This Viral Le Creuset Lid Hack for Golden Brown Puff Pastry Will Have You Saying ‘Why Didn't I Think of That?’

Despite the steep price tag, Le Creuset Dutch ovens are second to none when it comes to versatility. They work for almost anything (soups, stews, scalloped potatoes, roast chickens, cobblers) and look good on the range in the process (available in 19 colors and counting). But if you thought you were using yours to its full potential, think again. This viral Le Creuset lid hack is taking over social media. 

In a post that now has more than 800k views, chef and Le Creuset partner Justin Chapple shows just how handy this standard kitchen item can be.

In his Thai-inspired take on the classic chicken pot pie, Chapple uses the inverted lid of his Dutch oven to create a faux crust from pastry dough. If you’ve ever made a pot pie from scratch, you know a lot can go wrong. Too much baking and you can burn the edges. Not enough baking, and you end up with a soggy bottom.

But this lid hack solves all of it by using the lid in three separate ways: as a guide to cut the perfect piece of pastry dough, as a lid to trap the steam from the pie filling, which rises to cook the dough from underneath, and as a makeshift cookie sheet on which to bake it.

One commenter declared, “This is wild I'm gonna show EVERYONE.” Another said, “I'm watching it over and over because it is so fantastic!!!” 

Also garnering a lot of attention is the color of the Dutch oven, shallot, which was released by Le Creuset in April. "Obsessed with shallot. I just got mine, and it’s even prettier in person!" said one commenter.

While Chapple is most likely using from-scratch puff pastry, this would also work with the store-bought kind if you want to save time.

This isn’t the first time Chapple has used a Le Creuset Dutch oven in an inventive way. A video touting his newly remodeled bathroom featured a Dutch oven sink. 

Interested in trying the hack out for yourself? You can get the full recipe on the Le Creuset website.