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.
Can this be frozen ? Before or after cooking?
If I don’t have a 9×9 or a 7×11 dish do I need to purchase one or can I use an 8.25 round casserole dish or a 9×12 dish?
I’ve made this several times and actually tripled it this morning to serve at a large family dinner tonight. It’s a winner, and we all love it. We don’t eat much meat, so I usually sub cooked lentils for the beef and it’s equally delicious!
All I can say is I love this recipe. Made a couple changes but overall it’s wonderful.
I made this tonight but instead of regular potatoes I used purple potatoes! It was delicious! I’ll definitely make this again!
This was amazingly good. I made it for my wife and she couldn’t believe I hadn’t bought it somewhere. I made it last year, and now I came here again to make it for Christmas with my parents. It has got to be the most perfect shepherd’s pie recipe there is.
My newest mashed potato leftover dish. We enjoyed this with ground beef but, other protein; chicken, lamb and turkey should work great too. I doubled the spices and added additional salt to taste. It was excellent.
So good! I lived in England about 30 years ago and did not have fond memories of Shepherd Pie coming from South La and Cajun cooking but I made it at the request of my sweet husband and it was delish!
I used fresh herbs from my garden, fresh carrots and peas, cornstarch because had no flour, and added a little Tony Chachere’s to spice it up! I love that everyone, even me, went back for seconds!
Just a point of information since our family has so much discussion about this. Ground beef = cottage pie, ground lamb = shepherds pie, and those using ground venison = deer pie (I guess). Regardless of what you call it, the recipe is always a hit with our family and friends. We have also made this for a drop off meal for those occasions when someone is in need of an easy pop in the oven meal. We normally serve it with Yorkshire pudding and onion gravy. I use a cast iron skillet and a larger one if we double the recipe. Be careful though, a double recipe in a large cast iron skillet is very heavy. I also cook it on my Traeger which works great and leaves the oven open for the yorkies. The only comment I have about the recipe is the prep time says 20 minutes. I’d love to see someone have this prepared and ready for the oven in 20 minutes. The great thing about it, I’ve made it in the morning, or even the day before and refrigerated. Then just cook it, and dinner is ready!
Do you need to add flour? Or is there another ingredient you can substitute?
My husband’s favourite dish.
Excellent recipe. I’ve made it several times, and it is always a hit. Thank you!
Loved the idea!. I grew up on shepherds pie. Thanksgiving provided leftover mashed potatoes, green beans, and a lemony squash/sweet potato/ winter squash puree. Your directions were great, and the dish with hamburger came out seasoned very very nicely and the dish was colorfully perfectly baked at the temp you suggested. Thanks so much!
Best shepherds pie I’ve had. Used leftover mashed potatoes from Thanksgiving. The rosemary really adds a fragrant fresh note. Will definitely be making this again.
Great! Family loves it
Ok, but I found it bland, so before putting it together, I added more herbs, salt, pepper, (plus, onion powder) and worcestshire sauce.
Pretty good recipe, very easy to follow and the end result is fairly good. Wouldn’t mind a bit more depth though.
If the recipe is doubled or tripled, there needs to be an adjustment in the size of the required baking dish. A 9×9 is not nearly big enough.
Made for my son and husband, did half beef/ lamb, They loved it! Wanted me to make it again two days later.
Even I did it!