This shepherd’s pie recipe has a rich, savory filling with vegetables and a buttery mashed potato topping baked until golden. It’s a weeknight favorite that reheats beautifully.
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Holly’s Recipe Highlights
- Why Make It: This recipe uses freezer veggies and a simple gravy to create cozy comfort-food flavor with minimal chopping.
- Recommended Tools: You’ll need a large skillet or Dutch oven, a 2-quart casserole dish, and a spoon or spatula.
- Time-Saving Tip: Leftover mashed potatoes make this recipe feel effortless on busy nights. Spread them over the savory filling and bake.
- Freezing: Freeze whole or in portions for up to 4 months for easy reheat dinners.
What’s in Shepherd’s Pie
- Meat: Use ground lamb for a classic shepherd’s pie or ground beef for a cottage pie variation.
- Mashed Potatoes: Use mashed potatoes according to the recipe below, or swap them for instant mashed potatoes. Stir cheddar into the potatoes for a “loaded potato” twist.
- Vegetables: Frozen mixed vegetables make the prep quick, just thaw and drain. Swap for fresh vegetables by finely dicing and cooking until tender.
- Gravy: This sauce includes broth, seasonings, and a little tomato paste. If short on time, use tomato soup, cream soup, or a gravy packet as a shortcut sauce.
How to Make Shepherd’s Pie
- Cook the lamb, onion, and garlic in a skillet until no pink remains.
- Stir in the flour and seasonings.
- Add the remaining filling ingredients and simmer until thickened.
- Transfer to a baking dish, top with potatoes, and bake (full recipe below).
Storing, Reheating, and Serving
To store leftovers, cool completely, cover tightly, and store in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or wrap well in foil and freeze for up to 4 months.
To reheat, thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Then warm in the microwave or cover with foil and bake in the oven at 350°F until hot in the center. Add a splash of broth around the edges before reheating in the oven to keep the filling nice and saucy.
Shepherd’s pie is a cozy casserole with a savory meat-and-vegetable gravy layered under creamy mashed potatoes and baked until bubbly. Traditionally it’s made with lamb, while beef is often called cottage pie.
Bake shepherd’s pie at 400°F for 25–30 minutes, or until hot and bubbly, then broil for about 2 minutes if you’d like a golden top.
It can be served with crusty bread, Irish soda bread, and/or a fresh side salad.
To make shepherd’s pie easy, brown the meat with onion and garlic, then stir in a can of condensed tomato soup (undiluted) to make a quick, rich sauce. Add the vegetables, top with mashed potatoes, and bake until bubbly.
Yes, shepherd’s pie freezes well for up to 4 months; cool completely, wrap tightly, and thaw overnight in the fridge before reheating.
St. Patrick's Day Pairings
Did you make this Shepherd’s Pie recipe? Leave a comment and rating below.
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
- 1 ⅔ cups beef broth more as needed
- 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
- 1 ½ tablespoons tomato paste
- 2 cups frozen mixed vegetables thawed
- 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, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato paste 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
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.
So yummy! I have a picky child and he ate this up. I was prepared to cook him a hot dog. We substituted ground turkey for the meat and made homemade mashed potatoes. Love the addition of the tomato soup, also. This is a winner and will be added to the dinner rotation.
Hi Holly,
Planning to make this for dinner. But if I were to replace tomato soup with tomato sauce, how much tomato sauce should I use?
Thanks :)
I’ve haven’t tried this with tomato sauce. Tomato soup is a bit sweeter and creamier in flavor. The can I use is 10.5 oz, so I would use the same amount of tomato sauce (and perhaps a splash of cream if you have it).
I am not a cook, but this was very easy to make. My family enjoyed it, even though they were a little skeptical at first.I did think the recipe called for too many vegetables.
Good flavor but next time I’ll use canned veggies, the frozen veggies were hard even though I thawed them
Hi Holly
Just wondering how much leftover roast beef to use in place of ground beef.
Thanks
Hi Sharon, I would replace the ground beef with about a pound of leftover roast beef.
I made this last night for dinner and everyone went back for another serving. This is an easy, flavorful recipe that will be my go to for Shepherds Pie. I used cream of mushroom soup in it, instant mashed potatoes and Mexican blend cheese for on top and it was delicious.
Lovely easy version of Shepherd’s pie :)
Wonderful website!!
