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 made this vegan by using plant based “beef”, vegetable stock, omitting the Worcestershire sauce and because I didn’t have corn, I used lentils instead.
For the topping I used vegan butter and almond milk. I also omitted the parmesan cheese.
Thank you for the wonderful recipe. I know I changed a lot, but because my daugher in law is vegan, I had to make it for her.
I am vegan and I loved your tips! Making it right now! You are a fabulous mother-in-law!!
This was not only my first Shepard’s Pie attempt but also my first mashed potatoes attempt (I know…ridiculous). Super delicious and easy to do! I only had fresh rosemary so that flavor is prominent and I also went heavy on the garlic. DELICIOUS!
I made this for dinner yesterday and followed recipe exactly and mine was very sloppy and runny. It did not look anything like the picture.
Are you sure you added the flour and tomato paste? It has to be the tomato paste, not sauce or ketchup.
So was mine! I had wondered why it was runny. I think I was too hasty and didn’t let the beef broth evaporate enough? But, overall, it was very tasty and will make it again!
That’s strange. I kept adding more water, but I also let it simmer for 30 minutes or so as we cleaned up the kitchen.
I’ve made this recipe with ground beef, ground bison, and ground elk. Absolutely delicious every time!
I made this for the first time and I must say it was easy and the blend of flavors were very tasty 😋. I added more cheese to the potatoes and little to no salt. I like for people to add their own salt.
The best Shepard’s pie I’ve ever had! My husband and kids loved it!
I am so glad I tried this. I never write recipe reviews but I had to. It tasted AMAZING and was a hit with everyone in the house. I made 3 small changes. I doubled the salt in the meat mixture, and added garlic powder and onion powder along with the other seasonings for a little extra flavor. I didn’t have beef stock so I used a beef bouillon cube and a cup of water instead. I only had red potatoes so used 4 of them. It came out perfect.
Xanthan gum will also thicken (is gluten free), but read the directions; you’ll need much less and will dissolve it before adding it into the mix. Bob’s Red Mill makes it and is at most grocery stores in the baking or gluten free aisle.
Third time with this recipe. All ways good. But found out the first time 9×9 was too small. P.S. I live in Elwood In. Hi. Neighbor.😎
Best Shepard’s pie ever! I substituted ketchup for tomato paste.
I’ve made this twice now. Best shepherd’s pie ever! The rosemary adds such a deep, savory flavor. I’ll never use another recipe for shepherd’s pie.
I actually used cubed beef and fresh veggies. I also did a mixture of sweet potatoes and white potatoes for the topping. It turned out fantastic!
We loved this dish!!!!! Cheated and used a family size packet of garlic mashed potatoes with the cheese. It is soooo good. Have made it twice, turned out perfect both times. Best shepherd’s pie recipe ever.
Extremely easy to make. Since shepherd’s pie has a distinct flavor due to the spices, I didn’t deviate from that other than salting to taste if it needed a bit more salt. Also, I used instant mashed potatoes because that’s the kind of potatoes used when I’ve bought shep pie from somewhere. I wanted to recreate that consistency. I used 2 packs of Idaho brand, but I followed the remainder of the potato topping instructions like using half n half, butter, garlic & parm etc. Then I used frozen mixed veggies, so there were a few lima beans and green beans in there. Overall great taste and very easy to make, esp with instant potatoes.
Excellent recipe, very good flavor! Just make certain to drain off fat from beef prior to next steps or you’ll get a runny wet pie.👍🏻
This recipe take an old favorite from camp days & elevates to a delicious new level! —- enjoy by all my family! And we appreciate the traditional English lamb as well as the beef version (the latter cooked more often). Our modifications: i enjoy the Parmesan in the potatoes, but my guys do not; and with the beef version, we add chopped carrots in lieu of peas.
Turned out so yummy! Will definitely do this super easy, delicious dish again. The directions are very clear and easy to follow! Thanks!!
We just used lamb for this recipe and it rules!
I never leave comments weather I like a recipe or not, but I had to here.
Perfect ratios. Beautiful flavor combinations.
You hit it!!!
Best I’ve ever had! Thank you!
Fantastisk recept på Shepherd´s pie. Tack för att du ge oss de riktiga recept angående denna hederliga recept.
Vi tycker mycket om denna pie här in Sweden.
Mina Bästa Hälsningar,
A.Holm
Sweden
I made this with ground pork I hate ground beef and lamb it was delicious!!! I cooked everything but potatoes in my cast iron pan and went straight to the oven so much easier.