A savory filling with meat and veggies is topped with creamy mashed potatoes and baked until bubbly.
Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Flavor: Rich, hearty, and comforting with savory meat and veggie filling in a gravy-like sauce. It’s topped with mashed potatoes for a comforting fnish.
- Meat: While many of us make shepherd’s pie with ground beef, ground lamb is traditional. With ground beef, it’s called “cottage pie”. Either beef or lamb can be used.
- Consistency: The gravy will thicken as it simmers, it will also thicken a little bit more as it bakes.
- Time-Saving Tip: Use pre-made mashed potatoes to make prep even faster.
- Freezing: Assemble the dish, wrap it well, and freeze before baking. When ready to eat, thaw overnight and bake until heated through!
Ingredient Tips For Shepherd’s Pie
- Meat: Use either ground lamb or beef in this recipe.
- Mashed potatoes: Use mashed potatoes according to the recipe below or swap them out for tater tots, stuffing mix, or even instant mashed potatoes.
- Vegetables: Frozen mixed vegetables make the prep quick. You can use fresh vegetables by finely dicing them and cooking in the skillet until tender.
- Gravy: The sauce for this shepherd’s pie includes broth, seasonings, and a little tomato paste.
Serving and Storing Shepherd’s Pie
- Serving suggestion: Shepherd’s pie is a full meal. It can be served with crusty bread, Irish soda bread, and/or a fresh side salad.
- Storage: Store leftover Shepherd’s pie in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days. To reheat, warm in the microwave or bake at 350°F until heated.
- Freeze individual portions in airtight containers for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating in the microwave or oven for a quick and easy meal.
Love Shepherd's Pie?
Did you make this Shepherd’s Pie recipe? Leave a comment and rating below!
Shepherd’s Pie
This shepherd's pie recipe is a cozy favorite with ground meat and vegetables, a rich gravy, and mashed potatoes.
Equipment
Ingredients
- 1 pound ground lamb or lean ground beef
- 1 medium yellow onion diced
- 2 cloves garlic minced
- 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ teaspoon black pepper
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables thawed
- 1 ⅔ cups beef broth more as needed
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 4 cups prepared mashed potatoes see notes
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- In a large skillet or Dutch oven, cook lamb (or beef), onion, and garlic over medium heat until no pink remains. Drain any fat.
- Stir in flour, thyme, salt, and pepper and cook for 1 minute.
- Stir in broth, tomato paste, and Worcestershire sauce and bring to a boil. Simmer uncovered 2 to 3 minutes or until thickened. Stir in mixed vegetables and add more broth if needed to reach a gravy consistency.
- Transfer the ground beef mixture to a 2-quart casserole dish and spread it into an even layer. Spoon mashed potatoes over top.
- Bake for 25-30 minutes or until bubbly. Broil for 2 minutes if desired.
- Remove from the oven and cool for 5 to 10 minutes before serving.
Notes
- Shortcut Sauce: For a quick shortcut sauce, brown the meat, onion, and garlic as directed. Add one 10.5 ounce can of condensed tomato soup (undiluted), cream of mushroom soup, or one packet of gravy with the water as directed on the package.
- To make homemade potatoes: Boil 2lbs of peeled and diced russet potatoes or Yukon gold potatoes in a large pot of salted water for 15-20 minutes or until tender. Drain well and mash with a potato masher. Add 4 tablespoons of butter, ¾ teaspoon salt, and up to ¾ cup of warmed half and half as needed.
- Store leftovers tightly covered in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
- To make as a freezer meal, line the pan with parchment paper and prepare the casserole as directed. Once cool, freeze the entire pie, then remove and wrap in foil. Remove the wrappings and replace in the same baking dish, with a foil cover and bake at 350° for 60 minutes, or until hot and bubbly.
Nutrition Information
Calories: 424 | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 19g | Fat: 18g | Saturated Fat: 8g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 2g | Monounsaturated Fat: 7g | Cholesterol: 55mg | Sodium: 663mg | Potassium: 894mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 3g | Vitamin A: 3160IU | Vitamin C: 42mg | Calcium: 58mg | Iron: 3mg
Nutrition information provided is an estimate and will vary based on cooking methods and brands of ingredients used.
Course Beef, Casserole, Dinner
Cuisine American, Irish© SpendWithPennies.com. Content and photographs are copyright protected. Sharing of this recipe is both encouraged and appreciated. Copying and/or pasting full recipes to any social media is strictly prohibited. Please view my photo use policy here.
Such a hearty and delicious recipe! I added some zucchini that was lingering in my fridge and topped it with mashed butternut squash. It was great!
I made this for St. Patty’s day and it was a huge hit. My son and husband almost ate the entire thing! Will add this to our dinner rotation list. Thank you.
Absolutely delicious!
made this today for st. Patty’s day! was a big hit. thank you for a great recipe.
I am making today and today and want to freeze leftovers. Can this be done?
Thanks
Sherry
Yes, the leftovers freeze well. You can also find this info in the post:
Freeze individual portions in airtight containers for up to 4 months. Thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating in the microwave or oven for a quick and easy meal.
I did exactly how the recipe asked, and I made the potatoes from scratch just as your recipe called for. I wish I could send a picture as I have a great picture of it. It looks beautiful and landed up tasting great everyone loved it! But it took me a lot longer than 20 minutes to prep it, considering I cooked over the potatoes and then put it all together to cook it
This is one of the easiest recipes and so much fun to make! I did used lean ground beef and switched out the Worcestershire sauce with soy sauce and used prepared mashed potatoes, quick, easy and delicious!
This meal for my family it is the ultimate comfort, food filling, tasty and delicious and super easy to prepare. I will be making it on repeat.
very delicious, easy-to-follow, inexpensive recipe! I didn’t change a thing and we loved it! (
this was my first Shepherd’s pie. i used beef, mixed vegetables, cream of mushroom soup, onions and golden mashed potatoes. I cook for myself and my mother. she loved it! I’m thinking of making it for my aunt Margie when she has surgery next month. thank you!
Easy to put together ahead of time. Very filling and comforting dish.
I made this Shepherds Pie and submitted a photo for this month’s cooking challenge. It was so easy and I did use instant mashed potatoes. We loved it and will definitely make again. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
So happy to hear that, Leatha! Thank you for cooking along with us this month.
Used pre-made mashed potatoes from Costco and this came together so quick/easily. Will make again!
Loved this recipe! I made mine with a little extra gravy which was delish!!
Really, really good! The mince is perfect. We used lamb and it was so good! We will be making it again soon!
This recipe was pretty easy to prepare. I added rosemary as well.
Could I use prepared refrigerated mashed potatoes?
Absolutely! That’s a great time saver.
My husband said “this turned out good” while he was eating. That’s a win! And I also thought it turned out good!
Your recipe pretty much matches mine. I love the idea of putting left over roast instead of ground beef. I’m trying that next. I always add green and red peppers to mine. Just my preference.
I did the mushroom soup version. It was delish!
I recommend you update the recipe to say frozen peas and carrots instead of mixed veggies. Mixed veggies includes green beans and corn along with peas and carrots.
Hi Tammy, for this recipe we do use mixed veggies which often included corn, green beans, and edamame in the mixture.