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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.
Sorry but you have the reason why the difference in name so why do you not use the correct name for which pie.
As this uses lamb, it is Shepherd’s pie. Beef can be substituted if desired.
Excellent recipe! I made it as written. Wouldn’t change a thing.
it was delicious. I made it exactly as the recipe says
Too much mixed vegetables in the recipe I would put half as much next time. I’m originally from the U.K. and have never seen anyone put this much veg in a shepherds pie. I should have gone with my initial instinct and put less. Overall flavour was good.
This was pretty close to my recipe. Very tasty. I did not have any gravy, so added some marinara sauce with the tomato soup. Cooked 5 potatoes. Such a comfy meal. Will definitely be making this again and again.
easy and delicious!
I was heading out and needed to have supper prepped and ready for my kids and this was the perfect make-ahead casserole! I made this with ground beef and mushroom soup and everyone loved it. SWP Employee
Our Neighborhood Market often has caldillo meat marked down. I used this meat, browned with onion, in my take on the recipe. I used cream of potato and about a half cup of broth and let it simmer a half hour before adding the mixed veggies. my family liked it a lot!
Sounds delicious. Thanks for sharing!
I am actually ready to put it in the oven now, do I cover it? I can’t wait
Uncovered. Enjoy Cynthia!
I first made this easy version of Shepherd’s Pie last summer when my mother was dying. She requested I make this dish for my brother’s 54th birthday to remind him of his favorite childhood dinner! I had never made a Shepherd’s Pie before so this was an easy, throw together last minute recipe that fit the bill. Everyone loved it and it has now become a staple in my dinner rotation that will always remind me of my last summer with my mom.
Bless you for sharing delicious, easy recipes that anyone can make! This recipe will always be especially special to me.
I’m so glad our Shepherd’s Pie recipe brought comfort and joy to your family during a difficult time; thank you for sharing your heartfelt story with us Sarah.
love it all
If using beef mince then it’s called cottage pie not shepherds pie ! I prefer it with beef mince I don’t like lamb mince
Delicious easy meal! I had to substitute a few things because I was too lazy to go to the store and it still turned out great!
Substitutes
Ground turkey for beef/lamb
Marinara sauce for tomato soup
Creamer potatoes for russet
Fresh basil for dried
We will make this again!
I made this shepherds pie last night with ground beef. Easy to prepare and absolutely delicious! I made the recipe exactly as you have it written. It was a perfect meal since we are having an April cold snap. I will definitely make this again. Thank you!
I have made this recipe with many different variations like different soups, vegetable combinations, and Idahoan instant potatoes of different flavors. No matter what is available, it’s always turned out great.
Holly–I loved it. My wife complained that there were too many vegetables. Your recipe says “4 cups” of frozen veggies. I added close to 3, but my wife thought the meat/veggie ratio was a bit off.
Then, in the comments below, you say that you used a single, 10-ounce bag of frozen veggies. I would revise the recipe to say that.
A single bag of frozen veggies is probably about right. But I would also use 2 pounds of beef instead of 1, just to make it a little beefier.
Hi Aaron, we do use 4 cups of frozen veggies for the recipe but you can reduce the veggies for a higher beef to veggie ratio! Enjoy.
Topped with cheese it can be known as Cumberland Pie.
Thank you for this recipe Looks great. Wondering if I can use already cook Lamb if if is put into the grinder.
Cooked lamb should work fine in this recipe.
This recipe was great for my summer family gathering! My kids loved it, a good way to sneak a little veggies into their diet.
So glad your kids love it, Baldwin. It’s always nice when we can sneak veggies into their diet without them knowing! :)
I have been trying variations of Cottage Pie recipes for years with varying results (husband is picky) and this one is a winner for both of us. Not fans of cooked peas so I use what is sold here as Country Trio, carrots/corn/beans thawed. Using recipe as written I put everything but the mashed potatoes in a slow cooker on LO before leaving to run errands. I add the mashed potatoes later so it’s ready anytime after 5:00. No cheese for us even though we are Dairy State natives! Could be sprinkled on later if desired.
Note: as a personal option I add 1 tsp. sugar (or a packet of Stevia) as I feel it brings out the flavor.
Thanks for this yummy and easy recipe!
Your variations sound great, Susan! So glad you loved this recipe!