This classic fish pot pie recipe makes mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies baked in individual ramekins. Delicious as they are, these adorable salmon pot pies are also very versatile. You could replace the salmon with a white fish, combine types of fish, add prawns or mussels or both, and add spices such as nutmeg to the creamy salmon.
Fish pies are perfect for holidays such as St Patricks Day or Good Friday and creamy salmon pies are the best fish pies as far as I’m concerned. Even better than a pie with pastry, particularly if you prefer to spend more time around the dining table with loved ones than in the kitchen, is a pot pie – a pie without pastry that’s baked in a small pot or ramekin.
If you’re celebrating St Paddy’s Day or planning ahead for Easter and on the lookout for easy fish recipes for Good Friday and you have salmon and potatoes, then look no further than this classic Irish fish pot pie recipe for mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies made in individual ramekins.
These little salmon pot pies may look simple but beneath the crispy cheesy lid are layers of buttery mashed potatoes infused with fresh fragrant herbs that sandwich a layer of chunky salmon pieces simmered in a rich creamy sauce. All the pies need is a classic garden salad on the side.
You’ll find more of our best salmon recipes here, including recipes for devilled eggs with smoked salmon and caviar, blini with smoked salmon, a salmon ceviche-style appetiser, fish soup with salmon, salmon potato salad, salmon pasta, clay-pot salmon, and Terence’s crispy skin salmon fillet with colcannon with prawns – or creamy mashed potatoes if you prefer.
I’ll also be adding my easy salmon tray bake recipe to that collection. It makes incredibly delicious crispy skinned salmon fillets baked so that the skin crackles but the flesh remains moist, with roasted spring vegetables that are just-done so that they’re still fresh and crunchy. Perfect for an Easter lunch.
Now, before I tell you more about this classic fish pot pie recipe for mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies, I have a favour to ask. Grantourismo is reader-funded. If you’ve used and like our recipes, please consider supporting Grantourismo by supporting our original, epic, first-of-its-kind Cambodian culinary history and cookbook on Patreon for as little as US$5 a month. Or, you could also buy us a coffee. Although we’ll use our coffee money to buy cooking ingredients for recipe testing instead.
You can also support our work by using links on the site to book accommodation, rent a car or hire a motorhome or campervan, purchase travel insurance, or book a tour on Klook or Get Your Guide; shopping our Grantourismo online store (we have fun gifts for foodies designed with Terence’s images); or buying something on Amazon, such as these award-winning cookbooks, cookbooks by Australian chefs, classic cookbooks for serious cooks, cookbooks for culinary travellers, travel books to inspire wanderlust, and gifts for Asian food lovers. Now let me tell you about this classic fish pot pie recipe.
Fish Pot Pie Recipe for Mini Mashed Potato and Salmon Pot Pies with Crispy Melted Cheese
While I love a good old-fashioned pie made with pastry – Terence is the master baker in this household and we have quite a lot of pie recipes on the site (use the Search box at the top right or very bottom of the page to find them) – I do appreciate the appeal of a mini pie made in ramekins, whether it’s a pot pie or a pie made with pastry.
This Irish beef and Guinness pie recipe with potato mash is one of my favourites, for instance. It will make you a delicious little meat pie made in a ramekin that I created to use up leftover Irish stew and colcannon. I made them for Saint Patrick’s Day and they were so delish!
I’m actually testing a recipe for a similar individual pie made with pastry and filled with creamy seafood and baked in ramekins, however, in the meantime I wanted to share this classic fish pot pie recipe with you, based on a traditional Irish fish pie, in case you’re still looking for fish recipes for Easter.
These adorable fish pot pies might not look like much, but these little salmon and mashed potato pies are absolutely delicious if you’re a salmon lover. Or a cheese lover.
They’re worth making for the crispy cheesy top alone! And what I really love about them is that they’re also very versatile.
