
  • its made in one pan so less dishes to clean!
  • its a great dinner option for guests because its pretty, easy and delicious!
  • the crust we use is store bought, so easy as pie!
  • its loaded with veggies and can be customized to suit even picky eaters in your family
  • healthy comfort food is always a win in our books

Healthier Pot Pie

Normally pot pie is made with a bottom and top crust, but this one is made with single top crust. In addition, the sauce is made mostly with chicken broth and only a little cream.

This recipe is loaded with protien and veggies which also makes it a pretty healthy option.

Perfect Pot Pie Crust

First lets talk about the crust.

This crust couldn’t be easier! Its puff pastry from the store. You just take it out of the box, roll it out and put it on top before baking. Its even easier if you can find the pre-rolled puff pastry.

Pot Pie Crust Options

You can also choose to top  your turkey pot pie with something else entirely if you like.  Here are a few other options:

  • homemade pastry
  • biscuits
  • dumplings
  • store bought pie crust
  • you could also use a whole wheat flour or a gluten free flour in the crust if you chose

Can I Use Store Brought Crust?

Yup, you sure can.  In fact we encourage it! Puff pastry is time consuming to make at home and tastes great from the store. You could also purchase a store bought pie pastry to use also if you would rather.

How to Make the Filling:

If you want to make and bake this recipe in the same pan, you will need a stove proof and oven proof pan.  A cast iron skillet or a ceramic braiser works great!

Another option is to cook the filling on the stove and then transfer into an oven proof casserole dish or pie dish and bake in that.  Its up to you, but we love making and baking in the same pan.  Here’s how its done:

  1. Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.
  2. In a cast iron skillet or ceramic braiser or other stove and oven proof pan and heat to med-high.  Add the bacon and cook till done. Scoop out the bacon and fat, but leave at least 2 tablespoons of fat.
  3. Add the onions, carrots, celery, thyme, and chili flakes then stir for a few mins till the onions get translucent.  Add the garlic and stir again.
  4. Add the peas and broccoli.
  5. Add the leftover turkey pieces and mix it all in.
  6. Add the chicken broth and cream to a bowl.  Scoop out a few tablespoons of the liquid into a small bowl.  Add the cornstarch or arrowroot powder and whisk with a fork until you have a smooth mixture.  This is called a slurry.  Add your slurry back into the rest of the liquid and then add to the pan. Cook until it comes to a simmer and starts to thicken.
  7. Add salt and pepper to taste.  You can adjust your spice here too if need be.  Add a little more chili flakes if you want a little kick.

TIP: if your sauce seems too thin, make another slurry with another tablespoon of cornstartch and add it back into the pot. You can do this until you are happy with the consistency.

Filling Ingredients

There are endless options for filling your turkey pot pie.  The more veggies the better, in my opinion.  We are trying to make a healthy pot pie right?  Here, I’ll mention what we used in our recipe and then give some options that you might want to try.  Here is what we used:

  • bacon or pancetta
  • onions and garlic
  • carrots
  • celery
  • broccoli
  • peas
  • turkey
  • bacon
  • chicken broth
  • cream
  • cornstarch to thicken (you can also use arrowroot powder)

Pro tip: You can also use full fat coconut milk that comes in a can for this recipe which will make the filling dairy free.

Additional Filling Options

  • mushrooms
  • spinach
  • peppers
  • potatoes
  • kale
  • beans
  • curry spice
  • cajun spice

I so wish I could have added mushrooms to this turkey pot pie that I made, but my husband can’t eat them so I sacrifice my own happiness and leave them out.

I often make a side of sauteed mushrooms for myself and add them to my dinner after we dish up, but its kinda hard to do that here.   I miss the mushrooms!

Put the Crust and the Filling Together:

  1. Remove the pastry from the fridge, flour a clean surface, and roll it out into the shape of your pan. It doesn’t have to be perfect, just roughly the same size with a bit extra to drape over.
  2. Fold one side of the dough into the middle and then fold the other side on top.  This makes it easy to pick up and transfer.
  3. Cover the turkey pot pie filling with the pastry dough and let the pastry cover the whole dish and come over the sides of the dish.   Cut a few vents in the crust.
  4. Beat an egg in a small bowl and brush the top of the pastry with the egg with a pastry brush.  This will give you a beautiful browned crust.  Place on a baking try to catch any drips and put it in the oven for 25 to 30 mins or till the crust is golden brown.
  5. Let the chicken pot pie rest for at least 15 mins or else  you will have chicken soup under your crust!

