This family favorite easy, creamy cast iron chicken pot pie with tender homemade biscuits takes a couple of shortcuts without compromising on flavor. It’s totally doable on a weeknight!
Skillet meals are my favorite for when the chilly weather rolls around and the days are packed. It’s the season of warm, comforting food, but not the season where I want to spend hours in the kitchen making it.
Chicken pot pie is the epitome of comfort food, but really it’s as easy as you want it to be, and with a few shortcuts, it’s perfect for a busy weeknight meal.
This cast iron chicken pot pie has a luscious creamy sauce that is not too heavy, homemade biscuit topping, and a good amount of veggies. It’s a classic comfort food that my whole family loves eating, and I love making it!
I like serving it with an easy fall salad like this apple pecan salad or kale pomegranate salad on the side.
You can use fresh veggies, and cook your chicken on the spot, but the bag of frozen veggies, leftover rotisserie chicken, and super simple drop biscuits are what makes it weeknight-friendly for me.
This filling would also be great as an alternative to the shrimp and mushroom filling in these puff pastry vol-au-vents, for an even easier option than the drop biscuits!
Why You’ll Love This Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie
Easy cleanup. You just need a skillet to make the filling and bake the chicken pot pie and a big bowl to make biscuit dough. Since I use frozen veggies in this recipe, there is practically no chopping or cleanup!
It’s made with pantry staples. If you’ve got some leftover chicken or turkey, you probably have everything else you need for this easy skillet chicken pot pie in your freezer or pantry.
It stores well. If you’re big on meal prep, this cast iron chicken pot pie would freeze really well! If you were planning to freeze it, you could simply bake it in an oven and freezer safe pan or dish instead of a cast iron skillet, cool, wrap well, and freeze.
It’s the perfect way to use up those holiday leftovers. Do you have a lot of leftover turkey from the holidays? Or maybe a lot of leftover rotisserie chicken? This is the best, and most delicious way to use that up!
Traditional Chicken Pot Pie Vs. Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie
The traditional chicken pot pie you might have grown up with has a top crust and bottom crust and is made in a pie dish.
For this cast iron chicken pot pie we’re doing away with the pie crust altogether, and topping it with some tender, fluffy, buttermilk drop biscuits. Because of that, this is technically a chicken and biscuits dish.
In a traditional chicken pot pie, the filling is cooked separately from the crust, and then the two are assembled before baking. If you’d like to use this filling to make a traditional double crust chicken pot pie, here’s my very favorite an super simple recipe for all-butter flaky pie crust made by hand. Store-bought crust is another option, or store-bought puff pastry.
Whether you consider this a chicken pot pie or chicken and biscuits, it is in my opinion, just an easier version of traditional chicken pot pie. Try it once and you might not go back to making your chicken pot pie any other way!
Ingredient Notes
For the filling
Chicken
This recipe uses a whole rotisserie chicken which yields about 3-4 cups of shredded chicken. Alternatively, you can use any leftover chicken or turkey you might have. Or cook up 2 or three chicken breasts and chop or shred those.
I like to keep my chicken in fairly large chunks as I shred it, for big tender bites of chicken.
Vegetables
I use whatever mixed frozen veggies I have on hand for this, but you can definitely use fresh vegetables as well. Use any vegetables you like.
You can add celery, green beans, peas, carrots, bell peppers, and broccoli. Just sauté the veggies in the pan with the onion until tender before proceeding with the rest of the filling instructions.
Chicken Broth
I use store bought chicken broth for this, or homemade chicken stock if I happen to have some in the freezer. Vegetable broth works too.
Evaporated Milk
I like to use evaporated milk in this cast iron chicken pot pie instead of cream because it results in a lighter but still super creamy filling.
Evaporated milk, which is thicker and creamier than regular milk, is one of my go-to tricks for lower calorie creaminess. It works great in chowders like this potato, corn and ham chowder, and I often use it instead of cream in this easy tomato soup too.
You can substitute whole milk or half and half if you like
Seasonings
I just like to season the chicken mixture with salt and black pepper, but feel free to add some fresh herbs or a little dried thyme, oregano, or basil if you like.
For the biscuits
Butter
Cold butter is essential for producing biscuits that are tender and flaky. The cold butter coats the flour and prevents it from developing too much gluten, which would make the biscuits tough.
Buttermilk
Buttermilk makes for really tender biscuits with a delicious slightly tangy flavor. Buttermilk is more acidic than regular milk and is a key ingredient in this biscuit recipe, so I do not recommend using regular milk instead.
While I think that real buttermilk, with it’s distinctive tang works best, if you don’t have any, you can use one of the substitutes below in a pinch!
Substitutes for buttermilk
Milk and vinegar or lemon juice: This is the most common buttermilk substitute. To make buttermilk equivalent to 1 cup of buttermilk, add 1 tablespoon of lemon juice or white vinegar to a measuring cup and fill to 1 cup with regular milk. Let the mixture sit for 5-10 minutes until it curdles slightly.
