Puff or shortcrust for chicken pie?
Shortcrust for any pie with a pastry base, puff for lid-only pot pies. Shortcrust holds structure under a wet filling and seals properly; puff gives a dramatic, flaky lid but turns pasty as a base and leaks at crimped seams.
By the chickenpie.net test kitchen · Published 7 July 2026
The comparison
| Shortcrust | Puff | Rough puff | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Best role | Base and lid | Lid only | Lid only |
| Texture | Tender, crumbly | Tall, shattering flakes | Flaky, less lift |
| Holds a seal | Excellent | Poor | Fair |
| Under wet filling | Good if blind baked | Turns pasty | Turns pasty |
| Effort from scratch | 20 minutes | Half a day | 30 minutes |
| Buying it | Fine | Buy all-butter | Rarely sold |
Decision rules
- Double-crust or hand pie: shortcrust, no exceptions
- Individual pot pies in dishes: puff or rough puff lid
- Skillet pie on a hot filling: bought all-butter puff
- Free-standing raised pie: neither; that is hot water crust territory
Why puff fails as a base
Puff pastry is engineered to lift, and a filling sits on it like a paperweight. The layers that would have risen instead compress and steam, giving a texture closer to wet cardboard than to pastry. Shortcrust has no layers to lose, which is exactly why it works underneath.