This turkey potpie recipe features leftover roast turkey with fresh and frozen vegetables, a deliciously savory sauce, and a buttery crust. It’s classic comfort food at its finest, especially good after Thanksgiving when you have leftovers to spare. And since this recipe makes two whole pies, you can freeze one for later.
While seemingly as American as apple pie, potpies can be traced all the way back to ancient Greek and Roman times. The Greeks served meat pies with only a bottom crust, then the Romans switched it around for their top-crusted pies. In the 1950s, the company Swanson popularized frozen potpies, which had long since been a homemade staple.
Today, there’s a renewed interest in making potpies from scratch, and it’s easy to make your own version in no time. Just about any meat and vegetable can come together for the filling. There’s usually a creamy sauce to bind the filling ingredients, plus a flaky pie crust to top it all off. When you poke through the crust of a baked potpie to reveal the steamy interior, it’s like a delicious gift, best served directly from the oven.
Ingredients for Turkey Potpie
- Vegetables: Carrots, celery and onion fill the potpie with flavor and texture, while peas and potatoes add body. If you have leftover roasted potatoes or carrots from the holiday dinner, even better!
- Butter and oil: Butter and oil help form the foundation of the sauce. They’re cooked with flour to make a roux, which helps thicken the sauce.
- Flour: All-purpose flour is part of the thick, creamy sauce that holds everything together under the baked pie shell. A cornstarch slurry could replace the flour.
- Broth: For the finest aromatics and balance of flavors, choose one of our Test Kitchen’s picks for the best chicken broth brand. However, if you have homemade turkey stock on hand, this is the prime opportunity to use it.
- Cream: Heavy whipping cream adds more delightful richness to the sauce. Omit or use less if you prefer.
- Turkey: Use white or dark meat for this turkey potpie recipe, whichever you like or have on hand.
- Pie crust: A premade pie crust makes this recipe super easy and quick. If you’d like to make your own, our classic butter pie crust recipe is a snap.
Directions
Step 1:  Cook the aromatics
First, preheat the oven to 375°F. Then, in a Dutch oven or other large pot, cook the potatoes, carrots, onion and celery in the butter and oil until they’re tender.
Step 2: Make the sauce
Stir the flour into the pot until it’s well blended.
Gradually add the broth, stirring to make sure the flour is incorporated. Bring the sauce to a boil. Cook, stirring, for two minutes or until the sauce thickens.
Step 3: Add the rest of the ingredients
Add the turkey cubes, peas, 1/2 cup cream, parsley, garlic salt and pepper. Stir until everything is well combined.
Step 4: Assemble the potpies
Spoon the turkey mixture evenly into two ungreased 9-inch pie plates.
Unroll the pie crusts, and place one over each pie plate.
Trim the crusts, and seal them to the edge of the pie plates.
Cut slits (or other decorative cuts) in the center of each pie.
In a small bowl, whisk together the egg and remaining 1 tablespoon cream, and brush over the crusts.
Step 5: Bake the potpies
Bake the turkey potpies until golden brown, 40 to 45 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes before cutting into them. If you’re only baking one pie, store the other in the refrigerator or freezer until you’re ready to bake it.
Recipe Variations
- Use different vegetables: Try different root vegetables like sweet potatoes or turnips in this turkey potpie recipe. If you’re short on time, you can also opt for your favorite frozen vegetable mix. And if you have leftover vegetables, use those instead.
- Try a different (or no) meat: Leftover rotisserie chicken or roast chicken works great in this potpie. Omit the meat altogether for an all-vegetable potpie.
- Add more herbs: A dash of poultry seasoning or sprinkle of chopped fresh herbs like thyme or rosemary would add even more autumnal aromatics.
- Make it decorative: Use a cookie cutter to cut shapes out of the crust before placing over the filling. You can place them around the edge or along the top for a more decorative effect.
- Use puff pastry: For the ultimate buttery and flaky crust, try using puff pastry like in this chicken potpie recipe.
- Make mini potpies: You can make individual potpies with mini pie dishes or oven-safe ramekins. Simply cut the pie dough in circles to top each pie (make sure they’re about 1 inch larger than the diameter of your pie dishes or ramekins). Bake times will need to be adjusted, so err on a shorter cook time, then add more time as needed.
How to Store Turkey Potpie
To store leftover turkey potpies, let them cool completely, then wrap in aluminum foil, or store them in an airtight container. They will keep up to three to four days in the refrigerator if stored properly.
Can you freeze turkey potpie?
To freeze unbaked turkey potpies, cover the assembled pies tightly with wrap, and store in the freezer for up to three months. To use, remove from the freezer 30 minutes before baking (do not thaw), and preheat the oven to 425°. Place the pies on a baking sheet, and cover edges loosely with foil. Bake for 30 minutes, then reduce the oven setting to 350°. Remove foil from potpies, and continue baking until pies are golden brown and a thermometer inserted into their centers reads 165°. This should take 55 to 60 minutes longer.
Turkey Potpie Tips
How can I make the turkey potpie sauce thicker?
If you want the sauce in the potpie to be thicker, you can add a cornstarch slurry to the filling mixture towards the end of it cooking in the pot. Our Test Kitchen has a guide on how to thicken gravy and sauces for just such occasions.
What if the turkey potpie crust is getting too brown?
If your crust is browning too quickly and you’re worried it might burn, simply lay a sheet of foil loosely over your pie for the remainder of the baking time. You can also make a pie crust shield to prevent burning—and reuse it for baking other pies at home, too!
