Chicken and Ham Pie: Family-Style Pie Recipe

Chicken and ham are two types of meat that work well together, so they are an excellent pie filling combined with a mushroom sauce. Chicken and ham pie is a hearty and filling meal that is delicious on its own or served with your favourite potatoes and vegetables.

The chicken and ham pie I make is something that I call a ‘day three meal’ as it is something I use on the third day when planning meals so that I can make the most of the ingredients and use up leftovers.

On day one, I make a ham/ gammon joint and save the leftover meat covered in the refrigerator. It is best to cook the gammon joint on the first day as ham keeps better and longer in the fridge than chicken.

On the second day, I make a roast chicken dinner. Again, I save the leftover chicken meat covered in the refrigerator.

Although I use the leftover chicken and gammon meat, you can buy pre-cooked meats or cook it fresh on the day. For example, you can dice and fry two chicken breasts to add to the filling. A quick alternative if you do not have leftover ham is to cook six slices of smoked or unsmoked bacon to add to the pie.

This recipe is one that uses what I call a ‘cheat ingredient’ as it contains a tin of condensed mushroom soup. Using tinned soup saves a lot of time and is also a cheaper option, so it is a budget-friendly meal. However, you can make a mushroom sauce for your pies from scratch if you wish.

Here is an easy pie recipe for a family-style chicken and ham pie.

Preparation time:	30 minutes
Cooking time:	45 minutes
Servings:	6
Vegetarian/ vegan:	NO
Dairy-free:	NO
Gluten-free:	NO

Ingredients for Chicken and Ham Pie

For the pie crust:

• 12 oz. plain white flour
• 3 oz. butter
• 3 oz. lard (see tips)
• 1 beaten egg for the pastry
• 1 beaten egg for the glaze
• ½ tsp. salt

For the pie filling:

• 4 thick slices of ham- leftover or pre-cooked
• Leftover chicken or two diced and fried chicken breasts
• 6 button mushrooms, sliced
• 1 tin of condensed mushroom soup
• 2 tsp of parsley
• Black pepper to taste

How to Make a Family-Style Chicken and Ham Pie

If you are not using leftover ham or chicken, then cook your chicken , ham, or bacon before sarting this recipe.

Making the Pastry

1. First, make the pastry.
2. Measure out the flour and put it into a large mixing bowl.
3. Add the salt.
4. Then, weigh the butter and lard and add to the bowl.
5. Crumb the mixture by rubbing the fats and flour together in your finger.
6. Beat one of the eggs and add to the bowl.
7. Mix the crumb mixture and egg together to form a pastry dough. If it too crumbly to bind, add a little water.
8. Cover the bowl with climb film and put the pastry into the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 200C// gas mark 7.

Assembling the Pie Filling

1. Shred the leftover chicken and ham, and slice your button mushrooms thinly.
2. Tip your condensed mushroom soup into a bowl.
3. Add the black pepper and the parsley to the soup and stir through.
4. Remove the pastry from the refrigerator and roll until it is about 0.5 centimetres thick.
5. Grease your pie tin with a little butter.
6. Lift the rolled pastry over the tin, then start pressing the pastry down from the centre outwards. Make sure the pastry is pressed into the corners and sides of the tin properly.
7. Trim some of the excess pastry from the edges, but leave a little pastry overhanging around the edges. This is important because pastry can shrink during cooking. Without the overhang, the pastry may not thoroughly cover the sides of the pie tin.
8. Put some greaseproof paper or tinfoil in the base of the pastry case, then add some baking beads. This will keep the base of the pastry case flat.
9. Put the pie dish into the oven for 10 minutes until the pastry is turning lightly brown.
10. While the pastry case is part-baking, reroll the remaining pastry to create a pie lid.
11. Beat the second egg in a cup, then remove the pastry tins from the oven.
12. Take out the greaseproof paper/ tinfoil and the baking beads.
13. Use a sharp knife to cut away any overhanging pastry from the edge of the pie dish.
14. Brush the beaten egg around the top of the pastry cases using a pastry brush.
15. Also, brush the egg around the edge of the pastry lid you have prepared.
16. Add a layer of the sliced mushrooms to the base of the pie case.
17. Then, add some of the shredded ham or bacon.
18. Next, add the shredded chicken.
19. Then, spoon over some of the mushroom soup, black pepper, and parsley mixture. Make sure all the meat and mushrooms are covered but do not overfill the pie as this will cause the filling to leak.

Baking and Serving the Chicken and Ham Pie

1. Add a pie lid to the pie dish, making sure that the sides of the pastry brushed with egg meet. This will help the pastry to join and prevent the pie filling from leaking.
2. Squeeze the edges of the pastry case ad lid together to form a seal. You can do this using your fingers or by pressing them together with a fork.
3. Trim any excess pastry using a sharp knife.
4. Brush the top of the pie with the beaten egg using a pastry brush. This is a glaze that will give your chicken and ham pie a golden appearance.
5. Poke a small hole in the top of the pie to allow steam out and stop the chicken and ham pie from bursting open in the oven.
6. Return the pie to the oven for 30 minutes or until it has turned golden brown.
7. Serve the chicken and ham pie with your favourite potatoes and vegetables.

Additional Tips

• If you have leftover stock from the ham, use this to make a gravy to serve with the chicken and ham pie.
• Instead of using lard, you can make the pastry using 6 oz. butter if you prefer.
• If you like a salty flavour, you can add a little salt to the filling. I do not use salt in this recipe as the ham already adds a salty flavour to the chicken and ham pie.
• Using the same recipe, you can also make individual chicken and ham pies in small pie or tartlet tins.
• You might also like to try our recipe for individual ham and mushroom pies.