Cast Iron Skillet Turkey And Ham Pot Pie

What could be more deliciously hearty than a turkey and ham pot pie, cooked in a cast iron skillet?

We make a creamy pot pie velouté filling with turkey, ham and leeks in a skillet before topping it with a golden brown and crispy layer of easy shortcrust pie crust on top. It's a delicious way to use up leftovers and cooked in just a skillet, so minimal washing up!

A cast iron skillet turkey, leek and ham pot pie on a kitchen worktop.

Jump to:

Why this is the best recipe
What is a pot pie?
How to make a thick pot pie filling?
Ingredients
Instructions
Top tip
Top tip
Wine pairing for skillet ham and turkey pot pie
Variations
Equipment
Storage
FAQ
Recipe Card

Why this is the best recipe

It's versatile: A skillet pot pie recipe is a useful one to have up your sleeve, you can adapt it to suit you with different fillings and flavors. It's a great way to use up leftover ham or other meats you might have in the fridge.
It's easy: A cast iron skillet pot pie is a simple way of making dinner with minimal washing up. Start on the stove, then pop it in the oven and before you know it you've got a delicious ham and turkey pot pie and only used one pan for the whole thing.
It's fast: Shortcrust pastry is so simple, it takes minutes to make and whilst it's resting you can make the turkey and ham pot pie filling. This pot pie prep time is minimal and it can be ready and on the table in an hour but it looks and tastes impressive.
It's delicious: A creamy and velvety smooth savory pie filling with ham, leeks and turkey and then a crunch of golden buttery pastry on top, this easy ham pot pie skillet is so tasty.

What is a pot pie?

A pot pie is the ultimate comfort food! It's a pie that traditionally only has a pastry topping, as opposed to being completely enclosed in pastry pie crust on all sides. It makes it lighter and gives you more space to fill it with a creamy and delicious pie filling.

How to make a thick pot pie filling?

To make a thick pot pie filling, make a velouté filling which is thick and velvety smooth. A velouté is made by adding a white stock like chicken, turkey, veal or even fish to a blond roux. This creates an incredibly delicious sauce for the pie filling, which is then made even more rich and decadent with a splash of heavy cream.

Ingredients

Shortcrust pie crust

All-purpose flour: AP flour (sometimes known as plain flour) is a medium-strength flour that s readily available and perfect for making homemade pie crust.
Unsalted butter: Always try to use good quality butter, and buy unsalted as this helps you to control both the quantity and quality of the salt in a recipe. The butter needs to be cold.
Egg yolk: Egg is a binding agent and egg yolk in particular also adds a delicious richness to pastry dough. Here's what to do with the leftover egg whites! You should always use room-temperature eggs in baking.
Water: We mix the egg yolk with a small amount of water to add more moisture to the pie crust dough, help it bind together and prevent it from drying out.
Salt: Salt is a flavor enhancer and brings out the buttery taste in the pot pie crust.
Egg wash: Mix an egg together and brush it over the turkey and ham pot pie dough before baking to give a golden brown, shiny finish and even more crunch.

Turkey and ham pot pie filling ingredients on a table. Turkey and ham, leeks, shallot, cream, butter, shallot, flour and chicken stock.

Leek, turkey and ham pot pie filling

Cooked turkey: This is the perfect recipe to use up leftover turkey. Simply cut it into chunks and add it to your pot pie.
Ham: The delicious taste of ham with its juicy taste and natural saltiness brings out all the other flavors and works well with the turkey.
Leeks: Leeks are from the allium family and have a deliciously sweet, very mild onion flavor. They add great depth when used in pie or quiche fillings and work so well with the other flavors.
Shallot: Shallots have a sweeter and more delicate taste than onions, and due to the fact we are also using leeks that have a mild onion flavor profile, it makes more sense to use shallot in this cast iron pot pie recipe.
Unsalted butter: We make a veloute for the pot pie filling which starts with butter.
All-purpose flour: A small amount of flour thickens the ham pot pie filling
Chicken stock or broth: High-quality chicken or turkey stock (or low-sodium chicken broth)
Cream: Finally, a dash of heavy cream gives a rich, creamy decadence to the filling of this cast iron skillet pot pie.

Check out the turkey and ham pot pie recipe card at the bottom of this post for the quantities.

Instructions

You can use a variety of different pie crusts for pot pie, I like using shortcrust as it gives a nice contrast in texture to the smooth and creamy filling.

Pot pie crust

A large mixing bowl with flour and chunks of butter in it.

Sieve the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl. Cut the butter into chunks.

