Mary Berry Chicken Cobbler Recipe

Mary Berry's chicken cobbler has a rich, deeply flavoured chicken filling topped with fluffy, golden scone rounds — the most comforting one-dish dinner in this collection.

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Prep Time 30

Cook Time 25

Filling Time 25

Total Time 1 20

Servings: 6 Portions

Course: Main Course

Cuisine: British

Calories: 620

Ingredients Method Notes

Ingredients

Chicken Filling:
800 g boneless skinless chicken thighs in generous chunks
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 large onion finely chopped
3 carrots in 1cm rounds
3 celery sticks in 1cm pieces
3 garlic cloves crushed
200 g chestnut mushrooms sliced
2 tsp fresh thyme leaves
2 tbsp plain flour
200 ml dry white wine
400 ml chicken stock
150 ml double cream
1 tsp Dijon mustard
2 bay leaves
2 tbsp fresh parsley chopped
Salt and pepper
Cobbler Scone Topping:
300 g self-raising flour sifted
1 tsp baking powder
½ tsp fine salt
75 g cold unsalted butter cubed
75 g mature Cheddar coarsely grated — plus extra for tops
1 tbsp fresh chives finely snipped
200 ml cold whole milk — plus extra for brushing

Method

Season and brown chicken in batches in hot oil — 3–4 minutes per batch. Remove.
Cook onion, carrots, and celery 8 minutes. Add garlic, mushrooms, and thyme — 4 minutes. Add flour — stir 1–2 minutes. Add wine — bubble 2 minutes. Add stock, cream, and mustard. Season confidently. Add bay leaves — simmer 5 minutes. Return chicken. Remove bay leaves. Add parsley. Taste and adjust.
Preheat oven to 200°C / 180°C fan / Gas 6. Sift flour, baking powder, and salt. Rub in cold butter — fine crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces. Add Cheddar and chives — toss. Add almost all the milk — mix quickly until just combined. Pat to 2.5cm on a floured surface. Cut into rounds — press straight down, never twist.
Transfer hot filling to ovenproof dish. Arrange scone rounds over the surface — slightly overlapping. Brush tops with milk. Scatter extra Cheddar.
Bake 22–26 minutes until scone tops are deeply golden and filling bubbles around the edges. Rest 5 minutes. Serve from the dish.

Notes

Season the filling confidently — the scone topping absorbs some flavour and slightly dilutes it.

The filling must be hot when the scones go on — ensures even baking throughout.

Pat scone dough to 2.5cm — thinner gives a less substantial round that does not balance the filling.

Scatter extra Cheddar on each round — gives the golden, caramelised top crust.

Make the filling up to 2 days ahead — add fresh scone rounds and bake on the day.

Freeze the filling without scone topping for up to 3 months.