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.
Can I substitute olive oil for butter? And what non dairy product could replace the half and half! We keep a kosher home so cannot mix meat with dairy.
I used olive oil and substituted soy milk for dairy milk- no issues! It still turned out wonderfully.
I used non dairy butter and then saved some of the starchy water from boiling the potatoes – which was a pretty good non-dairy substitute for the half and half when making mashed potatoes.
We are kosher also and I am going to try this with Impossible Beef so I can use the dairy ingredient. Otherwise, I have found oat milk to be a great pareve substitute. Instead of butter, I would use something like Smart Balance margarine.
My SIL keep a kosher home and uses veggie crumble or she will use ground meat and oat milk or another dairy alternative for the half and half. She says the myokos dairy alternative butter is the best! Hope that helps. We don’t mix red meat and dairy, so I just always use ground turkey and follow the recipe.
Maybe try an almond, coconut, or nondairy milk.
I just use some of the water the potatoes were boiled in until the potatoes are the consist I like. If you boil your potatoes in less water with salt it makes for a nice, flavorful and starchy substitute. I don’t ever use milk or 1/2 and 1/2 in my mash anymore.
My daughter is allergic to dairy so we made a dairy free version of this and it was delicious! For the half and half I got a can of coconut cream unsweetened and mixed it with one can of rice milk. You can use your favorite non dairy milk just be sure it is unsweetened. The recipe only calls for 1/3 cup so I just put the rest in the fridge to use for something else. No one could even taste a hint of coconut. It was perfect.
Try coconut milk
I also am making a Kosher version. i am going to make this tomorrow and plan to use “plant butter” i think it’s by Country Crock and non dairy and for the milk sub i always use Oatmilk in my mashed potatoes for a meat meal
( look for ine that says ” extra creamy!)
Yes, you can absolutely sub the butter for oil… Also, if you need to use a dairy substitute you can go for almond milk or soy milk… You can also use a little bit of coconut milk (which is what I use)
Excellent recipe!! So very easy to make and delicious flavor!! Used ground turkey because its what I had, needed to use up a container of fresh mushrooms and gave my potatoes some extra Half and half till I was satisfied with their consistency… Definitely putting this one in my fall/winter rotation!!
I did not believe the 5.0 with 500 reviews. I followed the recipe exactly except I did refrigerate for 24 hour. I also used about 4 Oz of sour cream and less butter and and half and half. I think it would be good with 1/4 cup or so of chopped mushrooms. All that said, this is the best shepherd’s pie I have ever had.
I’ve made this a while now, but forgot exactly how. Goggled and came across this gem. This is by far the best SP recipe I’ve tried. A staple in our home. And my 14 yr old loves it, so that’s a huge deal lol… thx for sharing!! Merry Christmas 🎄….
I only added frozen peas to cooked Hamburg and about a teaspoon of herbs de Provence & 1/2 tsp garlic powder. I made a layer of buttered/salt & peppered mashed carrots & yellow turnips. I added shreddded cheddar jack to mashed potatoes for top layer. Oh my gosh! It is so good on a cold December night…
Great recipe,
Family says it’s better than the local restaurants Shepard pie dish. Family favorite!
This recipe was the best one I have ever tried, and the house smelled Devine! Thank you for the recipe 🙂
Everyone loved it! I substituted a bag of frozen stir fry vegetables and also added a cup of shredded cheddar cheese to the potatoes.
Will definitely make this again on a winter night!
I made this for dinner last night. Yummm! I used butter to sauté onions and garlic in a cast iron Dutch oven, then put them in the instant pot. Next I cut the chuck roast into four chunks and browned it in some olive oil in the same Dutch oven.
So true, takes a long prep time but it really is a delicious hearty meal
Thank you for sharing-never done this before- added a few spices(adobo,sofrito,basil). My family loved it, my granddaughter asked for seconds.. Please keep up the good work
Excellent my family and friends love it !!
I would give this 10 stars if I could. It’s absolutely perfect.
yes!
Can this be frozen?
Yes, it can be frozen
Do you freeze before or after putting it in oven?
Delicious, we love it!
Thank you!
I am working as DH here in HK and my boss love it!it’s just that it didn’t hold when we cut it became look like a stew 😬
I think if you let it “rest” for 15 minutes,the mixture solidifies a bit and it won’t be stew-like.
I have never cut a shepherd’s pie. I often make it in individual containers and we. eat right our of it or scoop it out, sop up gravy with biscuits. I use Yves ground round instead of beef. Delicious recipe!
Just made this dish for my husband’s birthday with deer meat. It was a huge hit with the family. Thank you for sharing this lovely dish.
The first time I made it with venison it was great but second time I added bacon fat with the venison during frying and it was even better!
Did you make any adjustments with the venison? I’m making it tomorrow with ground deer as well!
It was looking like alot of filling so I used a 9×12 pan to prevent over flow. If you do this make 2.5 lbs of potatoes for a thicker topping.
I have been making Shepherd’s pies for a long time and I have tried several recipes that was consist of celery soup mushroom soup with along with cheddar cheese which is not good for us but this was very very good I follow the steps not in the same order you know but I did and it’s really really good
You guys have to try it
I want to make this, but I have a question: for the Parmesan cheese, should that be shredded? Grated? Thanks!
Wow! The most delicious Shepherd’s Pie I have ever made, thank you!
I didn’t have beef broth so I added some chopped up crimini mushrooms to the onion mixture. There’s plenty of water in the mushrooms so I didn’t need the broth, and it added a nice meaty flavor!
I also used half potatoes and half cauliflower for the topping. I just like the flavor and lighter texture.
This will definitely be a regular dish for me and my family from now on 🙂
Thank you for this wonderful recipe, it’s the best Sheperd’s pie I’ve ever made.
Smart way to cut carbs with the Cauliflower!