My Pheasant Pot Pie Recipe is the essence of comfort food! And to make it even more comforting and connect with my Southern roots, I made it with a biscuit topping.
This Easy Pot Pie Recipe Will Brighten Up Your Day!
Nothing fixes life’s challenges better than a pheasant pot pie. Got a $2,000 car repair bill? Make this pot pie recipe! Your 9-year-old daughter announces she has a boyfriend? Make this pot pie recipe!
Sauteed onion, celery, carrots, garlic, creamy pheasant, and peas baked under biscuits turn tough days around.
Pot Pie with Biscuit Topping
In my opinion, a pot pie with biscuit topping tastes much better than one made with a store-bought pie crust. And I usually don't have the time and patience to make a pie crust from scratch - ever! I'm a much better cook than I am a baker. For weeknight ease, I used Pillsbury Cheddar Garlic Biscuit Mix, saving time while creating a flaky, delicious topping. You could also use a box of Red Lobster Cheddar Bay Biscuit Mix instead.
A pot pie with biscuit topping needs plenty of butter. It's absolutely necessary that you brush the biscuits with melted butter to achieve golden brown perfection and extra flavor. Butter also helps to make this pot pie look photo-worthy for Instagram. If you make my pot pie recipe, snap a photo, and tag me on Instagram, and I'll share it in my stories!
Let the pot pie rest for 5 minutes before serving. The filling will thicken, making scooping and serving easier.
Braised pheasant legs and thighs take some time, but the pot pie assembly only requires 30 minutes of hands-on effort.
Pheasant Leg Recipes
I love eating smoked or fried chicken drumsticks, but we need to treat pheasant and grouse drumsticks much differently. Rock-hard tendons make pheasant drumsticks challenging. However, cooking upland bird legs and thighs in an Instant Pot solves this problem perfectly.
Pheasants rely on walking and running, leaving their legs tough and full of sharp tendons requiring careful preparation. This Pheasant Instant Pot recipe transforms them into tender, fall-off-the-bone meat, making the tendons and bones easy to remove. I also prefer the Instant Pot because is saves me a ton of time. The bird is done in just one hour compared to hours of braising in a Dutch oven or slow cooker. This simple method works with any upland bird. Pot Pie made with a Sharp-tailed Grouse is equally amazing and worth trying!
How to Make Pheasant Pot Pie
Pheasant Leg Instructions
1. Season the pheasant legs with 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt and ¼ teaspoon black pepper.
2. Set instant pot or other pressure cooker to sauté setting. Add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the pheasant legs, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until meat is nicely browned.
3. Add chicken broth to the pressure cooker. Now secure lid on the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Then allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes.
4. Reserve all the liquid and transfer it to a bowl to use later. Then allow the pheasant meat and bones to rest and cool for 10 minutes before pulling the meat off the bones using your fingers or tongs. Discard the bones and tendons and transfer the meat to a bowl and save for later. You can cook and shred the pheasant meat a day or two in advance, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Pot Pie Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in an oven-safe Dutch oven or pan (at least 3 quarts in size) over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté for 5 minutes.
3. Add the minced garlic and sauté another 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the flour and another 1 tablespoon of butter and cook another 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky and thick. That's ok! You are doing it right!
5. Now add 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth you used to pressure cook the pheasant legs. Then stir in the half and half until the mixture resembles a thick, creamy soup.
6. Add lemon juice, peas, and the reserved cooked and shredded pheasant meat. Season to taste with remaining ½ teaspoon of salt if needed.
7. Combine the biscuit mix and milk in a mixing bowl until a soft dough forms.
8. Arrange four ¼ cup size scoops of the dough on top of the pot pie filling. Bake for 15 minutes, until hot, bubbly, and the biscuits are cooked through.
9. Let rest for 5 minutes before brushing the top of the biscuits with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and serving.
