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 using the exact recipe and it was delicious. So easy. Could I freeze this before baking?
Was a little too salty, but other than that, is a very good recipe. Nice county comfort food
Great recipe , it came out 👍 I didn’t have the tomato paste so I just used some pasta sauce., I added some chopped green peppers because I had a bunch. Yummy 😋
Huge hit! My whole family loved this. I omitted the flour, and it turned out fine. I also sprinkled the parm cheese on top instead of mixing into potatoes. Super hearty and flavorful!
This was delicious!! Thank you for the recipe.
5stars!! Followed recipe to the letter. Really tasty 😋
Wowwww!! I mean there are no words! This was beyond amazing. However i did add more parm and Mozarella 5 mins before the baking process was over. Best Sheperds pie ive made thus far. Thanks so much for the recipe
Great recipe!
We love this recipe; added a few things to the mixture that I had on hand. How do you get the potatoes on top to brown without using the Broil option. Thanks for this.
This is the best Shepherd’s Pie I’ve ever had. I’m definitely making it again!
Would chicken or vegetable broth be an ok substitution for the beef broth? Trying to save a trip to the grocery store!
The best “shepherds pie” I’ve ever made.
The wife liked it the first time, so I re-did it tonight. “One dish meal, cool, clean-up will be easy!”. Kitchen looks like a war zone. Granted, running the mashed potatoes through a french mill was OCD. This is a nice recipe, great for a fall meal and can stand re-heating for nights 2 & 3. I have to be careful not to make it too often, but will again.
Recipe is as true to the roots of Shepard’s pie as you get.
Simple to follow and end result is an incredible meal. (Being from UK- I used lamb to make Shepards pie, Va beef making cottage pie).
Good swap/alternative- swap out parmesan cheese for herb/garlic goat cheese crumble or herb/garlic cream cheese in the potatoes.
So like what my made when I was a kid.
Thank you too for noting the difference between shepherd’s pie and cottage pie. 😊
Use RAMEKINS instead of baking dish. Easy to serve and save for future meals. A solid recipe.
What a great dish! It took me a little longer to prepare but well worth the time. The only change I made was I roasted the veggies.
Delicious! My family is very happy tonight!
Perfect dish for a cool fall evening.
Delicious followed the recipe and my family loved it.
Have made this several times and is always a huge hit! When my son comes home from the Navy, this is always requested!
My family loves this recipe! It is my go to “Shepherds Pie/Cottage Pie” recipe. I tried using a mix of ground, sweet, Italian sausage and ground beef (my hubby likes it this way). I also added extra veggies, whatever I like; frozen carrots, peas, green beans, corn, diced tomatoes, and my favorite addition, mushrooms (baby bella or white). The mushrooms give it a meaty texture, without adding extra meat. Adding these extra veggies and mushrooms make the dish a bit more healthy and I can make two casseroles, one to eat (with plenty of leftovers) and a second casserole to freeze!
Delicious! So easy and very comforting!
Hi I’ve made the meat mixture which smells divine could you tell me what half and half is is it single cream and milk by any chance thank you from Blackburn England
Just passing through and read your comment, half and half is equal parts cream and whole milk. Hope that helps! 😉
Yes, it is half cream and half whole milk.
Yes is actually 🙂 sorry nobody responded in time!
Sirena from Cooollldddddd Minneapolis, MN.
Based on my trips to England, you don’t have anything quite like it. I would explain it as half whole milk/half heavy (whipping) cream. Thicker than milk, thinner than heavy cream. HTH
I like this recipe better than the one I’ve been using — beef broth/gravy rather than regular tomato sauce. I use frozen green beans instead of peas. Really yummy — thanks!
Excellent deep flavor 👌. My family loved it. Very easy to prepare. I used the Costco pre-made mashed potatoes so that was a time saver. I will definitely make this dish again. I added celery and green onions too because I had them on hand and wanted to use them.
First timer for Shepards pie. This got the approval from 3 different generations 🙂 it is requested for Thanksgiving this year. Thank you for sharing!!!!
Very tasty and easy to make.
I cooked and put everything together the day before and baked the”pie” the next evening.
My husband enjoyed it and I am hoping he will enjoy the leftovers, too!
I followed the recipe as written. Next time I might try a cauliflower in place of the potatoes.
Sorry if this has already been addressed, but can this recipe be frozen for meal prep?
Outstanding!!!I am retired and now the cook in our house, love trying new recipes ! This is a go to now!!!
Thank you