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.
Made this yesterday. My husband, our two boys and I absolutely devoured it. Didnt have rosemary or parsley but still was really really great. 10 out of 10 for taste and easy to prepare. Thank you .
we are Whole30 so i used ground turkey instead of beef, coconut milk instead of half and half. it was awesome!
Tasted amazing and my whole family loved it. This will be my go-to shepherds pie recipe!
One of the best things I’ve ever eaten… When it’s cold out, this is the ultimate stick to your ribs comfort food. Simple to make, but PERFECT. I made it exactly to the recipe. Next time I will try with fresh carrots, peas, etc. I omitted the corn, as I’m not a fan. I will also try fresh herbs next time as well. But what a treat. Will definitely be a monthly meal now!
My cousin and I unknowingly made the same dinner dish to send over to a family member. The family member texted me to let me know this and went on to say how much more delicious this shepherd’s pie recipe was over the one my cousin made. The flavors and seasonings in this recipe were excellent. I made some for my home as well and my husband couldn’t stop eating it. I was worried at first with all the ingredients it would be over seasoned, but it all worked well together. I’ll be putting this recipe into my dinner rotations.
This recipe is outstanding. Delicious! Highly recommend!!
Absolutely awesome recipe!. We loved it and I’ll surely be adding it to “go 2’s! Many Thanks Amanda!
Delicious! I made it vegan by using Impossible burger. Made my usual mashed potatoes with vegan butter and plant milk. Tasted fantastic. I forgot to buy the carrots and corn, so I will definitely add those next time. Also, didn’t have tomato paste but I subbed a tablespoon of BBQ sauce. Can’t wait to have leftovers tonight. Thanks for sharing!
This recipe is as good as everyone says it is! I had a some guys come over so I did a double batch. I didn’t have any thyme and I didn’t put in the peas, carrots or the corn. I added a layer of sharp cheddar across the top when there was 15 minutes left in the oven. One of the guys said it was the best he has ever had. It is really flavorful! I was debating the rosemary and parsley but I am glad I added them! They make so much flavor!
I made this recipe and it’s absolutely delicious, 5 stars. One thing you might want to check is for issues scaling the recipe. I scaled this recipe 3x, and it still says use 2 potatoes which I know can’t be right. Thank you!
I was looking for something to make with ground beef other than my go-to’s spaghetti, or chili. This was the perfect recipe, so easy and delicious!
I made this yesterday and it was delicious thank you!!!
We really liked it but thought it was a little heavy on the thyme. Next time I’ll cut back to half teaspoon.
EXCELLENT – most flavourful Shepherd’s Pie I’ve every made. I left out the Rosemary as I’m not a fan, and used 2% milk rather than half and half in the potatoes, but the rest was as printed. My family loved it. Also, I made one using venison rather than beef, so added a bit more oil for browning the meat, and vegetable broth rather that beef broth. Plate licking good!
Made this for St Patricks Day ’24. Everyone loved it. Im saving it as my go to for Shepherds pie.
I made this yesterday for a St. Patrick’s day party. People raved about how good it was, “better than my grandmothers”, was a comment! Wow I did use fresh herbs and Trader Joe’s spring peas.
Loved it! The meat mixture was delicious and the Parmesean cheese in the mashed potatoes made it even more tasty!
Made it 2 times. Liked it so much better without the Rosemary leaves.
I’m vegetarian so I used veggie ground beef and skipped the cooking. I used a veggie beef flavored mushroom gravy with added red wine and frozen mixed vegetables. For convenience, I added a beaten egg and snipped some fresh parsley into store bought mashed potatoes. I made 10 mini pies in disposable tins, that turned out great.
Hi, can you please recommend the best size of the casserole to bake it in if I want to triple the recipe? Thank you!
This was a very good easy to make sheppards pie. I doubled the recipe and used 1 pound of ground lamb and 1 pound of grassfed ground beef. I made it in a 4 quart ninja skillet and it was a perfect fit. (I used 3 pounds of potatoes) it almost went to the top, but did not boil over. Perfect!
The bottom part of the recipe is missing the vegetables, I’m guessing they go in on top of the meat, but before the mashed potatoes?
Delicious! Family couldn’t get enough. I’ll have to double the recipe next time
I made this the lazy way :), with premade mashed potatoes; I added butter and 1 cup of white cheddar cheese to the potatoes. Ground lamb, a bag of mixed vegitables of corn, peas, carrots and green beans. It was a fairly quick meal that tasted like I was in the kitchen slaving away. I sprinkled the flour on my top and brought it to the table with a smile. 😉
It was devoured entirely!
I used frozen mixed vegetables and can corn due to not having the frozen peas, carrots and corn. Turn out great!!!
Everyone in my family loved this! And that is rare. High calorie recipe, but it tastes that much better because of it!
Made this tonight but instead made roasted garlic cauliflower mashed “faux potatoes” (have a diabetic in the house so we sub a lot of bad carbs for good carbs) and it was phenomenal.
This recipe for Shepherd’s Pie is absolutely the best! I made this for my family (had to double the recipe) everyone went back for seconds. They were still talking about it days later which has never happened before with any of my meals.
Fantastic recipe!! ❤️💕💗
Second time making it. It comes out beautifully every time. 👍
Thanks for sharing such a great dish!!
I am grateful for you and your delicious recipes🙏
Thank you 😊
Anna L.
Excellent!!! Best I ever made & tasted! I added mushrooms also
This recipe is outrageous!!!
Very good! Great flavor! I did add more onions and extra cheese ! Did add mozzarella cheese and Parmesan on top
Made this on St. Patrick’s Day. My family loved it! This shepherds, pie is better than the one I used to make.. It’s a keeper:)
I’ve eaten Shephards pie my entire life, and this is the most flavourful I’ve had. Craveable meat filling with buttery potatoes. I skip the parm and add cheddar to the top, making it brown and crispy.