I just did a quick scan and it seems the whole internet is mistaken about Shepherd’s and Cottage pies. As you said , Shepherd’s pie is traditionally made using minced (ground) lamb, as the name suggests, shepherds herd sheep.
A cottage pie is very similar but it is made with mince meat (ground beef) and the distinguishing thing about Cottage pie is the topping. It is sliced potato in rows, each slightly overlapping the previous row so the final effect is reminiscent of a cottage rooftop:)
As you said, it can be altered endlessly:)
Sliccd potaoes with chunks of stewing beef ie not minced, and vegtables is called a Hotpot or Lancashire Hotpot here in the UK.XXX
Can I use Instant potatoes? or possibly the Bob Evans mashed potatoes? I work M-F until 5pm. Time is limited. looking for a short cut…..
Yes, either of those would work perfectly!
You can’t beat a Great Shepherds pie but first off this is not an Irish recipe it’s actually A British Yorkshire dish. I was shocked to read it was Irish. Especially as I’m British. But still it’s St Paddy’s day this week we will share.
I’ve never personally added tomato soup to one before but it sounds incredible and the fact on my countertop are the ingredients defrosting from 4am this morning and I get the email just now is such an incredible coincidence. I’m going to try the soup as I always feel something is missing.
We Brits love our shepherds pies. They were originally created for a quick and affordable meal for the coal and Steel miners as it can be eaten hot or cold. I prefer mine hot myself and it’s still a huge favourite with my family. We always have a side of buttered cabbage as it just accompanies it so well.
Thank you for posting. Roll on dinner time.
That is a great side dish idea Susie! Buttered cabbage would be the perfect compliment. Enjoy!
Absolutely wonderful! My husband wanted me to fix it again right after it was gone! No need to freeze…won’t last that long! Every recipe I’ve tried from you has been great! You are my number one go to for any recipe! Thank you!
Thank you so much Peg! I”m glad your family loved this!
What type of mushroom soup
For this recipe, we use a can of condensed mushroom or tomato soup. Enjoy Michele!
I just made this for my family of 4, and the last two recipes I tried, my boys did not like it. BUT this recipe is a definite WINNER!!! Everybody ate it up and went back for seconds or thirds. I used the mushroom soup choice and it tasted absolutely delicious! Thank you so much for a yummy shepherd’s pie recipe that makes enough for a family of 4 to have multiple servings and a good amount of left-overs to enjoy the next day!
I used frozen vegetables by accident; didn’t notice it said defrosted until after it was too late. Will it still work? Thanks!
Yes, it should work just fine! It may need a few extra minutes in the oven. Enjoy!
Hoping That You Would Have, Some Low Carb Recipes
Hi Sharon, for some great low carb options, please check out my Easy Low Carb site. It has so many delicious low carb recipes!
Shepherds’ pie is made from ground lamb ( not beef; that would be cottage pie). Being born and raised in Scotland, we had Shepherd’s pie often, but never with tomato soup, paste or tomato sauce.
You can find the information in the post regarding cottage pie.
Winner! I’ve seen this cottage pie recipe in my cookbook. It never seemed appealing because of the tomato soup, so I never tried it. Big mistake! When I first made it the color of the soup didn’t look appealing. When it cooked up the rich deep red color emerged. Yum. When I go grocery shopping now I make sure I always have the ingredients for this delicious dish on hand. I just never know when I have an urge for it. Everyone loves this. It lends itself to any favorite additions like French style green beans and fried onion rings,
Thank you for posting this easy, tasty recipe for shepherds pie- and including the option of ground beef. It has become one of our favorite “comfort food” dishes!
I have a gluten allergy, and can not have tomato soup. Has anyone tried this with tomato sauce? Perhaps another suggestion.
Thanks, Holly for all the wonderful recipes! I really enjoy your site!
Hi Jenny, I have never made this with tomato sauce but I would love to hear how it turns out for you. I have found gluten-free tomato soup at my local grocery store though that would be perfect in this recipe.
I use 1 TBS tomato paste instead of soup and 1 TBS worcestershire sauce maybe gluten here not sure.
Wow i didn’t know that sphere pie good asf anyone could make it this my second or third timid like making this or better I miss eating it it’s fye asf d like I’m so ready to do it cause imma love ❤️ these recipes cause thy are so good to me I ❤️ it
Thank you so much Olivia! So happy you loved this recipe. <3
Shepard’s pie is delicious
Thanks Mary! So happy you enjoyed it.