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.
Tastes great! I felt the potatoes were plenty creamy with less butter, maybe half what is called for but still a lot.
I added a tiny bit I’d ranch seasoning to the potatoes. Delicious!
My husband and I loved this recipe. Wonderful comfort food!
The recipe is almost perfect for me, I did a double recipe and added a bit of onion soup mix at the point when the broth is added, not a whole packet, just enough to give it a bit more something something.
Delicious. Will definitely make it again.
Didn’t enjoy this recipe. The rosemary was too strong and I could taste the Worcestershire too much as well and this is with double the meat, but not double the other ingredients. I am so disappointed.
I loved this recipe. I followed it exactly. Loved the tomato paste idea beef broth and flour to make a gravy base. It was a big hit with my husband. Thank you!
If I prepare this without baking and instead refrigerate, what would the baking directions be?
This is the second time I’ve made this recipe. I really enjoy the final presentation and taste of the recipe. I make just one minor adjustment to the recipe. I cook the onions with the garlic together, than set aside. I then cook my ground beef by itself and when the beef is fully cooked I add the onion and garlic. I found it hard to cook the onions and beef together, to much volume and making sure the beef was fully cooked.
This pie is delicious I split it into and gave 1/2 to my dear friends who need comfort food and 1/2 for us. It was so yummy!!!!!
I doubled this and it came out so perfect, the family was loving it! Some changes I made: used half the rosemary and thyme, and used a little less parsley. I didn’t have tomato paste so I 1:1 substituted with ketchup and I didn’t have Worcestershire so I found a recipe online to make it and used my homemade! I had chicken broth on hand so used that instead of beef broth. Then for the mashed I added sour cream and skipped the Parmesan cheese. This was so savory and delicious! We served with italian bread! Thank you so much, I’ve been looking for a savory, gravy filled shepherds pie and this is it!
This shepherds pie was soooo good,my family went back for seconds and some went back for thirds. Excellent comfort food on a wet chilly evening! This is definitely a keeper! Made in cast iron skillet and put right in oven with some apple smoked guyere on top 👍
Amazing!!!! The filling is so flavorful!
I made this recipe last weekend and it was hands down the best. Though I have never made shepherd’s pie, I added some Anaheim chili peppers to the meat and habanero cheese to the top. It was like a fire cracker having a party in my mouth!!! Not too hot but just the right amount of kick. The meat was flavorful. I also added fresh garlic and Parmesan cheese to the mashed potatoes. It was so good!!! Thank you for this recipe. Definitely worth making!!!!
If there were more stars I would give it to you!!!!
I love Beef Shepards Pie. It came out so good, I made 2. Yummy.
I cooked your Shepard Pie it was so delicious 🤤
Love it… Easy to make and Wonderful to eat..!!!!
First time making this dish! We really enjoyed it!
What is half and half
Half milk/half cream. It is very popular in the US. It’s sold In one container.
very good, tried hard not to go back for seconds
Left out the corn & use 2 tbs of butter to make the roux but followed otherwise & it was the best I’ve ever made.