How to Prevent the Pie from Browning too Quickly.

  • if the edges of your pastry are browning a lot quicker than the top, just cover it loosely with foil.  This will prevent it from burning.
  • put a cookie sheet underneath the dish you bake your pie in.  There’s a good chance the filling is going to bubble out and spill over the sides.  If you don’t want the filling all over the bottom of your oven then put something underneath it to catch any drippings.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is turkey pot pie fattening?

It depends what you put in it!  Typically, pot pie is made with heavy cream, loads of butter or condensed soups which increase the calories per serving. This recipe has some fat in it with the butter in the crust and cream has some fat, but it has a lot less fat than a classic pot pie recipes has.

Can I make the pot pie ahead of time?

Yes, store in the fridge for up to 3 days. Make sure to cover completely or the crust will dry out. Don’t add the egg wash until you are ready to bake.

How to store turkey pot pie

Cover the leftovers with plastic wrap and store in the fridge for up to 3 or 4 days. To reheat, for best results, add the pot pie to a oven at 300 degrees until warm. You can also use a microwave, but the pastry could get soggy.

Can you freeze this recipe?

Yup,  you can.  You can freeze it before you bake it or after, but I think before would be best.  Just make sure its fully cooled before you freeze it.

If you freeze before cooking, leave the egg wash off or your pie crust could get soggy. When you are ready to eat it, you can bake from frozen, but just add an additional 20-30 mins to the cook time.


Recommended Tools for this Healthy Turkey Pot Pie


Other Healthy Comfort Food Recipes you Might Like:

If you’ve tried this dairy free, healthy turkey pot pie recipe then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let us know how it turned out in the comments below.  We love hearing from you!

We love to see your creations!  Tag @Cookswithcocktails if you post a picture of this recipe on INSTAGRAM

Turkey Pot Pie

Turkey pot pie recipe made with tons of veggies and a super easy crispy crust! Healthy, super flavorful and easy!
5 from 1 vote
Print Pin Rate
Course: Appetizer or Main, dinner
Cuisine: Canadian
Keyword: leftover turkey, pot pie recipe, turkey pot pie
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 40 minutes
Servings: 6 people
Calories: 343kcal
Author: Julie & Debbie

Ingredients

  • 150 gr bacon or pancetta , cut in small cubes
  • 1 large onion , diced
  • 3 carrots , diced
  • 3 celery stocks , diced
  • 1 leek , chopped (about 1 cup)
  • 2-4 cloves garlic , minced
  • 2 tsp thyme
  • 2 cups peas
  • 2-3 cups broccoli florets
  • 3 cups cooked turkey meat
  • salt and pepper to taste
  • 3 cups chicken broth
  • 1/3 cup whipping cream or coconut cream
  • 2 tbsps cornstarch or you can use 1/4 cup flour
  • box of puff pastry (or homemade pastry if you rather)

Instructions

  • Heat a frying pan on medium heat. Saute bacon or pancetta till nice a crispy. Remove it from the pan and place in bowl.
  • Add the onions, leeks, garlic, carrots, celery and thyme to the same pan. Saute till carrots and celery are tender.
  • Add the peas, broccoli, turkey and bacon to the pan. Give it a good stir.
  • Add the chicken broth and cream to a bowl.  Scoop out a few tablespoons of the liquid into a small bowl.  Add the cornstarch or arrowroot powder and whisk with a fork until you have a smooth mixture.  This is called a slurry.  Add your slurry back into the rest of the liquid and then add to the pan. Cook until it comes to a simmer and starts to thicken.
  • Heat your oven to 350 degrees.
  • Place the turkey filling mixture in individuals dishes or in one big dish.
  • Roll out the puff pastry and place on top of the turkey mixture.
  • Bake at 350 for 30-40 mins until pastry is nicely browned.

Nutrition

Serving: 0.16recipe | Calories: 343kcal | Carbohydrates: 22g | Protein: 26g | Fat: 17g | Saturated Fat: 7g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 6g | Trans Fat: 0.04g | Cholesterol: 78mg | Sodium: 341mg | Potassium: 763mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 7g | Vitamin A: 6248IU | Vitamin C: 54mg | Calcium: 86mg | Iron: 3mg

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