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.
Delicious and easy and I already had all the ingredients on hand which made it a perfect meal. We made it with lamb and left out the rosemary – mostly because it was the one ingredient I didn’t have. My picky family loved it. I will for sure make this recipe again.
Thanks!
What is the “half and half” part
it is a richer milk..half milk half cream
This truly is the best shepards pie! This recipe is a keeper. I didn’t have half and half so I used beef stock and it still turned out awesome.
Great recipe. Put in veggies we like. My husband loved it.
This dish was good but not great. It lacked flavor so more spices & hamburger are needed. The potatoes were very high in calories because of the half and half, butter and parmesan cheese. I always say, if I’m going to eat something with high calories, it better be great. This was good but I would not say great. The next time I will add more spices and hamburger & make the potatoes with a healthier substitute for the butter.
Definitely deserves the 5 star rating. Everyone enjoyed the entree. It’s a bit of work incorporating all the ingredients but we’ll worth the effort.
Shepherd’s Pie is not meant to be low calorie, low fat, or healthy. It’s “comfort” food. Your comments is silly.
Absolutely Delicious. Made it with frozen peas and carrots – added a can of drained corn. Then topped this with Cheese, bacon bits and chive before baking. Huge hit! The Worcestershire and sautéing the onions/garlic/meat was perfect. Highly Recommend
the greatest pie ever. i absolutely love it. tysm for the recipe. great seasonings, and perfect mashed potatoes. just love. 😻
Mmmm YUM!!! So freaking good and super easy! Thanks for sharing
This shepard’s pie is amazing. I’ve made it twice now, my son loves it. I think I might try it with beef next time but this is my go to shepard’s pie recipe.
I just made this followed the directions (don’t think a recipe should be rated if not followed). After making the hamburger mixture and letting it sit a bit, I agree with Marilyn more spices were needed . Needed more potatoes so made a small batch more. Was good will make again.
This is such a big winner. I make it on a cool day and everyone wants the recipe!
Everyone in the house loves the dish.
Love this recipe. I have made it twice now and it is probably the best shepherd’s pie I’ve ever had. I like to use ground lamb and add extra carrot and peas. I also have been using chicken broth instead of beef broth.
Very tasty
I have made shepherd’s pie many times. This recipe, ever so slightly tweaked, was by far the best we’ve had. I made a double batch for 4 of us and one of the my sons and my husband demolished it in 2 meals! They both begged me to make this a weekly staple. It was seriously delicious!
Suer delicious, will definitely make this again!
This is excellent!! I did not have rosemary so I used poultry seasoning. It was EXCELLENT! Will make again soon and double. Leftovers were great too!
Crowd pleaser! Simple and everyone loved it. Will be making again. Added an extra 2 potatoes though 🙂
Ohhh girl this was very good! Ty for sharing 🙌🏻
I made this and it turned out awesome I also made it with biscuits
I followed the recipe, except I put half of the mashed potatoes on the bottom of the Casserole dish, then meat mixture, mashed potatoes and topped with cheese. It was so good. I will make this again.
Made this for hubby and he says it is very tasty! You’ve got a winner!
My husband is diabetic so I didn’t want to use all potatoes. I cooked cauliflower with the potatoes and mashed together. This made it more diabetic friendly.