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.
This was so yummy!! Great flavour!! Followed the recipe exactly and doubled it!!! Leftovers 😊
……this OMG, it was awesome……Thanks for sharing, this is one of the very best comfort foods ever……
Not that I eat a ton of Shepherds Pie, but this was FABULOUS! The spices were perfect, and I used half the rosemary based on other comments. I also grated some sharp cheddar cheese on top. Thank you for this awesome dish!
Delicious! Easy to follow and turned out perfectly. Next time I’ll double the recipe because my family wanted more! Such a great meal on a cold, stormy night. Thank you for sharing. This is now a staple in my recipe repertoire!
My mother who was raised by English aunts made Shepherd’s Pie (Cottage Pie) with leftover beef, not ground beef. Lamb was too expensive to use. It was made by grinding up leftover beef, cream corn, mashed potatoes with lots of butter so it browned perfectly. There weren’t a lot of added spices other than salt and pepper to taste and above all no cheese. Easy peasy. I often use left over pot roast as the beef is very tender.
A friend sent me a copy of this recipe, but without the URL; I was able to find your site by googling the wording of your “Notes”, which I did so I could share my experience. I’ve made this exactly as written twice, and we really liked it. But my husband’s taste buds have been ruined by his passion for hot and spicy, so to amp it up beyond “liking” it, I made a few minor changes tonight, and winner, winner! First, I added a full teaspoon of mustard powder, 1/4 teaspoon of white pepper and 1/4 teaspoon of sharp paprika along with the herbs. After I added the broth, I added one bay leaf, and let the filling simmer for at least 15 minutes after bringing it to a boil (I added about 1/4 cup of extra broth at one point, as the simmering evaporated some of it); I removed the bay leaf before topping with the potatoes. This made the filling taste just spicy enough to pique his interest. When it came to the topping, I mixed 1/3 cup of extra sharp white cheddar (grated) into the potatoes along w/the parmesan, and sprinkled a few tablespoons of it on top of them as well. All in, I will make this over and over and over, thank you for such a great recipe!
Made this tonight for my husband and I. We loved it! It was so easy to prepare and the finished dish was so delicious. My husband kept saying how good it was during our meal. The spices are what really make the dish. Plus, the presentation (I added extra cheese for the topping), made it very appetizing. Plus there is plenty left for another meal. Top rating for this tasty recipe. Thanks!
Can you sub ground turkey for beef?
Delicious. I used lamb and I also purity in a pie crust
Excellent recipe! When I was tasting the meat mixture as I was preparing it, it was delicious, but I couldn’t help feeling a little something was missing. A pinch more salt? Yep, that helped, but still something was missing. Umami! That’s what it needed. I added two teaspoons of fish sauce and…perfection! For those unfamiliar with this technique, it does not make the dish taste even the slightest bit fishy. It adds a little extra saltiness and that umami kick I felt it needed.
Being an Englishman, i left out the corn kernels. This was the tastiest shepherd’s pie that i have EVER had.
Delicious. Thank you.
Seriously SO GOOD! I left out all the extra thyme kinda seasonsings but this is the ultimate comfort food. My 4 sons and husband all love it! One of the best recipes out there!
Absolutely delicious recipe! Followed everything exactly as suggested, and it was worth it.
I used soy crumbles instead of meat, since I’m a vegetarian. I also used milk instead of half and half, and I also used veggie broth as a sub for the beef broth. I used 2 kinds of cheese, as well: parm and cheddar. I was going to use green beans, as that’s what my parents used to use when my sisters and I were children.
Don’t like peas so I substituted them for celery and extra carrots came out delicious and will def make it again
The best shepherds/cottage pie I have ever eaten, thanks!
I have been searching for the perfect recipe
I stop here and found it
everyone absolutely love it
I made this tonight – my first time attempting a cottage/shepherd’s pie – it came out SO good! The potatoes are so delicious, I had to force myself to actually spread them on the filling and not just sit and eat them out of the pot 😀
I didn’t have any half & half, so I used some milk and a couple of spoons of sour cream 😀
Can I substitute the tomato paste?
I made this last night. It was absolutely delicious! I definitely be making it again.