Creamy, full of veggies, tasty chicken thighs and buttery mashed potatoes. You are going to want to get this chicken and mushroom pie on your table ASAP! Initially, I created this chicken and mushroom pie for my toddler but over the years my wife and I have loved it equally and it's now a great meal for all the family that we eat on a bi-weekly basis!
sponsored by Mount Rozier Wine, South Africa
Why I Love This Recipe
- family-friendly
- freezer-friendly
- cost effective
My chicken and mushroom pie is pretty simple to make - aside from the mashed potatoes (which we all know are a staple in this Irish household), it's a one-pan dish so cleaning up is on the easy side! It's a dish that the whole family will enjoy and packed with easy to eat veggies it's defo a plus when feeding the gang!
From a financial point of view, it won't break the bank and more importantly, it's freezer friendly. Not sure about you but on a Wednesday when I'm tired of parenting I just want/NEED something quick, easy and tasty so whipping a chicken and mushroom pie from the freezer knowing everyone will enjoy it makes life that little bit easier!
Ingredients Needed
Nothing fancy on this list to make chicken and mushroom pie - just simple everyday ingredients. Half of which you probably already have in your fridge/pantry and if not you can 100% get these in any/all shop
- chicken thighs - i prefer the brown meat as it's juicier and more tender but you could substitute chicken breast, tenderloins or even left over roast chicken will do
- leeks - available all year round but if you can't get any you could substitute a brown onion instead
- garlic - just a couple cloves today but add as much or as little as you please!
- mushrooms - i went with the everyday button mushroom but you could also use brown, shiitake or portobello. Just cut them into equal-sized pieces for even cooking time.
- wholegrain mustard - it's optional but it adds a nice kick to it. Would I use dijon? You could put it might add a little too much spice for the small ones
- peas - gotta have your greens. Just add the frozen ones in at the last minute before topping with mash
- potatoes - use a fluffy/starchy potato for your mash. Russet, brushed or Idaho are a few that come to mind
How To Make The Perfect Pie
It's pretty simple really (says the man who wrote the recipe!). The beauty of this chicken and mushroom pie is the pie element is all in one pot so cleaning up is kept to a minimum. The full recipe is in the recipe card below but find some images below to help you on your way!
Prep Your Vegetables!
Get all your ingredients ready and have them all prepped - this is the best way to cook anything. Yes, as you work your way around the kitchen and master some recipes you will find ways to cut corners, speed things up etc but to begin with have your mise en place ready and you will nail the chicken and mushroom pie
Lets Get Cooking.....
- In a oven proof casserole dish - cook your chopped chicken thighs on medium to high heat for approx 5 minutes. Don't worry if they aren't fully cooked as they will be going in the oven later.
- Remove the chicken and set aside. Add the butter and saute the mushrooms, leeks and garlic for 2-3 minutes. It's really that easy!
- Add the flour, stir and cook it out for 1 minute
- Next, pour in the milk and the wholegrain mustard and stir continously until the sauce is a gravy like thickness
- Place the chicken back in, stir to combine and add the peas
- Top with the mashed potato and into the oven she goes.......
Feeding The Toddler!
My daughter currently has about 5 or 6 dishes that she LOVES for dinner. Typically if I ask her what she wants for dinner I am met with "pasa, pasa". Which is pasta for those of you not up to speed with baby lingo. If it's not pasa then it's "pie, pie". That's the same pie as in grown-up talk if you also aren't up to speed with that lingo!
I shit you not it takes her about 2 minutes to demolish this particular chicken and mushroom pie. Shovelling it into her wide open mouth, not surrendering a drop to the floor! Is that a good thing, should my kid be eating that fast? I think so; the quicker she eats dinner, the quicker I am drinking my chardy! Also, as I say, this recipe isn't just great for your kids. With the addition of a little salt and maybe some herbs, it's a great all-round family pleaser. That us unless you are at the picky teenager stage then I guess I can only wish you and future me luck!
Chicken and Mushroom Pie Inspiration
The inspiration for this pie came from a pasta dish that my wife craved every night throughout her pregnancy. My wife would be at work and she would text asking what was for dinner and no matter what I said - fish, chicken, steaks, broccoli, apples or even chocolate - I would be met with "is there gonna be pasta???" It's no wonder our daughter is always asking for pasta too. I am currently trying to get her (our daughter that is) to eat food other than pasta. Taking some further inspiration from our home country (Ireland) and said "potatoes it is". Back to the pregnancy pasta dish of chicken, onion, mushroom & bacon in a cream sauce, edited it slightly and well the rest is in the pictures above and the recipe below so you can read on to see yourself.
What makes this particular recipe so good is that it's not only super tasty, but it is cost-effective and freezes really well too. I make a big batch of this (and other gems I'll share with you in subsequent posts) and then I can just whip a little tub out of the freezer. Let it defrost in the fridge overnight and come feeding time it's about 50 seconds in the microwave (for the toddler) and dinner is on the table. Good job too because, lord knows, come 4.30/5pm toddlers have even less patience than they usually have during the day!
