Seafood Pot Pie Recipe

This Creamy Seafood Pot Pie is easy to make using store-bought crust, shrimp, lobster, crab, and frozen veggies. Load up on this double crust pie, it’s the ultimate comfort food dish the whole family will love.

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Nothing beats a classic pie with a tender flaky crust, oozing in well-seasoned filling…and for this recipe seafood! The seafood lover in me had to. But if you want to make it with chicken, don’t fret. It’s easy. Check out the rest of the post. And if you want fewer carbs check out my Keto Chicken Pot Pie.

What Type of Crust to Use

I’m keeping it low maintenance and using a store-bought pie crust. One box typically comes with 2 pie shells, which is great if you are wanting to make a double crust pot pie. I love having both the bottom and top crust. It makes this the ultimate comfort food dish. You can also stick to just adding a top layer of crust if you wish.

I love to grab the pie crusts from Trader Joe’s. They are in the frozen food section and are pretty cheap. In comparison to big label brands, their pie crusts have minimal ingredients: Unbleached enriched flour, palm oil, water, unsalted butter, sugar, and sea salt.

Pillsbury frozen pie crust ingredients: Enriched Flour Bleached, Lard and Hydrogenated Lard with BHA and BHT Added to Protect Flavor, Wheat Starch, Water, Rice Flour, Xanthan Gum, Sodium Propionate and Potassium Sorbate (preservatives), Citric Acid, and Annatto Extract (for color).

Feel free to make your own crust. Here is my Almond Flour Low Carb Pie Crust recipe.

What Type of Veggies to Use

I like to use frozen mixed veggies. It keeps this recipe super easy! I don’t thaw them. I toss the vegetables in while the seafood cooks and it warms a little there and again in the oven. If you notice excess water from the veggies while cooking and thawing them in the pan, drain the excess water. If you don’t your pot pie will turn out watery and soupy. You can also use any fresh veggies you want.

What Type of Shrimp to Use

Shrimp can be found at the grocery store in a few different ways. There is raw, pre-cooked, raw and frozen, deveined, tails on, tails off, etc.

I never use pre-cooked shrimp. There is an obvious difference in taste due to the lack of quality. The shrimp is cooked and then frozen and you have to cook it/warm it up again. This usually overcooks the shrimp. Raw shrimp only takes minutes to make, just buy it raw.

Always look for deveined, that’s my preference. The black vein that runs along the back of the shrimp is the digestive intestinal tract. Is this shrimp poop, yes.

You can buy it with the vein and remove it using a sharp paring knife to make a slit along the back and lift out the vein with the tip of the knife.

Buy large shrimp. Baby shrimp are meant to go in things like soups.

Can You Use Frozen Shrimp? How to Thaw

You should thaw it first. You can thaw frozen shrimp in a bowl of cold water for 20 minutes.

What Type of Crab to Use

I use lump crab meat. You can find it in the refrigerated meat section of the grocery store. Lots of people use imitation crab meat, sometimes called krab meat. You can use that if you wish, it’s also sometimes easier to find.

Imitation crab is processed fish meat. It is seafood and comes from surimi that has been deboned and minced into paste. It does not contain crab. Crab extract is sometimes added for flavor.

Use whichever you wish. You can read more about What Imitation Crab Is here.

What Type of Lobster to Use

I like to keep things simple so I use pre-cracked wild-caught lobster claw and knuckle meat from Butcher Box. It’s usually only available as an add-on item. It comes in 8oz packages. Their lobster is sustainably harvested from cold waters.

Crowd Cow is another option for cold cracked lobster. You can check them out here.

I also look for wild-caught, which can sometimes be harder to find outside of specialty stores like Sprouts or even Whole Foods (which is why I order from Butcher Box).

How to Make it Creamy

I make my own Cream of Seafood Soup (I call it that because it’s seasoned with Old Bay Seasoning or your favorite seafood seasoning blend), as opposed to using condensed canned cream of chicken or mushroom soup. You will find that in a lot of pot pie recipes.

The canned stuff is typically loaded with fat and excess sodium. Check your labels. I have often seen, modified food starch, which is a processed ingredient that helps thicken up the soup. They also often include vegetable oil, sugar, and flavoring. Flavoring basically means something has been added to alter the natural flavor.

