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turkey pot pie on a plate
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4.75 from 4 votes

Turkey Pot Pie with Puff Pastry

Turkey pot pie with puff pastry crust is an ideal reimagination of Thanksgiving leftovers. Make this recipe family style or bake it in individual ramekins.
Prep Time20 minutes
Cook Time45 minutes
Total Time1 hour 5 minutes
Course: Turkey
Cuisine: American
Keyword: turkey pot pie, turkey pot pie with puff pastry
Servings: 8
Calories: 199kcal
Author: Carolyn Gratzer Cope

Ingredients

  • 8 tablespoons (112 grams) butter
  • 2 medium shallots minced
  • 3 medium carrots diced small
  • 2 large celery ribs diced small
  • 8 ounces (227 grams) cremini mushrooms, sliced
  • ½ cup (60 grams) flour
  • 4 cups (946 ml) low-sodium chicken broth or turkey stock
  • ½ cup plus 1 tablespoon (133 ml) heavy cream, divided
  • 1 teaspoon fine sea salt
  • ½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
  • 1 tablespoon minced fresh sage
  • 1 pound (454 grams) potatoes, peeled and diced small
  • 10 ounces frozen peas defrosted
  • 8 ounces frozen pearl onions defrosted
  • 1 pound leftover turkey meat diced or shredded
  • 1 box frozen puff pastry 14 to 17.3 ounces
  • 1 egg

Instructions

  • Make the filling
  • Preheat oven to 400°F with a rack in the center.
  • Melt butter in a 3.5-quart braiser over medium-high heat. (See note 9 below.)
  • Add shallot, carrots, celery, and mushrooms. Cook, stirring from time to time, until softened, about 5 minutes.
  • Add flour and cook, stirring constantly, for one minute. Ensure that flour coats all vegetables somewhat evenly.
  • Pour in stock, the half cup of cream, salt, pepper, thyme, and sage and stir very well. Add potatoes. Allow liquid to come to a boil, stirring frequently. Then reduce heat and simmer until thickened, about 5 minutes, stirrinng from time to time.
  • Stir in peas, onions, and cooked turkey. Remove from heat. If you've cooked the filling in an oven-safe braiser, it's ready to top with the crust. Otherwise, transfer the filling to your baking dish now. If you like, you can let the filling cool for a while to make the pastry easier to work with — but you don't have to.

  • Prepare the crustYou can assemble the crust on a parchment-lined baking sheet first and keep it in the freezer while you make the filling, or you can assemble it directly on the baking dish if you're good at working quickly.
  • Lightly flour a work surface and carefully unfold the puff pastry. Lightly flour the top too. Roll out the pastry to the dimensions of your baking pan.
  • Use a very sharp knife or pizza cutter to cut the pastry into approximate 1-inch-wide strips.
  • Begin by placing the vertical strips. Space them out evenly across the pan or parchment-lined baking sheet to the width of your baking pan.
  • Here’s how to weave in the horizontal strips. Before placing the first one, lift up and fold back every other vertical strip, then lay down the first horizontal strip. It will be on top of the vertical strips that you left in place. After placing the horizontal strip, replace the vertical strips that you folded back. Those will be on top of the first horizontal strip.
  • Before placing the second horizontal strip, lift up and fold back the vertical strips that you did not move the first time. Place the second strip and replace the vertical ones.
  • Continue this process, alternating which vertical strips you move, until the surface of the pan is covered with lattice. If you've prepared the lattice in advance, carefully transfer it from the baking sheet to your filled baking dish.
  • In a small bowl, beat together the egg and the remaining tablespoon of cream. Quickly but carefully brush the egg wash onto the puff pastry. This will help it become brown and shiny when it bakes.

  • Bake the pot pie
  • Place the baking dish onto a rimmed baking sheet to catch any drips.
  • Bake for 25 minutes, until pastry is puffed and deep golden and filling is bubbly. Let sit for 10 minutes or so before serving.

Notes

  1. I like to use a good cultured, salted butter for the best flavor.
  2. Dicing the carrots, celery, and potatoes nice and small ensures everything will be both well-cooked and well-distributed. Aim for ¼-inch cubes, which is quite petite — but definitely don't stress over it.
  3. Cremini mushrooms (sometimes called baby bella) have great flavor and a low moisture content. You can use white button mushrooms instead, but be sure to cook them until the water releases and evaporates before adding the flour.
  4. You could substitute light cream of half and half for the heavy cream if you like. I prefer it with heavy cream.
  5. You can substitute 1 teaspoon each of dried thyme and sage if you don't have 1 tablespoon fresh.
  6. Yellow potatoes (like Yukon Gold) or other waxy potatoes hold their shape well when cooked, but you can use any type you like. Just cut them small.
  7. If you can't find frozen pearl onions, you can either leave them out or prep them from fresh. If fresh, boil whole onions in their peels for three minutes, then drain. When cool enough to handle, use a sharp knife to trim off each end and peel off the outer layer (or squeeze out the inner layers from the outside — I find this works only sometimes).
  8. You can use any combination of cooked white and/or dark meat. Dice or shred it — it's up to you. Amazingly, this is a great place to use both slightly undercooked dark meat and slightly overcooked white meat, since baking in a creamy sauce cures all ills.
  9. If you don't have a large pan like a 3.5-quart braiser that can go from stovetop to oven, you can make the filling in a large pot and then transfer it to a large baking dish or individual ramekins to top and bake. A deep-dish 9x13-inch baking pan (not the standard 2-inch depth) will work, or 8 2-cup ramekins.
  10. The dimensions to which you'll roll out your puff pastry depends on two factors: (1) The size and shape of your baking pan and (2) How many puff pastry sheets you have. My preferred brand of puff pastry comes with a single sheet. Many popular brands come with two. If you have one sheet, roll it out to a square that measures the same as the longer side of your baking pan (or the full diameter if it’s circular). If you have two sheets, you can roll them each out into a rectangle with the same dimensions of your baking pan and cut one into strips the long way and one into strips the short way.
  11. If you would rather not bother with a pastry lattice, that's fine. You can roll out the puff pastry to the dimensions of your baking pan and place it on top whole. Or you can cut it into squares to indicate portions and place them next to each other.

Nutrition

Serving: 1 | Calories: 199kcal | Carbohydrates: 15g | Protein: 21g | Fat: 6g | Saturated Fat: 2g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 87mg | Sodium: 853mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 6g