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.
Tastes very much like the best Shepherd’s Pie I ever ate in Killarney, Ireland! I have been wanting to try to make it, but was afraid I would be disappointed it wouldn’t be as good, but this was wonderful. I used fresh chopped carrots and fresh corn. I cooked the filling in my cast iron skillet and then just added the mashed potato topping and popped it in the oven. This is now on our regular rotation of favorite recipes. Thanks!
I have made this 5 times at this point. Each time I have two servings and my husband eats ALL of the rest! 😂 It is permanently in the rotation now and it is SO GOOOD. So savory and yummy and just like a hug in your tummy!
This recipe absolutely Rocks!
My go to the last 3 times making shepherds pie
Didn’t change anything
I use dried thyme and dried rosemary add it to mortar & pestle to release its fragrance.
Very Tasty , thank you!
This is the best Shepherd’s Pie recipe I have ever found! It is delicious and easy! It has become our family’s Easter tradition now! 😋
What a great recipe! It’s a family favourite!
My family loves this recipe! It is one of my son’s favorites. It has become a staple in our household.
This recipe is fantastic, and my family absolutely loves it! I made a couple of tweaks by using ground bison and swapping out regular flour for tapioca flour to keep it paleo-friendly. The bison adds a wonderfully rich flavor that takes the dish to the next level. It’s an easy 10 out of 10—highly recommend!
Excellent, tasty, spicy recipe: Used I 8oz can of tomato sauce, instead of tomato paste. Worcestershire sauce to the meat, plus added chopped Cilantro in place of parsley: Onions, olive oil, and garlic, and spices.
Sweet butter, plus Pecorino Romano to the mashed potatoes.
Easy recipe that tastes great. I’ll use this one over and over.
Meal is fantastic. I added herb and garlic cream cheese and a pinch of dill to the mash potatoes, but that’s just how I always made my mashed potatoes. This is a real hit . Awesome recipe kids and wife love it .
Absolutely Excellent! Of course we all tend to add a little more of this or that (I love veggies) but the spices used really elevated this dish. Thank you so much for sharing this recipe…YES I added umami mushroom seasoning just to give the beef lots of flavor. Since I didn’t have beef broth I used one cup of the water from the boiled potatoes. I will be making this dish again!
I have never left a review on a recipe but had to for this one. I was wanting Shepherd’s Pie but hadn’t yet found a recipe that I liked. Did a search – saw this had ALL 5 Star reviews and thought “why not?”
This truly was the best tasting Pie I’ve made. Recipe was easy to follow. Flavor was out of this world. Can’t wait for leftovers today!
I made this recipe tonight. Very tasty and easy to make.
This Shepherd’s Pie recipe was the best I’ve ever tried! Very reminiscent of one we had in a local pub that was SO good. Saving the recipe & will definitely make it again!
Easy to make. Used the tubs of Mashed Potatoes from Costco. If I could rate it higher than 5 stars, I definitely would. Absolutely delicious. Also, for a “comfort food”, not a ton of calories.
Very good recipe