You can easily replace the salmon with a firm white fish, you could combine different types of fish, add prawns or mussels or scallops or all three, add spices such as nutmeg to the creamy salmon, or swap out the fresh herbs for dry herbs. You really can’t go wrong.
I only have a few tips to making this easy fish pot pie recipe for mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies baked in individual ramekins, as they are a cinch to make and come together quickly.
Tips to Making this Fish Pot Pie Recipe for Mini Mashed Potato and Salmon Pot Pies
Just a few tips to making this classic fish pot pie recipe for mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies baked in individual ramekins, as they’re super easy.
These are the ramekins I use, and while they’re quite small, this really is a very filling little dish.
I’ve not specified how to cook the salmon fillets as we’re big fans of both pan-frying salmon (Terence) and baking salmon fillets (that will be me), however, I know some people prefer to poach them, so cook the salmon as you like.
What I do need to specify is the importance of chopping the salmon into big chunks and then gently folding it into the salmon cream.
This is because the salmon breaks apart easily and if they’re smaller pieces of salmon the mix will end up having the consistency of salmon rillettes.
While salmon rillettes are tasty, you’ll end up with something with the same texture of the mashed potatoes and the end result will taste a bit like baby food. Which is fantastic if you’re serving these little pot pies to your little ones.
To avoid this, instead of combining the salmon pieces with the creamy sauce (which I like to do to more evenly distribute the seasoning and herbs), another option is that after you’ve created the first layers of mashed potato, pop some chunky salmon pieces on top, pour on the creamy sauce, let that settle and firm up, then add another layer of potato mash.
Fish Pot Pie Recipe for Mini Salmon and Mashed Potato Pies
Ingredients
- 700 g potatoes for mashing
- 1 tsp sea salt
- 100 g butter
- 2 tbsp fresh dill finely chopped
- 4 scallions/spring onions finely sliced
- 60 g butter
- 60 g plain flour sifted
- 300 ml cooking cream
- 100 g Parmigiano Reggiano grated
- 100 g mature cheddar cheese grated
- 500 g salmon cooked (see notes) and cut into chunky pieces
- ½ tsp Dijon mustard
- ½ tsp ground white pepper – or to taste
- ½ tsp sea salt – or to taste
Instructions
- To a large pot of room temperature water over high heat, add the potatoes and a ½ teaspoon of salt, bring to the boil. When you can easily pierce the potatoes with a fork, drain and mash the potatoes with 30g butter, season with more salt and pepper to taste, then fold through the chopped fresh dill and finely sliced scallions/spring onions.
- Preheat your oven to 220°C/430°F, then, working quickly, make the creamy sauce: in a medium sized saucepan over low heat, melt the butter then gradually stir in the sifted flour to create a smooth paste. Remove from heat and gradually whisk in the cooking cream, then return to heat and simmer, stirring continuously until you have a thick creamy sauce. If too thick, add a little more cream (or whole milk).
- Transfer the sauce to a large mixing bowl, add half the grated cheeses, the Dijon mustard, salt and pepper, combine well, then add the cooked pieces of salmon and gently fold in so it doesn’t break apart too much.
- Use a tablespoon to transfer generous scoops of mashed potato into each of the six ramekins, pressing it down to fill a quarter of the ramekin, then transfer twice the amount of creamy salmon to the ramekins.
- Add another final layer of potato mash to 5mm beneath the ramekin rims, then use the remaining grated cheeses, distributing them evenly between the ramekins, first adding a layer of grated Parmigiano Reggiano, followed by a layer of grated cheddar, which should take you right to the top of the ramekins.
- Transfer the ramekins to a baking tray, in case the cheese melts over the ramekin sides, then bake for 30 minutes or so until the tops are golden and crispy, and serve immediately with a fresh garden salad on the side.
Nutrition
Please do let us know if you make our classic fish pot pie recipe for mini mashed potato and creamy salmon pot pies baked in individual ramekins, as we’d love to know how they turn out for you.
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