Skillet chicken pot pie
The Question
https://www.seriouseats.com/easy-chicken-pot-pie-recipe-8715975
This was excellent, though I made a few changes. I dry-brined chicken thighs for about nine hours, then added pepper and seared them whole before chopping after resting. I used a yellow onion instead of a leek and added only a pinch of salt to the veggies (not 2 tsp). To low-sodium broth, I added small amounts of Marmite, soy sauce, and Worcestershire, and I omitted the lemon zest. Since salt was added throughout, only a small pinch was needed before topping with the pastry. From start to oven took about an hour of active work. I will definitely make this again.
Store-bought frozen puff pastry works for skillet chicken pot pie when thawed for 3+ hours before use. Reduce or omit lemon zest entirely, as the amount from one whole lemon consistently overpowers the dish.
Best Method
Use generic frozen puff pastry (Kroger brand confirmed effective) and thaw for a minimum of 3 hours before handling. This prevents the pastry nightmare that occurs when working with insufficiently thawed dough. When the recipe calls for lemon zest, start with just 1/4 teaspoon from the whole lemon, or omit entirely after seeing the substantial amount one lemon produces.
Alternative Approaches
Complete omission of lemon zest eliminates the risk of overpowering the dish. Multiple experienced cooks recommend this approach after witnessing how much zest comes from a single lemon relative to the recipe's requirements.
Where Cooks Disagree
Lemon zest inclusion: Some cooks advocate for minimal lemon zest (1/4 teaspoon maximum) to add brightness without overpowering, while others recommend complete omission after repeated failures with full recipe amounts. The "add the zest from one whole lemon" instruction appears consistently problematic across multiple cooking attempts.
Common Mistakes
Adding the full amount of lemon zest from one lemon ruins the dish despite significant cooking effort invested. Working with frozen puff pastry before proper 3+ hour thawing creates handling difficulties that compromise the final result.
Food Safety Notes
No specific food safety concerns identified for this preparation method.