The Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie – AKA Shepards Pie or Cottage Pie. Ground Beef (or lamb) with vegetables in a rich gravy, topped with cheesy mashed potatoes, and baked.
Shepherd’s Pie
So, this is how you spell it: Shepherd’s Pie. But, from doing a quick google search, it came to my attention that TONS of people think it’s Shepards Pie.
Irish Shepherd’s Pie
Traditional Irish Shepherd’s Pie would actually call for ground lamb. The difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie is the meat. Cottage Pie uses ground beef, while Shepherd’s Pie uses ground lamb.
I called this recipe Shepherd’s Pie. But, I wrote the recipe so that you could use ground beef or ground lamb.
I typically use ground beef because it is widely available. But, for a special occasion, like St. Patricks day, I would use ground lamb.
How To Make Shepherd’s Pie
(Note – The full printable recipe is at the bottom of this post)
- Sauté some chopped onions in olive oil.
- Add ground beef or ground lamb.
- Add dried parsley, dried thyme, dried rosemary, salt, and pepper.
- Stir and cook the meat mixture until the meat is browned.
- Add minced garlic and Worcestershire sauce.
- Cook the garlic for a minute.
- Add flour and tomato paste.
- Add beef broth, frozen mixed peas and carrots, and frozen corn kernels.
- Simmer the meat gravy until it is thick.
- Boil some peeled and chopped potatoes until they are soft.
- Drain the potatoes
- Add butter, half & half, parmesan cheese, garlic powder, salt, and pepper.
- Mash the potatoes until smooth.
- Pour the meat mixture into a casserole dish.
- Top it with the cheesy mashed potatoes.
- Bake until the meat is bubbling and the potatoes are golden.
Easy Shepherd’s Pie
Making the best Shepherd’s Pie is not difficult. But, there are a few steps to it. You have to make the meat mixture, the mashed potatoes, assemble the casserole, and bake it.
I find that the easiest way to make this dish is to work ahead. You could make the beef or lamb mixture ahead of time. Or, you could make the mashed potatoes ahead of time.
You could also make the whole recipe ahead of time. Just assemble the casserole, cover the dish, and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it. I find it is best to bake it within 3 days of preparing it.
When you are ready to bake it, take it out of the refrigerator for about 20 minutes before you need to bake it to let it start coming to room temperature. Uncover it, and bake.
What to serve with The Best Shepherd’s Pie
- Deviled Eggs
- Roasted Broccoli from Skinnytaste
- The Best Chocolate Chip Cookies
Watch the Video for the Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie Below.
Find more of my recipes on TikTok
Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
Video
Ingredients
Meat Filling:
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 cup chopped yellow onion
- 1 lb. 90% lean ground beef -or ground lamb
- 2 teaspoons dried parsley leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried rosemary leaves
- 1 teaspoon dried thyme leaves
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
- 2 garlic cloves -minced
- 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
- 2 tablespoons tomato paste
- 1 cup beef broth
- 1 cup frozen mixed peas & carrots*
- 1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
Potato Topping:
- 1 ½ - 2 lb. russet potatoes -about 2 large potatoes peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
- 8 tablespoons unsalted butter -1 stick
- 1/3 cup half & half
- 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
- 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
Instructions
Make the Meat Filling.
- Add the oil to a large skillet and place it over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add the onions. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Add the ground beef (or ground lamb) to the skillet and break it apart with a wooden spoon. Add the parsley, rosemary, thyme, salt, and and pepper. Stir well. Cook for 6-8 minutes, until the meat is browned, stirring occasionally.
- Add the Worcestershire sauce and garlic. Stir to combine. Cook for 1 minute.
- Add the flour and tomato paste. Stir until well incorporated and no clumps of tomato paste remain.
- Add the broth, frozen peas and carrots, and frozen corn. Bring the liquid to a boil then reduce to simmer. Simmer for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
- Set the meat mixture aside. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
Make the potato topping.
- Place the potatoes in a large pot. Cover the potatoes with water. Bring the water to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Cook until potatoes are fork tender, 10-15 minutes.
- Drain the potatoes in a colander. Return the potatoes to the hot pot. Let the potatoes rest in the hot pot for 1 minute to evaporate any remaining liquid.
- Add butter, half & half, garlic powder, salt, and pepper. Mash the potatoes and stir until all the ingredients are mixed together.
