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.
REALLY good! Deserves 10 stars. I followed the recipe with a couple minor changes. My potatoes were mashed using butter and cream. No Parmesan or garlic powder. In order to avoid clumping tomato paste I mixed it into and added along with the broth. The veggies were a standard frozen mixture. I’ll be making this often and won’t have to feel guilty throwing away leftover mashed potatoes anymore.
Wonderful dish. I doubled the recipe and that worked fine. My only suggestion is to drain the ground meat/onion mixture before adding the remaining ingredients. The recipe didn’t state that, and I always follow the recipe on my first time out…so was a bit oilier than it should have been. Otherwise, a very tasty dish!!!
I didn’t have a 9×9 pan so I used a 9×13 – in which case I prob should’ve doubled or atleast done 1.5x the recipe to make it fill up higher in the pan- regardless it was delicious ! My husband loved it as well & I’ll definitely make it again.
Can I use a 9x13inch pan or will that be too big? I only have an 8×8 and that seems like it’d be too small
Love this recipe! It was super easy and delicious. Satisfied my craving for a Shepherd’s pie!
Super recipe. Made as directed except used butter instead of oil. Used Angus beef which is 85/15. Drained beef after cooking. Perfectly seasoned.i even ate it after tasting beef mixture. (I rarely eat beef). You get a 15 for ease of preparation. ******** wonderful. Pared with steamed cabbage and corn muffins for a exceptional meal. Thanks again fir the recipe. My family tore into it before I could get a picture.
I made this with gardein beef crumbles and it was absolutely delicious!
This is absolutely delicious, I have made it multiple times, always a hit – easy too 👍👍
I’ve never left a review for a recipe before but this was INCREDIBLE. Absolutely delicious. Such a crowd pleaser. Will definitely be making this again.
I made this dish. Great flavor and easy to put together. It’s going on the dinner rotation list!
Highly recommend this recipe! The instruction was clear and easy to follow and the result was stunningly delicious! Had to replace the parsley with oregano and parmasan with Jarlsberg due to availability, but still very very tasty!
I tried tonight for dinner, it was really good. My husband loved it and said I need to keep this recipe.
Thanks so much
Kathy
This is my family’s absolute favorite recipe we’ve ever had! Easy to make and seasonings are superb! I didn’t have beef broth one time so I used Campbell’s beef consume and it was still amazing!
Delicious. Everyone loved it and had seconds.
This was DELICIOUS! My husband and I are vegetarian so we used Impossible meat substitute for the ground meat, vegan Worcestershire, and vegetable stock instead of beef stock. The recipe came out SO delicious and savory. We will make this again!
I love this recipe. I’ve made it as written several times. This time I decided to tweak it just a little. I had canned my garden potatoes and wasn’t thrilled with the texture, they were supposed to be fries, so I used in this recipe. I also had a half bottle of Guinness so added 2 tablespoons to the filling. I’m done tweaking the recipe. It was amazing
Entire family loved it! Great recipe.
I made the 9 serving version and it tasted great. It called for 3 tablespoons olive oil, but 1 tablespoon would have done it. Next time I’ll strain the meat filling or used less oil, maybe even a tab of butter to saute the onions. Overall the rosemary and thyme made the dish! Thanks.
I hate shepherd’s pie!
It’s my partners favourite so I thought ide treat her to this and I had it for dinner also. I loved it. Making it tonight for the second time
This is a classic dish. I’ve made it several times. Everyone has it raves about it. Using lamb makes it authentic. Great recipe definitely in my rotation.
Fourth time making this. Absolute favorite shepherds pie recipe. Thanks!!
A family favorite. Love this recipe!! Tried the exact recipe, amazing!! Have made it with ground turkey, extra veggies, etc. It always turns out great!
We just had this tonight and it was amazing!! I used ground antelope, didn’t have parmesan cheese, so used cheddar, and eyeballed the seasonings. I probably went over on those, but we like a lot of seasoning. The flavor combination is so good! Try this recipe!! You won’t regret it!
I’ve made this recipe many times it’s so delicious with beef or lamb butbmynpreference is lamb. I use fresh carrots cooked in advance. Then add the frozen peas. I haven’t added the corn as I don’t usually keep them as a staple.
Absolutely the best Shepherd’s pie I’ve ever made.
Outstanding and tasty. Have tried with chicken and just as good. Fun to add other goodies to the blend such as broccoli, peppers ( mild to hot all work), and other sauces than Worcestershire.
I like the idea of using a little butter to saute the onions. I’m going to try that next. I don’t think it will take much with a non-stick skillet. I agree that the herbs and spices made the dish. I made the 6 serving, gave 4 servings to my son and grandkids and was then sad that there wasn’t much left for me!
Made this for hubby 😍 for vday yesterday he loved it ❤️
I agree! I wish I had drained some of the fat prior to adding flour and tomato paste.
Delicious. We loved it!
Can i use fresh carrots?
I did. I just cuded them and half cooked them.
I always use fresh carrots. Small chopped and cook them a minute or 2 longer than the onion so that they’re soft before adding to the meat mixture.
I do! I slice baby carrots and steam in the microwave for a couple minutes before adding to the meat mix. Hope that helps!
I use fresh carrots when using this recipe. I simply cook the onions and carrots together, turns out great.
that’s what I did, sauted fresh carrots and celery with the onions. My hubby doesn’t like peas so that’s what I substituted the peas with. It was good!
I made this with fresh carrots. I boiled 2 with the potatoes, chopped them up and added it to the meat mixture. Turned out great!
Great recipe enjoyed!
My husband doesn’t like peas, so I dice carrots and sauté them with the onions and add frozen cut green beans and corn. For days that I’m feeling lazy, I use refrigerated mashed potatoes and add the other ingredients. This is a great tasting recipe and easy to make.
We used fresh carrots and just boiled them in with the potatoes for half the time until they were fork tender. Chopped them up after and incorporated with the meat mixture. Delish!
I have used diced fresh carrots every time I’ve made this recipe. I cook them with the chopped onion at the beginning, and so far no issues. Hope this helps!
Thee best shepherds pie, I’ve tasted, thank you for the share.. I had used red potatoes with the skin, pretty darn good!!
I always use fresh carrots – I blanch them for a couple of minutes before adding them.
Yes! 🙂
I have found that a good substitute for mixes of rosemary and thyme is herbs de Provence.
This recipe is so flavorful, make it as a favor for my wife when I have business travel scheduled so she can relax and not cook for one.
Highly recommend this.
I made this today and it was delicious!
I used fresh carrots that I had diced and boiled. Also, I didn’t have frozen corn or peas, so I used canned French cut beans.
Made this and the family loved it!
Hi, thanks for the great recipe! I’ve made this a bunch of times. Usually when my kids come over to wat my food lol. Cheap and easy! Always a big hit! I follow the recipe because it never needs adjustments for me. Re-heats great but I hardly ever have leftovers =/
Made this for my fiancé and very pleased with the taste and results. We loved it!