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.
Very good, great taste, easy to make. I have some food allergies so we substituted the dairy & egg with almond milk, Country Crock plant based butter & JUST liquid egg substitute. Also omitted the Parmesan. Family loved it! Will definitely be making again.
Can you freeze left over Shepard pie?
This was delicious and not too time consuming to make. We enjoyed it! The spices really added to the flavor and were perfect.
It’s a hit….they love it and want me to cook it again ..
tomorrow.
Fantastic. I have made it many times. I am naturally lacking in cooking skills, and this is one of the few recipes that always turns out right. The kid loves it too.
This is my go-to meal for guests because I cannot mess it up…plus the fantastic flavors. I use ground bison to improve the Omega 3 ratio and sweet potatoes on top to add little twist. Other those two substitutions, I use all the other ingredients per the recipe. Delicious.
My family loved this! Doubled the recipe and baked it in 9×13 pan. Made it vegetarian by using Impossible ground beef, didn’t have half and half so used Greek yogurt and milk, substituted for parsley what was in my spice cabinet – oregano, basil and tarragon. My boys have asked for it to be added to our dinner rotation. It took me much longer than 20min for prep but it was worth it. Thanks for a great recipe.
The recipe was made as written. It is absolutely the best Shepherds Pie I have tasted (that said coming from a senior). Sorry mom!
Delicious!!! I followed the recipe except that I did not have the frozen vegetables called for in the recipe. I used frozen green beans and fresh carrots, diced, because those were the vegetables I had. Yummy, yummy. I would definitely make this again, but I might increase the tomato paste a tad because I like the tomato flavor. This was very easy. I served it with a nice green salad with vinaigrette dressing.
The best family wanted more so off to the pantry I go
Absolutely delish! The flavor of the meat was SO good. Easy to follow instructions and I liked the tips on prepping some (or all) beforehand to make it easier. This will be a staple in our home moving forward.
I absolutely loved this dish I made two changes but it was delicious regardless. I got rid of the corn because I thought it was weird to put corn in a shepherd’s/cottage pie and I added red wine to it because it would make the sauce or the flavor a little more robust.
Great recipe!! Making it for the 2nd time!
Amazing taste!
Fabulous! One of my families favorites!
I have just made your Shepard’s Pie right from scratch. Followed your directions as to a tee…..
I inserted my spatula to lift out and it just was like mush.
However it was very tasty full of flavour!
What did I do wrong….
TY
Debi
This recipe was pretty easy and as long as you follow all steps it should turn out perfect I added more potatoes just because I like mash potatoes good luck
Can this recipe be made with ground chicken and chicken stock?
fantastic, thanks for sharing!
My husband absolutely loves this recipe! I had to make it twice in one week. However, I modified the potato part of recipe and made quality instant mashed potatoes. The second time around I also used more broth than stated on recipe so as to have a bit of a ‘gravy’ for the potatoes.
I would not do that. It wouldn’t be the same.
Unfortunately not! The ingredients would cancel themselves out
Tasted great!
Yes
Dang it. I replied to your comment which inexplicably posted to Nora M. below. Please read the posted Nora response.
I had everything in the house to make this, very good.
Delicious and easy! My husband and I loved it.
Sure.. But lamb & beef contain fat whick keeps them from burning when you saute them. So you’ll want to saute the ground chicken in some kind of fat, say, for example, 2 T of olive oil. If the ground chicken seems to start burning add a little more oil, but honestly, the 2T ought to do the trick.
I made this last night and I must say that it was exceptional. Wouldn’t change a thing. Adjust serving to 8 for a 13×9. Perfect! Thank you so much for sharing.
I made the dish, thank you for th recipe! Are you supposed to drain the liquid fat from the ground beef or leave it in? I drained it but then I worried the flour was meant to make a gravy with the fat, so I ended up adding in some cooking oil so the flour had something to mix with.
Personally when I do something like this, I’ll usually drain the fat and add in the amount of butter/oil that I want. Really just for consistency so I know how much fat is in there for the roux. Depending on the fat content of the meat though you may or may not need to drain. Some recipes I don’t drain it.
I made this with 93% lean ground beef, and there was negligible fat. If your cooked ground beef was swimming in fat, then I’d drain most of it. You do need some moisture to incorporate the flour and tomato paste. I just finished putting my base together. Will use 4 cheese instant mashed potatoes for topping as I’m running short on time. Fingers crossed. Review to follow.
I wonder the same. Did you get a response?
Best Shepherd’s Pie filled I have had.
I’ve made this on regular repeat. It truly foes deserve the 5 star rating, it is delicious. I don’t change a thing.
The best l have ever had, absolutely delicious!
I have made it plenty of times but l was missing something. I followed everything. Well all l can say is thank you for your recipe. 5 star for me
This was the 1st time I made this. It turned out FABULOUS!! My husband and I both loved it. I will make this again.