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.
Have made it twice in one week lol, my husband and son LOVE IT!! Thank you!
This is by far the absolute best recipe I have tried in a long time. I have made it several times and it is always delicious! The only thing I do different is to double the sauce ingredients and instead of flour I use corn startch.
I’ve made this 4 times. Ground chuck results in a better taste than the ground lamb.
Used frozen mixed veggies that had carrots, corn, green beans, and peas all together. Used 2C.
Use a metal spoon to spread the mashed potatoes. The potatoes won’t stick and make that task easier
This recipe is hands down the best for a fast easy well seasoned weeknight meal, and I have researched the web for good shepherd’s pie recipes, believe me. It’s delicious and fast and works with ground turkey as well.
Amazing! My wife doubted the kids would like it… they devoured it. Going to be put in the rotation of regular meals.
I’m always looking for different Shepard Pie, (favorite of my hubby) this is Definitely a Keeper! Delicious, easy to make, and was a hit! Will make again! Thanks for sharing!
I made it with moose meat and you can’t even taste the difference. Delicious!
Wow! This is really really yummy!
This is a very delicious and hearty dish. Will definitely make it again.
I make this recipe the first feeling of fall. It is fabulous and comforting.
I made it for my daughter, she loves the Shepherds Pie at a local pub and this seemed very much like it. I hope she enjoys it.
My brother and sister in law just lost their 7 year old to leukemia yesterday. My SIL wanted shepherds pie tonight and I made this for her. She hasn’t eaten more than a few bites in days and she ate TWO bowls of this shepherds pie. Thank you for this recipe.
Be careful if doubling or tripling recipe because the amounts of potatoes and the dish size do not adjust for the increase .
I am vegan, but I made it for a couple in our church. I took a taste to see if I would add to my recipes that I make for others who are not vegan. It is a 5 star recipe. It can be gluten free if you replace the flour with corn starch.
i made this for my roommates, and they both loved it. i couldnt even taste test (except for the potato) because i dont eat meat, and it turned out beautifully so i think that proves it’s a good recipe 🫡? thank you so much for sharing. ❤️
Make this as often as I can and it’s always sooo good! It’s my go to when I make meals for others. I add creamed corn in the middle (on top of the meat, before the potatoes), which makes it soupy but still tastes amazing. I absolutely love this recipe
This is favorite shepherds pie recipe. I prefer it with 90/10 lamb, however, the ground beef version is really good as well. Not as good, but, really good. I usually put mine in single serving dishes and finish the mashed potatoes in the air fryer, 400° for 15 minutes, but, I just read a suggestion to do it all in a single cast iron pan and I’m going to try that as well. It sounds wonderful.
Absolutely wonderful recipe. I made this today but due to a beef allergy in the family I used turkey burger and chicken broth everything else was according to the recipe. It turned out delicious. My entire family gave rave reviews. Thank you for sharing this wonderful recipe. I will definitely be making it again.
Omg YESSSSS! Can’t I rate it higher? Love it!
This is simply delicious! Easy to make, comforting and filling.
This is one great recipe ❣️
I made it tonight and OMG ,it is delicious!!!. My husband loved it so much he ate 3 small bowls. I am looking forward to trying more of your “eats” ! Thank you for sharing this great recipe.
Just made this – so delicious!! I felt extra sad today so to kick it up, I cooked the potatoes with extras of the meat seasonings, heavy cream, butter, salt/pepper and 2 beef bouillon cubes in the water.
Then after draining, dont rinse, and setting the potatoes aside. I brought the butter, heavy cream (instead of half and half cause that’s what I had) and seasonings to a simmer before mashing it in the potatoes. Fantastic!
Delicious
To make it easier and have less clean up, I made the meat mixture in my iron skillet then topped that with the potatoes. Right into the oven it went. No transferring to baking dish.
Good recipe, even though I did not follow it exactly, I never do. Definitely an easy dish to make. Thank you for sharing.
can you freeze this dish?
should I bake before i freeze it!