Anna Louise A chicken and mushroom pie is one of the most comforting things British cooking produces. A rich, deeply flavoured cream sauce with tender chicken and earthy mushrooms, topped with a lid of golden, flaky puff pastry that shatters at the touch of a spoon — it is the kind of meal that makes everything feel better regardless of what kind of day you have had.
Mary Berry’s chicken and mushroom pie recipe builds the filling from scratch — a proper velouté sauce enriched with cream, mustard, and fresh thyme that coats the chicken and mushrooms in a sauce of real depth and flavour.
The pastry lid is all-butter puff — rolled and placed over the filling, egg-washed twice, and baked in a hot oven until dramatically puffed and deep golden.
This is the pie I make for Sunday lunch when I want something that looks properly impressive and tastes even better than it looks.
What Makes This Pie Exceptional
A proper velouté sauce. The sauce is made with chicken stock and cream rather than milk — this gives a richer, more deeply flavoured base that is the foundation of everything. A béchamel-based pie filling is good. A velouté-based filling is noticeably better.
Mixed mushrooms. Using a mixture of chestnut and wild mushrooms — or at least two types — gives a more complex, more interesting mushroom flavour than a single variety. Chestnut mushrooms are earthy and firm; any wild mushrooms you can find add depth and aroma.
All-butter puff pastry lid. The lid only — not a double crust — gives a dramatically risen, flaky, golden topping that is the most visually impressive part of the dish. A double crust with puff pastry is too rich and the base becomes soggy. Lid only.
Ingredients for Mary Berry Chicken and Mushroom Pie
For the Filling
- 800g boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into generous chunks
- 300g chestnut mushrooms, halved or quartered
- 150g wild or mixed mushrooms, roughly torn
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 50g unsalted butter
- 1 large onion, finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tbsp plain flour
- 300ml good quality chicken stock
- 200ml double cream
- 2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 tsp Dijon mustard
- 2 tbsp fresh flat-leaf parsley, chopped
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the Pastry Lid
- 375g ready-made all-butter puff pastry
- 1 large egg, beaten (for egg wash)
How to Make Mary Berry Chicken and Mushroom Pie — Step by Step
Step 1 — Brown the Chicken
Heat one tablespoon of olive oil in a large, heavy-based pan over a medium-high heat. Season the chicken pieces generously. Brown in two batches for three to four minutes per batch until golden on the outside. Set aside — the chicken does not need to be cooked through at this stage.
Step 2 — Cook the Mushrooms
Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil to the same pan. Add all the mushrooms and cook over a high heat for four to five minutes, stirring occasionally, until they have released their moisture, the liquid has evaporated, and the mushrooms are golden and slightly caramelised. Season well. Set aside with the chicken.
Step 3 — Make the Sauce
Melt the butter in the same pan over a medium heat. Add the onion and cook for eight to ten minutes until completely softened. Add the garlic and thyme and cook for one more minute.
Sprinkle over the flour and stir for one to two minutes to cook through. Gradually add the chicken stock, stirring continuously to prevent lumps. Add the double cream and mustard. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for five minutes, stirring, until the sauce has thickened to a consistency that coats the back of a spoon generously.
Step 4 — Combine and Season
Add the browned chicken and caramelised mushrooms to the sauce. Stir gently to combine. Add the chopped parsley. Season very generously with salt and pepper — the filling needs confident seasoning to taste right once the pastry is on top.
Leave the filling to cool completely before adding the pastry lid — at least 30 minutes. Hot filling makes puff pastry melt and lose its flakiness.
Step 5 — Assemble the Pie
Preheat your oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Spoon the cooled filling into a deep ovenproof pie dish — approximately 24cm round or 28x20cm oval.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the puff pastry slightly larger than the top of the pie dish. Cut thin strips of pastry from the trimmings. Brush the rim of the pie dish with beaten egg and press the pastry strips onto the rim — this gives the lid something to adhere to and helps prevent it from shrinking.
Brush the pastry strips with egg wash. Lay the pastry lid over the top. Press firmly onto the strips around the edge. Trim the excess. Crimp or press with a fork to seal. Brush the entire lid generously with egg wash.
Cut two or three small steam holes in the centre of the lid. These allow steam to escape during baking and prevent the lid from puffing unevenly.
