Chicken Curry Pie

Discover this delicious chicken curry pie recipe. An easy-to-follow recipe that combines tender chicken, aromatic curry spices, a creamy sauce and buttery pastry for a comforting meal. Perfect for dinner any night of the week.

Curry pie might seem strange if you’ve never been to a football ground, where it’s pretty common!  You might also have had a chip shop chicken curry pie. 

It’s an amazing combination. 

I firmly believe that you can put most things in a pie. If you have any red lines on that, comment below! 

I mean, like, not soup. But plenty of meals are great in a pastry case, and if you love a chicken pot pie, I totally recommend experimenting. 

This chicken curry pie is a fantastic family dinner. Filling, warming, incredibly tasty, and a little bit of fun! The kids love it. 

Why I Love Chicken Curry Pie

Why wouldn’t you love a chicken curry pie? This chicken curry pie recipe is fabulous because:

• Curry is terrific; chicken pie is fantastic. What’s not to love?
• It’s a relatively mild curry sauce that’s great for the kids. 
• Using chicken thigh portions means that the meat is super tender but also that it’s a really cheap recipe. 
• Chicken curry pie is very filling, so you just need to add some veggies for an easy midweek dinner. It’s one of my favourite tasty chicken recipes. 
• This is not an authentic Indian Chicken Curry Pie. It’s very much a British mum’s chicken curry pie. But it’s popular on our home menu or meal plan. 

Ingredients For Chicken Curry Pie

When I make this easy chicken curry recipe I use:

Boneless Skinless Chicken Thigh Portions – You can use chicken breasts for your curried chicken if you prefer. Anything that is skinless and boneless is fine!

Olive Oil – Other cooking oils are fine, too.

Turmeric

Salt and Pepper – I use sea salt and freshly ground black pepper. 

Ghee

Onion

Garlic Puree

Ginger Puree

Red Chilli Puree—You can use fresh garlic cloves, ginger, and chilli, but having purees can make life much easier!

Chopped Tomatoes

Coconut Milk – Use full-fat. 

Tomato Puree

Curry Powder – I use mild for my curry chicken. 

Paprika

Carrots

Ready-Made Shortcrust Pastry – You can use a block or ready-rolled pastry and just roll it out a little to fit your specific tin. 

Butter – This is just to grease the tin, so margarine is fine too. 

Plain Flour 

Egg

You’ll Also Need

For my recipe for chicken curry pie, I use:

• Sharp knife and chopping board.
• Peeler. 
• A non-stick flameproof pan or dish. I use my Dutch Oven, but a frying pan or flameproof casserole dish is fine.
• A heatproof pie dish or tin. I often use my square cake tin, but I’ve gone round for this one. Mine’s 8 inches and about an inch deep. Try to use something of a similar size so you’ve got enough filling. 
• Rolling pin. 

I also recommend using a food thermometer (affiliate link) to make sure your chicken has reached 75 degrees C before serving. 

How to Make Chicken Curry Pie – Step-by-Step Instructions

Full, easy-to-follow instructions and quantities are available in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Step One

Place the chicken in a bowl and add the turmeric, oil and, salt and pepper. 

Step Two

Mix thoroughly. You’ll be able to see that the turmeric is mixed through. 

Step Three

Seal or cover the bowl. 

Step Four

Place in the fridge for at least one hour. You can leave it overnight if you have time. 

Step Five

Warm the ghee in a large, flameproof, non-stick pan or dish over medium heat on the hob. It won’t take long to melt. 

Step Six

Add the onion and fry for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. It will smell amazing!

Step Seven

Stir in the garlic, ginger, and red chilli purees. If you are using fresh garlic, cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring often, before proceeding to the next step. 

Step Eight

Add the chicken and fry for 5-10 minutes until browned. It doesn’t need to be cooked through, just the outside. 

Step Nine

Add the chopped tomatoes, coconut milk, tomato puree, curry powder and paprika. 

Step Ten

Stir well. It will be a pretty pale orange now, but don’t worry; the colour will darken as it cooks. 

