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.
Second time I’m making this it’s fantastic
Made with London Broil chipped up small, utilized all other ingredients as advised, cooked as advised. It produced a stellar Shepherd’s Pie. It will be a staple in our household moving forward (ie: Easter Dinner). Thank you for sharing!
This was an awesome version of the world’s best comfort food. The only thing I did different was boiled a few more potatoes and added a bottom layer in addition to the top layer of mashed potatoes. And I had no parsley but it wasn’t missed, more of a topping garnish. So good!!
Second time making this. Usually I just wing it, but this is very tasty and family approved
This was so delicious and I was really pleased as my last few internet recipes were lack lustre. Yay for a winner!! The only thing I added was a bit of cayenne to the meat to add some pizzazz. Just transcribed into my cookbook for life.
Thank you!
I hate peas, can I use string beans instead?
Love this meal! I’ve been making this for decades and this was hands down, the best one yet! I added a teaspoon of chili powder and subbed the peas & carrots for green beans, had to sub the rosemary for sage cuz I was out -and I even had a second helping, something I never do. Fantastic! Thank you for this great recipe!
Delicious! I had to make a few changes due ingredient substitutions. I used ketchup & salsa in place of tomato paste. Also, I was limited to canned veggies so used corn & xtra green green beans. I also added about 1/2 C shredded Mexican cheese to potatoes along with the Parmesan cheese. It was an absolute knock-out in my home. I also used a powdered mashed potatoes as all I had.
Thank you for sharing an amazing recipe !!!! Definitely will be n
A good recipe but recipe dies not state to drain grease from browned chipped meat. Personally, I prefer to layer the vegetables rather than mix them into the chopped meat. Used more veggies that way. I place mine under the broiler to sliightly brown the potatoes. Overall very good. Seasoning spot on.
Fabulous!
This Shepards Pie recipe is absolutely devine! I’ve made it several times and its flavor is off the charts! There’s a vessel of it in my oven as I’m typing this!
Delicious. I used milk instead of cream.
Made no difference. Good winter dish 👍🏻
Bomb-diggity!!!
Besides the dried parsley, I followed this recipe to a T. It was one of the tastiest things I’ve had this year. Don’t skip the Worschestire sauce.
As good as in a London Pub.
Delicious 😋
A bit of a process, but worth every step! Everyone of the picky eaters at my house loved it! Only complaint is that there weren’t any leftovers. Will double this next time and do a 13X9.
I made this last week for my family and it was gone in no time! Absolutely delicious! I did not add anything extra and followed the recipe exactly as given. Next time I make it, I am doubling the recipe for our family of 4. Thank you so much for sharing this one!
Great recipe. Takes a bit of time to put together, but worth it. I used fresh carrots and replaced dried herbs with fresh herbs and added bay leaf.
This recipe is the finest recipe of all time me and my mom we cook this in less than a half hour and my mom loved it so much that when she finally made it home she was wanting the recipe so she can make it for herself and since then I have shared this recipe with many other people this is a really good recipe to share with your friends family and Neighbors thank you so much for this content because it’s the best one and we love it