Chicken Pot Pie: Keeping the Filling Thick (2024)

FAQs

How do you thicken chicken pot pie filling? ›

Unfortunately, the filling relies on flour for thickening. However, you can substitute it to make it truly gluten free a few ways. You can dissolve cornstarch in the COLD milk before pouring it into the skillet. You can use a one-for-one gluten free flour substitution, or you can use arrowroot!

Precook the filling

But by cooking apples, sugar, spices, and thickener just long enough for the apples to release their juice and the thickener to do its work — typically, 5 to 10 minutes over a burner — you reduce the risk of those same juices pooling in the bottom of the crust as your pie bakes.

Filling is Too Thick: Stir in additional broth or milk, one tablespoon at a time, until desired consistency. Filling is Too Thin: Stir a tablespoon of flour into a tablespoon of cold water until smooth.

Heavy whipping cream, chicken broth or stock, butter, and all-purpose flour. Simmered together creates a luxurious, rich sauce that suspends the filling ingredients. This combination prevents a runny consistency that would make a soggy bottom crust as it sits.

Cornstarch has thickening power similar to Instant ClearJel. Like flour, it lends a cloudy, semi-transparent look to filling. It can also give filling a starchy taste. For full effectiveness, make sure the pie filling is bubbling up through the crust before removing your pie from the oven.

If the chicken and/or the vegetables aren't partially cooked and thoroughly drained, they'll exude moisture during baking and thin out the filling. Be sure that the assembled filling is the consistency you like before covering and baking the pie.

And, finally, as much as a steaming-hot slice of apple pie sounds appealing, let your pie rest for at least an hour before slicing. The filling will thicken as it cools and don't worry—your pie will still be plenty warm enough to gently melt that scoop of vanilla ice cream on top of it.

Fill crust – Once the crust has been blind baked, let it cool for 15 minutes. This helps ensure the base stays crispy because the pastry is more porous when hot. The Pie Filling should be at room temperature and not cold before filling the pie, for two reasons.

[If you don't,] the bottom gets soggy and not crisp. Simply par-bake the crust with baking weights, such as dry beans, so that it does not puff up. Once your bottom crust is 75 percent baked, remove it from the oven, take the weights out, add your filling, and then add the top crust.

Whisk a teaspoon of flour in a little cold water to make a slurry, then stir into the stew as it's cooking. Don't add dry flour directly to the stew as it may clump. After adding the slurry, bring the stew to boil.

How to tell when pot pie is done? ›

Bake on cookie sheet for 30 to 45 minutes. Check that pot pie/empanada is cooked thoroughly. Internal temperature needs to reach 165 degrees F as measured by a food thermometer in several spots. Crust should be golden brown.

A watery potpie may be the result of not cooking the filling for long enough or adding too much liquid to the filling. Another possible reason for the pie being watery is if you add watery vegetables like spinach or green beans to the filling rather than potatoes or carrots, which soak up liquid.

Let the fruit sit in sugar before baking the pie.

An easy trick that helps eliminate extra liquid in fruit pies before they hit the oven is to put the fruit into a colander, sprinkle a couple of tablespoons of sugar on the fruit, stir it up, and let the liquid drain off.

How do you thicken sauce without cornstarch? If I have pan juices I want to thicken for gravy, for example, I take flour and mix it with water and then mix that into the pan juices. If I want to make gravy from scratch I start with 2 tablespoons of butter and melt the butter. Add 2 tablespoons of flour and mix well.

Add Gelatin or Cornstarch

Gelatin is great for adding firmness, while cornstarch can thicken the mixture without making it too firm. Just make sure to dissolve the gelatin or cornstarch in a little bit of warm water before adding it to the filling.

Powders and flours. Cornstarch, arrowroot, common wheat flour, and the flours or powders made from potato, tapioca, chickpea — to name but a few — long have been used to thicken cooking liquids. (Gelatins and gums also can play a similar role.)