This chicken filo pie is loaded with flavour from chicken, bacon and leeks with a little creaminess from creme fraiche as well. It’s the best kind of comfort food – savoury and rich, with softness right along with crunch – but using filo makes it lighter than a pie that uses a traditional pie crust. It’s still got plenty of butter though for that golden buttery goodness.
Not that you can go wrong when it comes to pies but using store-bought filo makes this chicken and leek pie super simple to put together and you even have the option of making it in one pan!
If you want a traditional pie crust, try this chicken and mushroom pie.
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Ingredients
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
- Bacon: I use rasher bacon here (the bacon without the shortcut end attached). Any will work. A fattier one will add even more flavour plus a little bacon fat to cook the chicken in.
- Leek: You can’t have a chicken and leek pie without leek. The sweeter cousin of the humble onion, it has a lighter but still oniony flavour and adds great depth of flavour.
- Chicken thighs: Chicken thighs add loads of flavour and are more juicy than chicken breast but feel free to use your favourite. You can also use leftover chicken, like rotisserie chicken – about 2 ½ to 3 cups.
- Tuscan seasoning: I use this seasoning to get all the seasoning in one ingredient and one step. If you can’t get it, just use a tablespoon of mixed dried Italian herbs, a teaspoon of salt, ½ teaspoon of garlic powder, and ½ teaspoon of onion powder.
- Flour: Just plain flour is perfect to thicken up the sauce.
- Chicken stock: Low-sodium chicken stock or chicken broth is all you need. Vegetable stock will work too.
- White wine vinegar: I love the little edge of tang this adds, it’s mild but you can taste the difference with or without it. You can use apple cider vinegar in its place if you like.
- Creme fraiche: This rich, creamy and tangy cream adds a little balance and creaminess to this chicken filo pie all in one go. It’s delicious stuff. You could use sour cream in its place, or just use thickened cream / heavy cream.
- Baby spinach: For a punch of green and some easy veg, spinach is the perfect thing. It wilts in quickly and doesn’t overwhelm with it’s flavour.
- Filo pastry/phyllo pastry: While it can be spelt differently depending on where you are in the world, filo and phyllo are the same things. Store-bought keeps this recipe simple. Phyllo dough is a Greek pastry and comes in very thin sheets. It’s important to keep a damp tea towel over the sheets of phyllo as you work so they don’t dry out.
- Butter: The butter is what gives the filo that gorgeous golden colour, plus it adds its own lovely, comforting flavour to the pie too.
How to make chicken filo pie
Your just a few easy steps away from a delicious and comforting chicken leek and bacon pie. The filling for this pie is very simple ingredients, all cooked in one pan. The pastry is store-bought filo pastry. Aside from being patient and allowing the filling to cool before assembling the chicken filo pie, it’s all pretty quick to make.
Jump to the recipe for full ingredients and instructions.
1. Cook the bacon and leek
Heat some oil in a pan and cook the bacon for a minute or so before adding the leek. Cook it all just until the leek has softened. Set that aside for the time being.
2. Cook the chicken
Add the chicken and Tuscan seasoning to the pan and cook, stirring every so often until just cooked through.
3. Add the flour
Add the flour to the pan and give it a mix around, then let it cook for another minute or two.
4. Add the stock
Now add the stock and bring it to a boil. Let it reduce and thicken until the sauce is very thick. You want to make sure you get it really thick so that you don’t have excess sauce which may make the pastry soggy.
5. Add the creme fraiche and spinach
Now add the creme fraiche and vinegar and stir that in before adding the spinach. Just let that wilt and it’s ready.
Let the filling cool before adding it to your pastry. This is another step that will help to keep the bottom layers of pastry crisp.
6. Layer up the filo
Brush each layer of filo before adding it to the pie dish. Place one sheet of filo in so that it’s overhanging the edge – it doesn’t have to cover the whole base. Now go around with the next four sheets laying them one over the other, criss crossing so there is an overhang all the way around the edge but the base is well covered.
7. Fill the pie shell
Add your cooled filling to the pastry shell. If you didn’t reduce the liquid down enough, hold some of that back or take the time to put the sauce only back on the stove now and get it nice and thick. Excess liquid will make the pastry base soggy.
Next fold that overhanging pastry over the top.
8. Create the scrunchy top
Now, buttering each layer again, scrunch up the filo a little, buttered side out and arrange them over the top of the pie. Now bake!