Step Eleven

Bring to a simmer. 

Step Twelve

Simmer for 25 minutes, reducing the temperature if necessary and stirring occasionally. Make sure you scrape the bottom of the pan when you stir. 

Step Thirteen

Stir in the carrots and simmer for a further 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. 

Step Fourteen

Remove from the heat and leave to thicken while you prepare the pastry. The longer you can leave it, the more it will thicken, but it doesn’t need to be cold; you can use it as soon as the tin is ready. 

Step Fifteen

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees C (fan-assisted).

Step Sixteen

Grease an ovenproof tin or pie dish.

Step Seventeen 

Roll out the pastry into two pieces on a lightly floured surface. One big enough to fill the bottom and sides of the tin with a little hanging over it. The other should be big enough to cover the top comfortably. 

Step Eighteen

Place the larger pastry piece into the tin and press into the bottom and sides, leaving a little hanging over the edges.

Step Nineteen

Spoon in the pie filling, filling as much as possible. It doesn’t have to be level, it’s ok to overfill.

Step Twenty

Cover with the other piece of pastry. 

Step Twenty-One

Press the edges together by firmly pinching around the tin.

Step Twenty-Two

Trim away any excess with a sharp knife. 

Step Twenty-Three

Whisk an egg in a small bowl. Some ready-rolled pastry is pre-egg washed. Check the box. 

Step Twenty-Four

Use a pastry brush to brush liberally on the top of the pie. 

Step Twenty-Five

Use a knife to stab two holes into the middle of the pastry. This lets the steam escape as it cooks. 

Step Twenty-Six

Place into the preheated oven and cook for 30 minutes until golden brown.

Step Twenty-Seven 

Remove from the oven and rest for a few minutes before serving.

What to Serve with Chicken Curry Pie

I serve pretty much every pie with mushy peas. We’re mushy pea lovers. 

I also add a dollop of mango chutney to my plate for curry pie, which sounds weird, but it works! You could add things like onion bhajis to carry on the curry theme. 

It’s not super saucy like a curry, so I wouldn’t serve it with rice. Chips or potatoes might be better. I just tend to add peas and chutney. 

Serve this easy chicken curry pie with whatever you’d usually serve a pie with!

Variations

The first thing you can do differently is use a different tin or pie dish. Mine is round, 8 inches deep, and fairly deep—it’s a sandwich cake tin. 

My filling domes are on top, which is perfect. 

I also make pies in an 8-inch square tin, which is deeper and better if I have more filling, perhaps because I’m adding potatoes. 

If your tin or dish is significantly different, you may need to adjust cooking times and quantities. Use my recipe as a guide. 

Chicken Curry Pie Recipe with Puff Pastry

I prefer shortcrust pastry, so I use that. If you want to use puff pastry, that’s fine. Just check the cooking and rolling instructions on the packet. 

Turn Up the Heat

If you prefer a spicier curry, add some chilli powder and cayenne pepper or use a hot curry powder instead. 

Make Chicken Curry and Potato Pie

With the added carrots, this is already a Chicken and Vegetable Curry pie.

If you don’t have as much chicken, don’t want to use carrots or have a bigger dish, you might want to add potatoes to bulk things out. Just peel and dice them into 1-2cm chunks and add them once your sauce is simmering. 

The sauce will probably thicken faster, so make sure the potatoes are tender before baking in the pie. 

Add some water if you need to simmer them for longer. 

Add More Veg

Carrots are ideal, but you could add extra veggies, like peas or some spinach, which is great in curry. 

Leftovers

Leftovers depend, to some extent, on your pastry, so check the packet first. Some aren’t meant to be reheated. 

If you can reheat your pie, I recommend doing it in the oven or microwave and using a food thermometer to make sure the chicken is piping hot before serving. 

Storage 

Keep leftover pie in the fridge for 1-2 days, as long as the chicken is in date. 

Can You Freeze Curry Pies?

I don’t recommend freezing curry pie. 

FAQ