Healthy Chicken Pot Pie has a creamy filling of veggies, juicy chicken and the best crust. This recipe is so easy to make from scratch. Classic comfort food never tasted so good!
And it is the perfect weeknight dinner recipe just like one pot chicken quinoa, cauliflower shepherd’s pie and ground turkey meatloaf.
Crustless Chicken Pot Pie
This healthy chicken pot pie is my healthy, good-for-you take on a family comfort food favorite. I promise that the taste is just as delicious as the original version!
It is chock-full of the creamy veggies and chunks of chicken that you have come to love with a classic chicken pot pie.
The filling is lightened up by omitting butter, heavy cream and canned soup, but it is so full of flavor.
Instead of puff pastry dough or a Bisquick mix crust, I came up with a quinoa “pie crust”. Quinoa is a whole grain full of complete protein and complex carbs.
And it works amazingly as a crust for this pie! And also in skillets, casseroles and salads 🙂
My entire family went nuts for this crustless chicken pot pie. I think your family will love this recipe too!
Ingredients for Healthy Chicken Pot Pie
- Cooked chicken breast: Any cooked, grilled or rotisserie cubed chicken works. I usually use Instant Pot chicken breast.
- Cooked quinoa: I use Instant Pot quinoa – sorry, mild Instant Pot obsession here 🙂
- Vegetables: Onion, peas, carrots, corn, celery and mushrooms. I use frozen peas and corn and then add chopped fresh carrot. You can also use mirepoix.
- Cheese: Mozzarella or cheddar cheese (sorry no need for Parmesan cheese – photo mistake).
- Eggs: They act as a binder for crust. Sorry I have not tried an egg replacer.
- Milk: Whole milk makes the creamiest sauce.
- Chicken broth: I recommend low sodium broth.
- Seasonings: Cornstarch, thyme, garlic, salt and pepper.
How to Make Healthy Chicken Pot Pie
There is a full recipe card below.
Let’s make this healthy chicken pot pie step-by-step. It is so easy!
- Prepare the crust: Just whisk 3 eggs and combine with cooked quinoa and shredded cheese.
- Make the Filling: Start by sauteing the onion and celery. Then add mushrooms and cook for 3 more minutes. You always want to cook onion before adding mushrooms because they are super watery and will steam rather than fry the onion. Now add thyme, garlic powder, salt, pepper, peas, corn and carrots.
- Make cream sauce: In a saucepan, mix broth, milk and cornstarch. Make sure the liquids are cold to start because cornstarch will lump in hot water. Simmer until sauce thickens and bubbles. Then add cooked chicken.
- Assemble the pot pie: Use a regular large baking dish. Transfer filling in it and level with spatula. Then drop spoonfuls of quinoa crust all around evenly and spread with a spatula.
- Bake: Bake for 25 minutes in preheated oven at 375 degrees F. I should warn you that you will see some of the sauce bubble on top of the crust. That’s OK. It will settle back inside during the cooling time. But if you want, you can poke the crust with a fork and it will go back inside faster.
- Let cool: Remove for oven and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Cut into squares, serve hot and enjoy!
How to Serve, Store and Freeze Chicken Pot Pie
Serve: Chicken pot pie can be a complete meal on its own. Or you can serve it with a simple baby kale salad or my favorite sweet kale salad.
Store: Leftovers should be stored in the refrigerator in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freeze: You can freeze chicken pot pie leftovers for up to 3 months in an airtight glass container. To thaw, just place on a counter and defrost for 3-4 hours.
Reheat: Chicken pot pie can be reheated by popping it back in the oven for 15 minutes at 400 degrees F.
Make Ahead Freezer Meal: Assemble the chicken pot pie as per the recipe. Cover unbaked pot pie with plastic and foil. Freeze for up to 3 months. When you are ready to eat, thaw in the refrigerator overnight. Bake as per recipe instructions + an extra 15 minutes.
More Healthy Casseroles and
- Healthy chicken broccoli casserole
- Ground turkey quinoa casserole
- Healthy chicken and rice casserole
- Spinach artichoke quinoa casserole
Healthy Chicken Pot Pie {Crustless}
Ingredients
For the Crust:
- 3 large eggs
- 2/3 cups mozzarella or cheddar cheese shredded
- 3 cups cooked quinoa
For Chicken Pot Pie Filling:
- 4 cups frozen peas carrots & corn mix, fresh or frozen
- 4 cups cooked chicken breast diced
- 1 large onion diced
- 1 large celery stalk diced
- 10 brown or white mushrooms sliced
- 2 cups chicken broth low sodium
- 1/2 cup whole milk
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp thyme dried
- 1 tsp garlic powder
- 1 1/4 tsp salt
- 1 tbsp oil for frying
- Ground black pepper to taste
- Cooking spray I use Misto
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Spray large 9 x 13 baking dish with cooking spray. Set aside.