Mount Rozier Wine
A good friend of mine here in Brisbane (hey Chrissy!) works for this amazing winery and recently I was fortunate to do a blind tasting of their range with her. Truth is, I haven't tasted a ton of wine from South Africa other then the obligatory pinotage and a chenin or two but after tasting through her range and seeing how passionate she was it was a no-brainer when we got chatting about their wines. The only down side is not many of them are available here in Australia but they are definitely expanding into various markets so stay tuned!
The winery operates with minimal intervention to their grapes which is great as it helps you get a true expression of the terroir. A HUGE effort is placed on being environmentally friendly and self sustainable including the winery being solar powered!
A wealth of experience in the winery including stints at Wirra Wirra, Highfield in New Zealand, wineries in Napa Valley, Argentina and Chile. It's safe to say these guys aren't mucking about!
Mount Rozier 'The Wild Peacock' Chardonnay
100% chardy and an unoaked one at that. This is a chardy for the non chardy lovers. It's bright, acidic, fruit forward and great on a hot day (or after you have been driven crazy by your kids!). The wine has lovely peach flavours with grapefruit and lemon coming in on the secondary palate. There is a creaminess to it (making it killer with the chicken and mushroom pie) and the finish has a nice sweet fruit to it.
My advice is to chuck this Mount Rozier Chardonnay in some ice, crack it open and have your thirst 100% quenched!
Alternative Chicken Recipes
Inspired by this EPIC chicken and mushroom pie? Then check out these alternatives and get cooking!
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Happy Cooking & Happy Eating Friends!
Ingredients
Pie Mix
- 1 leek
- 10 button mushrooms
- 1/2 cup frozen peas
- 5 chicken thighs
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 30 g butter
- 35 g flour
- 500 ml milk
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsp whole grain mustard
- 2 tbsp olive oil
Potatoes
- 1.2 kg large russet potatoes
- 100 g butter
Essential Tools
- large casserole
- Measuring utensils
- large pot
- potato masher/ricer
- Chef Knives
- Chopping board
- wooden spoon/spatula
Instructions
- Peel and boil the mashed potatoesuntil soft. Drain and allow to steam for a couple minutes to remove moistureand then mash using a potato ricer/masher. Fold in the butter.
- Meanwhile, dice chicken into bite sizedpieces and fry in a casserole pan with olive oil for approx. 5 minutes, removeand set aside
- Dice leeks, garlic and mushrooms andcook with the butter for 2-3 minutes in the casserole pan
- Add flour and dried oregano and cook for 1 minute
- Stir in milk and mustard and cookfor about 5 minutes or until sauce has thickened to a gravy like consistency
- Add the chicken and peas to the casseroledish, allow to cool for 10 minutes (see tips) and top with the mashed potatoes( see tips)
- Bake in the oven @ 200c for 20-25minutes until potato is crispy
Notes
Tips/Tricks
- You can substitute breasts for thighs in the recipe but I prefer the brown meat as it’s a little more forgiving. Alternatively, you can use leftover chicken meat from a roast chicken dinner
- Allow the mixture to cool slightly before adding the mashed potatoes – this makes it easier to spread the mash onto the pie. A hot pie will soak up the mashed potatoes meaning the potatoes will sink a little
- I use a fork to scrape the top of my potatoes which gives you those nice crusty bits when cooked in the oven
- Chicken and mushroom pie is freezer friendly – just make sure to cool it properly before freezing and when reheating if you want the crusty potato topping then do so in the oven at a low temperature until pie mix is hot and blast it under the grill for a minute to crisp up the potato
Yum! Toddler and I loved it, 5 year old picked out the mushrooms 🙄 can’t please everyone!! Easy to follow recipe and freezer friendly/batch cooking options are so handy! Will def make it again - thanks for sharing Gavin.
chicken and mushies are perfect together and i love a pie so this sounds fabulous. Since i've been blogging i have certainly learned to do the mise en place thing. It really helps!
cheers
sherry
sure does Sherry! Hope you enjoy the recipe!
Lovely recipe...i did modify slightly, can not help myself. I added sweetcorn and doubles leeks, made horseradish potato mash for topping. Absolutely delicious, excellent recipy to follow. Highly recomend for comgorting nosh!!!
This looks delicious! Love the combo of mushroom and chicken. The step by step pictures are super helpful. Adding this to my list to make soon.
Awesome - keep me posted!!
Simple and cheap! Well thought out and written recipe. I'm sending this to the kids so they can have a go. (obviously less the wine intake) 🙂
Awesome - thanks for your kind words!
Sounds so delicious and filled with so many of my favorite things! Will definitely be trying in the Fall.
Awesome - looking forward to hearing your thoughts!!
Yum, so delicious.
Such a warming dish - I will be making this a lot in Autumn and Winter!
Never made a chicken pie before and this ticked all the boxes! Absolutely delicious and suprisingly easy to make. The dinner table was very quiet that night..happy chappies!!
Awesome Bonnie - exactly how the dinner table should be 😉