Turkey Pot Pie

Ingredients

• 1 package (2 crusts) refrigerated pie dough
• 2 cups cooked, diced turkey
• 1 cup frozen peas and carrots, 1 diced onion, 2 stalks celery, diced
• 1/3 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 cups chicken or beef broth
• 1/2 cup milk or cream
• 2 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp fresh thyme (or 1/2 tsp dried)
• Salt and black pepper, to taste

Method

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (205°C).
2. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat and cook the onion, celery, and any raw protein until softened and lightly browned.
3. Stir in the flour and cook 1 minute, then gradually whisk in the broth and milk until smooth.
4. Add the remaining protein and vegetables, thyme, salt, and pepper, and simmer 8–10 minutes until thickened and the vegetables are tender.
5. Pour the filling into a pie dish or deep baking dish, fit the top crust over it, crimp the edges, and cut a few vents.
6. Bake for 30–35 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles through the vents.
7. Let rest 10 minutes before serving.

The Tale of Turkey Pot Pie

Story updated September 18, 2026

Turkey pot pie doesn't have a single clear inventor or founding moment; it's best understood as a practical offshoot of the much older chicken and beef pot pie tradition that colonial settlers brought to America, itself descended from medieval English meat pies and, further back, the pastry-wrapped dishes of ancient Greece and Rome. What gives the turkey version its own identity is timing: it became a beloved way to use up leftover roast turkey after Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners, transforming holiday abundance into a second, cozier meal. As turkey grew cheaper and more available across the 20th century thanks to industrial poultry farming, and as frozen and canned convenience foods, following Swanson's pioneering 1950s pot pies, became household staples, turkey pot pie settled in as a year-round comfort food in its own right rather than only a holiday-leftovers dish, though that thrifty, use-it-up spirit remains part of its charm.