Step 6 — Bake
Brush the lid with a second coat of egg wash for maximum colour. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes until the pastry is dramatically risen, deep golden brown, and the filling is visibly bubbling through the steam holes.
Step 7 — Rest and Serve
Leave to rest for five minutes before serving. The filling is extremely hot and the five minutes allows it to settle slightly.
My Top Tips For Mary Berry Chicken and Mushroom Pie
Cool the filling completely before adding the pastry. Hot filling causes the butter in puff pastry to melt immediately, preventing the pastry from rising properly. Cool the filling for at least 30 minutes — or refrigerate overnight and add the pastry lid the next day.
Cook the mushrooms separately at high heat. Mushrooms added to a sauce without pre-cooking release enormous amounts of water that dilutes the sauce. Cooking them separately in a very hot pan until golden removes this moisture and gives a deeply flavoured, caramelised mushroom that is far better in the finished pie.
Add pastry strips to the rim before the lid. This is the professional trick for a pie that stays sealed. Pastry strips pressed onto the egg-washed rim give the lid something to grip — without them, the lid can shrink away from the edge during baking.
Cut steam holes. Two or three small holes cut in the centre of the lid allow steam to escape. Without them, the steam cannot escape and the pastry puffs unevenly and can lift entirely from the filling.
Two coats of egg wash. Apply one coat before the pie goes in the oven and a second coat after the pastry has been shaped and scored. Two coats give a deeper, more uniform golden colour.
Season the filling generously. A pie filling always tastes slightly less seasoned once the pastry is on top. Season until it tastes slightly more seasoned than you want the finished pie to be.
Serving Suggestions
With buttery mashed potato — the sauce from the pie soaks into the mash magnificently. With steamed greens — broccoli or green beans — alongside for freshness. As a Sunday lunch centrepiece, served at the table in the pie dish.
How to Store Mary Berry Chicken and Mushroom Pie
In the fridge: Store covered for up to 3 days. Reheat in a 180°C oven covered loosely with foil for 20 to 25 minutes until piping hot throughout. The pastry will not be quite as crisp as fresh but remains very good.
In the freezer: Freeze the assembled unbaked pie for up to 2 months. Wrap tightly. Bake from frozen at 200°C for 45 to 50 minutes, covering with foil if the pastry browns too quickly.
Mary Berry Chicken and Mushroom Pie Recipe
Ingredients
Method
- Brown chicken in batches in hot oil — 3–4 minutes per batch. Set aside.
- Cook mushrooms in the same pan over high heat — 4–5 minutes until golden and dry. Set aside.
- Melt butter. Cook onion 8–10 minutes. Add garlic and thyme — 1 minute. Add flour — 1–2 minutes. Add stock gradually, stirring. Add cream and mustard. Simmer 5 minutes until thickened.
- Add chicken, mushrooms, and parsley. Season generously. Cool completely — at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Spoon filling into pie dish. Roll pastry slightly larger than dish. Press pastry strips onto egg-washed rim. Lay lid on top. Press, trim, and crimp. Brush with egg wash. Cut 2–3 steam holes. Brush with a second coat of egg wash.
- Bake 25–30 minutes until deeply golden and filling is bubbling. Rest 5 minutes before serving.
Notes
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I use chicken breast instead of thighs?
You can but thighs give a more tender, more flavourful result in a pie filling. Breast can become slightly dry if overcooked during the browning stage. If using breast, brown briefly and add raw to the sauce rather than cooking through.
Can I use shortcrust pastry instead of puff?
Yes — shortcrust gives a more substantial, less dramatic lid. It is crispier and less flaky than puff but completely delicious. If using shortcrust, you can make a double-crust pie — a base and a lid — which is equally wonderful.
Can I add other vegetables to the filling?
Yes — leeks, peas, sweetcorn, or spinach all work beautifully. Add peas and sweetcorn at the end of making the sauce — they do not need cooking. Add leeks with the onion.
Why is my pastry lid not puffing?
The filling was too hot when the pastry went on, or the pastry was too thin. Cool the filling completely before assembling and roll the pastry to 3mm — no thinner.
Can I make the filling ahead of time?
Yes — the filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated. Add the pastry lid cold from the fridge directly before baking. This is the ideal approach for entertaining.
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