I make the sauce by using all-purpose flour, milk (any milk is fine), Old Bay Seasoning, salt, and pepper to taste. I have not tested this recipe with anything other than flour.

How to Make Seafood Pot Pie

Detailed measurements and full instructions can be found in the recipe card at the bottom of this post.

1. Cook the lobster meat and shrimp.
2. Add in the frozen vegetables and crab.
3. Pour in the cream of seafood soup and stir.
4. Brush the bottom and sides of a cast-iron skillet or glass pie plate with olive oil.
5. Add a pie crust to the bottom of the cast iron or pie plate.
6. Pour in the seafood mixture. Top with a second pie crust.
7. Cut slits in the middle of the top crust to vent the pot pie.
8. Bake.

What Type of Pan to Use for Baking

I like to use a 10 inch cast iron skillet. They are the absolute best for a flaky crust. The 10 inch cast iron will work just fine with 9 inch crusts. You can also use a 9-inch pie plate.

Why You Cut Slits to Vent the Pie

When you are making a double-crust pie (pie crust on the bottom and lop layer), you will need to cut slits into the middle of the top crust. This will allow the steam produced by the pie to escape. If you are only doing one layer you don’t have to worry about this.

Once you place the pie in the oven, the filling will start to boil and steam. Once the water turns to steam it will make the filling soupy and the bottom layer pie crust soggy.

Egg Wash

An egg wash is a blend of water and an egg that gets brushed onto the top layer of crust prior to baking. It’s to produce a golden-brown crust. It’s optional.

Soupy/Runny Pot Pie Filling

You will end up with soupy filling if you don’t bake the pie long enough or if you don’t let it cool long enough. Another reason could be the use of frozen veggies, as noted above. When you add your frozen veggies to your pan with the filling, ensure there is no excess water in the pan. Typical mixed veggies (peas, corn, etc) will not emit a lot of water, but if you are using vegetables that are thicker and larger they probably will.

Consider defrosting your veggies first and draining excess water or take note of the filling texture prior to adding it to the pie crust.

See also the notes above about venting the pie crust.

Soggy Pie Crust

If your bottom crust is soggy it’s because you added hot or warm filling to the crust prior to baking. That will melt the pie crust and cause it to be gooey.

You can also refrigerate the pie crust after you have added it to the bottom of your pan. Let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes prior to adding your filling.

See also the notes above about venting the pie crust.

Additional Veggies and Substitutions

• Cooked Diced Potatoes (Raw potatoes will not cook and soften in time)
• Mushrooms
• Spinach
• Broccoli
• Asparagus
• Celery

Additonal Flavors to Substitute in the Cream Sauce

• Creole Seasoning
• Cajun Seasoning
• Basil
• Thyme

How to Use Chicken

You can use my Homemade Cream of Chicken Soup recipe for the base. I recommend 1/3 of the ingredient servings (divide each by 3). Swap out the seafood used in this recipe for cooked chicken.

Can You Make it Ahead?

You can make the cream sauce (cream of seafood soup) ahead and store it in the fridge tightly sealed for up to a week. You don’t want to add the cream sauce mixture to the pie shell and store it in the fridge. The crust will get soggy.

How to Reheat

You can reheat it at 300 degrees in the oven for 10-15 minutes or until it’s warm. You can also use the air fryer at 350 degrees for 5 minutes or until warm.

If you reheat it in the microwave it will soften the crust and make it a little soggy.

Freezer Tips

You can freeze an unbaked pie for up to 3 months. Freezing captures the current texture right away, without it getting soggy (if you were to store it in the fridge overnight).

You can freeze leftover cooked pot pie, tightly sealed for up to 3 months.

Defrost leftovers in the fridge overnight.

Pair With These Recipes

Purple Sweet Potatoes
Mashed Sweet Potatoes
Air Fryer Carrots
Air Fryer Green Beans
Air Fryer Asparagus

More Seafood Recipes

Baked Crab Legs
Seafood Stuffed Shells
Seafood Lasagna
Seafood Mac and Cheese
Seafood Pho Noodle Soup
Seafood Shrimp Chili