- Add the parmesan cheese to the potatoes. Stir until well combined.
Assemble the casserole.
- Pour the meat mixture into a 9x9 (or 7x11) inch baking dish. Spread it out into an even layer. Spoon the mashed potatoes on top of the meat. Carefully spread into an even layer.
- If the baking dish looks very full, place it on a rimmed baking sheet so that the filling doesn’t bubble over into your oven. Bake uncovered for 25-30 minutes.** Cool for 15 minutes before serving.
Notes
Nutrition
Check out all of my great ground beef recipes.
I’m not a lazy cook, but on a workday weeknight I like to keep things uncomplicated. This recipe does the trick, minus cooking up the potatoes. So, I took a short cut and used ready-to-microwave mashed potatoes – which I spread on top of the beef mixture and got into the oven in no time. I also boosted the Worcestershire sauce a bit to give it the pub taste that I grew up with in Washington, DC. Delish!
I use this recipe all the time. Love it! So do all my grown kids!! Great way to get them to come visit. Free mama food! Thank you so much. Such a simple hearty winter comfort food!
wow – perfect mix of flavors and level of work for a delicious pie. Thank you!
Delicious!!! Even the picky children ate it, & one had a second helping. Definitely a ‘make again’ recipe.
Great recipe everyone loves it this is the 2ond time making it.
Thank you for sharing 😋❤️
Thank you
SOOOO GOOD. Made it with lamb and another time with beef. Try it!!
This was very good! I added a little bit of turnip (because I had it) and some carrots and celery with the onions but other than that, I followed te recipe. Thank you for sharing.
Awesome!!I Great recipe.
I have never liked Shepherds Pie- I only made it as an “I’m sorry” dinner for my husband. I was going to eat leftovers while he had the Shepherds pie….but the pie looked so good I had to try a bite. Wow, I did not realize what I had been missing. This recipe has become one of our favorites.
I made it for my fiancé,he ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!!
Now I make it at least once a month… I make it with green bean casserole…ABSOLUTELY A HIT WITH MY FAMILY!!!
SO VERY GOOD &TASTY!!
Absolutely the best Shepherd’s Pie I’ve had in a very long time. Probably since my mother made it for me years ago. The combination of spices and ingredients made it a very fine meal of comfort food. The only thing is, I used a 9 x 13 dish because I didn’t want it dripping over the edge. Works great. The only suggestion I have, and I’ve found this on other recipes as well, is perhaps put the boiling of potatoes at the front of the recipe. I know it’s obvious that you need potatoes but having it up front is a reminder to get them on the stove while the rest of the recipe is being complete. Thanks for an amazing recipe! SO GOOD!!
So YUM! I made this for the first time about a month ago and the kids and I fell in love! We’ve made it again since and wouldn’t change a thing about the recipe.
This looks great. I think I’ll give this one a try. The last time I had Shepard’s Pie was when I was a young boy and my mother made it once that I remember. Maybe more times, but I remember the one time. It was good. I like these kinds of meals. Happy St. Patrick’s Day is coming up.
made this Shepard’s pie last night for dinner and it was perfect
My secret is a can of rorel.tomatoes and can of cream corn before the potatoes and cheese on top of potatoes…sooo awesome…
Amazing. I was still eating out of the dish while cleaning up the kitchen. Wife said best she’s had. Use lamb if you can get it.
Delicious. I made it exactly as the recipe called for and I can’t wait to serve it again. Thank you for sharing this.
Made this recipe today and my family loved it. I doubled the recipe and added additional veggies. This was my first time trying Shepard’s pie. It was delicious and pretty easy to make. I will definitely be putting this meal in the rotation.
So yummy! It was a hit! Definitely will make again!
This is hands down the BEST shepherd’s pie recipe I’ve been able to find. We use venison. My husband loves it!
This was tasty and my family enjoyed it so I definitely will make it again. Since my granddaughter cannot eat beef I did replace the beef broth with vegetable broth and I used ground turkey meat.
That’s how I do this dish as well for health reasons. Once in a blue moon lamb for a treat.
Absolutely Delicious!!
Sandie, I am also living without an oven. If you happen to have a turkey roaster, it acts as a decent oven replacement.
Looking forward to trying this recipe tonight!
has anyone tried to adapt this for crockpot? I loved it as posted but I am currently without an oven (don’t get me started on why) and need to feed a bunch of kids for St. Paddy’s Day. Thanks!