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, substituting a pound of Beyond Meat and some diced Baby Bella mushrooms for the meat. My vegetarian daughter and my carnivore son both approved! A lot of work prepping and putting together, We were testing it for our Christmas Eve supper and I’m delighted to see that it can be put together a day or two ahead of time.
This looks like a very good Recipe and I wanted to watch the video on how it is made and their was a link and it said Jump to Video and it Jumped to Recipe and no video to be found . I did find the Video link on other recipes and same thing Happened . I will try the recipe soon
All liked it!
I have never rated anything online but this recipe was so delicious I have to. I used everything I could fresh from the garden…parsley, rosemary, thyme, garlic and carrots. I did use salted butter as I had no unsalted and I used whole milk because that is what I had too. Wow best shepherd’s pie ever!!!. Thank you for sharing.
I am not a ‘cook’ by any means, and it took me longer than 20 min prep time… but… this recipe is absolutely delicious!! I did double the recipe and use 1#ground beef and 1# ground lamb. My husband loved it, my neighbor loved it and I’m hoarding the other 4 containers for myself!!
This was my first Shephard’s Pie and it turned out great. Was loved by all and will be saving this recipe for future. Thank you for this wonderful recipe. 🙂
Made it tonight and loved it! Great flavor!
I found this recipe difficult to follow and ended up with a ruined dinner.
This recipe was amazing!! Made it exactly according to recipe and wouldn’t change a thing. Can’t wait to make it again!
Great recipe…go ahead and gather all the spices it calls for….so worth it for the deep rich flavor…I served with a spinach leaf salad and our garden tomatoes….This one is a keepa!
I have made this numerous times. My whole family loves it.
Amazing I had to use canned peas and corn and I didn’t use the rosemary (not a fan) but other than that I followed the easy recipe and we ate the whole casserole dish in 3 days! Yum
My go to Shepard’s pie
Great recipe as is, have made it multiple times!
Great recipe. My family loved it and it was not that hard to make.
This recipe is delicious and easy to make. I substituted the meat for turkey and it was very flavorful. The entire family enjoyed it and I look forward to making it again.
I added a bit of red cooking wine (1/4 cup and cut down on the beef broth)and a sprinkle of grated cheddar on top. Delicious!!
Made this recipe for the first time. Very Delish! My guests enjoyed it too. The rosemary flavors and adding parmesan cheese to the mashed added so much flavor.
Family loved it and told me to make it again and not to change anything!!
I can’t find the oven temp.
400 degrees F
400 F. It’s step #6 under making the meat filling.
400 degrees F
it took me forever too…400 degrees f
I was wondering the same thing!
Looking for cooking temp as well!