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.
Best Classic Shepherd’s Pie Recipe
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 1/2 - 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.
Andrew says
This was easy to make and absolutely delicious.
Julie Ann Robinson says
It was ***** five ⭐️ I added guy-ere (so?) chives and Panko towards the end. Great recipe!
Bushra says
I made this for dinner last weekend and it tasted amazing! I had never had shepherd’s pie before but my husband, who had spent some of his childhood years in the UK, had a craving for it all of the sudden (after so many years) and I’m happy to say that he loved it too and said that this tasted just like the ones he used to have back in the day! Thank you for sharing this delicious recipe!
Kathy Hocking says
Absolutely delicious, and easy to make! This is a great classic Shepherd’s Pie recipe that’ll surely send you to “flavortown”! Ingredient proportions are perfect! I used ground lamb and doubled the recipe for four of us, and we had plenty of left-overs. This will definitely be a comfort food staple in my house!
Wayne Girard says
Awesome recipe. I tweaked it a little, and it’s amazing. However, it is not a 20 min. prep time unless you’re Martha Stewart.
Julie Robinson says
I knew I had a twin 😉
Sue says
Excellent Shepherd’s Pie. Easy to prepare. For my personal taste I cut back on the rosemary and thyme as they burn my throat.
Catherine says
Made this for dinner tonight…..I used ground lamb and it was delicious..!!!
I thought I’d be clever and mix the flour and tomato paste together thinking it
would mix in easier…wrong….it took ages to mix it in and it left a lot of small red
clumps that I just couldn’t get to dissolve…it was okay, you didn’t notice them when
eating. This recipe is definitely a keeper…
Sharmila says
This recipe is delicious and comforting! The whole family loved it! I will definitely be making this again.
Marci says
I’m thinking about using ground venison instead of the beef or lamb, do you think this would be good?
Honna says
Yes! Venison also goes very well with this recipe. I add a pat of butter when the venison is browned right before adding the flour. This helps make a slight “gravy” for your shepherd’s pie. Otherwise, everything else is the same.
Aaron Mitchell says
I’m also thinking about ground venison. I do think it definitely could be good.
Elizabeth Wicks says
I made this for dinner tonight with elk and it was amazing!!!
Desiree says
This was delicious! I used ground moose since that is what I have and ended up forgetting the garlic powder in the potato topping, but even my skeptical daughter said it was delicious and we’re all happy there are leftovers! Thank you for a fantastic recipe!
Therese says
You have. amazing recipes! This is easy and tastes GREAT. I also like all of the suggestions in the comments above :). I put in snap peas , celery, grated carrots, corn and a bag of asian salad mix that needed to be used up. I also added one sweet potato to the potato topping and it was yummy. Thank you!
Heather says
Finally found a recipe that lived up to my super high expectations! I’ve been cooking and baking like crazy all of 2020 and this is by far my favorite recipe of the year. I think the herbs in the meat mixture really made this dish (especially the rosemary). To think I ALMOST made a different recipe with far fewer ingredients – what a tragedy that would have been! Cannot recommend enough.
Bryan says
We never get all 5 people in the house to agree about a single dish. Everyone gave this 5 stars.
Karen Wynn VanderWindt says
Deicious. Thanks for creating and sharing this.
Danny says
YES!!
This was amazing, I made a vegan option and it was just so full of flavor! Thank you!
DAVID MONTENEGRO says
At what temperature should I bake it? Not listed in the recipe.
Linda Persinger says
In the middle of the instructions before you get to start making the potatoes it says to preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. I nearly missed it too.
Alexandra says
Just made this recipe tonight and it was so delicious and not too hard either! Will definitely be saving this to make again! Thanks.
Kim says
I threw this together for my 84 yr old parents, they absolutely loved it!! It smelled delicious when I was preparing it!
Suzy Wert says
So, the grease is not drained off from the ground beef? None of it? Do you use 95% lean ground beef? Or did you forget to mention you drained it off? This is confusing to me! I can’t imagine it.
Shelly Christ says
Best shepherd’s pie yet! I will admit I threw in a splash of red wine at the end…….had to……..lol!
Paulac says
This is the BEST Shepherd’s Pie recipe! Fast easy and full of flavor. My husband requests this all the time. Have made it more times than I can count, always perfect!
Cheryl Carroll says
Easy to make and very tasty.
Winsome d'Abreu says
This is such a great recipe, which I will now become one of my go to’s!
MarthaV says
Yummers. Will try ground turkey next time!
Courtney says
Just made this for the second time, following the recipe exactly. It’s becoming a staple for my family. It’s wonderful comfort food that my 4 year old even loves (which is such a relief)
Dan Burley says
Instead of flour I used a pack of McCormick gravy to thicken it works great
Kirk Yo. says
Super easy and delicious. The only changes I made was using fresh herbs and carrots (sauteed with the onion), yukon gold potatoes, and half the garlic/garlic powder. The golds worked fine but next time I think I could cut down on a little (nothing crazy) of the butter and half and half – very rich and buttery tasting. Served with sauteed green beans & shallots.
Amy Robles says
The rosemary, thyme, tomato paste and Worcestershire sauce were a bit overwhelming. I’ll cut back on that next time. Also my pie wouldn’t set very well. I’m thinking I need to set the oven rack higher. The prep time was a bit long but it was first time so next time I’ll get better!
Brad Boutcher says
How would you go about with fresh carrots and canned corn niblets?