Go Back Email Link
Mary Berry Chicken and Ham Pie Recipe

Mary Berry Chicken and Ham Pie Recipe

Mary Berry's chicken and ham pie is a classic British pie with tender chicken, ham hock, and a rich cream sauce under a golden puff pastry lid.
Print Recipe Pin Recipe
Prep Time 30 minutes
Cook Time 30 minutes
Cooling Time 30 minutes
Total Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Servings: 6 Portions
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: British
Calories: 560
Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients
  

  • Filling:
  • 600 g boneless skinless chicken thighs in chunks
  • 300 g cooked ham hock or thick-cut cooked ham torn
  • 50 g unsalted butter
  • 1 large onion finely chopped
  • 2 leeks sliced 2cm rounds
  • 3 garlic cloves crushed
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 150 ml dry white wine
  • 400 ml chicken stock
  • 200 ml double cream
  • 1 tsp Dijon mustard
  • 1 tsp fresh thyme leaves
  • 2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
  • Salt and pepper — taste before adding
  • Pastry Lid:
  • 375 g ready-made all-butter puff pastry
  • 1 large egg beaten

Method
 

  1. Brown chicken in batches in half the butter — 3–4 minutes per batch. Remove.
  2. Melt remaining butter. Cook onion 5 minutes. Add leeks — cook 8–10 minutes until completely soft. Add garlic and thyme — 1 minute.
  3. Add flour — stir 1–2 minutes. Add wine — bubble and scrape. Add stock and cream. Simmer 5 minutes until thick. Add mustard and parsley. Taste carefully before seasoning.
  4. Return chicken. Add ham. Stir gently. Cool completely.
  5. Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Spoon filling into dish. Add pastry strips to egg-washed rim. Lay lid over — press, trim, crimp. Brush with egg. Steam holes. Second coat egg wash.
  6. Bake 28–32 minutes until golden and filling bubbling. Rest 5 minutes.

Notes

Use ham hock if possible — the flavour difference over sandwich ham is significant.
Taste the sauce after adding ham before adding salt — ham is already very salty.
Cook leeks fully — 8 to 10 minutes until completely soft and sweet.
Cool filling completely before adding pastry lid.
Press pastry strips onto rim first — they prevent the lid from shrinking.
Freeze assembled unbaked pie for up to 2 months.
QR Code linking back to recipe