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: Â Shepherd’s Pie. Â 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. Â The difference between Shepherd’s Pie and Cottage Pie is the meat. Â Cottage Pie uses ground beef, while Shepherd’s Pie uses ground lamb.
I called this recipe Shepherd’s Pie. Â 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. Â 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. Â But, there are a few steps to it. Â 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. Â You could make the beef or lamb mixture ahead of time. Â Or, you could make the mashed potatoes ahead of time.
You could also make the whole recipe ahead of time. Â Just assemble the casserole, cover the dish, and keep it in the refrigerator until you are ready to bake it. Â 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. Â 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.
Soo yummy! My grandmother always made Shepards pie when we were younger this definitely hit the spot and brought back some memories!
I made this yesterday and gave some to my Irish dad. He loved it! I’ve made shepherds pie many times but found this by far to be the best. I’ll be making this again!
This was my first crack at shepards pie and we loved it! Next time I will make more potatoes though. Prep time for me was no where near 20 minutes, however, the investment was worth it!
Simple and delicious!
Simple and delicious! My family loved it.
Since my family is a vegetarian, I swapped out the ground beef with Impossible Meat. It was sooo good! My daughter and SIL said it was the best shepherds pie they have ever had.. and I tend to agree. Definitely a keeper recipe! Thanks!
This recipe has become a staple in my household! I am currently dairy free, so I substitute oat milk for the half and half, and use dairy free butter and Parmesan. Even my toddler and husband who are not dairy free LOVE IT! I usually use lamb, but the grocery store was out of it so I subbed buffalo and that was another great alternative.
I did see a review about the potatoes taking a long time- I do always start the recipe with the potatoes, and cook everything else while the potatoes are coming to a boil/boiling. Then everything is ready to go into the oven at about the same time!
Thank you so much for this meal that will certainly be served at our table for many years to come!
This is hands down the best cottage pie recipe! It’s actually cold down here in Miami right now and the warm yummy smell coming from the oven was amazing… and it tastes just as good!
Delicious
Yum!
I’ve been craving a really delicious Shepherd’s Pie, but have never eaten what I considered a really good one in a restaurant. Time to make my own! I tweaked this one a little, as one does: I used fresh carrots cut into nice little cubes and added them to the onions after a few minutes. I cooked the tomato paste in there by itself for a minute to make it less raw tasting. I only added 1 Tblsp. of flour…2 would have made it too thick for my taste. And, very importantly, I added a squeeze of Sriracha (less than 1 Tblsp.). This mashed potato recipe looks good, but I used a stand-by that I knew I would love….it involves butter, cream cheese, sour cream, and green onions. Dotted with butter.
So so so good. Just me here, so I consumed it over the course of 4 days. Reheats in the microwave very well, especially in a little glazed pottery dish that holds its heat for a nice long time.
The ONLY thing I might change is to make it in an 8×8 pan so that the meat layer is thicker. I would not, then, use all the potatoes. I’d like the proportions to be more 2/3 meat, 1/3 potatoes, much as I love the latter.
Thank you so much for this recipe!
Can it be frozen ?
This was SO good. I keep going back for more bites, which I never do. I added some mushrooms to the onions, just because I had some I needed to use. I didn’t have beef broth so I used chicken broth. And, because I’m lazy, I just used pre-made potatoes. But still – awesome!
Difficult to put together–my first time making this. But it came together beautifully. I had to use instant potatoes and it was still great.
Yum City…only thing I changed was adding sm jar of mushrooms (no peas…forgot)
Delicious. 8 and 11 year old smashed it. Thank ya
great recipe but seriously, has ANYONE managed to do this with 2lbs (“two large potatoes”) of potatoes?
Just one tip… piping the mashed potatoes makes this a much easier recipe to execute 🙂
Thanks for sharing this.
Doug
Wonderful! Followed recipe but did add 1/2 cup of mushrooms, 1/2 cup of red wine, a few more shakes of Worcestershire sauce, and a touch more salt to the meat mixture. After topping with the potatoes (used mixture of milk and sour cream instead of half and half) also spread some melted butter on top of the potatoes before placing the dish in the oven. It browned nicely on top and was yummy. Thanks for the recipe.
Worthy making it again only thing I’d add on side is a salad next time will try w ground lamb this was delish received rave reviews 🙂
Love this recipe – I make it at least once a month.