A large mixing bowl with a flour and butter mixture in it that has the consistency of breadcrumbs. Next to the bowl is a small jug with egg yolk and water in it.

Rub the butter into the flour with your fingers until it resembles breadcrumbs as quickly as you can so that the butter stays cold.

A small jug of egg yolk adn water being poured into the flour mixture to make shortcrust pastry dough.

Mix the egg yolk into the water and slowly add it to the flour mixture, one tablespoon at a time until it comes together into a ball. If you are using a stand mixer, put it on low speed.

A disk of pastry dough wrapped in food wrap.

Wrap the dough in plastic food wrap, flatten it into a disk and chill in the fridge.

Top tip

You may not need all of the water and egg yolk mixture. Add it slowly and give it time to incorporate before adding more. We want the dough to be slightly moist to the touch, but not wet or sticky.

Ham, leek and turkey pot pie filling

Dice the shallot into small pieces and slice the leeks into rounds.
Heat the small amount of butter in the cast iron skillet over medium heat and fry the shallots until translucent. Add the leeks and cook for 5 minutes until they soften.
Make the velouté. Push the leeks over to one side of the skillet and add the larger amount of butter. Once it stops bubbling, quickly stir in the flour so it forms a pale, thick paste, known as a blond roux.
Gradually pour in the chicken stock whilst continuing to stir so it loosens the roux and forms a velvety sauce.
Now incorporate the leeks into the velouté and mix it all together.
Bring to a simmer and cook for a few minutes to cook out the flour and season with salt and freshly ground black pepper.
Stir in the cream and bring it back to a simmer before removing the skillet pot pie filling from the heat.

A cast iron skillet with turkey, leek and ham pot pie filling in it, next to a large piece of rolled out pie crust dough.

Assembling and baking the cast iron skillet pot pie

Preheat the oven to 190 degrees Celsius / 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
Remove the pastry disk from the fridge and allow it to soften just until pliable.
Roll dough into a circle just wider than the skillet.
Gently but quickly place the pastry circle over the skillet and carefully press into the edges (which will be hot, so take care).
Brush with an egg wash and immediately bake the turkey and ham pot pie for 25 minutes or until the top is golden brown.

Top tip

The skillet will be very hot so it is important to put the pastry on fast and bake straight away. Alternatively, you can wait for the skillet to cool to room temperature before adding the pastry and baking.

A close up photo of the inside of a slice of turkey and ham pot pie, showing the creamy filling and pastry topping.

Wine pairing for skillet ham and turkey pot pie

A bold southern Italian red wine from Puglia, for example, would pair beautifully with this skillet pot pie recipe.

Variations

I'm obsessed with making this creamy pot pie in a cast iron skillet as a way to use up turkey or ham leftovers, you could add other vegetables like frozen peas or green beans too if you had some, or swap out the turkey for chicken.

You can use store-bought pie crust dough to save time or even puff pastry to add a flaky lightness to the pot pie crust.

Try serving this refreshing blackcurrant mousse cake as dessert, it's light and zingy and is the perfect dish to follow pot pie.

Equipment

The genius of a one-pan skillet recipe is that you only need one pan! I use a 26cm/10ince Le Creuset cast iron skillet. It's the perfect size for so many recipes, and does not require seasoning so is a lot easier to maintain than raw cast iron.

Weigh the ingredients for the cast iron pie using a digital scale, and try to avoid using the cup system in baking as measuring by volume is not precise enough.

I use Robert Welch knives.

Storage

Store leftover one skillet pot pie in the fridge. It may be easier to transfer it into an airtight container.

You can freeze pot pie filling and freeze pastry easily separately, or assemble the pie and then freeze it all together. But once baked, this turkey and ham pot pie skillet will not freeze well as the pastry can go soggy.

FAQ

How long is ham pot pie good for?

Pot pie will stay good in the fridge for 3-4 days.

How to make pot pie thicker?

Add cream, or make a blond roux and whisk it into the pie filling if you have already made it.

Is pot pie healthy?

Pot pie is healthier than traditional pie in that it has less pastry, but anything is healthy if enjoyed in moderation as part of a balanced diet!

Can you bake a pie on the stove top?

No, the pastry will not cook unless it is in the oven so you cannot bake a pie on the stove top.

Can you bake a pie in an iron skillet?

Yes! If your iron skillet is oven safe then you can bake a pie in it.

What makes a pot pie a pot pie?

A pot pie is a pie with a pastry topping, which could be puff pastry, phyllo pastry or shortcrust pastry.

Recipe Card