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.
l made too few potatoes, and in my meat mixture l used too much meat (1 1/2 lbs).. and so when out of the oven, it was all too soupy .. but it was my first try!
.. So l took out a serving, spread it out, made more potatoes and re-baked it.
Will let you know, it’s still in there!
lt tastes very good mmmm
Outstanding!!I didn’t have Rosemary or Parsley, but it didn’t matter. I used 1 1/2 lbs ground chuck, canned vegies, and Bob Evans mashed potatoes. It turned out great!!
This is the best shepherds pie I have ever eaten. It’s so savory!!! My fiancé loved it! The only thing I might change is draining the meat before adding seasonings etc. It was very oily but besides that a wonderful meal. This will be my go to recipe from now on. Thanks!
Outstanding recipe, my second go around with it. I went with a bolder approach and added a little more garlic to both the potatoes and meat mix. I also used a little less rosemary and we served with dinner rolls. Next time I’m going to try it with a nice moist cornbread for the side. SO BOMB, thank you for this!
Five stars ⭐️ all eight of us really enjoyed.
This recipe is the best. I make it all the time.
Made a double batch of this recipe with my 12 year old granddaughter today while her grandfather, parents and siblings watched football and ran around the house. She followed the instructions to the letter, except I cut down on the oil a bit. It turned out DELICIOUS! She was so proud of her superb accomplishment! Great recipe to make with a child or grandchild that is old enough to be safely in the kitchen. The expression of pure joy as everyone praised her dish was priceless!
Recipe turned out perfect on the first try! I will definitely be making this again. So excited to have found a simple and delicious Shepherd’s Pie recipe.
It was a hit with my family.
Delicious! Made this for family guests during the holidays and it was a big hit. They said it was the BEST shepherds pie they had ever tasted. I did substitute ready-made Bob Even’s mashed potatoes, instead of making them from scratch and it was delicious…quick and easy, too. Definitely will be making this recipe again!
We loved this version of Shepherd’s Pie, and watched Escape to the Country while enjoying our dinner and felt very cozy and English. I don’t like the reviews where people say all the things they changed, so I won’t go into that (it’s just about what I had on hand etc). I liked working with the instructions and everything came together perfectly.
This was easy enough to cook that my elementary aged nieces were able to help. It was so successful at the dinner table that my 98 yr old Grandma had seconds.
This thing slaps. I made it like three times, will make it again. I made some slight alterations to the recipe when I made it, I didn’t have rosemary or thyme, so I used sage and oregano as spices, I used whole milk in the potatos, and fresh carrots and canned peas for the veggies, still tasted absolutely amazing. I will say, if you do use fresh carrots, cut them small so that they cook throughly.
Either way, we love this at the house.
My mom made this dish growing up but it was super basic. THIS recipe is great! My husband just said I need to start a Favorite Recipe book for our family and put this in it.
This shepherds pie was delicious! We couldn’t stop eating it and I was glad I made a little extra to last us a couple extra meals. Thank you for sharing your recipe with us!
This is fantastic!
This is the very best recipe for Shepherd’s Pie I’ve ever tried! No complaints from me and many compliments
from my family.
Perfect recipe…however, I skipped the peas and carrots and mostly layered some corn and a miniscule amount into the meat mixture. Thanks for the tips to make more flavorful than I….(My mom) make it.
Easy to follow.
Have you tried freezing it before baking?
I am making double the recipe and there’s no way we’ll eat this all. I have one dish in the oven and the other one assembled.. just not sure about the mashed potatoes being okay to freeze.