A grocery-freezer pot pie is a thin gravy-flavored paste under a cracker-crust lid, sized for one and forgettable. A real one is built on scratch pastry and actual pieces of chicken or beef in a proper sauce, then frozen unbaked so it goes into your oven and comes out like it was made that afternoon. These small bakeries ship them frozen, packed in dry ice.
Published July 2026 · Updated 7 Jul 2026
Laurie Bowen and Kristin Broadley started Centerville Pie Co. as a small shop on Cape Cod, and their chicken pot pie — chunks of white-meat chicken in a rich sauce under a flaky crust — got them onto Oprah's list and turned into the thing they're known for. Baked on the Cape and express-shipped frozen nationwide.
Why it isn't on AmazonA crust-and-real-chicken pot pie made in one Cape Cod bakery is a made-that-week product — it ships frozen because it isn't a shelf item.
See it at Centerville Pie Company →A Traverse City, Michigan bakery that freshly bakes its chicken pot pie, freezes it, and ships it out of northern Michigan anywhere in the US, generally by two-day service so it arrives cold. Known regionally for its fruit pies, with a savory pot pie that travels.
Why it isn't on AmazonA pot pie baked fresh in a Michigan shop and shipped frozen is a small-bakery order, not a case pulled off a distributor's pallet.
See it at Grand Traverse Pie Company →A Georgia pie shop whose rosemary chicken pot pie comes in 6" and 10" sizes, packed frozen with dry ice in their own insulated shipper and sent UPS 2nd Day Air. It arrives frozen and ready to bake or hold in your freezer.
Why it isn't on AmazonA single-recipe savory pie made in a small shop and shipped in a dry-ice box is a direct-from-the-baker product the grocery freezer can't match.
See it at Pie Bar →Amanda Wilbanks' Georgia bakery makes its pies from scratch and ships them frozen with about five pounds of dry ice, including a chicken pot pie built on the same all-butter crust as their dessert pies. You can even schedule the ship date at checkout.
Why it isn't on AmazonA scratch, all-butter-crust pot pie frozen and shipped from one bakery is made in small runs — the reason it ships cold rather than sitting in a case.
See it at Southern Baked Pie Company →This seat's open on purpose — we won't pad the list to hit a number. If you ship real frozen pot pies direct, it's earned, not sold.
Add your brand →Most ship unbaked and are meant to go into the oven from frozen — thawing a raw pastry pie makes the bottom crust gummy. Bake at the temperature on the box until the crust is deep golden and the filling bubbles in the center, which takes longer than a thawed pie. Tent the edges with foil if they brown too fast.
Scale and ingredients. A bakery pie uses real scratch pastry and actual pieces of meat and vegetables in a made sauce; the mass-market version leans on a thin, heavily-salted gravy and a minimal crust to hit a price. You taste the crust and the filling in a real one instead of mostly salt.
It depends on size — a personal 6-inch pie serves one or two, while a 9- or 10-inch pie feeds four to six as a main with a salad on the side. Check the size on each product page; several makers offer both a single-serve and a family size.
Kept solidly frozen, an unbaked pot pie generally keeps a few months without losing much quality; check the maker's guidance. Get it into your freezer as soon as it arrives. Once you've baked it, refrigerate leftovers and eat them within a few days rather than refreezing.
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© 2026 5best2buy · Worth The Hunt · No.449