Tips and tricks
Make sure to thicken that sauce as excess liquid will make the base of your pie soggy.
Lay a damp tea towel over the filo while you’re working with it as it can dry out very quickly.
Cool the filling before adding it to the pie – this is another step that will assist in keeping the base crispy.
Don’t skimp on the butter as it adds flavour, colour and crispness to the pastry.
Variations
Can I use another type of pastry? Yes, you can. You can use my favourite flaky pastry from this steak and mushroom pie – it truly is the best. You could also use store-bought puff pastry or shortcrust pastry.
Can I skip the bottom layer? Yes, you can leave the bottom layers of filo of your leek and chicken pie out and just top it instead. This is an especially good idea if you think your filling is too runny as it will negate any possible soggy bottom. If you are skipping the bottom layers, I would add an extra couple to the scrunched up section on top though so you still get a good ratio of crisp pastry to filling.
Make it in one pan! Using the same option above with no bottom layer of pastry, cook your filling in an oven safe skillet, then simply top with pastry and bake right in the same pan.
Storage
Store any leftovers in the fridge either in an airtight container or just wrap the dish well in plastic wrap. The leftover chicken filo pie is best reheated in the oven to keep the pastry nice and crisp – about 15 minutes on 180C/350F. You can reheat it in the microwave in a couple of minutes on high but the pastry will be softer.
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Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon light flavoured olive oil or vegetable oil
- 100 g rasher bacon (3 ½ oz)
- 1 medium leek, washed and thinly sliced
- 800 g skinless boneless chicken thighs, cut into small cubes
- 1 ½ tablespoons Tuscan seasoning (6 tsp, see notes)
- ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
- 1 ½ tablespoons flour (6 tsp, see notes)
- 180 ml low sodium chicken stock (¾ cup)
- 1 tablespoon white wine vinegar
- 3 big handfuls fresh baby spinach
- ⅓ cup creme fraiche (80ml)
- 12 sheets filo pastry
- 85 g butter melted (3oz) (or sub olive oil)
For best results, always weigh ingredients where a weight is provided
Equipment
- Braiser pan or deep skillet
- 9 inch pie dish
Instructions
- FOR THE FILLING – Make a couple of hours or day ahead, so that it can cool in time: Heat the oil in a large pan over medium heat, then add the bacon. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the leek and cook for a further 3-4 minutes over medium, until leek has softened. Set both the bacon and leek aside on a plate.
- If there is no bacon fat left in the pan, add a dash of oil. Then, add the chicken, Tuscan seasoning and pepper and give it a good mix to coat evenly. Cook for another 6-8 minutes, turning a couple of times, until just cooked through.
- Sprinkle over the flour and stir well. Cook for another minute.
- Add the stock and cook for 5-6 minutes to reduce and get very thick.
- Turn the heat down to low. Add the vinegar and the creme fraiche and stir until fully melted into the sauce. The sauce should be very thick and coating the filling more than being liquid.
- Finally, turn the heat off and stir in the baby spinach until wilted.
- Allow to cool completely to at least room temperature before adding to the pie case. The filling can sit in the fridge overnight, covered with plastic wrap.
- TO ASSEMBLE AND BAKE:Preheat oven to 200C (180C fan forced) / 395F.
- Take the melted butter and using only the clear yellow part at the top (not the milk fats that sink to the bottom), brush one sheet of filo pastry all over.
- Place it into a 9 inch pie dish with part of it overhanging. Repeat with 4 more sheets overlapping in different directions each time and making sure it overhangs the edges.
- Add chicken mixture making sure to hold back any runny sauce if you have too much. Fold a sheet of filo in half and place on top of the chicken filling then fold all the overhanging pastry over the top.
- With the final 6 sheets of pastry, brush them with the clarified butter, then scrunch them up (butter side out) and arrange on top of the pie.
- Bake the chicken filo pie in the preheated oven for 30-35 minutes or until golden brown and crispy. Test the sides and you should be able to see that they’re crisp as well.
- Please take a moment to leave a comment & rating. It's appreciated and so helpful.
Notes
- Tablespoons: I use a standard Australian 20ml tablespoon (equal to 4 teaspoons). Check yours before measuring.
- Nutrition details are approximate only – scroll below the recipe to find the full nutritional information.
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2 Comments on “Chicken Filo Pie”
I have some “puff” pastry in my freezer, can I use this instead? So that would be a Chicken Puff Pie!
Hello Geoff. Yes, you can use puff pastry as well 🙂