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.
I just tried this recipe on a whim and it was absolutely delicious!!! Excellent taste. I did put some cheddar cheese on top of the potatoes and it was great. My family wants me to make it again!!! 🙂
Super easy! I’m a beginner cook (third recipe I’ve ever made!) and it was not hard at all. It turned out wonderfully and was an instant success with the family. Highly suggest trying this out for yourself! 🙂
This was amaaaaaazing!
An absolute triumph! My husband, who is English, and who usually makes his Shepherd’s pie—one of his specialties—raved about it and declared it better than his. So did the rather picky kid. They both said I could make this anytime and insisted on taking the leftovers for their lunches. So, thank you!!!!
Very easy and delicious. Thank you!
Awesome recipe. Substituted shallots be the yellow onion. Herbs, Worcestershire and garlic very flavorful. Will definitely make it again. Wonderful winter dish.
This recipe is phenomenal! Highly recommend the lamb option. So much flavor! I follow recipe to the T and it’s perfection.
Tastes amazing!
This is definitely 10 stars. SO GOOD!!! We’re a family of five so I doubled everything and used a 9×13″ baking dish. Everyone LOVED the Shepherd’s Pie. This recipe is a keeper. I used 3 lbs. of gold potatoes because I didn’t have any russet. Thank you for sharing such a delicious recipe. 🙂
Has anyone divided this into smaller ramekins and saves some for later? If so, is there a difference in the bake time? Maybe 40 min at 400 from the fridge?!
I have it all prepared up to going in the oven, but wanted to take a pan of this to a neighbor who need the help. Just want to give them instructions for cooking it once refrigerated (everything is already cooked so I figured it could work.)
Has anyone frozen this to save for later? If so,
What’s the bake time?
Followed the recipe exactly and was amazing. The whole family all spoke up and said how delicious it was. So much flavor. Thank you!
So easy to make! Tasted great!
It was full of flavor, loved it. Used fresh carrots, cooked them with my onions to soften and canned corn.
This is a great recipe. I made no changes. Hubby and I loved it! Love the garlic and the parm in the mash!
The BEST shepherds pie recipe. A go-to crowd pleaser that’s simply delicious! LOVE IT.
I would like to know if leftovers can. Be frozen.
Excellent recipe. Full of flavor. I made it with ground lamb since that’s a real shepherds pie! 6 stars
I also baked a pie crust then put the meat mixture in the crust and topped with mashed potatoes. De-lush-outs!
First time i made Shepard pie, thanks for this amazing recipe,I used steak mincemeat as thats what i had available and added chopped streaky bacon an mushrooms
Just made this – amazing!
I doubled the recipe and it came out perfectly. The only thing I changed was I used Arrowroot starch instead of regular flour to make this dish gluten free. So good! My kids and husband gobbled it up.
Wow, i really enjoyed this! Didn’t really measure the spices – just a few shakes!! Going in my book to make again! I also used fresh carrots and sautéed with the onions.