Why This Recipe Works

We love chicken pot pies, but preparing them can take hours. For a streamlined Chicken Pot Pie recipe that we could freeze and pull out whenever we craved comfort food, we made a crust by “gluing" two pieces of store-bought dough together to make a double-thick crust. (Making a homemade pie crust seemed like too much work for our simplified Freezer Chicken Pot Pies recipe.) And instead of poaching or roasting a whole chicken, we browned boneless chicken breasts and then simmered them in chicken stock. This produced nice, rich chicken flavor in much less time.

Before You Begin

To preserve their color, don't thaw the peas before using. Each box of pie dough contains 2 crusts; you will use all 4 crusts for this recipe.

Instructions

to make ahead

Pat chicken dry with paper towels and season with salt and pepper. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large Dutch oven over high heat until just smoking. Cook chicken until well browned, about 2 1/2 minutes per side. Add broth and bring to boil. Cover and simmer over low heat until chicken is cooked through, 6 to 8 minutes. Transfer chicken to large plate and strain broth into bowl.

Melt butter with remaining 1 tablespoon oil in now-empty Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Cook onion, carrots, celery, and 1/4 teaspoon salt until lightly browned and softened, 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce heat to medium, add flour, and cook 1 minute. Whisk in reserved broth, milk, and thyme and simmer until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

Meanwhile, using 2 forks, shred chicken into bite-sized pieces. Off heat, add chicken and lemon juice to sauce and season with salt and pepper. Transfer filling to medium bowl and cool until just warm. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate until well chilled, about 1 hour.

Unwrap and unroll pie crusts onto lightly floured counter. Following photos, glue 2 crusts together using 1 beaten egg. Repeat with remaining 2 crusts. Cut out 6 pastry toppings. Stir frozen peas into cold filling and divide mixture among six 2-cup disposable aluminum loaf pans. Top with pastry and use fork to seal edges. Using paring knife, make 3 steam vents in each crust. Tightly wrap each loaf pan in 2 layers of plastic wrap and 1 layer of aluminum foil. Freeze for up to 2 months.

when ready to serve

Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 400 degrees. Unwrap frozen pot pies and arrange on rimmed baking sheet. Brush crusts with egg, cover with foil, and bake 40 minutes. Uncover and bake until crusts are golden brown, about 35 minutes. Let pot pies rest 10 minutes before serving.