Chicken Pot Pie Hand Pies Recipe

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Hand pies, whether they're fried or baked, are known to many different cultures around the world and date back at least as far as the 19^th century, if not farther. Some of them are sweet, like the New Orleans dessert known as Hubig's pies, while others, like Cornish pasties, Latin American empanadas, and Bolivian salteñas, have savory fillings. These chicken pot pie hand pies, brought to us by recipe developer Katie Rosenhouse, fall into the latter category.

"These hand pies are a fun twist on classic chicken pot pie," Rosenhouse says. "I love that they're easy to transport, whether you're packing them for lunch or carting them to a potluck." They're great for meal prepping, too, since you get 20 pastries per batch, and any you don't eat right away can be frozen to consume at a later date. If you're in a hurry, you can heat one in the microwave like a Hot Pocket, which is convenience food's answer to the hand pie. If you have a little extra time, however, baking your pie in an oven or air fryer will help re-crisp the crust.

The crust for these hand pies is made with flour, sugar, salt, butter, an egg, parsley, and sage. For the filling, you'll also need bacon, chicken thighs, pepper, carrots, celery, a yellow onion, mushrooms, garlic, chicken stock, peas, thyme, and half-and-half or heavy cream.

Add the sliced bacon to a pan over medium heat. Cook until fat renders and the bacon is crisp. Transfer to a paper towel-lined plate, reserving drippings in the pan.

Season the chicken thighs generously with salt and pepper.

Add chicken to pan with reserved bacon drippings over medium heat and cook on first side until browned.

Flip and cook the chicken on the other side, until deeply browned and cooked through.

Transfer the chicken thighs to a cutting board to rest.

Add the carrots, celery, onion, and mushrooms to the saucepan. Season generously with salt and pepper and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until tender.

Add garlic and cook an additional minute. Optionally add white wine and cook, stirring, until mostly evaporated.

Stir in the flour, fully coating the veggies.

Pour in stock slowly, stirring up browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Bring to a simmer and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, until the sauce is slightly thickened.

Add peas and herbs, stirring to combine.

Chop the rested chicken thighs and add to the pan, along with the bacon and cream.

Cool the filling and transfer to the refrigerator until ready to use.

Prepare the pie crust: In a food processor, pulse to combine flour, sugar, and salt.

Add the butter and pulse to pea-sized bits.

Transfer mixture to a bowl and toss in water using your fingertips.

Transfer to a clean surface and knead very gently just until the dough holds together.

Shape dough into two disks, wrap each with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Lightly dust your surface with flour. Unwrap and place one disk on the surface, and press in half the herbs to coat.

Roll, moving the dough often, until ⅛- to ¼-inch thick.

Use a 5-inch cutter to cut out dough rounds. Lightly stack scraps and re-roll to create additional rounds.

Repeat the process with remaining disk of dough and herbs, rolling it out and using a 5-inch cutter to cut out rounds. You should end up with about 20 total dough rounds.

Top each round of dough with a heaping spoonful of cooled chicken filling

Use your fingertips to fold each round in half, pinching the edges to seal.

Use a floured fork to seal edges.

Transfer prepared hand pies to two parchment-lined baking sheets. Chill until ready to bake.

Preheat the oven to 400 F.

Whisk egg with a splash of water for egg wash.

Brush the egg wash all over the hand pies.

Bake the hand pies in the preheated oven for 28-30 minutes, or until deep golden brown.

Serve the hand pies right away.

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These hand pies can be prepared in advance, either in parts or as a whole. The filling can be made up to four days ahead of time and stored in the refrigerator, while the pie dough can also be made in advance and refrigerated for two days or frozen indefinitely. In the latter instance, however, you'll need to allow additional time for it to thaw before you can roll it out and fill it. Whether frozen or refrigerated, the dough will roll out more easily if you allow it to warm up to room temperature.

You can also make the pies up to two days before baking and refrigerate them in an airtight container or bag. (Wrapping them in foil or plastic will also work.) Yet another option is to flash-freeze the unbaked pies by putting them into the freezer uncovered. Once they're solid, you can then move them to a bag or container without fear that they'll stick together. You won't need to thaw them before baking, but they will need a little more time in the oven.

This recipe involves multiple steps and a lengthy list of ingredients, but there are some shortcuts you can take to reduce the time and effort involved. Store-bought pie dough or puff pastry sprinkled with herbs can take the place of the homemade crust, while you can use leftover rotisserie chicken or roast turkey instead of starting with raw chicken. 

If you find it tedious to peel and chop vegetables, you can use a frozen vegetable medley (you'll need about 5 cups of frozen vegetables). You could also use dried herbs instead of fresh ones, as these require no prep besides measuring. The amounts used will be smaller due to the more concentrated flavor, so for each tablespoon of fresh herbs, you'd substitute a teaspoon of the dried kind. This means that the ¼ cup of fresh parsley and sage used in the dough can be replaced with two teaspoons each of their dried equivalents.

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