- In a medium bowl, whisk the eggs. Add cooked quinoa, cheese and pepper; stir with a spoon to combine and set aside.
- In another medium bowl, make the slurry by combining chicken stock, milk, cornstarch and whisk with a fork. Make sure liquids are cold otherwise cornstarch will lump.
- Preheat large ceramic non-stick skillet on medium heat and swirl oil to coat. Add onion and celery; cook for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add mushrooms and cook for 3 more minutes.
- Add thyme, garlic powder, salt, pepper, peas, corn and carrots. Cook for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Whisk the slurry again (cornstarch settle to the bottom quickly) and add to the skillet. Bring to a boil and cook until filling bubbles and thickens. Add cooked chicken and stir to combine. Turn off heat.
- Transfer filling to prepared baking dish and flatten with a spatula.
- Drop spoonfuls of quinoa mixture on top and spread with a spatula to cover the filling evenly.
- Bake uncovered for 25 minutes.
- Remove from the oven, let cool for 5 - 10 minutes and cut into 8 squares. Serve hot.
Store: Refrigerate in an airtight container for up to 3 days.
Freeze: Leftovers can be frozen for up to 3 months.
Make Ahead and Freeze: Assemble, tightly wrap with plastic and then foil, and freeze for up to 3 months. Thaw in the fridge overnight and bake as per instructions + 15 minutes.
Notes
- Cooked chicken breast: Any cooked, grilled or rotisserie cubed chicken works. I usually use Instant Pot chicken breast. If using rotisserie or store-bought chicken, add less salt to the filling.
- Cooked quinoa: Usually 1 cup of dry quinoa yields 3 cups cooked quinoa. Follow package directions. I use Instant Pot quinoa - sorry, mild Instant Pot obsession here.
- Vegetables: Onion, peas, carrots, corn, celery and mushrooms. I use frozen peas and corn and then add chopped fresh carrot. You can also use mirepoix. I didn't have mushrooms and celery on hand, that's why you do not see it in pictures. Filling was a bit too sweet with corn and carrots.
- Cheese: Mozzarella or cheddar cheese (sorry no need for Parmesan cheese - photo mistake).
- Eggs: They act as a binder for crust. Sorry I have not tried an egg replacer.
- Milk: Whole milk makes the creamiest sauce. Any milk works. Just the taste will change but I'm sure if you use different milk, you are used to its taste.
Nutrition
Recipes and images are a copyright of ifoodreal.com. It is against the law to republish recipes anywhere including social media, print and all world wide web. Nutritional info is provided for informational purposes only and to the best knowledge.
Although most online recipes assume people are unable to follow a basic recipe and require the reader to scroll through numerous photos to the end for instructions, this silly thing scatters the photos throughout the instructions so one would need to print numerous pages of photos. That’s a shame because I would have tried this. Oh well. I would suggest including a print friendly version.
Josephine, on top there is a Jump to Recipe button which takes you to perfectly clean printable recipe card with no images.
So flavorful!
I want to make the chicken pot pie recipe but suppose to make things with 10% ( preferably 5%) of sodium. How can I figure out the sodium percentage? Thank you!
Irene
I guess easiest way is to Google how much sodium is in 1 tsp of salt, then calculate amount for 1.25 tsp and deduct it from recipe and divide by # of servings and take total amount of salt % of other ingredients. Or use some calorie calculator online and play around with ingredients with salt.
Hi! I am df should I skip/use nutritional yeast/add a couple of more egg?
I don’t have nutritional yeast in this recipe and haven’t tried it that way. Sorry.
Exactly like instant oatmeal! I will try it tonight and let you know!!
Yes, please do. I have never tried it!!!
Was fascinated with recipe. Looks good and tastes so lovely. thank you for all low carb recipes, Recently diagnosed with T2 diabetes after being”pre” for several years. Have dropped weight and will continue to do so using your low carb recipes. Many thanks, Glenys
You are so welcome!!!
Everyone loved it. I substituted potatoes for the chicken as I was feeding a vegetarian and it was simply delicious. I loved this recipe because I would never go to the effort of making the pastry but it still gives the comfort food feeling.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Lisa! I agree. I would never ever make puff pastry and buying is not an option haha.
Soo good love it
So happy to hear, Glykeria!