More Pheasant Recipes
If you are looking for more great ways to use pheasant in your diet, be sure and check out my:
- Pickle Brined Fried Pheasant Tenders
- Pheasant Pozole
- Pheasant Florentine
- Buffalo Pheasant Dip
- Smoked Pheasant Tacos
- Pheasant Salad
- Pheasant Gumbo
- Roast Pheasant
Come Pheasant Hunting In North Dakota
If you are headed our way to hunt pheasants in North Dakota, check out the Top 5 Places in North Dakota to Hunt Pheasants. And if you want me to come along with you as your camp cook, photographer, or butcher, you can find out more details here.
If you want to do a DIY public land hunt here in North Dakota, I highly suggest you take the time to read this article from Project Upland on "Tactics to Increase Public Land Hunting Success" written by Kyle Hedges.
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DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE
If you make this Pheasant Pot Pie Recipe, tag @wildgameandfish so I can share it on my Instagram stories.
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The Greatest Ever Pheasant Pot Pie Recipe
Ingredients
- 6 pheasant legs and thighs (from 3 birds)
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
- ¼ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 2 cups chicken broth
- 6 tablespoons butter
- 1 medium yellow onion, diced
- 2 cups carrots, peeled and diced
- 1 cup celery stalks, diced
- 1 tablespoon minced garlic
- 1 teaspoon thyme leaves
- ⅓ cup all purpose flour
- 2 cups half and half
- juice from ½ lemon
- 1 10-ounce bag frozen peas
- 1 7-ounce bag Pillsbury Biscuit Mix "Just Add Milk"
Instructions
Pheasant Leg Instructions
- Season the pheasant legs with 1 teaspoon of the kosher salt.
- Set instant pot or other pressure cooker to sauté setting. Add oil. Once the oil is hot, add the pheasant legs, and cook for 3 to 4 minutes on each side, until meat is nicely browned.
- Add chicken broth to the pressure cooker. Now secure lid on the pressure cooker and pressure cook for 30 minutes. Then allow the pressure to release naturally for 15 minutes.
- Reserve all the liquid and transfer it to a bowl to use later. Then allow the pheasant meat and bones to rest and cool for 10 minutes before pulling the meat off the bones using your fingers or tongs. Discard the bones and tendons and transfer the meat to a bowl and save for later. You can cook and shred the pheasant meat a day or two in advance, then cover and refrigerate for up to 2 days.
Pot Pie Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
- Melt 3 tablespoons of the butter in an oven-safe Dutch oven or pan (at least 3 quarts in size) over medium heat. Add the onion, carrots, celery and ½ teaspoon of kosher salt and sauté for 5 minutes.
- Add the minced garlic and sauté another 2 minutes.
- Stir in the flour and another 1 tablespoon of butter and cook another 2 minutes. The mixture will be sticky and thick. That's ok! You are doing it right!
- Now add 2 cups of the reserved chicken broth you used to pressure cook the pheasant legs. Then stir in the half and half until the mixture resembles a thick, creamy soup.
- Add lemon juice, peas, and the reserved cooked and shredded pheasant meat. Season to taste with remaining ½ teaspoon of salt if needed.
- Combine the biscuit mix and milk in a mixing bowl until a soft dough forms.
- Arrange four ¼ cup size scoops of the dough on top of the pot pie filling. Bake for 15 minutes, until hot, bubbly, and the biscuits are cooked through.
- Let rest for 5 minutes before brushing the top of the biscuits with the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter and serving.
vashon wilson says
Looks good!
Abby says
Super good! I highly recommend.
Elizabeth Howell says
This was great and easy! I followed the recipe and everyone loved it! My only last minute seasoning adjustment before baking was a splash of dry sherry to the sauce.
It's so nice to have some wild game (and fish) recipes that are updated and also eye pleasing.
Jeff Benda says
Thanks for the feedback Elizabeth and great idea on the splash of dry sherry in the sauce! If you captured a photo of the pheasant pot pie dish you made, be sure and enter the Recipe Contest going on now for your chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card at: https://wildgameandfish.com/recipe-contest/