Why Amish Chicken Pot Pie Has NO Crust — The Real 1750 Lancaster Recipe

What you think of as chicken pot pie — that golden crust on top, the little tin from the freezer, the puff pastry lid — is not what an Amish chicken pot pie is. It never was. Not here in Lancaster County, not in any plain kitchen I've ever set foot in. The real Amish pot pie has no crust at all. In the Pennsylvania Dutch tongue it's called bot boi, and it's not a baked pie — it's a thick, rich, savory dish full of chicken, golden broth, and big soft squares of rolled dough boiled right in the pot. Those dough squares ARE the pie. When English speakers heard us say "pot pie," they pictured the crusted thing they knew, and over the years the two got tangled up. Today I'm setting the record straight. I'll walk you through the whole thing exactly the way my grandmother made it: how to simmer the chicken low and slow for a broth that turns to gold, the simple flour-and-egg dough (no leavening), how to roll and cut the squares — and the one small trick that keeps them from turning to mush in the pot. This is humble food. One chicken, some flour, water, salt. And out of those few plain things you feed a dozen bellies and warm a dozen hearts for almost nothing. That's Amish cooking in one pot. Make it this week — the real way. I don't think you'll ever want the crusted kind again. 📖 Want every recipe I know? My kitchen field book — 100 recipes from Lancaster County since 1720 — is linked below. 🔔 Subscribe and we'll make these old ways together, one at a time. There's always room at my table for one more. God bless your hands, your kitchen, and every soul who gathers at your table.