Puff Pastry Chicken Pot Pie

Homemade Chicken Stock is quite easy to make. You'll actually make homemade chicken stock as a by product as you cook the chicken. Since you'll be using a whole chicken, your stock will be made with bone broth which has some extra health benefit and added flavor. (You can read more about the benefits of bone broth here). You'll be using fresh vegetables (carrots, onions and celery) to boost the flavor of your stock as well.

This is a pretty heavy dish so sometimes I do not line the bottom with crust. This saves on carbs as well as cost.
A double crust is delicious so it's up to you!
I recommend using a regular pie crust on the bottom just because puff pastry is expensive and once you add the chicken and veggie filling, you don't really get the same puffiness as the top so might as well just use a regular pie crust.
If you opt to use a puff pastry bottom, Pepperidge Farms recommends that you press the puff pastry into the bottom of the dish then cover with foil and bake at 400˚for 25 minutes first. Before you add the chicken and vegetable filling and additional puff pastry top.

You can add and change up the flavor of this chicken pot pie by adding herbs and spices. You can customize the amounts to your liking but I've listed a suggested starting point for each in the recipe instructions below.
I personally like how this pie tastes with a bit of rosemary, thyme and garlic but you can change these spices to give this a different flavor profile.
You can use fresh or dried herbs. Of course, fresh herbs are typically more powerful and generally taste better to me but if you only have access to dried, that's OK. You will add them in when you melt the butter and that helps to reactivate the flavor.

If you want to get fancy, you can make a lattice top for your pie. It actually helps vent the inside when bubbles form and it looks great too. If you've never made a lattice top before, check out this step-by-step tutorial.

Yes! You can absolutely save time and use a rotisserie chicken. I don't always cook a whole chicken myself and you don't have to either. When I find a whole chicken on sale, I'll cook the chicken myself so I can make homemade chicken stock.
But if I'm short on time, I'll just grab a cooked rotisserie rotisserie chicken. You can use the juices that come with a fresh rotisserie chicken (or it will look more like gel if you buy a chilled rotisserie chicken). You can use those juices (or gel), and add water + chicken bullion to create your chicken stock.
Now if you still want to make your own vegetable infused chicken stock, you can boil just the bones of the rotisserie chicken along with the carrots, celery and onion then add the juices or gel. Simmer for about 20-30 minutes and you'll get a nice flavorful chicken stock without having to cook an entire chicken.
If you're just in a hurry, you can also purchase ready-made chicken stock.
So, there are a lot of options. Choose what works best for you!

Yes, you can make your own beef or chicken broth without having to cook a whole chicken by using bones or leftover juices. Or just use store bought broth. I often will make a pot pie when I have leftover chicken, particularly chicken that is still on the bone. I've even made a chicken pot pie from leftover wings! Alternatively, you can simple pair leftover chicken with chicken broth or even canned cream of chicken.

Yep! You'll just want to pair beef with beef broth. Everything else can stay the same.
Beef broth is a little harder to make homemade since you usually don't get bones with your beef, but I sometimes will make a large roast and then save the leftover juices in the pan to use as a base for homemade beef broth. If you add some beef bullion and maybe a splash of red wine, you can get a lot of flavor without needing the bones.

Yes. You can absolutely prep and then freeze this for an I-don't-feel-like-cooking night. Just cover your frozen pie with foil and you will need to cook it for about 30 minutes extra. Uncover it for the last 10 minutes or so to lightly brown the top.

This is a trick question because really, any vegetables would be great in this pie. Frozen or fresh. Any assortment or variety. The most common blend of veggies I think would be peas, carrots, green beans and corn. You can use canned veggies too. I actually really like the Veg-all mix. It includes potatoes creating the ultimately comfort food.
You can branch out and get more gourmet and try asparagus, spinach, squash, zucchini... anything that sounds good to you, will probably please your taste buds.
Changing up the veggies is also a good way to add variety when you make this recipe frequently.

You can use a traditional pie pan, a cast iron skillet, or you can use a square or rectangular casserole dish.
Since puff pastry comes in a rectangular shape, you will have to trim the extra dough when you use a round pie pan.
I really like pie pans with fluted edges because you don't have to worry about trying to make the edges look nice. Just press them into the shape of the pan and they look great every time.
Sometimes I use my pretty rectangular glass Pioneer Woman casserole dish to make this recipe and I make one large, deep dish pie. Especially if I'm feeding a large crowd.