Craving comfort food? These Chicken Pillows are a family favorite! Crescent roll, chicken and plenty of warm gravy make this a meal that kids and adults can agree on!
Easy comfort food is what my own family loves. From Chicken and Dumplings made in the Instant Pot to a pan of Turkey Tetrazzini. You’re sure to enjoy a plate of dinner tonight!
What are Chicken Pillows?
We call these “Chicken Kisses” in our family which I think is pretty adorable. Others call these Chicken Pillows or Chicken Pockets.
Whatever you call them, they are one of my all time favorite chicken dinners!
It’s so perfect on a chilly fall evening. Very filling, warming and downright comforting.
If you like pork chops, chicken pot pie, or any food you eat smothered in gravy you’re going to love Chicken Pillows.
I have to give credit to my Aunt Sandy for sharing this recipe with me many many years ago! I don’t think I have changed it much but I’ve made it so many times over the years that I stopped even looking at the original recipe she gave me.
- Using refrigerated crescent roll dough and ready made gravy, there’s hardly any fuss and it comes out wonderfully every time.
- It’s so satisfying to take a bite of a piping hot chicken pocket and taste the buttery crescent roll crust mixed with savory gravy and creamy chicken stuffing.
- These Chicken Kisses are a great use for that leftover roasted chicken you have in the fridge but to make it even easier you could use store bought rotisserie chicken! Then just dice it up and add it to the recipe. Huge time saver!
How to Make Chicken Pillows
Here’s what you need:
- Cooked diced chicken – From a rotisserie chicken or cooked yourself. Use leftover turkey works great too!
- Pillsbury crescent roll dough
- Chicken gravy – I used Heinz brand. Feel free to use homemade gravy if you like instead!
- Cream cheese – Full fat or reduced fat both taste great.
- Butter
- Salt
- Pepper
- Milk
STEP 1. Mix chicken, cream cheese, butter, spices, milk and onion in bowl. This is your stuffing.
STEP 2. Unroll crescents and fill two crescent rolls at a time with the chicken stuffing. Pinch up the corners to create a pocket.
STEP 3. Bake in a casserole dish or baking pan at 375 for about 15-20 minutes. Serve with warmed gravy! Enjoy!
Tips and Tricks
- If you have leftover chicken, that’ll do wonderfully here. You can also whip up shredded chicken breast on the stove or instant pot to use for this recipe. Often, I’ll grab a whole cooked chicken from the grocery store if I forgot to cook chicken in advance!
- Not a fan of creaminess? My husband doesn’t love a ton of creamy texture in his food so sometimes I’ll make this meal without as much cream cheese. For those looking for a lighter version or just not into so much cheese, feel free to reduce the cream cheese by as much as half.
- Chicken pillows are best served right away! Don’t forget to heat up the gravy on the stove top. You can either pour the gravy right on top of the chicken pockets before serving or put a boat of gravy on the table so everyone can add as much or as little as they like.
- Delicious with leftover turkey too! And top them with some turkey gravy.
Serving Suggestions
- I like to round out a comfort food dinner of crescent roll chicken with a side of Cornbread and a caesar salad. It’s also delicious with some Roasted Broccoli on the side.
- If you want to go super rich and hearty, make some Mashed Potatoes to soak up that extra gravy. A perfect satisfying dinner for a cold night, don’t you think?
I love that these Chicken Pockets made with crescent rolls and cream cheese are easy to make but impressive enough to serve to company! Make this for dinner this week–I know you’ll thank me.
More Easy Dinner Recipes
- Buffalo Chicken Ring
- Gouda Bacon Mac and Cheese
- Massaman Chicken Curry
- Chicken Tetrazzini
- Pigs in a Blanket
Chicken Pillows Recipe
Craving comfort food? These Chicken Pillows are a family favorite! Crescent roll, chicken and plenty of warm gravy make this a meal that kids and adults can agree on!
Ingredients
- 4 cups cooked, diced chicken
- 8 ounce cream cheese, softened
- 4 Tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- ¼ cup milk
- 1 Tablespoon minced onion
- 2 packages Pillsbury crescent rolls
- 1 jar Heinz chicken gravy, warmed
Instructions
- Mix chicken, cream cheese, butter, spices, milk and onion in bowl.