Sooo good. Love the crust.
Fantastic! Glad you enjoyed the recipe, Heidi!
yummy
Indeed LOL
What a wonderful healthy take on a chicken pot pie! I love quinoa – what a great crust for this!…
Thank you, Irene! Hope you enjoy it!
I was surprised at how good the quinoa was as a crust this recipe is a keeper
So happy to hear, Joe!
Yum!
I added a bit more thyme and only had 3 cups of chicken.
Yay! Last time I made it with only 3 cups of chicken and it’s fine.
I made this recipe and it turned great
I wanted to send my picture but has no option to paste in the comments section
No, unfortunately not on website. On any social media, please share and just tag me @ifoodreal. 🙂 Would love to see it!
tried tonight and was delish!! Dont miss the crust at all with this ingenious healthy substitute
Right?! Glad to hear, Alana.
Hi! This looks so good, but I have a few questions. 1. I only have almond milk (unsweetened) do you think this will taste ok instead of milk? 2. I want to pre make this for tomorrow night’s dinner, Is it ok to prepare everything and then refrigerate it tonight? I want to be able to put it in the oven as soon as I get home from work.
Yes and yes.
Made this for dinner tonight. Turned out great! thanks!
You are welcome, Kate.
Fabulous recipe! Love all the whole foods and how closely it tastes to the real thing 🙂 Totally sharing with others!
Thank you so much for sharing, Sammi! I noticed recipes that resemble childhood favourites with a healthy twist are very popular on my blog.
Do you freeze it before or after baking? And do you defrost overnight or bake from frozen?
Would you freeze this casserole before or after baking? And how about thawing, do you thaw overnight or just bake from frozen?
I would freeze it before baking and bake from frozen increasing bake time by 15 minutes or so.
Hi Olena,
I had this recipe all made up and ready to be put into the oven when I was invited to dinner. Do you think it would be okay to sit in the fridge overnight and bake tomorrow or should I go ahead and bake it and refrigerate the leftovers. I kind of hate heating the oven twice and waiting for it to cool just to stick it in the fridge. Can’t wait to try this dish!! Thank you! 🙂
I think it should be fine if you keep it overnight in the fridge and bake tomorrow. Just wrap up with plastic.
Love ur website!!
My son is allergic to egg and i am wondering if what would u suggest to replace the egg with? Thanks a bunch!
Thank you, Iris! Replace egg with extra cheese, I would say 1/2 cup.
Recipe was great! I have become obsessed with everything Bison, so instead of chicken I added ground bison and did water chestnuts, peas and corn – instead of carots (just what I had on hand). Fantastic!
Hi Olena,
I am extremely excited to try this recipe out tonight but was curious if the eggs in the quinoa mixture give off a quiche taste/texture? My boyfriend and I are both not egg eaters but love chicken pot pie, quinoa and finding healthy options for great dishes. Let me know as this looks delicious and I’d love to have a healthier option to this great classic.
Hi Kristy. No, I didn’t find the crust tasting like quiche. Eggs help to bind the crust. I’m sure you could skip the eggs and use only egg whites and more cheese, about 1 + 1/4 cups. Let me know how it turns out.
I wonder if you can use quinoa crust in a dessert type recipe; like maybe a silken tofu/chocolate pudding with a quinoa/cinnamon crust or something… hmmm. Great idea to use it as a crust!
I tried quinoa in sweet recipes and didn’t like the prominent nutty flavour it has. I’ve seen quinoa cakes but they were chocolate. I think you really have to mask the quinoa flavour in dessert recipes.
Hi Olena!! I’ve made: healthy chili mac and healthy white chicken chili the last two meals. Rave reviews from me!! Would instant quinoa be okay to use as long as I cook as specified?
Hi Rachel. That’s awesome to hear!!! I don’t know what Instant quinoa is. Is it like instant oatmeal? As long as it’s not too runny.
I just stumbled upon this website and recipe. I’m in love! Thank u for the great recipe!!!
I grew up with homemade chicken pot pies with flaky pastry – tastes like childhood! Since we don’t eat that way anymore, I was so excited to see your awesome healthy makeover! P.S. I’m new to your site, (found you through your income reports) and I love your no-nonsense creative and healthy recipes!
Hi Kari. It is interesting how what you guys grew up with is completely new to me. I have to re-discover cooking in a way which is so much fun. I think our lives are busy enough and with a family who has time to make walnut encrusted enchiladas with lime yogurt vinaigrette and chocolate chips?! Honestly, simple is best! Hope you like this healthy version of a chicken pot pie.:)