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.
Best shepherds pie I’ve had!
Oven temperature, please?
Are you supposed to drain the fat after browning the meat?
Excellent recipe! Yum!!
yummy. Like how it printed out in steps, was clear and easy to read what to do next to my clients as we made this recipie for st pats day
I’ve made this once a year for 4-5 years. It’s very very good. BUT, it’s not just 1 hour and 10 minutes. With prep, cooking in three stages, and cool down time, this is 2 plus hours. I would give yourself a three hour window prior to your desired eating time. Worst case scenario is you get done early.
Excellent recipe! I followed it verbatim. My picky eater and husband both loved it and asked for it to be in our regular rotation. Thank you very much!
First time my shepherds pie came out great!
Great recipe and easy to prepare. I am no cook and even I made a great dish.
We don’t like lamb so I made the beef/cottage pie version as written. Doubled the meat mixture and baked in 9×13 cake pan. We loved it! No need to double the potato portion since it’s spread evenly on top.
Prep time seemed to take a bit longer than expected, but I also clean along the way.
Busy schedule on St Patrick’s Day so made a day early. Now we have leftovers and can still a wee bit Irish on the actual day. 🍀
A keeper!!
Delicious, would make it again!
I cooked this for a friend whos recovering from sickness and she and her daughter absolutely loved it and felt nurtured! (That was her words)It seems the tomato paste is over empowering the beef flavour so i added a teaspoon of brown sugar to balance the flavour. Turned out really good and the best shepherds pie I have ever made so far. Will definitely use this recipe again for future. Thank you for sharing this hearty recipe
This came out really well. I did drain some of the oil out. I also omitted the corn and used fresh carrots ( steamed them first). I will be making this again.Thank you for the recipe.
Kind of a rainy day here so I thought this sounded really good and it’s in the oven now, but I tasted it before I put it in there and it’s amazing!
Omg! This is the best Shepherds Pie I’ve ever tried and my husband said the same!!!
Oh. My. This is so good! I made it exactly as written, except that I doubled the potatoes, and I’m glad I did because even on a 9 x 9 pan, I just had enough. I used the same amount of butter and spices, but six medium large peeled and chopped potatoes. Also added cheddar cheese on top in the last five minutes.
Otherwise, I really did make it just as written, and it is delicious! The spices are perfect for ground lamb!
I live and work in a remote northern community. Last week, I used this recipe in a local school’s cooking and baking class. Everyone loved it! We sent home 8 x 8-inch covered tins to 15 families AND fed our small school “snack tasters” as snacks by upscaling the recipe to 60 servings. Thank you for sharing this delicious and wholesome meal!
This was absolutely delicious! I followed the recipe except I did drain most of the beef fat, and the filling still thickened up really nicely. Oh, and the mashed potatoes are fantastic! I will be using this recipe again. Thanks!
Can you freeze it successfully?
Made with beyond meat – everyone said this is the best shepards pie they’ve ever had.