Plain yogurt: Plain yogurt can be substituted for buttermilk in a 1:1 ratio. Yogurt has a similar tangy flavor to buttermilk and will help to tenderize the dough.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Make the Filling
1. Preheat the oven to 375 degree F.
2. In a 10-inch cast-iron skillet, melt butter at medium heat. Add in the chopped onions and cook until they’re soft. This should take about 4-5 minutes.
3. Now add in the flour and cook while whisking it constantly.
4. Add in the chicken broth slowly, while whisking. It will clump up at first, and smooth out as you keep whisking.
5. Next, pour in the evaporated milk, whisking constantly again, until the mixture is creamy and smooth. Bring it to a low simmer and let it thicken until it coats the back of a spoon. Season with salt and black pepper.
6. Add in the shredded chicken and frozen vegetables and mix. Remove it from the heat and prepare the biscuits. Your skillet will be quite full.
Make the biscuits
7. Whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, and salt in a medium bowl.
8. Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture. Using your fingertips or a pastry blender, gently work the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
9. Stir in buttermilk just until the dough forms a rough ball. Don’t overmix.
10. Using a large cookie scoop or a ¼ cup measuring cup, portion out the biscuit dough and gently place each mound onto the filling in the pan. Arrange the biscuits evenly over the top of the filling. I get 9 biscuits.
11. Bake for 20-25 minutes in a 375 degree oven, until biscuits are golden brown and cooked through, and the chicken filling is bubbling.
The end result is tender pieces of chicken, creamy sauce, and buttery biscuits in every bite!
Storage Instructions for Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie
It is generally not recommended to store food in a cast iron skillet in the refrigerator. I would recommend removing the leftovers and storing in an airtight container in the fridge instead. Allow the chicken and biscuits to cool to room temperature before storing it, and store for up to 3-4 days.
What’s the difference between Chicken and Biscuits and Chicken and Dumplings?
Chicken and dumplings are made by boiling chicken to make a broth, and then adding lumps of biscuit dough. The pot is then covered to steam and cook the dumplings. For chicken and biscuits the biscuits are placed on top of a creamy filling and baked until the biscuits are golden.
No, you don’t! You can use any deep oven-safe skillet, or even a pie plate or baking dish if you want to. You would just need to transfer the creamy filling to the pie plate or dish, top it with the biscuit dough, and then bake.
Note: This is an updated version of a chicken and biscuits recipe that appeared on this site several years ago. In the original recipe, the biscuit dough was rolled and cut out instead of dropped onto the filling, which was more time-consuming. The drop biscuit idea was suggested by a lovely reader in the comments, and works brilliantly! If you enjoyed the original recipe and would like to have it, just send me an email and I’ll gladly send it over.
If you try this recipe, l’d be so grateful if you’d leave a comment and a rating in the recipe card. I love to hear your feedback, and your tips can help other readers too!
Cast Iron Skillet Chicken Pot Pie
Filling
- 6 tablespoons unsalted butter
- 1 medium onion chopped
- 6 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 3 cups chicken broth
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon black pepper
- 1 cup evaporated milk
- 2 cups mixed frozen vegetables
- 1 rotisserie chicken in bite-size chunks
Biscuits
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ cup unsalted butter cold and cut into small cubes
- 1 cup buttermilk
Instructions
Filling
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Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F
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In a 10 inch cast iron skillet (or other oven-safe pan), melt the butter over medium heat. Add the chopped onions and cook until softened, but not browned, about 5 minutes.
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Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking constantly, for one minute. Slowly pour in the chicken broth, while continuing to whisk, to avoid clumping.
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Slowly pour in the evaporated milk, whisking constantly, until smooth. Bring to a low simmer, letting the mixture thicken until it coats the back of a spoon (a couple of minutes). Season with salt an pepper.
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Stir in the shredded chicken and frozen vegetables. Remove from heat and set aside while you prepare the biscuits.
Biscuits
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In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
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Add the cold butter cubes to the flour mixture.. Using your fingers or a pastry blender, squish or cut the butter cubes into the flour until a coarse mixture forms.
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Add the buttermilk and stir until you can form the dough into a rough ball. Do not over-mix.
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Using a large cookie scoop, or a ¼ cup measuring cup, drop biscuits onto the filling in the pan, covering the surface evenly. I get 9 biscuits from the mixture.
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Transfer the pan to the preheated oven and bake for for 20-25 minutes, until the biscuits are golden brown and the filling is bubbling. Note: since the pan will be quite full, I recommend placing a baking sheet on the rack below to catch any drips if the filling bubbles over a little.
Storage Instructions for Cast Iron Chicken Pot Pie
It is generally not recommended to store food in a cast iron skillet in the refrigerator. I would recommend removing the leftovers and storing in an airtight glass or plastic container in the fridge instead. Allow the chicken and biscuits to cool to room temperature before storing it, and store for up to 3-4 days.
