Chicken Pot Pie Casserole with a White Gravy Twist

Easy, affordable comfort food without canned soup — and my little trick for better biscuits!

There are some meals that don’t need to be fancy to be delicious. This is definitely one of them.

My Chicken Pot Pie Casserole is one of those easy, affordable comfort-food dinners that you can throw together without spending all afternoon in the kitchen.

But I make mine a little differently.

Actually, I make it two ways differently.

First, I don’t use cream of chicken soup or any of the canned soups you’ll find in so many chicken pot pie casserole recipes. My secret is peppered white gravy.

And second?

I don’t bake my biscuits on top of the casserole.

Trust me on this one. ❤️

I bake them separately and put them on top at the very end. You get fluffy, golden biscuits instead of biscuits that are beautifully browned on top but questionable underneath.

That’s my kind of shortcut.

At the end there is a video to show you the steps as well.

What You’ll Need

1½–2 pounds chicken
1–2 cups chicken broth, if you’re slow-cooking the chicken
McCormick Grill Mates Montreal Chicken Seasoning
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
2–3 packages Pioneer Peppered Gravy Mix
½ cup heavy cream, optional
1–2 cans Pillsbury biscuits
Cooking spray

And before anybody asks me exactly how much Montreal Chicken Seasoning I use…

It’s measured with love. ❤️

Use enough to give that chicken some flavor!

Make It Your Own

This recipe is very forgiving.

I like frozen peas and carrots or mixed vegetables with peas, carrots and green beans, but you can use whatever your family likes.

Frozen vegetables are easy because you can add them right from the bag. You can also use fresh vegetables or canned vegetables — just make sure you drain canned veggies first.

The same goes for the chicken. I’ll show you how I normally make mine, but there’s a shortcut for that too.

Step 1: Cook the Chicken

I usually put 1½–2 pounds of chicken in my Crock-Pot with about 1–2 cups of chicken broth.

Season it with Montreal Chicken Seasoning — remember, measured with love! ❤️ — and slow cook it until the chicken is tender enough to shred.

If you don’t want to fool with the Crock-Pot, that’s perfectly fine.

You can cook the chicken however you normally cook it and dice it, or make this REALLY easy and pick up a rotisserie chicken.

We’re making dinner, not auditioning for a cooking competition. 😂

Step 2: Shred the Chicken — The Easy Way

This little gadget is one of those inexpensive kitchen tools that makes me wonder why I spent so many years shredding chicken with two forks.

Put your cooked chicken inside, twist, and you’ve got shredded chicken without fighting with it.

❤️ Fancy Nancy Favorite Find

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Of course, if you don’t have a chicken shredder, two forks still work just fine. This is simply one of those inexpensive little conveniences I really like. I prefer the gadget, I have carpal tunnel and the fork way hurts my hands. This is useful if you have arthritis too.

Step 3: Build the Casserole

Preheat your oven to 375°F.

Lightly spray your casserole dish with cooking spray.

Spread your shredded chicken evenly across the bottom of the dish.

Next, add your vegetables right over the chicken.

No complicated mixing. No extra bowls required.

Chicken. Veggies. Done.

Step 4: Here Comes the White Gravy Twist

This is where my chicken pot pie casserole is different.

Instead of pouring canned cream soup over everything, I use Pioneer Peppered Gravy Mix.

Prepare 2 packages according to the package directions.

Now, at my house, the hubby LOVES gravy, so I usually make 3 packages.

😂

Most normal people will probably be perfectly happy with two.

Want it even creamier?

If I have heavy cream in the refrigerator, I’ll add about ½ cup of heavy cream to the prepared gravy.

It’s completely optional, but it makes that peppered gravy extra rich and creamy.

Pour the prepared gravy over your chicken and vegetables.

Now put the casserole into your 375°F oven.

It will generally need about 20–30 minutes, until everything is hot and that gravy is nice and bubbly.

Step 5: DO NOT Put Those Biscuits on the Casserole Yet!

Here comes Fancy Nancy trick number two.

A lot of chicken pot pie casserole recipes tell you to partially bake the biscuits, put them on top of the casserole and then finish baking everything together.

I don’t.

I think the biscuits cook much more evenly when you bake them separately.

So that’s exactly what I do.

About 15 minutes after your casserole goes into the oven, place your Pillsbury biscuits on a separate baking sheet.

Bake them according to the package directions. Mine usually take around 8–10 minutes.

I normally use either:

One 8-count can, or
Two 5-count cans

Because apparently there is no such thing as too many biscuits at our house.

Step 6: Bring It All Together

Here’s the best part.

Your casserole should be bubbling away just about the time those biscuits are beautifully golden brown.

Pull both pans from the oven.

Now put the biscuits on top of the casserole.

You get creamy chicken, vegetables and peppered white gravy underneath with beautiful, fluffy biscuits sitting on top.

No soggy biscuit bottoms.

No half-cooked dough.

Just comfort food.

Fancy Nancy’s Easy Chicken Pot Pie Casserole

Prep: About 15 minutes, plus chicken cooking time
Bake: 20–30 minutes
Oven: 375°F
Difficulty: Easy
Budget friendly: Absolutely ❤️

Ingredients

1½–2 lbs cooked chicken, shredded
1–2 cups chicken broth if slow-cooking chicken
Montreal Chicken Seasoning, measured with love
1 bag frozen mixed vegetables
2–3 packages Pioneer Peppered Gravy Mix
½ cup heavy cream, optional
1–2 cans refrigerated biscuits
Cooking spray
Quick Directions
Cook and shred the seasoned chicken.
Preheat oven to 375°F.
Spray casserole dish lightly with cooking spray.
Add shredded chicken.
Add frozen vegetables.
Prepare peppered gravy according to package directions. Add heavy cream if desired.
Pour gravy over chicken and vegetables.
Bake casserole for approximately 20–30 minutes.
At about the 15-minute mark, bake biscuits separately according to package directions.
Remove both from oven when cooked.
Place the golden biscuits on top of the casserole.
Serve it hot and enjoy!
Why I Love This Recipe
It’s inexpensive. It’s filling. It’s easy. And you can adapt it to whatever happens to be in your refrigerator or freezer.
But I think the peppered white gravy is what makes it. This was my hubby’s idea, he suggested it and it turned out great!
It’s creamy and peppery and gives you that wonderful chicken-and-gravy flavor without relying on canned soup.
And baking the biscuits separately might seem like a tiny thing, but it makes such a difference.
Sometimes the easiest recipes are the ones everybody keeps asking you to make again.
And around here, anything involving gravy and an excessive number of biscuits is usually going to be a hit. 😂❤️
Enjoy!