- Unroll crescents and using two crescent rolls at a time (to form a rectangle) fill with stuffing. Pinch up the corners (makes 8 packets). Place on a baking sheet, seam side down.
- Bake at 375 for about 15-20 minutes. Serve with warmed gravy! Enjoy!
Notes
- If you have leftover chicken, that'll do wonderfully here. You can also whip up shredded chicken breast on the stove or instant pot to use for this recipe. Often, I'll grab a whole cooked chicken from the grocery store if I forgot to cook chicken in advance!
- Not a fan of creaminess? My husband doesn't love a ton of creamy texture in his food so sometimes I'll make this meal without as much cream cheese. For those looking for a lighter version or just not into so much cheese, feel free to reduce the cream cheese by as much as half.
- Chicken pillows are best served right away! Don't forget to heat up the gravy on the stove top. You can either pour the gravy right on top of the chicken pockets before serving or put a boat of gravy on the table so everyone can add as much or as little as they like.
- See blog post for more recipe tips and tricks!
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
8Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 347Total Fat: 27gSaturated Fat: 13gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 114mgSodium: 607mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 2gProtein: 19g
*Nutrition facts are an estimate and not guaranteed to be accurate. Please see a registered dietitian for special diet advice.
I’ve been making these for years….though after filling the croissants with the chicken we dip ours in melted butter and then panko then bake. For the “gravy” we use cream of golden mushroom soup thinned out with milk with Worcestershire sauce.
My family loves this. I roll out 1 can of crescent rolls in a 9×13 dish, drop in the filling and top with the other can of crescent rolls. Never have too much or too little filling. I also use either a roasted chicken or pre-seasoned chicken fajita chicken from the frozen section.
These are delicious. I made them for my family this Sunday morning. Everyone loved them except my daughter, but then again she is notoriously hard to please. We ate them hot, thereafter we ate them cold for our lunch time snack, and they are fantastic! I can see this work with Cornish pasty like filling too. They are huge though. Next time I will just make each out of one crescent triangle, not two. This way they will be perfect hand pies for lunch boxes too. Overall, such a great idea!
Hello there, I am from NZ and we can’t get crescent dough here. I don’t even know what it is! Is it bread or pastry? I would love to try these but might have to make my own dough…
Hi, just saw your post. Crescents come in a tube. Pillsbury makes them, you can usually find them by the pillsbury biscuits. Hope you find them. This is a really great recipe.
Just made this! It is delicious!!!!
Glad you enjoyed it!
Made these tonight, using Alouette garlic & herb cheese instead of plain cream cheese and some chopped spinach . Probably should have cut back the chicken some; I had a lot of filling leftover. So I lined some muffin cups with biscuits, filled those with the extra filling, and made chicken kiss cups. 🙂
My girlfriend has lupus and cannot eat beef so I am always looking for a delicious way to prepare chicken. I found one! This will seem more like a treat than a meal and that will be very refreshing for us. I will happily walk extra to not skimp on the cream cheese. Thank you for helping me keep our meals fun… and so tasty!
Sarah , you can buy a whole sheet of crescent rolls, instead of separate ones, then just roll out and cut into rectangle or squares.
I always forget about those whole sheets of crescents! 🙂
Made these with leftover turkey and they were so delicious! A hit with the whole family. Thank you!
I have lots of Thanksgiving leftovers, so I will give this a go tonight. I make my own gravy,so will use that…glad I found your site and thanks for posting.
Has anyone ever made these ahead and frozen them? If so, bake them half way first or can you freeze them unbaked? Would love to do them ahead for a ladies luncheon
Made these for the first time last night. They turned out pretty good. I didn’t have any left over filling like a couple of people talked about. However, I did have 2 extra crescent rolls. So maybe I overstuffed mine a bit?
What I couldn’t figure out is how you keep the bottom of these closed as the crescent rolls are precut through the center when you use them in a rectangle. I tried to pinch it together the best I could so the stuffing wouldn’t fall out.
I actually prefer them without the gravy 🙂
I love these and make them frequently in my house for dinner. I always have so much left over filling. Do you have any recipe suggestions on what I could make with the left over filling?
I have made a wreath instead of individual portions (shaping the crescents into a wreath), seems to use up more of the filling this way!!